Click here for a picture of the rear of this bass.
The DR line of basses was one of two lines of basses produced by Heartfield. DR-xC variations with various custom options (fretless, custom fretboard inlays) existed. The DR-4(C) had 4 strings, the DR-5(C) had 5 strings and the DR-6(C) had 6 strings. They all had active electronics and additional "Low Z Output". Apparently, the Heartfield pickups were made by EMG and also used in Ibanez 886 basses. They are called IBZ LO-J6.
The DR-4 had an alder body with a tri-lam maple/graphite/rosewood (graphite on headstock and beneath fretboard) bolt-on neck. It had sealed/cast Gotoh tuners, 33.858" (860 mm) scale length, 12" (305 mm) neck radius, chrome hardware and 2 single-coil pickups.
The DR-5 was basically the same as the DR-4, with a different neck radius of 19.685" (500 mm) and 24 frets. And 5 strings, obviously.
The DR-6 offered 6 strings, gold-plated hardware, hum-cancelling pickups and a 12" radius fretboard.
The DR-xC versions of these guitars had neck-through body design, gold hardware, hardwood bodies, fancy laminated tops and different available colours (on top of the additional custom touches mentioned above).
The DR-4 used to sell at $999.99, the DR-5 at $1099.99, the DR-4C at $1699.99, the DR-5C at $1799.99 and the DR-6C at $2099.99.
All DR and DRC basses appeared in Fender Frontline first in spring 1990 and last in summer 1993, with the exception of the DR-6 which didn't appear until winter (i.e. early) 1992.
Heartfield colour codes available for the regular DR basses: Mystic White (589), Blue Pearl Burst (590), Black Pearl Burst (591) and Red Pearl Burst (592).
Heartfield colour codes available for the custom DR-C basses: Natural (521), Antique Burst (537), Crimson Stain (538) and Ebony Stain (539).
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Type: 1988 DR-6C | |
| Serial #: ?88001 | ||
| Remarks: A natural finish beauty of a bass with burled maple top. This is the oldest DR ever seen, though unfortunately the initial character of the serial number isn't known at the moment. | ||
| Above photo credits: A 'for sale (sold)' page somewhere. John Simmons found it. | ||
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Type: 1989 DR-5 Bass |
| Serial #: H89028 | ||
| Remarks: Blue Burst finish. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, John Simmons. | ||
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Type: 1989 DR-5 | |
| Serial #: J89054 | ||
| Remarks: The colour is Red Pearl Burst. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, Alan. | ||
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Type: DR5C |
| Serial #: L89531 | ||
| Remarks: Very nice bass with pretty unique wood grain. One truss rod, Heartfield brand, neck through construction. | ||
| Above photo credits: An Ebay auction. | ||
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Type: 1990 DR-5C Bass |
| Serial #: E90502 | ||
| Remarks: An Antique Burst finish instrument. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, John Simmons. | ||
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Type: 1990 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: H90506 | ||
| Remarks: The colour is Antique Burst. John (the owner) noticed that this one has one truss rod in the neck, as opposed to two truss rods in bass B92024, below. This would seem to indicate that early versions of this bass have one truss rod, which Fender ultimate believed wasn't good enough so they improved it in later models. Click here for a picture of the rear of this bass. |
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| Above photo credits: The owner, John Simmons. | ||
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Type: 1990 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: H90511 | ||
| Remarks: The colour is Antique Burst. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, Alain Leneutre. | ||
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Type: 1990 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: K90520 | ||
| Remarks: Another one of those natural finish beauties. Controls and pickups are no longer original. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, Jeff Wonsook. | ||
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Type: 1990 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: K90600 | ||
| Remarks: Very nice bass, which the owners says has never needed to be adjusted. One truss rod. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, Myron Harris. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: A91719 | ||
| Remarks: A natural finish bass with Bertolini replacement pickups installed. Also note the absence of dot markers on the fretboard. Also, it has got a brass nut instead of the normal graphite, and brass position markers on the side of the neck instead of the normal white dots. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, John Simmons. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-5C Bass |
| Serial #: A91739 | ||
| Remarks: A natural finish bass with Bertolini replacement pickups installed. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, Pedro Rivera. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: B10229 | ||
| Remarks: Refinished in satin mandarin orange transparent with gold hardware, replacement red copper Q tuner pickups. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, David Holbrook. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-4 Bass |
| Serial #: B91407 | ||
| Remarks: The colour is Red Pearl Burst. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, John Simmons. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: D10346 | ||
| Remarks: According to the specs listed at the top of this page, this should be a regular DR-6 (it has a bolt-on neck). However it has a non-standard colour (black) and gold hardware. Especially this last specification seems limited to custom type basses. Click here for a detail of the headstock or here for a detail of the body. | ||
| Above photo credits: The previous and current owner, Scott Harper and John Simmons respectively. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: D10371 | ||
| Remarks: According to the specs listed at the top of this page, this should be a regular DR-6 (it has a bolt-on neck). However it has a non-standard colour (midnight blue) and gold hardware. Especially this last specification seems limited to custom type basses. So it's the same story as the D10346, above. | ||
| Above photo credits: The current owner, Paul Abrams. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: D91873 | ||
| Remarks: Light Natural finish. | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, Jose Medina. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: D91891 | ||
| Remarks: Antique Burst DR6C with nice through neck. | ||
| Above photo credits: The current owner, Slawomir Sobczyk. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-4C Bass |
| Serial #: I91786 | ||
| Remarks: Ebony Stain bass. Beautiful-looking, IMO. | ||
| Above photo credits: The current owner, Mad Madhouse. | ||
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Type: 1991 DR-4 Bass |
| Serial #: J10044 | ||
| Remarks: This is a Black Pearl Burst DR-4 bass. The rather unique aspect is that it's Fender-labelled! | ||
| Above photo credits: An Ebay auction. | ||
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Type: 1989 DR-5 | |
| Serial #: J10988 | ||
| Remarks: The colour is Black Pearl Burst. This bass was bought for US$ 40 in a yard sale in 1999... | ||
| Above photo credits: The owner, Johnny Demonic. | ||
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Type: 1992 DR-6C Bass |
| Serial #: B92024 | ||
| Remarks: This colour is Crimson Transparent. Click here for a picture of the back. | ||
| Above photo credits: The Guitar Base and the owner, John Simmons. | ||
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Type: DR-6C | |
| Serial #: Unknown | ||
| Remarks: The colour is champagne. Probably a refinish. | ||
| Above photo credits: Thomas Wagner told me about this bass, which was available at www.cricketscorner.com at the time. Took the picture from there. | ||