It’s 30-inch scale made it a bass (albeit a short-scale bass), but the tremolo on Fender’s Bass VI, along with it’s guitar-style string spacing, revealed it’s true identity as a low-tuned guitar.

The Bass VI’s body and tremolo came from the Jazzmaster, and the three pickups were Stratocaster-style. It’s simple, sensible electronics system consisted of individual on/off switches for each pickup, controlled by a master tone and volume. It was tuned an octave below the guitar, so that it reached the same low range as an electric bass, but it’s high strings extended well into the mid-range of a guitar.

Fender introduced this hybrid in 1961, inspired possibly by the moderate success of Danelectro’s inexpensive six-string bass, but without a clear market demand for such a model. Although it had a unique sound -either a thin, high bass or a low, thick guitar sound, dpending on the perspective – that appeared occassionally in a variety of musical settings, few bands used the Bass VI on a regular basis.