James Jamerson

If you trace the roots of your favorite bassist, whatever the genre of the bassist, you almost always come down to James Jamerson. He had such huge impact on bassist today. His bass play go beyond the just back-music and played a important role in Motown music. He knock the bottom of the image of simple repetitive bass style. Jamerson’s bass lines were more melodic, more syncopated, and more improvisational than had been heard before, but never disarrange the main melody. His bass lines could create beautiful harmony with the singer. He uses only first finger to play, so his finger was nicknamed “the hook”. This habit is attribute to the fact that he played uplight bass before he started to use electric bass. He is the first bassist who was inducted into the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Instrument
James Jamerson uses1962 Fender Precision bass known as “The Funk Machine” with .052-.110 heavy gauge strings. He never exchange the strings for years (Usually, professional bassist exchange the strings for each stage). He said “This dirt keep the funkness”. This made motown fat bass sound. However, “The Funk Machine” was stolen from Jamerson’s Los Angeles house shortly before his death in 1983, and it have not been found.