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The Basses of Mark Hoppus - A Guide

Odinbass

Odinbass

Dec 6, 2006
565
1,081
USA
#1
Blink-182 inspired me to pick up a bass and start a band back in the day. With their new California album I got to thinking about the basses Mark Hoppus (bassist for Blink) used over the years. I’ve put together this chronology for anyone who is interested. All photos are linked instead of embedded so the post isn't all clogged up. Sorry if the links don't work for all of eternity.


1987 - 1991(?)
MAKO PRECISION BASS (Black)
Given as a gift from his dad at 15, Mark used this in his teenage bands The Attic Children, Pier 69, and Of All Things. In Mark's MTV Cribs episode you see he still has it.

Photo by excalone - Mark showing the bass in MTV Cribs 2002 (I had to screengrab this)

https://www.talkbass.com/media/mako-p-bass.2831/full - Not the actual bass but same model

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] - This is is the best shot out there of him with this bass, although it's not very good.


1991(?)-1994
FENDER PRECISION BASS (Black)
Sometime between 1990 and 1992, Mark acquired a black Fender Precision Bass. He is shown with it in the earliest photos of Blink. He presumably used it on the Flyswatter demo, Buddha, and Cheshire Cat albums.

[This invalid link has been removed] - Blink in 1993 at The Gorilla Pit in San Diego.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/96/58/78/965878c4e94645ada61371eacd8fd706.jpg - Random Mark picture, sometime after 1992 (based on the Green Day - Kerplunk shirt)

1995-1997
MUSICMAN STINGRAY (Black)
This is my favorite Mark bass. He used it for all of their early tours. I'm not sure if he only had one or several black Stingrays but he is shown using that model/color exclusively throughout those years. It saw a lot of action and there a ton of photos of him using it.

http://www.sonic1029.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/3/files/blink2.jpg\ - 1996 Warped Tour

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...e_Showcase_Theater_in_Corona_July_18,1995.jpg - 1995 Good Times Tour

Backup Bass - He also had a blue Precision Bass that made some appearances during this time, most notably the "Dammit" video. (DAMMIT - Comment #298 added by rjb at D- Dammit...)


1998
MUSICMAN STINGRAYS (blue, orange, maybe green)
Blink 182 had their first taste of mainstream success with 1997's Dude Ranch and could afford some new gear. Mark got a few new Stingrays in cool colors like light blue and orange.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LzOsCdob9-A/hqdefault.jpg - Australian TV 1998

http://www.geocities.ws/fenixtx_2000/pictures/Vegas1.jpg - Probably the 1998 Poo-Poo-Pee-Pee Tour.




1999
FENDER PRECISIONS (various colors: blue, red, surf green)
During the recording of Enema of the State, Mark switched to Precisions as his main bass thanks to producer Jerry Finn. Mark was widely photographed with these during the 1999 part of the Enema of the State touring/promo cycle, including the "What's My Age Again" and "All The Small Things" videos.

Link Removed - 1999 Warped Tour

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] - No idea, but it's 1999.


2000-2002
FENDER MARK HOPPUS SIGNATURE VERSION 1 (various colors, mostly surf green)
Sometime at the end of 1999, Fender got with Mark and designed his signature model that he used at the height of Blink's fame. This particular model has the Jazz body and metal tailpiece but P pickups and single volume knob. The first time I saw him with it was on SNL in January 2000, using the green one he nicknames "Lettuce". This is probably the bass most associated with Mark.

http://41.media.tumblr.com/lvWy3bFrSq5yjk3s2e1xK34vo1_500.jpg - 2000 MTV VMAs

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g_yZJkaghrY/maxresdefault.jpg 2000 in Melbourne.

2002-2006
FENDER MARK HOPPUS SIGNATURE VERSION 2 (various colors, mostly hot pink)
In 2002 Fender released the Mark Hoppus Signature for sale but changed the design to make the control plate all pickguard plastic instead of metal, much to my disappointment. Mark's personal basses reflected this change in 2002.

Link Removed - 2002 Pop Disaster Tour, which I sadly had to miss :(

Link Removed - 2004 MTV Icon: The Cure


2006-2015
FENDER MARK HOPPUS SIGNATURE VERSION 3 (various colors, mostly blonde or cream)
After Blink 182 went on hiatus in 2005, Mark decided to alter his design by reversing the position of his Precision pickups. He used that version in +44 and in the post-2009 Blink reunion. Later models have the Octopus logo from his online store.

hLink Removed- 2007 Honda Civic Tour

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28400000/Blink-blink-182-28485483-500-333.jpg- 2013, somewhere.


2015-Present
FENDER JAGUAR BASSES, CUSTOMIZED (various colors)
Presumably to match new guitarist Matt Skiba, Mark started using Fender Jaguars in 2015. At first they seemed to be production models. However with the new album/tour/promo they have obviously been customized to have the backward P-pickups and crazy paint jobs.

Link Removed - 2015.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...s-on-abcs-good-morning-at-picture-id544074488 - A really good look at the custom Jag. Good Morning America 2016.


OTHER BASSES-
Fender Acoustic Bass - In the past Mark used a Fender acoustic. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gde9VAVw5Bc/maxresdefault.jpg

UPDATE - Taylor Acoustic Bass - More recently he has been using a Taylor acoustic [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Fender VI Bass - During the Self-Titled phase he toyed with a Fender
VI. Link Removed


And there you have it! Hopefully this will be a good reference for any Mark Hoppus Blink 182 fans!
 
