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Post subject: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:46 pm
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Ok I just went here: http://www.bobbabbitt.com/smf/index.php?topic=113.0

There is some pretty convincing information here on Bob Babbitt's site that the Funk Machine was a '63 P-Bass, not a '62 as I've always heard.

Even before "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown" came out I had read it was a '62. Now I read the interview with Jamerson and look at some of the other evidence and I think we've been told wrong. So now I have to go out and get a '63!

Also a revelation here that it was stolen in Detroit, not in LA. Wow. I suppose next I'll hear the Earth is flat after all.

Anyone have anything definitive to add on this? Is the reward still up or is it withdrawn?


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:09 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
Anyone have anything definitive to add on this? Is the reward still up or is it withdrawn?

All I can add to this is WOW!! kind of a surprise for sure,....but hey now you have a reason to buy a new American Vintage '63 Sunburst P-Bass .... not bad I'd say :)


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:19 pm
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This might explain why it's not been found. To paraphrase Indiana Jones, we've been digging in the wrong place. I never looked twice at any 63's, just 62's. Also never knew it got gone in Detroit.


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:53 pm
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I hope the Funk Machine is still un-modified. Somebody could have routed for a J pickup, likely to be in the wrong spot...refinish, the works.


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:17 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
This might explain why it's not been found. To paraphrase Indiana Jones, we've been digging in the wrong place. I never
.

Good Point Dave,..... I never officially knew what city his Bass got stolen..... I just always assumed it was Detroit for some reason..










[/quote]


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:38 pm
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Could it be that he bought a "62 in "63? Hmmmm, the plot thickens. time to call in the experts.

There's a serial bass thief!

Image


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:46 pm
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I had thought that the Funk machine was actually a '66 Precision only because of a Jamerson interview done by Guitar player magazine that had pictures of James holding his bass. It definitely had a transition Fender logo and it had that 1966 look to it. Now it could be that the bass in the pictures was another bass owned by James and not the Funk Machine but I never had the impression that he had a lot of basses.

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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:25 pm
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There is a report on Babbitt's site that James L. Jamerson's four Fender P-Basses owned one at a time were a late 50's Fender (some say it was a 57 others say a 59) which was stolen in 1961, next a '61 stolen in 1963, then a 62 or 63 depending on whom you believe stolen in 1966 which is the legendary "FUNK MACHINE" and finally the '66 you saw in the photo and the one he took to LA. So four P-Basses. All four stolen.

Previously in the SITSOM book and in other references it was said there were two, the late 50's one and a 62. So that info is wrong if the info on these posts is right.

He also owned a Hagstrom 8 string, a Fender Bass V. So far as I know nobody stole those, but I could be wrong.

However his Ampeg B-15 amp was stolen form an LA storage locker about a month before the bass, whichever one it actually was, was stolen from his home in LA. None of the stolen basses or the B-15 have ever popped up.

Last summer (2012) A PBS TV show called "History Detectives" investigated one B-15 amp that many thought could be Jamerson's B-15 since "James Jamerson" was stenciled on the back of it. LA bassist Steve Fishman stumbled upon it at a shop somewhere and probably squealed like a girl. He calls "History Detectives." "History Detectives" comes to LA to get the amp and then takes it to Detroit. They see Dennis Coffey there and he says that was probably the amp, but after the show is over and done James Jamerson Jr announces publicly that it is NOT his father's amp because the switches are in the wrong place. Jr says he later found a photo of his dad with the stolen B-15 and the photo confirms the switches ARE wrong on the "found" B-15. (Jr. is a bassist himself and remembered the amp very well and actually used it some.) Why someone would stencil Jamerson's name on the amp not belonging to him is beyond me. Maybe for Mojo.


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:49 am
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Just curious how many of us are out there hoping the Funk Machine surfaces.


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 7:47 am
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Interesting stuff (as usual !) thanks Dave,......I knew he had a bass stolen but I didn't know
he had 4 basses & an amp stolen,.....incredible..

oxfan wrote:
Just curious how many of us are out there hoping the Funk Machine surfaces.

I'm definitely one of those who hopes it surfaces at some point,...... hey remember the hoopla that ensued when Jaco's Bass of doom surfaced a few years ago..


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:15 am
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In the article James Jamerson says that the bass was bought in 1963 but it still could be a 1962 model.

I am not confinced by 1 picture taken from a certain distance.

Does anyone have more (better) pictures of James Jamerson and his bass?


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:12 pm
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Interesting, and something to think about/follow, but I am staying with 62 for now.

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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:55 pm
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PS. I had an 8 string Hagstrom. There is a reason no one stole it!

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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:42 pm
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affprod wrote:
PS. I had an 8 string Hagstrom. There is a reason no one stole it!


Good One !! :lol: :lol:


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Post subject: Re: THE FUNK
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 11:31 pm
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affprod wrote:
PS. I had an 8 string Hagstrom. There is a reason no one stole it!


I figured the same about the Bass V.


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