Alembic Guitars Club

Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: funkyjazzjunky on September 05, 2016, 08:24:13 AM

Title: Bass of Doom
Post by: funkyjazzjunky on September 05, 2016, 08:24:13 AM
I live in Washington, DC and have a co-worker that claims to own the Jaco Pastorius Bass of Doom.  Any idea if he is blowing smoke?

VMG
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: elwoodblue on September 05, 2016, 09:32:01 AM
This article (http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallicas-robert-trujillo-how-i-helped-recover-pastorius-infamous-bass-of-doom/) in Oct.'14 mentions Felix Pastorious having it then, with the help of
Robert Trujillo. It seems since 2006 it's been watched over well, unlike the previous 20 years >:(


 Is you co-worker named Felix?  ;D
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: funkyjazzjunky on September 05, 2016, 02:04:46 PM
Thank you for the article.  No his name is not Felix.  I and others have long doubted some of the 'adventures' he has shared but when he mentioned he owned Jaco Pastorious' Bass of Doom, I knew my Alembic friends could help. 

VMG
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: xlrogue6 on September 05, 2016, 02:53:44 PM
Watch the Jaco documentary on Netflix--for lots of reasons, among them footage of Robert Trujillo playing the restored BOD onstage with Metallica. http://jacopastorius.com/film/
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: xlrogue6 on September 05, 2016, 03:12:31 PM
Come to think of it, maybe he's just prone to exaggeration (as opposed to an outright liar) and he's got one of these:
http://shop.fender.com/en-US/electric-basses/jazz-bass/jaco-pastorius-jazz-bass/0196208800.html
Or if he's got deeper pockets (in one or more senses) he's got one of these:
http://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/artist/jaco-pastorius-tribute-jazz-bass-rosewood-fingerboard-3-color-sunburst/
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: edwin on September 07, 2016, 09:12:42 PM
Well, post a recording of him playing what he's got and we'll see what he's blowing! Hopefully it's over changes.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: McAllister on September 08, 2016, 10:37:52 AM
My understanding is Jaco had more than one instrument in his lifetime.
The bass of doom shown in the film (there's a clip of Robert playing it with Metallica) looks like it has a different body than the burst jazz bass(es) Jaco was famous for. So which one that is, I have no idea.

Is it possible, yeah. More likely it's one of the Fender reissues.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: Jeph3Jones on September 08, 2016, 01:36:18 PM
Hi all, new here - first post as the new adopted father of an SC Dlx :) - Close to the end of Jaco's life, his bass got smashed to pieces and was repaired. Repairs included a slab of wood across the top (from my understanding, basically to hold the pieces together :/). That's what you see Trujillo playing, and Felix in the movie. It's the same one he owned for a long, long time but looks different because of the new top.
I think.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: edwin on September 08, 2016, 04:15:39 PM
Hi all, new here - first post as the new adopted father of an SC Dlx :) - Close to the end of Jaco's life, his bass got smashed to pieces and was repaired. Repairs included a slab of wood across the top (from my understanding, basically to hold the pieces together :/). That's what you see Trujillo playing, and Felix in the movie. It's the same one he owned for a long, long time but looks different because of the new top.
I think.

I believe you are right. I can only imagine that it has affected the sound, but still, very cool.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: lidon2001 on September 08, 2016, 08:09:36 PM
I was lucky enough to have the gentleman who put Jaco's BOD back together carve an AllParts jazz neck to his recorded dimensions of the BOD's neck.  It's not too big, not too small, but just right.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: ed_zeppelin on September 09, 2016, 05:57:08 AM
Jaco at 17 with his new Jazz Bass (note the block inlays on the neck).


Edit: sorry about the yuge picture. I got it from Jaco's website, where it appears as a dinky little thing. (http://jacopastorius.com/life/) Maybe a mod can fix it and delete this?


(http://jacopastorius.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/jaco-with-first-bass.jpg)


The BOD had dot inlays, so I have no idea what happened there. Maybe somebody here knows?


(http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/promo_650/public/media/jaco-pastorius-650-430.jpg)
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: gearhed289 on September 09, 2016, 07:31:14 AM
Those look like different basses. Maybe...

The dot neck one seems to have thicker black around the edges of the body. Noticeable on the upper horn especially, but it could be the lighting or resolution of the photo. ???
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: elwoodblue on September 09, 2016, 07:53:02 AM
 The block inlays probably got 86'd when the marine epoxy treatment was done.
...just a guess.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: edwardofhuncote on September 09, 2016, 08:09:32 AM
Could be the picture, or weird stuff that happens with aging lacquer, but to my eyes the finish is quite different in those two pictures. I'm no Fender expert, but the more recent picture looks like a 3-tone sunburst, where the earlier one looks more like a simpler tobacco-burst.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: elwoodblue on September 09, 2016, 08:35:42 AM
I have to concur.
 The feathering around the bridge in the first photo is pretty
fine. Even if someone oversprayed with black it should show the original gradient
on the inside, but I don't see it.
 Whatever happened...it worked !! ;D



Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: ed_zeppelin on September 09, 2016, 11:55:32 AM
I just noticed this from Jaco's biography on his website (http://jacopastorius.com/life/):


Quote
He used money he earned as a paperboy to make another musical purchase. This time, he bought a new Fender Jazz bass. ...

... With his interest in jazz, Jaco also acquired an upright bass. But, it wasn’t easy to maintain and he eventually traded it for another electric bass guitar. Later, he would become known for getting an upright-like tone on his fretless electric.

That word "another" explains it, I think. Jaco always claimed that he bought the BOD in a pawn shop for $15 ($4,632 in today's money) while he was working in a boat yard, which is why he had no problem yanking the frets and slathering about nine coats of PolyPoxy marine epoxy on the fingerboard.
Title: Re: Bass of Doom
Post by: elwoodblue on September 09, 2016, 06:06:00 PM
That makes sense.
I went and read a bio..it mentions Jaco tossing the bass into the water
on a japanese tour ; was that the B.O.D. ? If so I imagine 9 coats of polypoxy
might keep the neck playable. I wonder if it leeched salt after that :-X


I also learned Jaco played with Cochran, who might have been the inspiration for the Blues
Bros. I wonder if Cochran preferred dry, white toast.