Fender Custom Shop Jaco Pastorius Tribute Bass

The Greatest Bass Player in the World

Legend has it that Jaco Pastorius wound up earning the bass chair in the legendary fusion supergroup Weather Report by walking up to keyobardist Joe Zawinul and saying "Hi, I'm Jaco Pastorius, the greatest bass player in the world" and giving him a demo that backed up his claim. Jaco proved the truth of his words time and time again over the course of a too-short career that included collaborations with Joni Mitchell, Al Di Meola, and Pat Metheny as well as a several incredible solo records. Now, the Fender Custom Shop pays tribute to Jaco's enduring greatness by providing bassists with a loving recreation of Jaco's iconic Bass of Doom, a '62 Jazz bass that he converted to a fretless.

To be honest, Wildwoodians, playing these Custom Shop creations will give you chills. Jaco was a legend mainly because his playing was so far above the purview of most bassists that few of us can ever aspire to reach his level, but his bass sound was also a key ingredient in his musical casserole. Its bright, smooth, horn-like character was an important tool that allowed him to reach new heights of expressiveness in his playing, and these Custom Shop Fenders have captured the essence of that sound. This bass may not make you play like Jaco, but its '60s Custom Shop pickups and resonant alder body do allow you to capture the magic of his sound. You can make harmonics pop and bloom with ease, and you can get girthy lows with woody low-mids from the neck pickup and vocal midrange with biting highs from the bridge pickup.

The geniuses at the Custom Shop have also given these basses startlingly accurate looks and feel. The C-shaped neck profile is big enough to feel substantial but thin enough to shred upon, and the 7.25" radius gives it a perfect vintage feel. Also, the slab rosewood fretboard has been finished with epoxy, just like on Jaco's '62! All of these factors come together to give you a bass with the sort of feel that makes your fingers feel weightless as they fly over the fretboard. Also, the nitrocellulose lacquer finish has a relic job that recreates the battle scars of Jaco's bass with obsessive attention to detail.

The Wildwood team believes that these Jaco Pastorius Tribute Jazz Basses are worthy of carrying the name of the greatest bassist ever, and we are proud to offer them to our exceptional customers. We invite you to pick one up yourself and discover what new avenues of creative expression these fearsome fretless basses open up for you!