Bass of Doom

[funkyjazzjunky]

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

[elwoodblue]

This article 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? 

[funkyjazzjunky]

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

[xlrogue6]

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/

[xlrogue6]

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/

[edwin]

Well, post a recording of him playing what he's got and we'll see what he's blowing! Hopefully it's over changes.

[McAllister]

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.

[Jeph3Jones]

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.

[edwin]

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.

[lidon2001]

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.

[ed_zeppelin]

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. Maybe a mod can fix it and delete this?





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

[gearhed289]

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.

[elwoodblue]

 The block inlays probably got 86'd when the marine epoxy treatment was done.
...just a guess.

[edwardofhuncote]

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.

[elwoodblue]

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 !!