Yep... I'd automatically knock off $2,500 for that and that missing piece of the pickguard on the lower horn.
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An auction of "James Jamerson Owned and Played 1961 Fender Precision Bass..."
- Thread starter Snaxster
- Start date
Yep... I'd automatically knock off $2,500 for that and that missing piece of the pickguard on the lower horn.
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By the time this thread circulates and all the photographic forensics are complete.....maybe DNA also, the truth will come out lol. CSI ain't got s*^t on TB members.
I'm in, I just want to play the 1st 3 notes of My Girl anyway.
I love the scotch tape; pre-duct tape, vintage tint, it hits all the marks.
Yup, I'm well-acquainted with the Funk Machine
ZOMG Tired of being HIT ON at shows!!! (1st gig pwnage content)
ZOMG Tired of being HIT ON at shows!!! (1st gig pwnage content)
That's what I say every time I see an all-original vintage bass. You could shoot arrows with most of them.Look at the sky-high action on that mother! Jamerson and Hayes must've had some freakin' lumberjack hands!
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Bri, this is indeed interesting! But, impossible to corroborate. Impossible. James had three Ps, the black '57, the '61 (as this is), and the Funk Machine, which was a '65 or '66. If this bass was James', where's the worn off chrome and indentations in the pickup cover? His middle and fourth fingers wore divots into those covers ;-) And, the cracked pickguard tip is a malady found on probably 7 of 10 of all vintage Fenders. Another thought is the timing of the auction. Only one person could have possibly given insight, James III, and sadly, he's now no longer here.
Also, James' '61 had the broken pickguard tip in the early/mid 60s, the auction pics show the seller using the bass in '68 with an unbroken guard. Hmmm... And the auction pic bass doesn't and never had a hootenanny button. The pics in '68 of the seller show a button. Hmmmmm..... Also, 50 year old LaBellas would have fuzzy, frayed messy silks at the tuners. These look nearly new. Hmmmm....
You know that beast just smells funky. I mean, funky as an old dive bar on Sunday morning. Probably smells of cigarettes, old booze, stale perfume and cheep weed. Definitely not for the faint hearted.
It's very interesting! Should fetch more than the normal price for a pre CBS Fender Precision, but one might honestly ask 'why?' James had a bass that he was willing to loan to a bass playing friend, maybe a backup bass that he didn't like as much as another? He might have asked for the bass from another bass player that he knew had an extra, to help his friend out too. If the seller could link that particular bass to recordings or gigs that James did, that could help!
If this bass could be proven to be James' second P-Bass, the one he had before the Funk Machine, then it definitely appeared on many classic Motown recordings, but as Fran points out, there are a lot of inconsistencies.
- Steve
Has there ever been a biography on him?. I very vaguely remember reading about him but can't say for sure.
I'd demand indemnification if I was going to buy it (not that I could afford to.)
Last thing I'd want is one of Jamerson's descendants filing a suit to get it back "for the estate" since it apparently was "borrowed" and never returned per the story given by the auction house.
The higher the money it sells for, the greater the likelihood a relative or former SO will emerge out of the woodwork with an attorney and legal papers. I could even see some serious well-heeled collector hunting down someone with some shred of a legal claim to it and financing the legal action. Happens in the art and rare book world every so often. Widows and exes tend to make out very well from lawsuits like that.
Last thing I'd want is one of Jamerson's descendants filing a suit to get it back "for the estate" since it apparently was "borrowed" and never returned per the story given by the auction house.
The higher the money it sells for, the greater the likelihood a relative or former SO will emerge out of the woodwork with an attorney and legal papers. I could even see some serious well-heeled collector hunting down someone with some shred of a legal claim to it and financing the legal action. Happens in the art and rare book world every so often. Widows and exes tend to make out very well from lawsuits like that.
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