My Jazz Bass Story

The cover story on this month's Bass Player magazine digs into the Fender Jazz bass and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the instrument's creation. Fun side note - that means I've never known a world without the Jazz bass. As part of that story, BP asked readers to submit pics and stories about their instruments, so this is my entry. To the left is the picture, ably taken as part of the photoshoot for Teach Yourself Visually Bass Guitar (feel free to buy the book for more Jazz bass pr0n and some helpful instruction). You'll see a fairly standard 2001 American Standard Jazz Bass, modified by yours truly with a Roland GK-2B MIDI pickup. Since then, the stock pickups gave way to some Nordstrand split-coil pickups. Absolutely no difference cosmetically, but they take a lot of hum out of the signal when one has a higher volume than the other. That's just what Jazz basses do - it's their innate character.

What's fun about this story is the way I came to own this particular instrument. I'd first noticed it in the hands of the wonderful bassist who'd replaced me after I left a local funk group. His playing certainly stood out, but it was the bass I noticed when I first saw the band perform. It looked right, it sounded right, and I just loved hearing it. I made a mental note to play this kind of bass the next time I went shopping, went back to listening to the band, and didn't think too much about it. Going forward a few years, I was finally in the market for a new bass, but for entirely different reasons. I'd acquired the MIDI pickup and module I use now, and it was going to be too much effort to put on the finicky curves of my Stingray. Thus, I actually went out to look for a bass that would easily accept the MIDI pickup. The local music store had just the model - a wonderful Jazz bass. Turns out the bassist (and a friend by now) had sold the bass to this shop, and the choice was easy. Between the sound, the ease of the MIDI pickup installation, and the trust I had in the graphite-reinforced neck (I'd seen some bad things happen to Jazz necks before), it was an easy choice. Side note: I also let my friend know that if he was going to keep selling instruments like this, let me know. Ended up buying a cool P-Bass from him a few years later, too. But the Jazz is still the versatile, comfortable, and multi-functional instrument I prefer to use whenever I can. It just feels right.

So there's the story, Bass Player. Thanks for letting me share it.