Jaco-inspired 5-string fretless J-bass

I've been gone for a while and hadn't seen the conversation that had developed. Indeed, that is the question----what is "inspired by" vs. "replica of"? If I wanted a replica, Fender makes one. As someone who has also studied Jaco and his basses, I might argue that if Mr. Pastorius was alive today, with access to sweet custom-made basses by Warmoth among other custom builders, he would be playing an instrument exactly like this one.

He only used epoxy to cover the wood filler in the fret slots and to give the fingerboard a uniform response. Why not a solid piece of ebony?

Active electronics---come on, Jaco put his last bass together in the early 80's at the latest. When were active bass pickup systems developed? Everybody knows that active provides so many more tonal options....Jaco P. would definitely be on the active bus.

5-string---Also no brainer. Bass amps of today are way better at replicating low notes. Jaco would be playing a 5-string.

String thru---Well, I just thought it would be interesting to try, see if it affects the "woodiness" of the tone.

No, bro, you don't sound condescending, but you do sound a little anal and closed-minded, as alot of us gear heads can be!

I haven't played the Fender, but I think my Jaco bass has way more vibe!
 
I have a serious tendancy to come off as negative and arguementative, so yeah, i can be pretty close minded about ALOT of things.
In the interest of defending my position:

Epoxy:

The epoxy gave his tone a certain sizzle in the high end. I never got to play my bass before the epoxy coating was applied, so i cant personally say how big a difference epoxy makes, but i have heard that it makes a big difference.
Jaco only played the BOD at gigs, because the strings tore into the board.
The Petits PolyPoxy he used wasn't as good at resisting string wear as today's epoxies, but it had to do something to protect the rosewood.

Active electronics:

Well, this is more of a passive guys vs. active guys thing.

Coming from an electronics background, there are a number of reasons that i am a passive guy, mainly that passive circuits do not limit bandwidth, headroom, or add noise in any way, they only reduce high frequencies using capacitors are resistors.

I believe that the stingray was introduced in 1977. I don't see a bass like the stingray being of any interest to a jazz player at the time, but i would imagine that he must have tried a few active basses in the 10 years following before his death.

Jaco owned over 100 basses in his lifetime, but he obviously had a thing for jazz basses, which are distinctly passive.

5 string:

Insert "Jaco only needed four" arguement or agreement here. You get people on both sides.

Jaco did play a 5 string acoustic bass.




 
Hey there,
This is my first post, and I Love this bass!  I have to ask, are you glad you went with the string thru body design?  I'm putting together a very similar concoction right now and it seems like the way to go, but I haven't heard any advice on this, and I haven't been able to play any string-thru basses.  I'm going for a funk tone more than jazz, and I'm worried it might make it sound even too woody/acoustic.  By the way, to all the other folks out there with too much time on their hands, this bass is obviously Jaco inspired; it is also obviously not a replica.  Be nice.  Saying that a burst finished fretless Jbass is not Jaco inspired is like saying a Strat body is not inspired by Leo Fender's designs.  Who cares anyways; it looks sick from where I'm sitting.  Good work!

-Preston
 
PrestonSF said:
I'm putting together a very similar concoction right now and it seems like the way to go, but I haven't heard any advice on this, and I haven't been able to play any string-thru basses.  I'm going for a funk tone more than jazz, and I'm worried it might make it sound even too woody/acoustic. 

I don't think the differences are that pronounced.  Get a convertible bridge that can do either, and try both ways.  You could also top mount and string-thru different strings.
 
Thanks for the kind words, Preston. I had lots of fun designing/assembling this bass, and I'm having a blast playing it. I would agree with the comment above, in that I don't think the string-thru makes a huge difference, and a bridge that could accommodate both would be ideal. I do end up playing this bass "unplugged" (sleeping babies) and I'm convinced that the string thru does make it sing more when not amplified. Plugged in, though, I think pickups, fretboard material and bridge "mass" are going to define 80% of the tone. This particular bass does have a woody tone, but I credit the unfinished ebony fingerboard, as opposed to an epoxy coated board. If you're buiding a fretted bass, this won't be an issue. Let me know if you need any parts sources or pointers.

 
newmexstrings said:
....Jaco P. would definitely be on the active bus.

  Sorry dude... I gotta disagree whole-heartedly with this one.  :glasses10:

... nice bass btw.
 
line6man said:
Again, not to sound condescending, but just about any fretless bass with a Jazz style design would be considered as "Jaco inspired"...

Agreed - it's all just a matter of perception, you know...
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