"The bass of Doom"

[artswork99]

Having the opportunity to touch history is thought provoking.
 
And inspiring!
 
(Message edited by artswork99 on May 23, 2009)

[terryc]

I have read this, I became bored with all the virtues of this bass and I agree with dave and john.
It's the person who played the instrument, would this bass be worth as much if it was a danelectro or EB0?
I love Jaco but as dave says I don't want to sound like him having said that you can get a 'Stanley' sound from an Alembic but that is the instrument.
We all plagarise no matter what but there is nothing wrong with that 'cos then you can develop you own style.
But to put so much importance on two pieces of wood is a bit 'head in the clouds' for me.
I would rather have Jaco alive today and have his bass in the incinerator if I had my choice.

[mike1762]

Devil's advocate here:  HOW could this instrument still have any structural integrity after being broken into 15 pieces?  I know: the glue joint is stronger than the wood... but still.  I wonder if the next illogical step in the relicing of new instruments is to break the bodies up with a sledge hammer then glue them back together between veneers of Maple?  Not really a Hippie sandwich but a Homeless sandwich.  
 
I think the difference in opinions here is a matter of perspective:  If you are a Jaco fan, this bass is the Magician's Scepter (per John's metaphor).  In that case, who care what it sounds like: it's an important artifact.  If you're looking at it from the perspective of a used bass... it's firewood.  However, if 3 of the most technically  advanced bassists of our time say it has Mojo... I guess it does.  Interesting story.  I'm sure there will be lots of legal wrangling over who actually owns this bass.

[keith_h]

I'm  a pretty big Jaco fan but I have no interest in handling or seeing his basses. To me the music came from Jaco not the instrument. The instrument was just a tool of which Jaco did use more than one in his career. He still sounded like Jaco. Now if one could somehow distill the essence of Jaco, or any number of other great bass players for that matter, I would gladly take a swim.  
 
Keith

[artswork99]

I would rather have Jaco alive today and have his bass in the incinerator if I had my choice.  
 
If this were a choice I feel the same...  since it is not I'll gladly accept the mojo left behind.  
 
(Message edited by artswork99 on May 24, 2009)

[eligilam]

The Bass of Doom was sort of like the Holy Grail for a long time in the bass world:  mysterious magical object that had disappeared and lived only in legend, etc etc.  It was pretty intriguing to follow....
 
Once they found the Bass of Doom, they posted a video on www.bassplayer.tv (go to Main then to Jaco's Bass) that showed a bunch of famous bass players passing it around in a dimly-lit room and commenting on it.  I found that a little disturbing--- some of the faces are digitally obscured, some are wearing sunglasses---it had all the makings of an underground bass porno.  I would think they would put the Bass of Doom behind glass instead of passing it around like a wench in the hull of a pirate ship.  Just my opinion.

[811952]

I would suspect that the bass greats who have played this bass would feel some compulsion to say it has mojo if for no other reason than:
 
a) it did inspire one of the greats of our time, much like roundwounds on Danelectro basses inspired John Entwistle.
 
and
 
b) it helps connect their musicality to Jaco's on a sub-conscious level.  I.e. if they didn't feel the mojo maybe it's because they don't have that special something Jaco did..
 
It's as much about P.R. (for them) as it is about music, in my opinion..
 
As for the bass, it's a beat-up Jazz Bass that's been pieced-back together by somebody who knows a lot about repairing instruments.  I would expect the front and back laminations are all that's holding it together, and who knows what's underneath.  It may well be different wood altogether, as it would be impossible to know otherwise.  I think Jaco would sound and play like Jaco on any instrument, while I would sound and play like I sound and play on the Bass of Doom.  Any real historical value disappeared when it was put back together with new materials.
 
John

[lbpesq]

It would be an interesting experiment if one could collect several old, beat up Fenders of similar vintage, then stand them all up together along with the BoD, like a police line up, then bring in the bass experts, don't tell them which of the old basses was Jaco's, let them play the various basses, and see if the BoD stands out on it's own.  This could be done with any old iconic instrument (Clapton's Blackie or Brownie, a Hendrix strat, etc.)  Is the mojo really there on its own, or does knowing that it was Jaco's bass create a placebo effect?
 
