ShortScale.org

I was in at my local long and mcquade (chain music shop in Canada) and happened to spot a mij bass vi. It turns out l&m can get the 3 tone sunburst, $1400 plus tax. The new pawnshop series comes in different (albeit boring) colours, but has hot pickups, and non traditional controls (5 way, boooo). While you save $500, it got me thinking, to make a pawnshop play like a normal vi, you would need $100 in plates, a $50 pickguard, and $150 in pickups, closing the gap to $200.

Which woe everyone here to with?

finboy wrote:to make a pawnshop LOOK like a normal vi, you would need $100 in plates, a $50 pickguard, and $150 in pickups, closing the gap to $200.

Play's got nothing to do with that shit. If you want a "proper" VI then buy the one you saw or get Custom Shop to make you one. I think the changes made to the Pawnshop are either cosmetic in nature or actual improvements (but not always both; don't really see the point of hiding the humbucker under a Jazzmaster cover).

i'd go MIJ, but it's your money.

Preface - I haven't tried a MIJ nor the PSVI yet. I am a VI player with a Hellcat VI (new version) and Ultra VI, however, and have owned the old version of the Hellcat VI too.

Seeing the specs on the PSVI before it hit stores, I was somewhat skeptical, though pleased that Fender was taking a chance on making a VI at all for the North American market. I had reservations on the hotter pickups and the humbucker, the loss of the chrome control plate, and the choice to go with a 5-way switch. The rest of the setup is pretty much standard Bass VI (other than the loss of the strangle switch).
Having heard recordings of the PSVI since its release, however, I think it sounds pretty decent. It's not exactly a classic Fender VI, but, it's still solid sounding. By all accounts, fit and finish on the PSVI has been fine. At $800, I think it's not too bad, if you want a Fender. The old style Schecter Hellcat VI also had a 5-way switch, and while it's limiting in your pickup options, and kinda ugly, it worked well enough; I assume it would work just as well in the PSVI.

The current MIJ Fender VI is more vintage correct, however, if that's important to you. Like you said, it'll take a fair chunk of change to get a PSVI up to vintage spec... and you overlooked two aspects of doing so, swapping out the bridge to a 1" pan, rather than the 1/2" pan used on the PSVI (and late model vintage and the 90s reissues, and CS reissue), and the cost of a tech if you can't do the upgrade work yourself. The 1" bridge on the current MIJ VIs is a great feature for intonating; CBS went to the 1/2" to save costs, using the exact same bridge as the Jag/Jazzmaster, rather than another bridge just for the VI; intonation has been a bit of an issue since.
The current MIJs sound pretty good, but could use a pickup upgrade, just like a Japanese Jaguar.

The PSVI seems like good value, especially if you're not looking for vintage correctness. If you are, the MIJ is the better option, I think... much less headache.