Have you guys checked out this month's issue of Bass Player magazine? Jaco's Bass of Doom has been found and gets tested by Will Lee, Victor Bailey, Victor Wooten and the magazine's Chris Jisi. Victor Bailey is in my opinion the only honest and objective tester. The others seem so star struck by it that they seem to forget that it's not in the same configuration that it was in when Jaco played it. It's a mixture of broken wood chunks held together by flame Maple veneers and glue. Victor Bailey stated that when he first played it at Mike Stern's loft in 1984 (in it's original condition), he wasn't very impressed with it. He found the neck dead, the action was high and the strings were old. But when Jaco played it that night, it sang like nobody's business!. He called this version a really nice fretless Jazz Bass......but still, there's nothing outstanding about it.
I think that says it all. Too much credit is being given to the instrument when it's really the person holding it who makes it sing.
(Message edited by rami on April 15, 2008)