BIll, tgo

[rraymond]

All this talk about history. My wife and I watched the English movie, The History Boys last night. A story about a bunch of kids studying to get into Oxford, or Cambridge. At one point, an instructor asks one of the kids, What is history? To which the kid replies, It's just one F'ing thing after another.  
 
I laughed my arse off.

[gare]

I'd have to agree with alot said here. Bass of Doom is a historical piece, what's left of it. After reading that article when it came out it seems that all the rebuilding would have degraded it's value..if it wasn't Jaco's.  
Jaco was a fantasic bassist but the instrument was a tool, not the talent.
As Mr.Judge so nicely put it, if you find the instrument that fits you, that can open up some creativity, inspiration or whatever you want to call it.
Even after owning several, I've never been a big fan of Fender basses..but that's just me.
But if they were to sew Jaco's hands on me..well that might help a bit.
 
Gary

[mike1762]

I wonder if Picasso had a favorite paint brush.  If so, is there a market for it and what would it sell for?  Is that somehow different from a musical instrument?

[terryc]

If picasso used a fence brush his paintings still would be great
If Hendrix used a Encore guitar from the Argos catalogue in the UK..he still would great, so would McLaughlin, Coryell and all the others.
Same with Jaco.
It's the person who's mind is inventive and can translate that inventiveness to their fingers..that is the important issue here.
I like the history definition..how true is that LOL

[white_cloud]

I disagree completely,  
 
To compare a paint brush to a musical instrument is not an accurate comparison at all. One is used to make strokes, shapes and pictures upon a variety of materials, it appeals to our eyes and subsequently our senses - the other is used to make tone, sound and music...it appeals to our senses through our ears!
 
I also simply am flabbergasted that some members here at the home of the worlds finest hand crafted guitars/basses honestly believe the finest guitarists in the world would sound as good on a cheap catalogue guitar. If that is so then why have any of us bought Alembics?
 
Jaco's passing was a tragic shame but in the end it doesnt matter - life is a cycle of birth, growth, decay and death, we will all have our own epitaphs. Yes he died young but it was inevitable that he would die at some point anyway.
 
Any one reading this thread should bring to mind their greatest musical influence/hero and imagine that influence/hero living out the tragedy/genius that Jaco did - imagine the effect that person has had upon you and ask yourself,
 
would I love to hold my heros bass? how special would it be to me?
 
The finest musicians are able to translate their ability to audiences with instruments that they have found an affinity with.
 
This bass is truly precious, despite its many perceived shortcomings to all fans of Jaco Pastorius regardless for very obvious reasons..
 
John.

[811952]

The bass was his tool, just like the brush is a tool.  To suggest that Jaco wouldn't have mastered music on another instrument is ludicrous.  When I saw him perform in Nashville sometime in the mid-1980s he was playing a fretted Jazz Bass, and sounded like Jaco.
 
I bought an Alembic because it made it easier to consistently get a variety of great sounds.  The Alembic cleaned up my technique more than I ever would have guessed as well, but ultimately it was and is just a really good tool.  I've heard plenty of really average players playing Alembic basses, and I've heard a lot of fantastic players on Fenders and lesser basses.  To imply that a solid or semi-solid instrument plays that large of a determining role in a person's musicality seems naive to me.
 
John

[white_cloud]

Nobody has stated that this instrument played a large determining role in Jacos musicality at all - it has merely been stated that the bass is important and of great value and importance because it was Jacos main instrument of choice and it has history.
 
It is famous and loved because it was Jacos bass not because it made Jaco sound so good! What is so hard to understand about that?
 
Are you telling me that the paint brush set used by Piccaso would be of no value on an emotional or financial level at all to art lovers - are you telling me that the sword used by General Custer at little big horn or Neil Armstrongs space helmet would be of no value to collectors?
 
To me the mindset that this bass is of no importance or value is naive!
 
Ponder this - If Jaco had used a vintage 70's Series 1 as his main bass to write on and on all of those famous performances, and it had been stolen and been missing for many years and suddenly turned up in the same way as his Jazz has, rebuilt and all, every one of you would be going crazy over it and its importance. Fact.
 
This must be the only bass forum on the internet that claims this bass to be of no importance. I couldnt care less about Fender, Im sure they couldnt care less about you, I or this forum but in the interests of fairness the motive driving this debate seems to be an anti Fender bias perchance?
 
John.
 
(Message edited by white cloud on May 26, 2009)