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#5
I like Blink 182. I'm not a big fan like you but I like them. I think one of the most iconic tones of my teen years when I picked up bass that I remember was Mark's on the Enema of the state album. I just wanted to sound like him.

Thanks for the info! Good post!
 
#9
Big blink and Hoppus fan here, thanks for the work you put in here!

The reason I picked up a bass was because of MH ( and Tim Commerford) and his underrated bass lines : Carousel, Man Overboard, Mutt, Feeling This, etc...

A lot of people hate on Hoppus, I primarily feel it is due to him having his own " Sig" When their are probably many artists who are more " worthy ". The way I view it- during blinks peak popularity, Fender probably felt that it would be easy to market a Jazz/Precision Hybrid ( MH sig ) to up-and-coming bass players who had an interest in either blink or pop punk. I always loved the color choices Mark would choose for his guitars, primarily pastel colors for both the Precision's and Stingrays.

The one thing I have never really seen discussed is Marks time endorsing EBMM. Recently during the launch of " Old Smoothie " they even referenced MH as one of Ernie Ball's supporters-but it has been Years since Mark has played a 'Ray ( Dude Ranch). Does anyone kno specifically why Mark switched back to Fender full time? I'm just taking the assumption it was because he was gifted a Signature mode from Fender, but I have never seen anything in writing or reference.

It's going to be interesting to see if they potentially release a MH Jaguar. Idk how successfull his Precision bass has been overall ( V1/V2), but his recent switch and lack of Signature Jag Basses could make for a new model in the lineup.

Not really digging California as a whole, but I do like the songs: Cynical, Kings of the Weekend and The Only Thing that Matters. The song " She's out of her Mind " also is very nostalgic when referencing Enema / ToYPAJ Blink.
 
#10
I think EBMM still mentions Mark because he's easily one of the most famous bass players out there today. If it helps them sell one bass it's worth saying. It is funny that he only used one for a such a short period and yet they hang on that, I get it though.

As far as switching back to Fenders I think that was mostly the work of producer Jerry Finn. During the recording of Enema they decided Fenders (both P and J) sounded better on record. That's a fairly common opinion among producers. Fenders are known to sit pretty well in the mix; Stingrays usually jump out more. I would assume that once Enema came out, Mark decided to use a Fender Precision to match the sound of the record. Of course that's just my assumption.

I would not be surprised to see a signature Jaguar show up soon. California just hit #1 on the album charts so people still care about Blink/Mark. Fender will want to cash in.
 
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#14
Odinbass said:
2015-Present
FENDER JAGUAR BASSES, CUSTOMIZED (various colors)
Presumably to match new guitarist Matt Skiba, Mark started using Fender Jaguars in 2015. At first they were what looked to be production models. However with the new album/tour/promo they have obviously been customized to have the backward P-pickups and crazy paint jobs.

Link Removed - 2015.

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos...s-on-abcs-good-morning-at-picture-id544074488 - A really good look at the custom Jag. Good Morning America 2016.
Click to expand...

That second jag almost looks like a short scale, is it?

Cool collection. Wonder if he still has all those basses.
 
#15
beaglesandbass said:
That second jag almost looks like a short scale, is it?

Cool collection. Wonder if he still has all those basses.
Click to expand...

Nope. All his basses are full 34 scale.

I'd imagine he still has most of the basses he's played except the few that have been sold. I remember in his episode of MTV's Cribs (this was about 2002/2003) he had a bunch old Stingrays and regular P basses in a room.

He's a collector of sorts as well, he really likes white blonde and mentioned this in a Fender interview around the time the +44 album came out. He's got a '72 Precision, '58 Esquire, '58 Mandocaster & a 1960 Jazzmaster (all in white blonde!)
 
#18
Enema of the State, specifically the song "What's My Age Again" was an absolute juggernaut right when I was graduating high school. It was that and Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" in basically constant rotation in my little hick town.

My second bass was a light blue (could have been Sonic Blue... can't remember the exact color) Hoppus sig. This was the version with the Jazz body, SD 1/4-pounder and the all pickguard control plate holding onto just the jack and a volume knob (no tone knob). I gutted that bass, routed out a spot for a Musicman style pickup to replace the split coil, added active electronics, a new pickguard, a control plate and even went as far as replacing the neck with one from Warmoth. It was a disaster. It played fine, but I definitely ruined that bass. I later sold it the parts off and bought something else, of which I've also since sold. I should have left it as-is. It was a really phenomenal bass for playing rock oriented music.
 
#19
It was Mark's BDay yesterday and he uploaded this shot on Instagram... Lately he has been playing the Jaguars, but I haven't seen this bass before (Sig model in Sunburst).

IMG_0779.PNG
 
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#20
highboltage55 said:
It was Mark's BDay yesterday and he uploaded this shot on Instagram... Lately he has been playing the Jaguars, but I haven't seen this bass before (Sig model in Sunburst).

View attachment 1081429
Click to expand...
Awesome. Looks like he dug into the gear locker and pulled out an oldie. That one doesn't even have the octopus logo so it's at least a few years old.

I'd love to see him run through his collection. The Stingrays and 2000-01 customs are my favorite.

Thanks for sharing!
 

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