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Jaco's other bass?
- Thread starter GodPlayedBass
- Start date
I heard an interview with him that he had a fretted and fretless bass - did most of his practicing on the fretted (avoiding fingerboard wear) and played most of his gigs on the fretless.
Anybody else find it ironic that Jaco's "signature bass" is both too late to benefit him financially, and priced high enough that he wouldn't have been able to afford one?
YES! That was the opening of Modern Electric Bass I think...
That pic was from when Guild was distributing Hartke. I haven't seen a Guild/Hartke badged cab for a loooong time. The bass head is an A.M.P. BH420.
Like a lot of tremendously creative people, Jaco was really a mess. He was already a mess as he was getting noticed but his success did nothing but fuel his spiral into mental illness and substance abuse, which were more than happy to work hand-in-hand to destroy him. As far as I can see, he really didn't get a lot of help from the people around him, either, but people were a lot less aware of how to address issues like his at that time and those who did... well... it seems like he was actively avoiding them.
In that video, the bass he's playing has been defretted (you can hear it right from the get-go) and, since the taping was in Belgium in 1985, there's a really good chance the bass isn't his but, rather, is something he borrowed locally. Just a guess. Also, he's not looking too good in that video.... His playing's still pretty coherent but he looks like he just slept at a bus station and his behavior and interaction with the band looks joyous but also a little in the weeds.
As others have already pointed out, Jaco played both fretted and fretless and he both owned and borrowed a lot of instruments along the way. The only ones he seemed to hold onto for any length of time were his famous "bass of doom" (which now belongs to Robert Trujillo and is on long-term loan to Jaco's son Felix, I believe) and another early Jazz which remained fretted. As Jaco's condition worsened he wasn't even able to hold onto those. I'm not sure if anyone even knows the whereabouts of the fretted one.
It's a terrible shame that we lost him. I'm glad the music he made is still around.
In that video, the bass he's playing has been defretted (you can hear it right from the get-go) and, since the taping was in Belgium in 1985, there's a really good chance the bass isn't his but, rather, is something he borrowed locally. Just a guess. Also, he's not looking too good in that video.... His playing's still pretty coherent but he looks like he just slept at a bus station and his behavior and interaction with the band looks joyous but also a little in the weeds.
As others have already pointed out, Jaco played both fretted and fretless and he both owned and borrowed a lot of instruments along the way. The only ones he seemed to hold onto for any length of time were his famous "bass of doom" (which now belongs to Robert Trujillo and is on long-term loan to Jaco's son Felix, I believe) and another early Jazz which remained fretted. As Jaco's condition worsened he wasn't even able to hold onto those. I'm not sure if anyone even knows the whereabouts of the fretted one.
It's a terrible shame that we lost him. I'm glad the music he made is still around.
In June ‘84, I went to see The Band (minus Robbie Robertson) play at a bar in Ft Lauderdale. It was a great show, but became even more memorable when Jaco appeared on stage. I think Rick Danko was playing guitar at the time, because Jaco grabbed Rick’s bass and joined in on “I Don’t Want to Hang Up My Rock n’ Roll Shoes.” Pretty sure it was a Precision, I think my head would have exploded to see Jaco playing Rick’s Ampeg scroll bass.
I never get tired of Jaco lore. Thanks to everyone for the pictures. Please post more!
- Nov 27, 2003
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- Rogue luthier employed at Knooren Handcrafted bass guitars
Happy to oblige.
There's this famous footage of Jaco performing in Japan and he tossed his bass up in the air and the picture stops with the instrument in suspended animation but you hear the sound it makes when it hits the floor, the sound of a bass dying.
That's what they call a "Critical hit" with Gamers
But it was repaired, retopped with Maple veneer and refinished, Jaco apparently didn't give a flying heck about originality, he was just glad to have his bass back.
My dads uncle Abe Rivera made that bass in that video with Jaco. I met Abe once when I was a little kid. Funny thing is now I build basses and wish I could have known him better. Anyway, I always loved that design even before I realized it was made by Abe.
I believe he appeared in Belgium TV as a guest of Toots Thielemans. It is a terrible shame he passed away, but he is not lost. The fact we are talking about him and listening to his music makes him to be with us.
View attachment 4642024
Pastorius played a Framus-S-380 bass when he visited bassist and producer Jan Jankeye in Stuttgart in the spring of 1986. He used that bass to record the CD entitled "Broadway Blues".
Jaco Pastorius
The bass
Framus Vintage 12700 S-380
Last edited:
devnulljp
Supporting Member
- Nov 27, 2003
- 2,017
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- Rogue luthier employed at Knooren Handcrafted bass guitars
For those who haven't seen it.
A guy I know who plays fusion said about this doc "It's a travesty that it was made by a METAL guy!" and I was going "Dude, be happy that SOMEBODY made that doc in the first place!"
He was homeless, or semi homeless, there towards the end. I remember reading about him literally dragging his bass around and sleeping on park benches and outdoor basketball courts. Unfortunately, at least one person mentioned loaning a valuable pre CBS bass to him for a gig or whatever and never seeing the bass again.
For those that dont know, the other fella standing with Jaco in the photo of the repaired Bass of Doom is Kevin Kaufman, Jacos friend and Luthier extrordinaire who put that poor thing back together again. I lived in So. Florida during the 80's and was aquainted with Kevin as I would frequent the shop he worked out of in W. Palm Bch. , I happened to have my bass in his shop for something and went to pick it up one day. When I got there he seemed a bit bummed out and pointed to the far bench, it was the BOD all wrapped up in Bubble wrap, he had taken it out of the box but wasnt quite ready to see what kind of disaster Jaco had sent him. The other photo must have been taken later that day when he mustered up the courage to open the package, I can only imagine the words that came out or maybe even the lack there of. Kevin was a very cool dude and really great bass player his own self, we played in sort of rival oldies bands at that time in the area. He told me a few Jaco stories/episodes that were sometimes sad and sometimes amusing, nothing I would repeat here as they were a long time ago and I probably forgot most of the details. That old white Jazz bass in a couple of these photos might have been Kevins as I know he had one, I'm not aware that Jaco personally owned one in that color.
I just realized that is Bireli Lagrene in that photo. What a great (if short-lived) pairing that was.
