James Jamerson - Jamerson's Equipment

Jamerson's Equipment

James Jamerson's double bass was a German upright acoustic bass that he bought as a teenager and later used on such Motown hits as "My Guy" by Mary Wells and "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas.

Jamerson played mainly the Fender Precision Bass, but is known to briefly have used a Fender Bass V and a Hagström 8-string later in his career.

His first electric bass was a 1957 Precision Bass, refinished in black, with a gold anodized pickguard and maple fretboard, nicknamed "Black Beauty". That bass was a gift from his fellow bassplayer Horace "Chili" Ruth. In the sixties, that bass was stolen.

After his 1957 Precision Bass was stolen, he acquired a stock 1962 Fender Precision Bass which was dubbed "The Funk Machine." It had a three-tone sunburst finish, a tortoise-shell pickguard, rosewood fretboard and chrome pickup and bridge covers (the latter containing a piece of foam used to dampen sustain and some overtones). On the heel of the instrument he carved with ballpoint pen the word "FUNK" He typically set its volume and tone knobs on full. This instrument was also stolen, just days before Jamerson's death in 1983. To date, it has not been found.

James Jamerson used La Bella heavy-gauge (.052-.110) flatwound strings which were never replaced, unless a string broke. He didn't particularly took care of the instrument, as he stated: "The junk keeps the funk", and it is possible that the neck eventually warped, as many claimed it impossible to play. While this made it more difficult to fret, Jamerson believed it improved the quality of the tone. Early in the '70s, a producer attempted to modernize James Jamerson's sound by asking the bassist to switch to brighter-sounding roundwound bass strings. Jamerson politely declined.

One aspect of James Jamerson's upright playing that carried over to the electric bass guitar was the fact that he generally used only his right index finger to pluck the strings while resting his 3rd and 4th fingers on the chrome pickup cover. Jamerson's index finger even earned its own nickname: "The Hook".

Jamerson's amplifier of choice at club performances was an Ampeg B-15 ; in larger venues, he used a blue Naugahyde Kustom with twin 15" speakers. On both, the bass was typically turned up full and the treble turned halfway up. On most of his studio recordings, his bass was plugged directly into the custom made mixing console together with the guitars from Eddie Willis, Robert White and Joe Mesina. He adjusted the console so that his sound was slightly overdriven and had a mild tube compression.