USA Custom Guitars Baritone VI

Basically, I have the same setup as Alfred (read his review below)... who, by the way, was very helpful along with the others who have posted on the USACG forums. Thanks guys!

Small differences:

I went with a medium jumbo-type fret... wider with a reasonable height. Great choice.

I made my own control plates out of stainless, seeing as NOS parts cost a fortune IF YOU CAN FIND THEM. I couldn't even find leftover Japanese parts. I did aquire an actual '63-'64 bridge, without saddles, off of eBay. Luckily, nobody bid on it and the seller settled for a very reasonable amount.

I added Mustang saddles with modified grooves so that the strings won't pop out easily. It helps to also set-up with adequate tension on the bridge.

Most of the parts I had kicking around. I went into this project with the hope of not spending much for parts. I did very well.

WOW! I've owned the Japanese reissue Fender VI and this beats it by a mile. The first thing is the quality of the wood. Tommy knows what he's doing, no doubt about it. The workmanship in the body and neck he made for me is excellent.

The pickups are definitely a big part of the sound, and the Japanese reissues really lacked in that area. I would definitely go with my custom pickups, or possibly some Duncan Antiquities.

I have a good friend who is an excellent luthier (who could ask for a better friend)... even without specs on the original set-up, he did a marvelous job. His shop is located inside of a Guitar Center, so I was able to walk out to the floor and plug right into an amp to give it a spin. I had barely strummed for half a minute when people started walking by and gawking at my baritone vi. It felt very cool!

My finish is all black... body, headstock, b/w/b pickguard. I did a vintage amber stain on the neck and it looks stunning with the black paint, silver hardware and white accents. I've just emailed a picture to USACG, so you can take a look in the customer pics section.

I used automotive acrylics for the paintjob, which are easy to spray, but very durable. With the quality of woods, workmanship and finishing, I expect this to perform well. I'm not the gigging type anyway, so this isn't going to be trudged thorough the battlefield anytime soon.

Tommy has always been responsive to my email and took care of me with style. I look forward to doing another project with him.

There's no other way to go if you are looking for a good bass VI without selling your soul to buy an original. I love the sound and it's guaranteed to make people's heads turn. The versatility is wonderful!

2001 Fender Bass VI replica
basically the same as my '62 Fender VI except it does not have the chrome pickup rings and the neck is slightly wider at the nut...
I used Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Strat pickups, but you can use any Strat or Jaguar pickups in these things...
Maple/Rosewood neck with an Alder body

I had Pete Moreno finish this at his repair shop in a perfect vintage shade of Burgundy Mist Metallic

I had a friend make copies of the bridge base that came off my '62 VI
they turned out perfectly.
Used all MIA Fender hardware except that I believe the control plate is a MIJ reissue...
MIA Fender Tremolo unit
Jaguar switch plate with 3 Jag on/off black switches
Fender Kluson style tuners
LaBella flatwound Fender VI strings ($52 but worth it)

These are 30" scale 6 string basses, 21 vintage frets on mine, which are a lil too tall and thin for my liking...

You'll be amazed at the range of sounds you can get out of these things!
I haven't tried any other pickup configurations yet, and I really don't believe that I need to :)

Lately I've been playing through the middle pickup only. It just seems perfect for playing basslines without being too boomy and not too twangy for the higher register.

Effects only make this thing more dangerous!

I definitely see these as Bass guitars.
You can get quite a booming bass sound with the neck pickup on.

Pete Moreno did the Finish and set up for me.
Since this was the first one, I wanted it perfect.

The only thing it doesn't have perfect is the bridge thimbles that set in the body... I didn't get copies made in time before Pete finished it :)
So it has Jaguar/Jazzmaster bridge thimbles in it...
the action is a lil high, but ok

All I need to do is pull the Jag thimbles and drill slightly bigger holes for the VI thimbles...
but it hasn't bothered me :)

the clear coat is Poly... feels a lil weird at first, compared to the vintage VI
but sure looks nice


You can't ask for better craftsmanship than what you get from USA CG...

The extra width at the nut on these necks makes them much easier to play as well.

You can see all my USA CG VI projects in a Yahoo Photo album below:

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/dontstickthatprobethere/lst?.dir=/USACustomGuitars+bassVI+replicas&.view=t

It's been a year now, and has already been a lil dinged up...
But I imagine it'd withstand many slams against the floor :)

About the only weakpoint of these instruments is the original Fender designed tremolo unit/bridge assembly...
but I haven't had any problems
'course, i don't use the tremolo...

I have had the E string pop out of the saddle groove while playing.
But i JUST got some GraphTech Mustang-like saddles with height adjustment for it... shouldn't ever happen after I get those installed.

I expect to have this thing forever.

Tommy Rosamond at USA Custom Guitars is simply the greatest.

If you want a VI...
this is the only way to go, in my opinion.

You can buy parts as you can afford them, try a few different options, and finish it in any color you want!

It'll play and sound better than any vintage model that I could imagine, and cost less than a MIJ Reissue, yet be of much higher quality!


I tried finding a VI for a long time before I found my original 1962 Fender bass VI...
I asked some other "custom shop" builders for help, and Tommy was the only supportive person I came across.
So after I finally got my '62, I tore it down and shipped it off to him to copy.

and I couldn't be happier with the result!

These things are so much better than the original vintage Fender models that I've personally come across...

If it were stolen or lost, I'd be on a rampage, BUT I could always just build me another :)