Jaco Pastorious tribute jazz?

[Cup]

Well, forever on the pulse of contemporary music/ gear, I've just been reading thru' Fenders 2002 promo catalogue. They've a Jaco Tribute fretless 4 string Jazz and for a second I thought I was seeing things! They've actually modelled this bass exactly as Jaco's. It has the "distressed" look, i.e chips off the paint etc.

 

And where's this going? Well I can't believe people would buy a bass that has been made to look this way. It certainly doesn't appeal to me, yeah everybody likes that worn in feel, personally I love it. But getting some sort of Authenticity faked.....

 

I love the used and abused look but I'd prefer to look at my bass and remember how that little mark got there etc.

 

Are people so stupid that they believe that by buying a bass with these markings they'll play like Jaco?

 

Fender also have Jaco Jazz Bass Fretless models for £1649.00. The distressed tribute model is £3299. Obviously there's more to the £3299 model (what?). My thinking would have been to model the cheaper Bass with the "distressed" look and have the higher end model pure and waiting for the abuse. Surely some one with that sort of cash wouldn't be so keen to be seen "emulating" and would be keener to "Innovate" (Fenders words of inspiration).

 

Apart from this little gripe I actually found the catalogue quite cool...maybe I'll get the 2003 copy this time next year.

 

CupMcMali...this monkey's gone to heaven

[dcr]

I don't think anyone really thinks that look will translate into play.

 

Then again (as I've said before), I'm not entirely sure WHAT the thought is. This kind of thing has never appealed to me, either. I just bought a Fender "signature" bass, but I bought the BASS, not the signature (which they tastefully put on the back of the headstock on this model).

 

I appreciate the look of older, well-played instruments, & would own one (to some extent my Ric is one), but I don't see the point of "adding" the age on artificially. I don't get it.

 

I remember the first time I saw a Fender "Relic" bass, which not only had factory-added wear-through & chips on the finish, but even "corrosion" on the hardware & stuff like that. I thought it was sort of cool just as a goof, but when I saw the $1900 price tag, I could tell they really meant it! What the...?!?

 

Fine for some. I want mine to be mine.

[BenLoy]

Well, they do sound great. I've played some of the Fender "Relic" jazz basses in stores...and they sound pretty damn close.

 

Given the labor involved, and the fact that you'd pay that amount or more for a real vintage Jazz, I think the price is fair.

 

The "distressed" look, however, is amusing...although I played one with a "distressed" neck that basically had the finish stripped away and soaked with a dirty oil to look and feel like a well-broken-in, sweat-stained neck. The neck felt really, really good.

 

Of course, that led me to think "why don't they do this to all their necks?".

[jeremy c]

If they duplicated my beat up jazz bass (for my signature model ), then I could leave mine home and not risk having it stolen or broken while on tour.

 

Can't imagine that anyone else would want one, though.

 

Even stranger, I once saw a relic Danelectro bass.

That's a truly weird concept.

[Dan South]

I don't care for the "relic" look. I have a second hand fretted Jaco jazz bass (considerably cheaper than a "relic") which plays nicely and has a cool tone, but I can't imagine telling someone that I paid MORE for a model with chips in the paint job. Maybe people who buy these should grow long straight hair and buy some sneakers and big, baggy pants, if you get my drift.

 

The Jaco bass is nice, but the Lakland Joe Osborn is SO much nicer that I rarely play the Fender.

[Tom Capasso]

That's the job I want. Take the newly made bass (or guitar - Fender sells those as well) and add "relic" touches to them. Now where's my chisel?

 

Tom

[Cup]

Maybe I'm too quick to equate plenty of money with plenty of brain. I'm sure as Benloy said that the bass plays well, but to go and have fake screwdriver holes drilled where an "old" pick up "was", just takes me to the fair. I've looked at a couple of pictures with Jaco holding his fretless 4 and his is far more beat up than the tribute basses for sale, maybe the idiots who buy these want a little bit of the Jaco magic but might like to remind people that this bass did at one stage cost lots of money.

 

I'm thinking of starting a "Really real fake 60's dust company" after recording a track, simply sprinkle over the mixing desk and walla....pure abbey road feel will latch on to every beat and note of your record! Or for live music, some hangover fresh, Jaco saliva....dip fingers into the container between songs and let that magic flow.

 

CupMcMali...this monkey's gone to heaven

[...]

I personally think the whole "signature series" basses are nonsense, as well as the relic thing. I'm interested in whether or not the dang thing PLAYS and SOUNDS good; of course price also comes into play here. But hey, if this Jaco relic bass sounds like an actual vintage jazz (or very, very close to it), I could see spending some serious bread on it. But, it there is a point where you have to ask, "why not just spend a little more and get an actual pre-CBS jazz?".