• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Thunderbird Club

Ditto. I like the heel best.


Never been a Jaco fan. Just not my thing. I view his style very much like modern art. Yes there's talent there but so far out in left field I just don't see a need or application for it. I do give him credit though for constantly pushing the envelope and expanding the bass as an instrument in directions it traditionally wasn't envisioned to go.

Unfortunately due to his bi-polar condition, Jaco tarnished and inevitably destroyed his enormous talent/gift. Having a huge ego didn't help also, but most 'stars' share that particular condition to become stars. Any electric bass-player should at the very least be aware of his contribution (as you have noted) to the instrument we play regardless of liking or loving his particular style or tone. And by the way, those were only two of the the things that set him apart - his sense of timing was legendary. In his prime (and this is important to underline) his sometimes busy playing was always musical and he never missed a beat or came in early/late out of weaving baselines through a composition. Of everything he was known for - this is what I think of when I think of Jaco.

This show is from the same year/tour I saw/heard him - young fresh Jaco with WR who at that point were at their prime. Textbook 'in-the-pocket' playing throughout.


NOTE: I've watched this vid before but just noticed Jaco is playing a fretted J [43:36] on Birdland - the song/LP that put WR on the map globally.
 
Last edited:
5118DB80-8D86-4692-93D8-676B61CF205F.jpeg
Hi All: Anyone heard of these? Looks interesting, maybe not for a bird but interesting functionality.

Ray Ross Bass Bridge
 
Popped up on my local CL, and it appears the builder is local as well.
Nice looking instrument!
Is anyone here familiar with the builder or his work?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

It does look nice, never heard of the builder before, but yeah, buy it!
 
That tone became his 'voice' as he essentially was a funk player and favored burpy articulation when he wasn't lyrically phrasing via a fretless vibrato sound. But, hearing him live through a 360 provided bottom that you don't hear on recordings. I saw/heard him with Weather Report on his first tour with them in '76. I have a theory that the reason he liked/used the Acoustic was that it provided 'physical' bass - it literally punches your chest if you are in line with it's wide waves. And Jaco was a physical person - he was in your face both personally and in his music/bass playing.
It is a physical presence in a whole lot of ways. Even if you don't crank it. There's a reason I like it.
 
plus they were unreliable and not really roadworthy (that amp mounted at the bottom subjected to monster vibrations was not optimal imho and went the way of the Dodo the way Polytones did for the same reason) way other manufacturers were. Really dug their tone and flexibility but they were like the Betamax of the battle for the superior bass amp. In the end, the SVT’s multiple (smaller) drivers approach won (Trace, SWR, Eden, etc.) and pushed the path forward. Acoustics were also AC coupled by way of a capacitor which I never really cared for for any leakage (common back then) would roast the coil.
Again, really DUG their tone but there is a reason why they went away and SVTs didn’t...
I haven't had any problems with any ACC equipment, including the 360, but then I don't have it on the road and don't think I have ever cranked it all the way.
 
At one point, I had my 360 set up next to somebody else's SVT and 'Fridge. The 360 had a bigger, fuller, bluer sound, while the SVT sounded a bit scratchy and like it has a whole lot of tan in the sound.

One 18" vs 8-10" ...
 
One 18" vs 8-10" ...
You would think that 8 10" drivers would move more air than that one big driver. The surface area is bigger, combined. There's just some magic in the combination of that big driver, the folded horn, and the way the amplifier works. I believe the output transformers and the capacitors ACC used to deal with transient spikes have something to do with it. But I'm not an electronics guy, so I don't know what I'm talking about, most likely.
 
Ditto. I like the heel best.


Never been a Jaco fan. Just not my thing. I view his style very much like modern art. Yes there's talent there but so far out in left field I just don't see a need or application for it. I do give him credit though for constantly pushing the envelope and expanding the bass as an instrument in directions it traditionally wasn't envisioned to go.
While we're on the subject of Jaco, it occurred to me just now that his tone seems to have influenced bassists and, perhaps more importantly, producers that that is the sound they want. I've heard that(type of)tone used on songs that-to me, anyway-it didn't fit. I know I'm terminally weird, but I like a bass to sound like...[Fanfare]Here we go, folks!...A BASS. Just me, I s'pose, and my(notso)humble opinion.
 

Latest posts