Jaco’s 1962 Fender Jazz Bass “Bass of Doom” Found! (Bass Player Article)

Posted about 1 year ago

Artist:

Jaco Pastorius
Album:

Jaco
Track:

A Portrait Of Tracy

It’s official. We can all set our sights on locating James Jamerson’s long-lost ’62 P-Bass “Funk Machine,” because the most famous missing bass guitar of all has been found. Jaco Pastorius’s fretless 1962 Fender Jazz “Bass of Doom” (as he dubbed it) has turned up in New York City, over 20 years after it was last seen there. As Jaco’s main fretless, it can be heard on his landmark self-titled solo debut, his successive solo albums, and much of the Early Years package, as well as his recordings with Weather Report, Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, and others.While details of the acquisition must remain confidential while legal questions are resolved, the party in possession of the instrument was willing to bring it by Will Lee’s downtown apartment, where Will, Victor Wooten, Victor Bailey, and Bass Player (me!) got to play it.Read More Here:http://www.bassplayer.com/article/jacos-1962-fender/mar-08/34267

Comments (17)

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RGM says

Permalink posted 04/02/2008
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sonical says That's super cool! Did your hands tingle when you played?

Permalink posted 04/02/2008
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Sturgell says I've said it before and i'll say it again and again.. Jaco was, and still is, the man.

Permalink posted 04/02/2008
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mullytron says Makes you wonder where it's been all these years...

Permalink posted 04/02/2008
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RGM says sonical : Jaco is great, and he's am important part of the bass world and pop and jazz music. Thought the thing was trashed by now, or in the hands of someone who didn't know what they had and it never show up. Sturgell: Yes he is. mullytron: My guess is a homeless guy sold it to a pawn shop for cash, and went though a few hands before it turned up. But I'm sure we'll eventually find out. Now they have to add a nother chapter to the book about his life. They just added one not to long ago.

Permalink posted 04/02/2008
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RGM says sonical: BTW I tingled all over...

Permalink posted 04/02/2008
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Scotch says Of course now Fender will want to make a copy of it, like they did with the Franken-Strat, and SRV's Number 1...

Permalink posted 04/04/2008
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RGM says Scotch : Well now they can have two in thier Jaco series. The beat version and the fixed up version. They should also have the busted splintered version lol. I wouldn't put it pass them. Reard somewhere about them Franken models coming out sometime. Do they have a Franken bass? I would think it be a P-model.

Permalink posted 04/04/2008
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Scotch says The Franken-Strat was already out, last I heard. I dunno if they'll do a Franken-Bass or not. Maybe if lil' Wolfie turns out to be a badass... They probably would do at least two. They did that with the SRV and Rory Gallagher models, I think. A splintered version would be great, because they could sell their rejects that way. heh

Permalink posted 04/04/2008
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RGM says Thought they would have a Franken bass by now because of John Eintwisle (did I butcher his name?). If I remember correctly it was pink. Maybe thats the hold up lol. Yea that would be a great way to sell the rejects lol.

Permalink posted 04/04/2008
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Scotch says I guess I don't remember Entwistle's pink bass, but it's probably because I saw it in black and white. :) The thing about making one for him is, he played so many different basses, so he's not really known for just one, not even just one manufacturer. For some reason, when I think of Thunderfingers, I think of an Alembic bass... Come to think of it, famous bass players tend to be instrument sluts, moving from model to model, manufacturer to manufacturer. lol

Permalink posted 04/04/2008
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RGM says Even us non-famous are sometimes, I was almost ready to add a Warwick to my collection, but man they are way overpriced. Musicman has the Sterling 5 now, and I got my eye on that. Be a nice second main\backup bass to my sting ray 5. I should really get an uprite, and down size my gear . Kinda a contradiction there. I should really call it a day on the bass gear stuff. warwick has the J.E. signature buzzard in production. was the last bass he was playing before his death. http://www.warwickbass.com/basses/buzzard_ltd.html

Permalink posted 04/04/2008
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Scotch says I dunno what a Warwick is bringing these days, but they are NICE. But I have to say I don't really like that JE model. I never could get into most of the wacky bodies, like the Warlock, et al. Flying V is as wacky as I get, and I LOVE that one. You suffer from "G.A.S.":http://www.gearacquisitionsyndrome.com/ Just roll with it. :) Ever play an upright on your lap? Funny stuff, and not as hard as I would have expected.

Permalink posted 04/04/2008
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RGM says I'd get the JE just for the funky look. I dig their Thumb bass, especially the B.O. version. Just wish it had the 3 band eq instead of the 2. For that price you would expect that. And yes I've been told many a time I suffer from that lol. Got no choice but to roll with it. I got enough gear :) No can say ever tried an upright on the lap. Don't know if a retailer would let me. An upright sales man showed me some basic technique's. Really didn't seem that hard. I'd need a few lesson's to really get it down. I almost think about selling a lot of my gear, and doubling on uprite. I get people asking if I play uprite all the time . There are a lot of blue grass, and folk musicians were I live. I can fake uprite on electric, but they want the real thing.

Permalink posted 04/05/2008
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Scotch says I think the hardest part about playing an upright is getting the positions, because playing just slightly out of key is No Bueno. What helped me get it down was putting masking tape where the frets would be, as a marker. If you use the good, blue tape, it shouldn't leave any residue, or take anything with it, except maybe dirt. :)

Permalink posted 04/05/2008
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RGM says Do you pivot your fingers like you do on electric fretless? Thanks for the advice. :)

Permalink posted 04/06/2008
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Scotch says I always rolled them more, but I could have been doing it wrong, probably playing more ham-fisted than I should have. I am hardly a person who should be giving YOU advice on ANYTHING bass-related. :)

Permalink posted 04/07/2008