NBD: Heartfield DR5 (Fender)
A month or so ago I was strolling through the ads on Marketplace and came across this bass. My first reaction was, “Heartfield? What is that?” The more I looked into it, the more I was intrigued with this unicorn, and ultimately decided I had to take it home. Picked it up for a mere $480. It does have a minor problem with the neck that needs sorting out, but it’s still playable.
It seems Heartfield was a joint effort between Fender and the venerable Fujigen company in Japan, and sold in the U.S. between 1989 and 1993. You can find the back story on the Heartfield Guitars web page (see the “Background” link on the left side). They were mid-to-upper tier products at the time, with the DR5 listing for $1100 (~$2500 today). The color is a nifty green “reverse burst,” as they called it. Weighs in at 9.8 lbs.
In the early 1990s there weren’t many 5-string basses on the market, and in general AFAIK the concept was still being sorted out, as far as determining what string spacing, neck sizes, etc. would work/sell best. This DR5 with 19mm string spacing strikes me as a bit “out there” for the time – doing a search on 1990 5-string basses got me only one hit that appears to have a neck that wide – a Tune Zi-III. Neck profile is flattish, a “must” for a wide neck. It’s also unusual in that it has a thin sheet of graphite between the fretboard and neck, ostensibly to eliminate dead spots. Works pretty well, but not 100% as there is still the typical note or two along the G string that don’t sustain as well as elsewhere.
Bridge doesn’t have a name on it, but it’s similar to what G&L uses (and I assume others). Not fond of the “through-hole” design, as it prevents use the old strings again if you change them. However, it was no problem getting proper intonation.
Tuners are unbranded “Made in Japan” Gotoh look-alikes. They work fine. I strung it up with a fresh set of DR 45-105 flats. As I understand, pickups are identical to what Fujigen had on Ibanez offerings of the era.
It came with typical numbered Fender knobs in black. Since I like my knobs to match the other hardware, I traded them out for some chrome Guyker knobs (see last picture). I like that they have position indicators.
The controls are really strange. The Pan knob works more like a switch: Move it off center either direction, and it gets a drastic change in tone. And it sounds the same from there all the way to the travel limit. The tone control is switched, with one side being a basic tapered treble reduction. The other position activates a filter where the frequency changes with the knob rotation. I haven’t found much use for it yet, but we’ll see. I’ve seen pages on the web where this set-up is claimed to be similar to something on Wal and Alembic basses. Popped the rear electronics cover, and more strangeness – never seen anything like it.
All in all, I think it’s kind of cool having a Fender product that isn’t an FSO! I’m taking it to band practice tomorrow for its first outing.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
Ecclesia: Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Pedulla Club #45
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
My Basses
A month or so ago I was strolling through the ads on Marketplace and came across this bass. My first reaction was, “Heartfield? What is that?” The more I looked into it, the more I was intrigued with this unicorn, and ultimately decided I had to take it home. Picked it up for a mere $480. It does have a minor problem with the neck that needs sorting out, but it’s still playable.
It seems Heartfield was a joint effort between Fender and the venerable Fujigen company in Japan, and sold in the U.S. between 1989 and 1993. You can find the back story on the Heartfield Guitars web page (see the “Background” link on the left side). They were mid-to-upper tier products at the time, with the DR5 listing for $1100 (~$2500 today). The color is a nifty green “reverse burst,” as they called it. Weighs in at 9.8 lbs.
In the early 1990s there weren’t many 5-string basses on the market, and in general AFAIK the concept was still being sorted out, as far as determining what string spacing, neck sizes, etc. would work/sell best. This DR5 with 19mm string spacing strikes me as a bit “out there” for the time – doing a search on 1990 5-string basses got me only one hit that appears to have a neck that wide – a Tune Zi-III. Neck profile is flattish, a “must” for a wide neck. It’s also unusual in that it has a thin sheet of graphite between the fretboard and neck, ostensibly to eliminate dead spots. Works pretty well, but not 100% as there is still the typical note or two along the G string that don’t sustain as well as elsewhere.
Bridge doesn’t have a name on it, but it’s similar to what G&L uses (and I assume others). Not fond of the “through-hole” design, as it prevents use the old strings again if you change them. However, it was no problem getting proper intonation.
Tuners are unbranded “Made in Japan” Gotoh look-alikes. They work fine. I strung it up with a fresh set of DR 45-105 flats. As I understand, pickups are identical to what Fujigen had on Ibanez offerings of the era.
It came with typical numbered Fender knobs in black. Since I like my knobs to match the other hardware, I traded them out for some chrome Guyker knobs (see last picture). I like that they have position indicators.
The controls are really strange. The Pan knob works more like a switch: Move it off center either direction, and it gets a drastic change in tone. And it sounds the same from there all the way to the travel limit. The tone control is switched, with one side being a basic tapered treble reduction. The other position activates a filter where the frequency changes with the knob rotation. I haven’t found much use for it yet, but we’ll see. I’ve seen pages on the web where this set-up is claimed to be similar to something on Wal and Alembic basses. Popped the rear electronics cover, and more strangeness – never seen anything like it.
All in all, I think it’s kind of cool having a Fender product that isn’t an FSO! I’m taking it to band practice tomorrow for its first outing.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
Ecclesia: Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Pedulla Club #45
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
My Basses
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thanks for the link!
