NBD: 1966 Fender V
 

Interesting 5'er...
Made from '65-'70
15 frets
E-C


With the '71 P...

never seen that before, how did you get it? awesome bass, never knew fender made something like that!

I bought it from a dealer that got it in on a trade.
They were made for gents like James Jamerson and John Paul Jones.
Only made for 5 years.
The original 5'er...

It's not short scale. Look again at the relative positions of the nut and bridge. With the C string, Fender elongated the body so there was less stress on the neck having 25% more tension on it, and according to the thought at the time, less need for upper frets, because the C string would deal with that.

That....really hurts my brain to look at. It's like the demon child between a jazz bass and a mustang. Nice find.

Cool! That bass is certainly a conversation piece.

How's it sound?

Ah, yes, not a shortscale.

"The world’s first five-string bass, the short-lived Bass V appeared in summer 1965 and was the first Fender instrument designed with little or no input from Leo Fender. A true oddball of unusual dimensions, the Bass V was three inches longer than a Precision even though it only had 15 frets, and it had stubby horns and a long and ungainly headstock in order to accommodate the fifth string—a high C rather than the customary low B of modern five-string basses...Bass V was discontinued in 1970. No more than 1,000 were made, and the Bass V is considered a collectible instrument today."

From Fender's website.

Ok I'll be the one to ask. How much?

Not cheap...
I paid less than what a lot of dealers ask, but that's because it was set up as BEADG and doesn't have the OHSC.
It's now strung E-C and needs a nice set up/fret level.
There are 2 or 3 on gbase right now and each dealer is asking $4,500.

The headstock simply isn't big enough :) j/k

Nice find!

So you answered my other question. I wondered if if could be strung BEADG, and if the neck could handle the additional strain.

Definitely.

It's fuller sounding than the Mustang, albeit the pups are the "same" (a little bit bigger for obvious reasons). It's very round and punchy like a P and just like a good P, the tone knob is the perfect "preamp". It's not a one trick pony which I was surprised to find. Once it's set up I'll shoot a video of it for everyone.

Could you take some closeup pics of her? Maybe i better light?

Oh and is that a split P or single coil under the cover?

Split like a mustang (those little pills)

Oh man! You let me know when you get tired of it, OK?

Here is JPJ w/ his. Interesting his has a bound and blocked neck - cool!

I think the pup is one of those split coil mustang looking things.....

I'll take the covers off and shoot more in a little bit.

That's a great shot! I've seen that a few times, but not in a while.

Catherine Popper (Jack White, Grace Potter) sparked my search to find and buy one. It wasn't like I could walk into Guitar Center to try one ;).
She uses it to play Seven Nation Army...

That bass is sweet... And his pedo-stache is equally as stellar.

grumble...grumble...High C sets have more tension than normal low B sets ...grumble...grumble...

2 cents from a cynical luthier....