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Post subject: Fender Bass V
Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:24 pm
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Does anyone else find them strangely cool despite their disproportionate bodies and necks?

I've been searching for a video of one being played but can't find one anywhere. Does anyone know where I could see one or does anyone here actually own one?

Cheers...


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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:08 am
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Another question, if anyone could answer it (possibly BrotherDave)...

Why do some Bass V headstocks say just "Fender" and others say the full name "Fender Bass V"?

Thanks again to any who could answer these :)


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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 11:36 am
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The Fender Bass V was a bizarre instrument. It was as if a prototype somehow got into production in 1965 without checking with any consulting bassists first. It is probable that Leo Fender designed it, or at least had a say so about it during development, but I have never seen any real evidence of that such as drawings signed by him. Since it went into production so soon after CBS took over it is likely this is Leo's last Fender, but I just don't know for sure.

It was the first totally new design to come out under CBS control. While it was produced for roughly 5 years, I've read several places that only approximately 200 were ever produced during the entire run.

The Bass V was a failure that never caught on, leaving CBS with a large quantity of Bass V bodies in inventory waiting for orders that never came, so they discontinued it. CBS made two cuts on the remaining Bass V bodies including a massive sweeping crescent cut on the end of the bodies plus the top horn got a slight trim and CBS made the remaining Bass V's into 6 string entry priced single pickup "student" guitars called SWINGERS. The Swingers had short scale Musicmaster based necks with pointy headstocks and the now trimmed and reshaped Bass V bodies. Between 250 and 300 Swingers were assembled in 1969, which was the only year they were made. So more Swingers were shipped out in 1969 than the entire 5 year run of the Bass V which should give you an idea of the slow demand for Bass V's.

The Bass V was as far as I know the first production 5 string electric bass. Fender had the Bass VI out prior to this, but no 5 string. Criticisms of the E-A-D-G-B-E Fender Bass VI (Fender's answer to the Danelectro 6 string bass that was catching on with session players) were taken into account and the result was the Bass V. Narrow string spacing on both the Bass VI and the Danelectro required a pick, the tinny "tic-tac" sound which the Bass VI and Dano produced made them more of a baritone guitar than a bass guitar and they were used mainly in studio recordings while most gigging electric bassists stuck to the Fender P and J models.

While being the first true 5 string bass in itself sounds exciting, the Bass V wasn't exactly a 5 string as we know them today. (Neither was the Fender Bass VI much like today's 6 string electric basses.)

First off the strings on the Bass V were set up E-A-D-G-C.

Second it only had 15 frets! The scale from open low E to the C string fretted at the 15th fret yielded high E. That is exactly the same note range as a 4 string P-Bass, it just took one extra string to get there since there were fewer frets. This enabled you to sound like you were playing farther up the neck than you actually were.

Third, despite the shorter scale of the 15 fret neck, the Bass V is oversized compared to P's and J's, being probably the longest Fender bass I've ever seen. The Bass V looks to be several inches longer than a standard Precision and maybe 2 inches longer than a Jazz.

It is said some famous players owned one, but that is possibly because Fender gave one to them to evaluate hoping they would catch on. It is said that James L. Jamerson had one for example, yet I know of no recordings in which he played anything other than a Precision or an upright. Jamerson's first electric bass was a first generation Precision, which was stolen and replaced with the 62 sunburst Precision with which he is more closely associated.

Good things that came from the Bass V. 1. The SWINGER was actually a pretty good sounding and solid guitar and is a highly sought after collectible player. Often they are modified by adding a second pickup in the bridge position. 2. The basic elongated body shape and split pickups encased in oval plastic covers were adapted to the MUSTANG Bass, which is STILL a popular model in production by Fender today. (The Bass V split pickups were not identical in size with a short one for the E & A string and a longer one for the D-G & C strings.)

Good luck in finding any video of them. I've only ever seen one in person and it had been converted to B-E-A-D-G tuning. The Fender Bass V is probably one of the most rare full blown Fender production models which is odd considering it was made for five years.

I can not explain the decal change with any degree of certainty, other than all Fender instruments adopted the transition CBS logo decal in 1966 replacing the spaghetti logo on all models, so there may have been a change then with one year of them having spaghetti logos with the model name on them, however the transition decals also had the model name on them in black block letters. It is common for generic reproduction "FENDER" decals with no model name at all to be used in restorations, refinishing and on parts basses.

There were also some SWINGER guitars produced with only the generic FENDER decal. These are often called Fender ARROWS even though as far as I know a Fender Arrow was never an official model name and the ARROW tag probably resulted because of the arrowhead shaped pointy headstock on the Swinger. This happened possibly because they ran out of SWINGER decals. A similar situation could have resulted in some generic FENDER transition logos without a model name being applied to some Bass V's.

The decals probably should look like this for 1966 and later:

Image

Here is the '66 sunburst with that logo:


Image

Here is the GENERIC decal used on some SWINGERS:

Image

Here is the Swinger decal on one and the generic on another otherwise identical instrument next to it. The Swinger decal on many I've seen appears to actually be two decals with the SWINGER decal next to a generic type FENDER decal:

Image


Last edited by brotherdave on Thu Aug 05, 2010 7:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:58 pm
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Thanks man, that was all awesome! :D


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Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 11:53 pm
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Thank you. That was informative and interesting.

