JAMERSON’S BASS RIG:
When he graduated from high school, Jamerson bought a German upright acoustic bass, which he played for the rest of his life. He bought a refinished black '57 P-Bass (Fender Precision Bass®) from a friend in 1960, replacing it, when it was stolen, with an early Sixties sunburst model. When that bass was likewise stolen he purchased a '62 sunburst P-Bass, nicknamed the “Funk Machine,” that he owned up until it too was taken just before he died. Over the years, he experimented with a 5-string Fender and an 8-string Hagstrom, as well as a fretless model. His string choice consisted of LaBella, heavy gauge flatwound strings. An Ampeg B-15 and a blue Naugahyde Kustom were his two regular gigging amps. With few exceptions, Jamerson always recorded directly into the board at Motown.
To most other musicians, that bass was unplayable. Jamerson kept his action very high, and his neck was bowed due to lack of truss rod maintenance. He rarely cleaned his guitar, and he never cleaned the fretboard. To Jamerson, the sweat and dirt on the bass was the secret of his sound, the essence of the funk.