What Bass would Jaco be playing?

[2tonic]

Whatever he would play, it would have 4 strings.


His playing would just make you think there was more than 4 strings.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

God rest his soul, Jaco was a legend. But if he lived and played today, what bass would be his instrument? Would he stay with the modded fretless J or would he go high end with an Alembic or even completely custom made by Unobtanium? Maybe he would grab a short scale and let it rip. Here you go TBers…. What say you?

Seeing as how those basses existed while he was alive and playing, he would probably just play the same bass he did while he was alive. People like what they like, and make it work for them. To me, his tone sucked...hard. But, he liked it. So did the people he played with.

 

[crobasster]

 

[BigAlBass69]

Maybe this?

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Wishbass...

 

[ebo]

He would be playing a metallic orange Squire Affinity Jaguar with maple fretboard with GHS Bass Boomers and a Marvin the Martian sticker through a 1980’s vintage Roland cube 12” combo. Obviously.

This is so weirdly specific that you’re either a psychic or a psycho. Which is it @Freight Train? If this is your gear and you’re 37 years old, you might be the man himself, reincarnated, and I’d have to start believing in stuff I have no business believing in.

 

[Snert]

he would've stuck to an old fender i'm sure.

There we have the definitive proof...

 

[john_g]

C'mon....the Mothman

 

[J Wilson]

Whatever he liked, and regardless, he'd sound like Jaco, that tone is all him.

 

[Chickenwheels]

In the weeks preceding his death he was in direct discussion with Wal. I know this because Ian (Waller) told me so the day Jaco passed away.

Wow! Although not totally surprising.

 

[Jogobass]

I think if Jaco has stayed alive he would be rich and famous and able to afford that upright bass he started on.

 

[Carl Hillman]

God rest his soul, Jaco was a legend. But if he lived and played today, what bass would be his instrument? Would he stay with the modded fretless J or would he go high end with an Alembic or even completely custom made by Unobtanium? Maybe he would grab a short scale and let it rip. Here you go TBers…. What say you?

Jaco would have gone to rehab, quit music, and climbed to the top of a mountain to meditate.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Doesn't Fender have his signature model?

 

[Indiana Mike]

Lime green Dean

 

[BigAlBass69]

Well after the fact unfortunately…

 

[Freekmagnet]

Probably the same bass. Anything else he would have either lost of hocked for drug money.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

I like to think he would have made his way to a 6 string eventually. But he may have just kept playing the old Jazz (and versions of it) forever...sad we will never know.

 

[BassNugget]

How do you split between fretless and fretted?

Depends on what I want to play. On my record, I play fretless on everything but "Come On, Come Over" and "Portrait Of Tracy," I played fretted on those two. Everything else I played fretless. I use the fretless more often simply because it calls for that sound more often to me. When I want to use a vibrato, that's natural. I like the fretted bass, too—of course, there's things that work better with that, like playing lots of chords really in tune, you know? Whereas with the fretless it's hard to play more than two-note chords in tune, because your fingers, well—it's just too hard to get in there. I mean, I can, I do it a couple of times on the record, but I want to be in tune.

Jaco Pastorius Shares How He Learned Bass and Composition in Unpublished Interview | Bacon's Archive

Thanks for that link. Good interview.

 

[DubDee3]

For me, a more interesting question is, If Jaco were born today, what would his musical genius have led him to do? Could ask the same about Louis Armstrong, Bird, Trane, or Ellington.

 

[flojob]

To reframe the question,”What is the best J. Bass like bass today that would best suit Jacos style?” Scott Devine would argue Overwater. On this side of the pond, gotta be a Fodera?

actually he just said that his F bass 5 string was his favorite bass he's ever played. I was surprised.