But what could one possibly find to criticize about the Bass VI?


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Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:55 am
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John Paul Jones used a Bass V on the early Led Zeppelin albums.

Image

This Bass V (pictured below, not mine) has the optional maple fingerboard with black blocks and neck binding.

Image


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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 5:19 pm
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There are some more pictures of one at the emerald city guitars website. Looks like they mostly sell vintage fenders and gibsons.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Bass V
Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:45 am
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Hi all, just to put my "five eggs" in! I've owned a Fender Bass V since 1972 here in the UK. Love the instrument, particularly the neck, I've changed it to B up to G in line with all my other five string basses.
Because of the massive head it does suffer a little neck dive, but one gets used to that.
The only thing I never liked about it was the sub standard pick up they fitted, similar to a split Mustang jobbie. I've experimented many times, most successfully with a John Birch lap steel pick up in the bridge position. This was a multi pole fully adjustable pick up which gave a lovely clear punchy sound. However, now it is fitted with Bartolini MM type at the bridge and a Bartolini P Bass type in the neck position, sounds great, old fashioned but clear.
I don't expect to get more than £1,000 for it however, because I've messed with it so much over the years. For some reason or other it's worth up to £2,000 in its original state but with the crappy pickup.
Attached pic shows it before the P Bass pickups were fitted.
Any questions, please ask.
Graham
Image

Just like that then?

sorry, can't attach pics on here

pps. There is a Youtube video of a guy playing a blue one in original condition, just enter Fender Bass V in the Youtube search box.


Last edited by graham1945 on Wed Jan 09, 2013 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Bass V
Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:17 am
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graham1945 wrote:
sorry, can't attach pics on here


Trouble about posting pictures? It's so easy! :lol:

1. Create an account within a free image host (Photobucket, Flickr, ImageShack)

2. Upload your media into your account

3. Copy the IMG code containing the uploaded media and paste it

Done!


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Post subject: Re:
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:55 pm
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brotherdave wrote:

Image

Image


I've luster end after these for years, I would like to see them reissued but as they are and ever have been, none of this Pawn Shop nonsense :)

BSB


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Post subject: Re: Fender Bass V
Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 1:39 am
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To me, the Fender Bass V is the holy grail of Fender basses.
I know all young players today want 36 frets but me, I'd kill for a reissue of the Bass V.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Bass V
Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 7:07 am
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Pit wrote:
To me, the Fender Bass V is the holy grail of Fender basses.
I know all young players today want 36 frets but me, I'd kill for a reissue of the Bass V.

Like this?

http://www.conklinguitars.com/custom_4_string_bass_36_fret_stereo_mahogany.html

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-Candy Apple Red Precision Bass (Maple fingerboard) carrying Rotosound Steve Harris Strings
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Post subject: Re: Fender Bass V
Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:00 am
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I own a 1965 sunburst Fender Bass 5, and I enjoy it a lot. It's strung E-A-D-G-C and sounds great with the original pickups. And no dead spots whatsoever. I've had it for about 6 month, but use it for my first gig these days; A show with a lot of music from the sixties (eg a Monkees-medley:) Took a while to get used to the different string setup from the usual low B 5-string, but now I'm OK.
It's said that it's only made 200 of them, but is that the correct figure? (on Wikipedia it says 1000)
Kjetil, Norway.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Bass V
Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 2:36 am
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I'm pretty sure the WIKI figure is far too high. There were lots of Bass V bodies reworked into Swingers. Maybe they are counting those. They sold an awful lot of Swingers in a relatively short time at a very low price just to get rid of the Bass V bodies. I'm looking for a stock Swinger right now, but egads they are a tough find as most are modded.

Read here for actual production figure and more information including values for various : http://www.evintagebassguitar.com/fender-bass-guitar/fender-bass-guitar-the-bass-v-oddity/

As you can see in that article Bass V's bring astronomical values in the vintage market compared to any other CBS era instrument. That is because they are so rare. Those values would be for one in stock configuration complete with bridge/pickup covers which are impossible to get. A Shell Pink or Surf Green 1965 Bass V in excellent condition would have something like an $8,000 US asking price. No other CBS era instrument I know of is so valuable. That is because there are so few of them, not because they are particularly in demand. If there were 1,000 of them then the values would not be so high.

I'm glad to know that a few forum members have one and enjoy it. Take good care of them, they are an excellent collectible Fender!

(As for the earlier question about criticisms of the Fender Bass VI, the main complaints were that it was almost impossible to play it without using a pick because the strings are so close together and it really didn't have the bottom normally associated with an electric bass.)


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Post subject: Re: Fender Bass V
Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:22 am
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Thank you for the reply. I've got both covers :)
(I wrote "I use it for my first gig these days", meaning the first gig with this bass, not MY first gig. Been playing bass for almost 40 years I've had a few :)
Kjetil, Norway.


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