Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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simonhpieman
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Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by simonhpieman » Thu Jun 15, 2017 12:32 am

Not sure if this is breaking forum rules and should be put in the "ebay listings etc" section but I've seen and played a couple of vintage guitars and thought it might be worth making the many OSGers aware of a few important details in case they end up taking the plunge. More than anything, it might provide a kind of paper trail if these things get sold on a year or two down the line and details begin to get hazy. I know how easy it is for details of refins or alterations to get lost in the annals of time.

Many years ago, I purchased my first Gibson from a guitar shop in Ringwood UK (you can't miss it, it's the only one). After a longer-than-it-should-be drive from London, full of nostalgia and with a few minutes to kill before I met up with family nearby, I went back there for the first time in about 10 years last week. Not only did they have a good range of Squier offsets, but they had a 1962 Bass VI with the metal-surround pickups and a 1965 Jag. I'd surely arrived in some kind of dreamland!

All was not as it seemed, though. The Bass VI was a refin. I suspect the pickguard had been changed and the tuners definitely had. The price was pretty keen, though, even for a refin. Isn't it right that only a few hundred of these were ever built? I was tempted to take it and straight up flip it but realised I know very little about the Bass VI market other than the fact a Squier is about 400 quid and there are some on reverb for 10 grand. That gives me very little to go on! I didn't enquire much about this as my eye had been drawn by the 65 sunburst Jag that practically had a halo around it.

There was much to say about this. I picked it up, strummed and open G and it rang like nothing I've heard before. A real beaut. I remarked to the proprietor that it seemed remarkably clean. This was thanks to the refinish that had been undertaken by the prior owner - it was kind of a pride and joy instrument and he'd wanted it to look as good as new again. Hence the refin was done with poly :fp:

Then I took a look at the fretboard. Frets looked pretty great. Almost certainly refretted. To me, this isn't a big deal, I'd rather a guitar that I can play easily. What was of concern was how new the actual rosewood looked. Like, as clean as a brand new Squier. I asked if the fretboard had been planed. There were no divots at all and none of that super-dark rosewood you tend to see on a lot of these. Lots of light brown swirls up and down the board. The dots looked wrong too - I didn't recall them ever having MOP?

The guy took the guitar off me and started holding it up and looking at it REALLY hard from all sorts of odd angles. He was surprised I'd even remarked on it and I think I may have raised some alarm bells within him... I was told the rest of the hardware was original and also a story of a local guy in a MBV t-shirt who absolutely fell in love with it previously but couldn't quite raise the cash and was devastated about missing out. I hoped to have a go with it plugged in but was approaching being late for my prior engagement and said I'd have to come back. To be honest, that gave me an easy out as I wouldn't have taken it anyway with that fretboard issue, though I've no doubt someone else will.

Anyway, I'm in no way affiliated with this shop but I know they're a little off the radar (I don't think they're on Reverb or eBay) and these particular instruments might have passed some of our OSGers by. Just making sure you know all the facts if it's not possible for you to get down there and take a look first hand.

Cheers!
Last edited by simonhpieman on Thu Jun 15, 2017 2:29 am, edited 2 times in total.

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NickD
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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by NickD » Thu Jun 15, 2017 12:53 am

http://www.oasismusic.co.uk/acatalog/Used-Fender.html

The Bass VI is on page one, the Jag on page two.

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Pacafeliz
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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by Pacafeliz » Thu Jun 15, 2017 1:23 am

Nice ones and nice price, really! Thnx!
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by amv » Fri Jun 16, 2017 9:30 am

Sadly, the refin on that Bass VI appears to include a pretty tacky attempt at replicating the decal. That's where I'd draw the line if I were in the vintage market.

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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by sunburster » Fri Jun 16, 2017 6:16 pm

amv wrote:Sadly, the refin on that Bass VI appears to include a pretty tacky attempt at replicating the decal. That's where I'd draw the line if I were in the vintage market.
It's pretty easy to replace the decal with a more authentic one for about $10-$20. Not one of the reasons why I'd pass on a guitar like this.

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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Fri Jun 16, 2017 9:42 pm

I agree with sunburster. The tort looks good. I'm not really sure about mop dots though. Also, it lacks binding but a lot of 65s didn't come with it. That refinish sucks though.

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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by sookwinder » Sat Jun 17, 2017 1:53 am

The question has to be asked ... why would someone change the tuners on a 63 bass VI ?
They are "bass tuners, not guitar tuners.
Those tuners work forever, also one hardly has to touch them anyway ... its a bass.

I can only think they lost them when the bass was refin'd :fp:
relaxing alternative to doing actual work ...

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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by eggwheat » Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:02 am

Yeh that's the biggest downer...drilled headstock and the original tuners are impossible to replace..looks like the bridge is a reissue and the strap buttons are non original. I'd be very wary and be stripping it down to see if anything original is left.

This shop is local to me, it's the shop which many years ago advertised a 1970's Fender VI in Fiesta red in a guitar mag for £900.. I rushed down there but it was already sold.. I've never seen it come up for sale again and always wondered if it was original Fiesta...very much doubt it now though.

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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by WillPhistre » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:32 pm

Aren't the 61 Bass VI pickups worth a ton by themselves? I've heard that finding those is impossible. Novak makes a repro set for about $500.

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Re: Some vintage guitars I saw (Jaguar and Bass VI content!)

Post by mcjt » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:57 pm

WillPhistre wrote:Aren't the 61 Bass VI pickups worth a ton by themselves? I've heard that finding those is impossible. Novak makes a repro set for about $500.
$160 a piece, yeah.

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