el bajo de Jaco!! (En Ingles)Encontraron el ¨Bass of doom¨! El bajo mas legendario de la historia, el santo grial, ¨el bajo de la perdicion¨, el Fender Jazzbass fretless modelo 1962 de JOHN FRANCIS PASTORIUS III, perdido desde la muerte de Jaco hace casi 20 años. 

Jaco’s 1962 Fender Jazz Bass “Bass of Doom” Found  

By Chris Jis  | March, 200  It’s official. We can all set our sights on locating James Jamerson’s long-lost ’62 P-Bass “Funk Machine,” because the most famous missing bass guitar of all has been found. Jaco Pastorius’s fretless 1962 Fender Jazz “Bass of Doom” (as he dubbed it) has turned u  in New York City, over 20 years after it was last seen there. As Jaco’s main fretless, it can be heard on his landmark self-titled solo debut, his successive solo albums, and much of the Early Years package, as well as his recordings with Weather Report, Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, and others.While details of the acquisition must remain confidential while legal questions are resolved, the party in possession of the instrument was willing to bring it by Will Lee’s downtown apartment, where Will, Victor Wooten, Victor Bailey, and Bass Player (me!) got to play it. 

Mysterious Traveler There are all sorts of tales about Jaco’s Bass of Doom, many related cryptically by Jaco himself. A 1984 Guitar Player cover story by Bill Milkowski states that the instrument was already fretless when Jaco bought it in Florida for $90 in the early ’70s. However,in 1978, Jaco told luthier Kevin Kaufman that he removed the frets himself using a butter knife, filling the fret slots and missing fingerboard chunks with Plastic Wood and applying several coats of Petite’s Poly-Poxy. Kaufman’s first job was to replace the peeling epoxy, which he did by pouring on a single coat and shaping it with a rasp. Jaco smashed the Bass of Doom 

in the mid ’80s, apparently in an argument. Kaufman and fellow repairman Jim Hamilton painstakingly glued together 15 large chunks and several small pieces, inlaying wood where fragments were missing, and laminating a figured-maple veneer on the front and back of the body. They held together the splintered headstock with an ebony/maple veneer, refinished the instrument in a two-tone sunburst, and returned it to Jaco. How the instrument disappeared is the subject of some dispute. All that’s known for sure is that it was last seen with Jaco in Central Park sometime during 1986. The Bass Allow me to offer my personal reflections upfront. When I first laid eyes on the instrument, my initial reaction was that it didn’t look like the Bass of Doom, what with the figured-maple top and back. (A photo of Jaco holding the restored bass can be seen on page 240 of Bill Milkowski’s updated Backbeat Books bio Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius.) Asfor picking up and plucking a piece of history, let me describe it this way: Who among us hasn’t wondered if we would sound better playing the instrument of one of our bass heroes? Well, the answer in this case is, Yes! The Bass of Doom is the best-sounding and feeling fretless I’ve ever fingered. It’s very light and very resonant, with the extra-narrow neck of early Jazz Basses. Stroked softly closer to the neck, the warm Jaco mwah sound filled the air; plucking harder, back by the bridge, resulted in his trademark biting growl; and harmonics seemed to just explode off the wood. But what struck me most about the tone was how round it was with the bridge pickup favored, as Jaco preferred it—so much so that I found myself checking to be sure I had dialed back the neck pickup (this as opposed to the numerous thin, nasal-sounding fretless basses we’ve all heard, played, and dreaded). The party who brought the bass to Will Lee’s apartment had previously reported the hair standing up on his arms as he played a bass melody

from “A Remark You Made” along with the recording, and found the tone and duration of the notes were an eerily unmistakable sonic match. Which brings me to the second aspect that struck me (and perhaps this is where my fervent imagination finally took over): how in-tune the bass seemed to play. There were no washy, smeared notes beneath my fingers—just pure, strong tones that sat firmly on the rosewood board. (The bass had new-ish strings t-hat were not Jaco’s favored Rotosounds.) Equally exciting was the setting at the “Beatles Museum,” as Lee’s home studio is known. Will had a Line 6 LowDown Studio 110 combo and a Roland Cube-100, set to “360”—the modeled Acoustic 360 sound for the amp Jaco swore by. He also had his Fender Custom Shop Jaco fretless on a stand ready to be A/B-ed with the actual Bass of Doom (the bass is sweet, but just no match for the real deal). Will’s lovely wife, Sandrine, was on hand to photograph and videotape the proceedings. Victor Bailey arrived first from his Brooklyn pad, and Victor Wooten—in town to play the Blue Note with Chick Corea—came next. Soon the room was abuzz with Jaco-isms, as the bass passed between the three. “A Remark You Made” seemed to be a popular initial touchstone, but soon the sounds of “Portrait of Tracy,” “Birdland” (false harmonics and all), “Liberty City,” “Teentown,” “Continuum,” “Havona,” “Blackbird,” “(Used to Be a) Cha Cha,” and even Jaco’s Weather Report quote of “The Sound of Music” swirled about. All of this was to the delight of the party who made this bass-heavies-hang possible. His vision for the Bass of Doom is that it be perpetually on the scene, to be played by pros and students alike, thus creating both an ongoing spirit and a happy ending to the Jaco saga. Will Lee “While the new look was surprising at first, it certainly is the holy grail of basses and the best fretless I’ve ever played—it just sings in a more mellifluous voice. And it’s somehow smarter than most, as if it’s been taught by the master how to act. I couldn’t help but imagine how many notes Jaco played on it. He really broke it in; it knows where it wants to go, and the neck and body feel like one unit. It has that Florida funk in it, and now it’s probably completely dried out and less susceptible to weather. When I listened to the other guys play it, I could really hear that it’s Jaco’s bass; it has that trademark tone and bite. As for the Fender Custom Shop Jaco bass, they did a great job considering they didn’t have the real one on hand. The distressed look and overall measurements are pretty much dead on, but the rich tone of the older Bass of Doom is the obvious difference.” Victor Bailey “A lot of amazing music was made on this bass, and I was happy to see it again. The only other time I had played it was the very first time I met Jaco, at Mike Stern’s loft in 1984, and it was in terrible condition: The neck was dead, the strings were old, the action was high. But when Jaco played it with Mike that night at 55 Grand Street, it sang like nobody’s business! That was a pivotal moment for me in realizing how much the

