Jaco's other bass?

[bigjames]

Funny how three guys in a row misspell Jerry Jemmott's name...

Btw. I read somewhere that at the time of filming Jaco was so out of shape he could not pull it off on his fretless, thus the need too swap for a fretted neck.

Doh! That is funny...Mandela effect?

 

[DJ Bebop]

Man I had no idea he played fretted on Portrait. (The album version that is)

You can hear it, or at least I could

I had been playing fretless for a while before Jaco came on the scene with his solo album. My fretless guys were Percy Johns and Alphonso Johnson. I was playing my de-fretted 62 P, you know the one
So I got a fretted jazz as I was playing more rock and wanted that sound. So, I can hear it, almost feel it

 

[DJ Bebop]

Portrait of Tracy was recorded on his Bass of Doom, but with a fretted P bass neck (all maple). He played it the same when they shot the video Modern Electric Bass with Jerry Jemmott.

Source?

 

[J_Bass]

Portrait of Tracy was recorded on his Bass of Doom, but with a fretted P bass neck (all maple). He played it the same when they shot the video Modern Electric Bass with Jerry Jemmott.

That's not what he said on the interview about his record.

He says he used his fretted Jazz.

 

[ElMon]

Nope not nekkid, shorts....it can be hot Florida. Jaco was very athletic (in his prime), playing sports, in and out of the water all the time and such.

+1. I did the most formative parts of my growing up (9-15) in Sarasota, FL. Out in the sticks east of I-70. We were all half-naked, sweat-stained, bronzed gods in my recollection. I could run on lava rocks barefoot, would get in any body of water, and the unique stew of Cuban/Greek/Jamaican/Country/Blues/everything in the music scene was hugely-formative. There is definitely something in the water down there when it comes to musicians.

I just should've known about that 'mom I gotta practice this fretless. I ain't got no TIME for chores' line that Jaco used growing up. I've been trapped in OK for 24 years now. Long haired, Hawaiian-shirt wearing, and dreaming of ending life on Siesta Key with my fretless Baldor ABG, ala' Jaco.

 

[devnulljp]

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.
View attachment 4642193
That's what they call a "Critical hit" with Gamers

View attachment 4642194
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.

The repair was done by Kevin Kaufman, as discussed in this 2008 Bass Guitar Magazine article

 

[micguy]

I doubt about the fingerboard wear thing: he covered the fretboard by himself with several layers of marine epoxy "Polypoxy", a two components epoxy high resistence painting used on boats.

Yes, we all know Jaco did his fingerboard with marine epoxy. Doesn't change what I heard on that interview.

 

[Herrick]

View attachment 4641723

Ultra rare pic of Jaco with a... Precision, a bass that he certainly did not like!

Does anyone know the background of the Jazz Bass in this picture? It looks like there are no screw holes for a pickguard.

 

[antfarm]

Does anyone know the background of the Jazz Bass in this picture? It looks like there are no screw holes for a pickguard.

It is called the Hiroshima bass, more info here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[DJ Bebop]

Does anyone know the background of the Jazz Bass in this picture? It looks like there are no screw holes for a pickguard.

During a tour of Japan, he threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay. The bass without a finish is that bass after being retrieved and finish removed.
Some more writing on him.

The Theology of Small Things: A Guitar in Hiroshima Bay — Gail Schechter

 

[seang15]

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.

Wow, your Great Uncle is Abe Rivera? I met Abe, and was speaking with him regarding making me a custom bass back in the 80s. I was studying with Jerry Jemmott from 1986 - 1987 at the time:

NOTE: Folks are saying "Jermont" for some reason - the gentleman's name is Jerry Jemmott. Pardon my Grammarly, um, approach? here, but I do believe it's relevant and important. Many thanks! Cheers.

(Back to regularly scheduled program LOL.)

And I played "Shaffa" many times in that time I studied with Jerry. (Shaffa is the name Jerry gave to that famous fretless bass.) Jerry contacted me, and doubtless many other cats, in regards to purchasing Shaffa. I considered many drastic steps in order to make it happen...most I'd rather not divulge (but none unsavory or illegal LOL) -- in order to acquire "her." But...it was sold as I was processing it all, and I feel that's serendipitous for me. He assured me she found a wonderful home.

Abe was truly a gentleman, and I am sorry he passed away due to Covid in 2020. He will always be fondly remembered by those who knew him, and knew of him. He was truly one of a kind.

Cheers,
Sean Geist

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

I just realized that is Bireli Lagrene in that photo. What a great (if short-lived) pairing that was.

Wow, Bireli Lagrene is probably the world's greatest Gypsy jazz guitar player. And, yes, it is referred to as "Gypsy Jazz" by the guys who play it, and own it.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Wow, Bireli Lagrene is probably the world's greatest Gypsy jazz guitar player. And, yes, it is referred to as "Gypsy Jazz" by the guys who play it, and own it.

Thank you, someone tried to call me on the carpet for using the term "Gypsy Jazz" as being racists or derogatory. My response was, not if the people playing it or "gypsies" call it that.

 

[Herrick]

It is called the Hiroshima bass, more info here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

During a tour of Japan, he threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay. The bass without a finish is that bass after being retrieved and finish removed.
Some more writing on him.

The Theology of Small Things: A Guitar in Hiroshima Bay — Gail Schechter

Thanks, mangs!

 

[Lownote38]

View attachment 4641710

That's Jerry Jemmott's bass.

 

[Lownote38]

Man I had no idea he played fretted on Portrait. (The album version that is)

If you listen closely, you can hear a bit of fret buzz in the recording.

 

[DJ Bebop]

That's Jerry Jemmott's bass.

Yes, yes it is

 

[Lownote38]

Source?

There isn't one, because that's not true. He was playing his sunburst fretted Jazz on A Portrait of Tracy. The fretted twin of the Bass of Doom. The Precision neck in the video wasn't even Jaco's neck.

 

[Robert B]

I always wanna take my pickguard off my Jazz after I watch him. But mine doesn't look right w/o it - black jazz, and you really see the naked wood in the screw holes. The one he's playing looks cool sans pickguard.

You could always leave the pickguard off, but fill the screw holes with black pickguard screws.
Pickguard Screws for Fender - StewMac

 

[pbass2]

You could always leave the pickguard off, but fill the screw holes with black pickguard screws.
Pickguard Screws for Fender - StewMac

Good idea! It's funny, I mostly play out with sort of a rootsy Americana band these days, and I took the pickguard off once and my son said it made me look "too jazzy".