"Jet Harris's Diamond" -- The Ultimate in Six-String Basses.

1961 Fender Bass VI.

This December 1961 Bass VI has all of the earliest features, including three two-way selector switches and a slab rosewood fretboard. It weighs in at just 8.70 lbs. and has a nut width of just over 1 1/2 inches and a short bass scale length of 30 inches. Solid alder body, one-piece maple neck with a very comfortable medium-to-thin profile. "Slab" Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 21 frets and clay dot position markers. Single "butterfly" string with metal spacer. Headstock decal with "Fender VI" logo in gold with black trim and "Electric Bass Guitar" and three patent numbers in black below it. Small circular "Offset Contour Body" decal on the ball end of the headstock. Individual 'single-line' Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons and "D-169400 / Patent No." stamped on the underside. Four-bolt neck plate with serial number "73522" between the top two screws. Three Stratocaster-style (white six-polepiece) pickups with chrome surrounds and outputs of 6.86k, 6.88k, and 6.03k. Four-layer (tortoiseshell/white/black/white) plastic pickguard with beveled edge and thirteen screws. Two controls (one volume, one tone) and jack input on lower metal plate adjoining pickguard and three two-way pickup selector switches on metal plate inset into pickguard. Seven-sided black plastic knobs with white markings. Six-saddle bridge and separate vibrato tailpiece. The neck is marked in pencil "10/61" and the pots are stamped "304 6152" (CTS December 1961). This is one of the very best examples that we've ever seen of one of the earliest Bass VI's. Fender made only a very few Bass VI's with the original "slab" Brazilian mahogany fretboard (in mid 1962 they changed to a veneer rosewood fretboard and four selector switches instead of three). There is a small amount of belt buckle scarring on the back of the guitar, a few tiny surface marks on the top, a few small chips on the edges and some light finish checking. When we took this guitar apart we noticed that a previous owner has added a small white 'earth' wire which is soldered to the underside of the volume pot and runs through to the tremolo assembly (maybe "Christie" who has written his name in red ink on the inside of the tremolo cavity). We have decided to leave this very minor and easily reversible [sensible] modification alone. Otherwise this very rare forty-eight year-old "first generation six-string bass" is in as near mint condition as one could possibly wish for, and commands a good solid exceptionally fine (9.00) rating. Complete with the original tremolo arm. Housed in a slightly later Fender black hardshell case with black leather ends and reddish orange plush lining (8.50).

"After noting the popularity of the Danelectro 6-string bass (tuned EADGBE, like a guitar, but an octave lower) in the Nashville studios, Leo decided to build his own version. He introduced the Fender Bass VI in 1961. The original version looked vaguely like a Jazz Bass but had a 30" scale length, three pickups, and three sliding switches that allowed seven different pickup combinations. That wasn't enough for Leo, apparently, so a year later he added a fourth switch -- the so-called 'strangle switch' that cut low frequencies. The pickups were also modified and a mute added. The Bass VI was never very popular, but it remained in the catalog until 1975 and was later revived, in a Japanese-made reissue, in 1995" (Jim Roberts, American Basses, p. 55).

"Every musician will readily recognize the potential of the New Fender six-string Bass Guitar inasmuch as it offers an entirely 'new sound' to every playing group. Tuned one octave below the standard guitar, numerous new tone combinations are made possible with three full range pickups. The circuit incorporates three two position switches enabling the player to select the pickups individually or in any combination. In addition, a tone control positioned adjacent to the volume control permits further tone modifications of any selector position. The Bass Guitar is a fine addition to the Fender line and answers the demand for a high-quality six-string bass" (July 1961 Namm Daily advertisement in J.W. Black and Albert Molinaro, The Fender Bass, p. 31).

Jet Harris of The Shadows played a Fender Bass VI. His first solo single was a six-string Fender Bass VI guitar version of the Latin standard "Besame Mucho" (May 1962). The follow-up to "Besame Mucho," again featuring the Bass VI, was Elmer Bernstein's "Main Title Theme" from "The Man with the Golden Arm" (No. 17 in September 1962). His other big hits included "Diamonds" (No. 1 in February 1963), "Scarlett O'Hara" (No. 2 in May 1963), and "Applejack" (No. 9 in September 1963).