Instruments
King has used various models of bass guitar through the years, the two most commonly used brands have been Jaydee (as exemplified by "Love Games") and the Status Graphite (evident on his solo works). The Jaydees were built by John Diggins, a former employee of John Birch. Jaydee is phonetic for his initials, J.D.
Mark King has used Status Graphite basses since the 1980s including the Series-2000 and Empathy models. In November 2000, Rob Green and Mark King developed the Status KingBass, a headless, double cut-away bass with a woven graphite through-neck, Status Hyperactive pickups and active electronics. Status LEDs are a custom option on all Status models. Status Graphite basses are handmade in England by Rob Green.
Other known basses he has used are Alembics (specifically custom Series II models), of which there is a Signature Mark King model, Pangborn basses, a Zon bass (on the album "World Machine" for the song "Lying Still"). King's first fretless bass was a Japanese-made "Moon" Jazz-style bass. King also owned two Music Man Stingray basses, a Wal bass, which was fitted with an MB4 MIDI interface (used on the album "Guaranteed", on the track "Lasso The Moon").
In 1996, King briefly used Fender basses. A limited run of 42 "Mark King" Jazz basses were made, based on the American Deluxe series, built and set up to King's specifications. They all came fitted with SIM's LED lights, flat-radiused fingerboards and a custom neck plate engraved with his signature. Also in 1999, King used two GB Spitfire basses, handmade in England by Bernie Goodfellow.
Read more about this topic: Mark King (musician)
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