Selling: Fender Sixty-six (SOLD)

The chemo funding continues, letting this one go since it's relatively new. It's an interesting guitar for sure, something I really enjoyed playing. It's one of those guitars with a good default tone, the reason why I keep the pickups in tact.

• Selling: Fender Sixty-six (Alternate Reality series, Mexico), Fender bag included
• Mods: 1) String retainers replaced with rounded version 2) String saddles replaced with block steel version
• Condition: 9/10
• Self-collect: CCK / Yew Tee MRT station
• Queries / confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• No reservations / trades
• Price: $700 (final)

Saddle up

A set of new Graph Tech saddles for my Fender Sixty-Six. Are these upgrades?

I don't consider the previous bent steel type saddles a grade lower than these. The previous version sports that vintage design & has a marked depression on the top surface. I find this very uncomfortable especially when peddling bass notes; it pokes into the picking palm. These are minor changes that I won't hesitate to undertake as my instruments should serve my needs. 

Order 66 (2)

No surprises here as the first mod to the Sixty-Six are the string guides. No, the default version is not inferior by a good measure but I prefer smoother string travel for Fender instruments.

Order 66

So this happened last Sunday. It's 66-related but not an execution.

It's a Fender Sixty-six from the Alternate Reality series. I've been wanting to get one when it debuted but was too late, this particular finish was sold out. When it got re-stocked, I went for the Antigua Tele instead & it was sold out again. Darn distracted. So here it is finally. Why this model?

1. I have a soft spot for freaky Fender models - Marauder, Offset Tele & now this.
2. It's my newfound respect for Mexican models. The Mex Fenders of the past were good but they didn't click with me. For that kind of price, I'd rather get a Japanese Fender. I think Fender did a smart thing in terms of marketing, they offer unique models in the Mexican range just like they did in the American range (Parallel Universe). And now, they have some in the Squier range (Paranormal Series). I'll definitely check those out. 
3. It's Charvel's fault. The current Mexican Charvel models are nothing less than fantastic. It seems The Mexican end of Fender had been keeping things in check since the Pro-Mods & DKs debuted quite recently. I've been spending time checking those out at Swee Lee's Katong branch on some evenings before it closed down. The Paranormal Series are currently handled by the same people so no surprises here. On that note, I have a Charvel in mind but it's out of stock in the mean time.

It's the holiday eve, folks. The long weekend awaits. 😃

Alternate reality

The success of 2018's Parallel Universe series by Fender led to 2019's Alternate Reality models seen above. Essentially, these are mix-matched Fender models made to be presentable & somewhat appealing to the quirk-inclined folks out there. L-R: Electric XII/ Sixty-Six/ Meteora HH/ Powercaster/ Tenor Tele. Unlike the 2019 iterations, these are Mexican & more appealing in terms of prices.

I'm most attracted to the Sixty-Six as it is a guitar version of the Jazz Bass. However, I find it disturbing that the default humbucker (seen above) is showing misalignment. Two implications: 1) The humbucker concerned is not F-Spaced 2) The bridge sports a wider dimension. They couldn't get it right back at the factory; are we paying for oversight? I wouldn't say it's a dire concern but the manufacturer should be more in the know when it comes to such details. We can easily swap this our for a properly spaced replacement but a covered F-Spaced pickup is harder to come by at the stores compared to the uncovered counterparts.