sound of an instrument is the man behind it. Playing the bass again was special. Old instruments have that great “settled” feeling; basically the wood dries out after so many years, it feels like the body and neck have melded together, and the tone is woody and warm. It’s definitely set up well and playing nice now. Still, there’s nothing outstanding about the bass itself; it’s a really nice fretless Jazz Bass. What makes it important is what Jaco did with it, introducing his beautiful sound and musical voice to the world.” Victor Wooten “Playing the bass was almost like a dream; you’ve heard about it forever and you think it’s gone, and then all of a sudden it’s in your hands. After I got over the initial rush of seeing and holding it, my practical side kicked in, and I wondered if this could really be the bass. But after I started playing it, I had no doubt. It felt and sounded incredible; the tone was rich, and it was very easy to navigate, mainly because the neck is so narrow. You could tell the instrument had really been played and broken in, and the fingerboard seemed like it had magic in it; it played in tune so easily. Jaco was a towering influence on me, but unlike my older brothers, I never got to see him perform in person. So the best part for me was that playing the Bass of Doom made me feel like I had a closer connection to Jaco.” Steve Bailey On Line 2 Steve Bailey, who joined the Jaco Bass hang by phone, recalled visiting Jaco’s Florida home in 1981, and being impressed by the Bass of Doom. Another story about the instrument took place in the summer of 1983 at Nice Jazz Festival, where Steve was performing with Paquito D’Rivera. While Jaco’s Word Of Mouth Quintet performed, Steve was standing backstage with Jaco’s road manager, Michael Knuckles, who told him that at the end of the last song, Jaco was going to throw his bass over his stage-left Acoustic rig, for Knuckles to catch. The song ended and Jaco instead threw it over the stage-right rig. It smashed to the ground, breaking off a piece of the neck. Steve recalls Knuckles laughing, “We’ll have to glue that,” as if it were a fairly regular occurrence. WEB EXCLUSIVE! Neil Stubenhaus Plays Jaco's Fretless In New York City on Musician’s Union business in late-March, L.A. session ace Neil Stubenhaus was reunited with the Bass of Doom, courtesy of the owners. Recalls Neil, “I first played the bass while hanging out at a Weather Report rehearsal at the old S.I.R. on Sunset Blvd, around 1977. Jaco was delayed coming out of a break, so he told me to go up and play for him, which I did for about 10 minutes, with Joe Zawinul and Alex Acuña. At the time, it was like an out-of-body experience; it was the most amazing bass I’d ever played.” So what was his reaction over 30 years later? “It’s the same bass, without a doubt; super-light, with the extra small neck, and it just sings. Every note on it is perfect, and it plays in tune easier than other fretless basses, for no apparent reason. What it would really benefit from now, especially in the lower register, is a set of

Rotosounds. But Jaco was in that bass when I first played it and he’s still in there now.” Stubenhaus, who had ’62 Jazz Basses he just couldn’t get the necks straight on, credits Pastorius’s diligence, in addition to his luck-the-draw find of a flawless bass off the Fender assembly line. “For having never consulted anybody, Jaco knew more about the mechanics of a bass guitar than any other bassist. At a time when the rest of us where just plugging in and playing, Jaco dug deep. He would mess with the bridge and the truss rod constantly. He’d make quarter-turn truss rod tweaks on the spot, during a gig—in the middle of a song if he wasn’t happy! Every once and a while you’d catch him slipping offstage to make an adjustment.”While ruminating about all things Jaco, Neil had one other comment concerning BP’s “Deconstructing ‘Havona’” piece, in the September 2007 issue. “In all of the ‘Havona’ transcripions I’ve seen to this point, the last two 16th-notes on the and-a of beat four in the turnaround lick (first seen in measure 45) are F# and E. This is awkward because Jaco always plays an E on the downbeat of the next measure. While I was touring with Blood, Sweat & Tears in the late-’70s, we ran into Jaco in Florida, and our guitarist, Barry Finnerty, asked him to show us the lick. What I remember is Jaco playing the last two notes as G and F#, which makes much more musical sense, leading to the E on the next downbeat.” Adds Stubenhaus in summing up his session with the Bass of Doom, “The music Jaco made on this instrument is the bass world’s Declaration of Independence.” 

