Did Fender ever do an AVRI Bass VI?

[Meriphew]

I wonder if anyone (Lollar/Novak/Fralin) will build an upgraded pickguard/electronics/pickups drop in replacement for the Vintera bass vi series? I’m guessing Fender will sell quite a few of them, and a lot of people will probably want upgrades.

What do you mean by "drop in replacement?"

Lollar, Novak and Fralin build nice Jaguar pickups, and Jaguar pickups are post-'62 Bass VI pickups. There's nothing special or unique about Bass VI pickups other than the 1961 style. There's just a third one - choose whatever polarity you want based on whether you want "neck and middle" and "middle and bridge" to be the humcanceling positions or if you want "neck and bridge" to be the only one.

There's no need to replace the pickguard, switches or pots on a MIM Fender, they're already perfectly good quality, and even if they weren't, then those companies would just be buying CTS and Switchcraft parts and marking them up for you.

But Bass VI pickguards aren't even attached to the pickups, switches or pots like they are on a Strat, so nobody can or will make a pre-wired all-in-1 "drop in" pickguard assembly. You usually have to pass some wires through tunnels to get between the various control cavities on a Bass VI, they're a bit compartmentalized:

That’s good info to know. I just assumed the pickguard on the VI was like a Strat.