Fender's luthiers have recreated Harrison's original down to the etched switch plate, in a run of 80 finished in Relic Bleached 3-Color Sunburst.
The Fender Custom Shop has recreated the sunburst Bass VI George Harrison played through the back end of the Beatles years, building a limited edition of the 1967 original in its Corona workshop in California.
Harrison bought the Bass VI in 1967 and used it at Abbey Road, where its six strings sat between guitar and bass. It shows up as melodic lines and added texture across the Beatles recordings of that period, and he kept using it on All Things Must Pass and with the Traveling Wilburys.
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At a glance
- Bleached 3-Color Sunburst Relic® lacquer finish, modelled on Harrison’s original
- Custom neck profile matched to Harrison’s personal Bass VI
- Era-correct bound 3A rosewood fingerboard with block inlays
- Three period-correct Custom Shop Hand-Wound Jaguar® pickups
- Etched control plate markings replicated from Harrison’s own instrument
The Custom Shop has built the reissue to match the original. With a two-piece select alder body under a thin nitrocellulose lacquer, finished in Relic Bleached 3-Color Sunburst, it looks worn in from years of use, right out the of the box. The neck comes from Harrison’s own profile, with a bound 3A rosewood fingerboard, white pearloid block inlays, a 7.25-inch radius and 21 vintage frets. The 30-inch short scale keeps string tension low, so it feels supple under both bass lines and guitar-style playing. Three Custom Shop hand-wound Jaguar pickups cover the range, from highs that cut through a mix to a growling midrange and a tight low end. Each one has its own on/off slide switch, so you can run a single pickup or all three together. The switch plate copies the marks Harrison etched into his original to note his favourite settings. The rest is period-correct, with a six-saddle vintage-style bridge with floating tremolo tailpiece and Bass VI mute, a 4-ply brown shell pickguard and vintage tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. Each comes with a deluxe hardshell case, strap and certificate of authenticity.
“George Harrison’s Bass VI holds a unique place in Fender history,” said Chase Paul, Director of Fender Custom Shop. “It played a defining role in some of the most influential recordings ever made while showcasing the remarkable versatility of the Bass VI itself.”
The Limited Edition George Harrison 1967 Bass VI is out now through Fender Custom Shop dealers, with just 80 built worldwide.
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