Jaco’s Gear Through the YearsBy E.E. Bradman & Scott Shiraki

1967 Fender JazzFifteen-year-old Jaco got his first electric bass, a new sunburst Fender Jazz with binding and pearl blocks, in 1967. He strung it with La Bella flatwounds and played it through a Sunn amp in Las Olas Brass, and with the organ trio Woodchuck. It was his main electric until 1971.

Upright BassJaco’s father, Jack Pastorius, gave Jaco his first upright around the same time he received his first electric. Jaco later acquired a second upright, which he played throughout high school and until around 1974. He loved the sound but found the instrument’s upkeep frustrating. Eventually, he traded it for a 60 Jazz Bass.

1960 Fender Jazz, SN 026100Jaco's '67 Jazz was louder, but he preferred the smoother, sweeter sound of the black '60 stack-knob with clay dots on a rosewood neck. Jaco eventually sold this instrument-refretted-to bassist/guitarist John Paulus for $425 around 1971. 1974 acoustic bass guitarJaco and luthier Larry Breslin co-designed a fretless, 5-string acoustic bass guitar with a high C string; upon completion, Jaco paid Breslin $500. It featured a 34"-scale neck with a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with maple veneer fretmarkers, Brazilian rosewood back and sides and a spruce top. Jaco strung it with Rotosound roundwounds. In later years, the headstock broke off and Jaco brought the bass to Kaufman. He still has it. 1962 Fender Jazz, a.k.a. the "Bass of Doom," SN 64437Like the fate of a mythic hero's mighty weapon, the original condition and final resting place of the world's most famous fretless are shrouded in mystery. Its legendary tone was well documented through every era of Jaco's career, and he himself told several versions of the tale. According to Bill Milkowski's August '84 Guitar Player cover story, the '62 Jazz was already fretless when Jaco bought it in Florida for $90. Upon meeting Kaufman in 1978, Jaco told him he removed the frets himself with a butter knife and filled in the slots and missing fingerboard chunks with Plastic Wood, followed by several brushed-on coats of Petite's Poly-Poxy. Kaufman's first job for Jaco was to replace the peeling epoxy, which he did by using his own method of pouring on the epoxy in one treatment and shaping it with a rasp. According to Kaufman, Jaco left it in New York's Central Park shortly before his death. It hasn't been seen since. 1960 Fender Jazz, SN 57308Jaco's main fretted Jazz Bass, a two-tone sunburst, of average weight and "very resonant" according to Kaufman. This was Jaco's main bass on tour with Joni Mitchell; it can be seen and heard on her Shadows and Light album and DVD. Its whereabouts are unknown. Early '60s Fender Jazz, SN 82429During his 1982 Word of Mouth tour of Japan, Jaco threw this bass into Hiroshima Bay; Ibanez Guitars then refinished it natural. Shigeru Uchiyama's photographs of Jaco and this bass appear in promotional material for the live Twins and Invitation albums, on the back cover of Invitation , and on BP 's Jan/Feb '91 cover. According to Kaufman, Jaco didn't like this bass as much as the others. Its whereabouts are unknown. 1963 Fender Jazz, SN L14769The opening shot of Jaco's DCI instructional video, Modern Electric Bass , shows Jaco slotting the nut on this bass. The original neck was being repaired at the time, so Jaco installed a '70s Fender Precision neck on the Jazz body. This bass wound up at Albert Molinaro's Guitars R Us shop in Los Angeles and was sold to a collector with the original and the P-Bass necks. 

1960 Fender JazzLongtime Buddy Guy bassist Greg Rzab bought one of Jaco's final Jazz Basses from the Pastorius family ** in 1994. Rzab played the bass, apparently used by Jaco during a six-month stretch of intense practicing in 1986, on Guy's 1994 album Slippin' In . "I used it on 'Lover with a Feeling,' and it was really alive in the studio-the notes and harmonics jumped out of that bass." Greg eventually sold it to a good friend-a famous bassist who chooses to remain anonymous. "It's in good hands and being kept safe." Acoustic 360The Acoustic 360 amp, which debuted in 1968, featured a 200-watt power amp. The separate preamp had a built-in fuzz effect, and the large cabinet housed an 18" backward-firing speaker and a folded horn. Jaco saw South Florida bassist Carlos Garcia using one on a gig with Nemo Spliff. He went to Modern Music in Fort Lauderdale and put money down on one. In retrospect, the Acoustic was as important to the development of Jaco's tone and technique as his Jazz Basses were. "The Acoustic held up better than a Sunn or an Ampeg fliptop B-15 could. Jaco could play an open E while he did intervals up the neck, harmonics, and his muted fingerfunk style, which required punch and clarity. The timing of that amp was important, because no one would have been able to get that particular sound without it. Rumors continue to circulate regarding several of Jaco's Acoustic 360s.