Hot off the heels of celebrating 75 Years of Precision Bass, Fender is introducing the James Jamerson Precision Bass. It’s a meticulous recreation of Jamerson’s legendary ’62 P Bass, honoring the bass titan’s legacy.
Becoming “The Hook”: James Jamerson, Bass Titan
It can’t be understated just how influential James Jamerson and his bass playing have been to just about any popular genre. If you talk to professional bassists, be it in funk, rock, pop, reggae, or even metal, Jamerson will be one of the very few bass players everyone can agree on.
Jamerson rose to public attention much after his untimely passing at the age of 48. Because outside of session musician and producer circles, many music fans had never heard the name of the person behind the iconic basslines on many of Motown’s hits from the sixties and seventies. The 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, about the session-musician group the Funk Brothers, changed that.
During that era, session musicians were often not very well paid and rarely credited for their work. But once you start researching who was responsible for playing bass on songs like Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Live”, Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grape Vine” and “What’s Going On”, The Temptations’ “My Girl”, or “Bernadette” from The Four Tops, you’ll realize how influential Jamerson was.
The Fender James Jamerson Precision Bass
To mark the P Bass’ 75 Birthday, Fender has not only released a few anniversary models, but, today, the company is showing the James Jamerson Precision Bass. It’s closely modeled after Jamerson’s original ’62 P Bass that he most often used during the recordings of all of these hits.
Legendary bass vibes from James Jamerson · Source: Fender
Featuring a classic three-color sunburst heirloom nitrocellulose lacquer finish, Fender says that it will “patina beautifully over time, just like the original.” The James Jamerson Precision Bass comes with an alder body and a bolt-on maple neck with an era-correct 1961 “C” profile.
Keeping it close to the original, Fender also went for a slab rosewood fretboard, clay dot inlays, a bone nut, and 20 vintage tall frets. Regarding measurements, the bass comes with a 34″ scale and a 7.25″ fretboard radius.
’60 Precision Bass Split Single Coil
You can’t tell because of the chrome pickup cover, but the James Jamerson Precision Bass comes with a ’60-style Precision Bass Split Single Coil that gives that legendary “thump”, p basses are famous for. In addition to the pickup cover, Fender has also installed a bridge cover.
Chrome covers to match the original · Source: Fender
Underneath, you get a pure vintage 4-saddle bridge with threaded steel saddles, but also a foam cover that Jamerson used in his bass for dampening. To round it all up, the signature bass comes with open-gear pure vintage reverse machine heads, master volume and master tone controls for the split-coil, and a 4-ply tortoiseshell pickguard.
Of course, if you want to stay this close to the man’s famous original, you’ve got to use flatwounds as well. Fender has thought of that, too. The James Jamerson Precision Bass features La Bella Flat Wounds (.052 – .110), like the ones James played.
How much does the Fender James Jamerson Precision Bass cost?
The Fender James Jamerson Precision Bass is available from Thomann* for $3,499 / £3,155 / €3.629. A brown vintage-style case with orange lining is included.
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