It's nice also to see a non-Custom Shop reissue of the Bass VI at last, although it's a shame that the individual pickup on/off switches and strangle switch have been replaced by a bog-standard Strat-like 5-position selector.FENDER® INTRODUCES NEW ADDITIONS TO PAWN SHOP SERIES
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (January 10, 2013) — The Pawn Shop Series introduces yet another pleasingly unconventional assortment of "guitars that never were but should have been," in which new models take the stage and long-vanished classics return in modern form. Fender is excited to welcome four new, out-of-the-ordinary models to its innovative and popular Pawn Shop series–the Pawn Shop ’70s Strat® Deluxe, Pawn Shop Super-Sonic™, Pawn Shop Mustang® Bass and Pawn Shop Bass VI.
The Pawn Shop ’70s Strat Deluxe is one of the most unusual takes ever on the world’s most archetypal electric guitar, with a pronounced 1970s style and vibe. For tonal versatility, its alder body houses a Telecaster® single-coil neck pickup and an Enforcer™ humbucking bridge pickup with a smaller Wide Range chrome cover. Other distinctive features include a "U"-shaped maple neck with 22 medium jumbo frets, 9.5" radius and "bullet" truss rod; four-ply white pearloid pickguard; three-way blade pickup switching and two Jazz Bass® control knobs (master volume, master tone); ’70s-style hard-tail Stratocaster® bridge and vintage-style "F" tuners. Available in 2-Color Sunburst, Black and Vintage White.
The Pawn Shop Super-Sonic model resurrects an unusual, short-lived and increasingly collectible ancestor of the late 1990s, the Squier® Vista Series Super-Sonic guitar. Very little about the Pawn Shop Super-Sonic isn’t highly distinctive—from its diminutive offset "reverse" body (resembling an upside-down Jazzmaster® or Jaguar®) and upside-down headstock to its short scale (24") and dual canted Atomic™ humbucking pickups (only the bridge pickup was canted on the original Squier models). Then there are the controls--neck pickup volume and bridge pickup volume only (no tone control), which are reverse-wired like the Squier original, meaning that the bridge pickup volume is the one closest to the bridge and the neck pickup volume is the one farthest from it. Other features include a "C"-shaped maple neck with "bullet"-style truss rod, 9.5"-radius rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets, three-way toggle pickup switching and dual Jazz Bass control knobs, three-ply parchment pickguard, vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuners and new Super-Sonic four-bolt neck plate. Available in Apple Red Flake, Dark Gun Metal Flake and Sunfire Orange Flake.
With its racing stripe (305) and short scale (30"), the new Pawn Shop Mustang Bass authentically evokes the original "competition" Mustang Bass of the early 1970s. This time, though, you get the huge bass sound of a single humbucking pickup (the original had a single-coil pickup) and several classic Fender finish options. Other features include an alder body, "C"-shaped maple neck, 9.5"-radius rosewood fingerboard with 19 medium jumbo frets, four-ply white pearloid pickguard, two Jazz Bass control knobs (volume, tone) and a string-through-body bridge with four adjustable saddles. Available in 3-color Sunburst, Candy Apple Red with Olympic White stripe and Olympic White with stripe.
The Pawn Shop Bass VI marks the return of a historic Fender instrument, the Fender Bass Guitar (also known as the Bass VI). This updated version of the baritone classic features the short scale (30") and is armed with Special Design Hot Jaguar single-coil neck and middle pickups and a powerful JZHB humbucking bridge pickup. Other features include a "C"-shaped maple neck with 9.5"-radius rosewood fingerboard and 21 medium jumbo frets, five-way pickup switching, four-ply tortoiseshell pickguard (3-Color Sunburst and Black models) and three-ply parchment pickguard (Candy Apple Red model), two Jazz Bass control knobs (master volume, master tone), vintage-style adjustable six-saddle bridge with "floating" tremolo tailpiece, and vintage-style tuners. Available in 3-Color Sunburst, Black and Candy Apple Red.
For more information, go to www.fender.com.
I have something else you would be interested in. My mate at the band (Leroy y los masoquistas) has this weird guitar and he wanted to know something about it: maybe you can help us :)Hi Adrián, the first thing I thought when I saw the photos is that the pickups had been swapped for something more modern. It also looks like the tuners have been replaced and possibly other hardware too(?). I fear that I can offer little assistance other than to say that the shape of body and headstock are reminiscent of certain 1960s Hofner guitars.
I only have this bad quality photos, but I think they'll do the trick. The pickups were replaced because of malfunction.
Thank you very much!
Regards,
Adrián F. Leiro.
The Swedish pop group ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Brighton, UK, with the song "Waterloo". For the contest and for subsequent TV appearances and public appearances around the world, Abba member Björn Ulvaeus played a multi-pointed star-shaped guitar created by Goran Malmberg. Unfortunately, the orignal guitar is now missing, but Malmberg has created this replica for the ABBA Museum in Stockholm.I don't care about ABBA's "pop" credentials, or the (im)practicalities of such a very pointy guitar design, this is one of my favourite iconic guitar designs and along with the John Birch Superyob as played by Slade's Dave Hill it epitomises the whole glam rock era.
I designed the entire guitar shape. The original question from Bjorn was that they liked a guitar in the shape of a star, and I made a few baseline drawings for him to look at. If you look at the shape it is not symmetrical. We have the Gibson guitar "Flying V" and "Explorer" from the time that has "horns" in different directions. A common thing with those guitars along with my star guitar is that it has to serve a practical purpose, therefore the horns are pointing logical directions. The strap has to be fastened in a good balance position. There should be no horn where one has its right arm. There has to be a horn to place tone and volume knobs. So the design issue was to find a design balance that included those features. I have seen copies of the guitar. No criticism, but if the builder does not has a very good picture to make a copy from, he will surely miss the geometric figures behind the design. And the guitar will not show the same harmony as the original.For more see this post.
About the "player" issue, it is just about the same as a Strat with patent number pickups. The body is laminate plywood, for the reason that the edge of the horns should not break. It is all solid as a Strat. Good sustain. However, the guitar main purpose was for image, and even if Bjorn had come "asking" for it as an instrument, there was newer any time for fine tune adjustments.
