I don’t often post NBD threads , but seeing as I’m probably the first one to order one of these , I’d thought Someone might find it helpful.
I ordered the bass from fender.com over the phone (I tried online first , but the system held the money on my card for 10 days without shipping the order ).
The bass arrived via fedex , inside of a box that wasn’t really meant for shipping (although it’s double corrugated , the size of the box won’t allow for 2 inches of packing material):
About the bass , the fretwork is perfect (as expected). The LPB color is also spot-on. The shade of “vintage tint” is probably something people either like or don’t. I prefer some color so I liked it.
About the neck shape , I’d say it feels like post 65 B neck , in the sense that is is “fuller” front -to-back and the taper isn’t so dramatic as you move towards the body. IMHO , they nailed the neck feel (at least of the examples that I’ve owned).
The binding and blocks are absolutely perfect. There’s no glue showing , no under or oversized markers.
The body, I guess it’s still the same pattern as previous VM models , which I’ve always felt like they took an original MIA 60s jazz bass and made a copy of it. It has the “router hump”, and that nasty, home-made , squared - off look when you see the horns from the back of the bass. It does have a perfectly executed “belly contour “. Unfortunately , there is an open channel that connects the control cavity with the neck pickup , so the bass can’t be used without a pickguard.
Now a, there’s a couple of things that I didn’t particularly appreciate :
1.- the neck finish. While I don’t really like a super - glossy headstock, it would seem that the factory didn’t spend much time on the final polishing /glazing on this one. It’s not what I would call “high gloss finish”. It’s definitely finished to a different standard that my 50s cv.
2.- the chrome hardware. The bass is advertised as having nickel-plated hardware, but it’s all chrome. Unless it’s a new kind of nickel that looks exactly like chrome. Im not particularity picky about chrome vs nickel , but I’m picky about things not being as advertised. I haven’t thrown out the box for this very reason.
I’ll upload more pictures later.
I ordered the bass from fender.com over the phone (I tried online first , but the system held the money on my card for 10 days without shipping the order ).
The bass arrived via fedex , inside of a box that wasn’t really meant for shipping (although it’s double corrugated , the size of the box won’t allow for 2 inches of packing material):
About the bass , the fretwork is perfect (as expected). The LPB color is also spot-on. The shade of “vintage tint” is probably something people either like or don’t. I prefer some color so I liked it.
About the neck shape , I’d say it feels like post 65 B neck , in the sense that is is “fuller” front -to-back and the taper isn’t so dramatic as you move towards the body. IMHO , they nailed the neck feel (at least of the examples that I’ve owned).
The binding and blocks are absolutely perfect. There’s no glue showing , no under or oversized markers.
The body, I guess it’s still the same pattern as previous VM models , which I’ve always felt like they took an original MIA 60s jazz bass and made a copy of it. It has the “router hump”, and that nasty, home-made , squared - off look when you see the horns from the back of the bass. It does have a perfectly executed “belly contour “. Unfortunately , there is an open channel that connects the control cavity with the neck pickup , so the bass can’t be used without a pickguard.
Now a, there’s a couple of things that I didn’t particularly appreciate :
1.- the neck finish. While I don’t really like a super - glossy headstock, it would seem that the factory didn’t spend much time on the final polishing /glazing on this one. It’s not what I would call “high gloss finish”. It’s definitely finished to a different standard that my 50s cv.
2.- the chrome hardware. The bass is advertised as having nickel-plated hardware, but it’s all chrome. Unless it’s a new kind of nickel that looks exactly like chrome. Im not particularity picky about chrome vs nickel , but I’m picky about things not being as advertised. I haven’t thrown out the box for this very reason.
I’ll upload more pictures later.
Last edited:
