Music Man Joe Dart Signature Bass First Look 

It's for when you're living so loud, you can turn it down. A lot of people don't know this, but the original design for the Joe Dart Signature bass featured two knobs. Jack Stratton is said to have perfected a knob that could increase or decrease funkiness using as-yet unknown properties of nanoparticles, quarks, and paradiddles. Shortly after inventing this control, it was discovered that there was only one setting worth using, and that was all the way up, or "Funky" in the common vernacular. The only requirement left was to allow the creation of said funk in a low volume manner. As we all know from Professor Stratton's groundbreaking paper "On the Musical Dynamics of Funky Basses", the volume of a given funk is not constant, but is in fact relative and some speculate may even be attuned to the grooves that turn you off. The remaining "volume control", still present on the bass to this day, is the perfect compliment to an instrument with the funk set on full. Rotating the knob produces a linear attenuation to the electrical signal produced by the pickups, thereby reducing this output in a pleasing way.

It's like an anti compression knob at 10 and a poor man's compression at 1-2

Sometimes you might be playing a show and find that - your bass is too loud or too quiet - we put a unmistakeable - can't miss it - volume knob.

@@LukasParzinger That'll never catch on. Real men use the volume knob on their amp! Why would you need anything else?

Flush the toilet

That's impossible!

Almost Free Bass that’s true.

@@skraegorn7317 yeah

That's true!

It really is a funk bass

You think it's not versatile, YOUR NOT VERSATILE...

it really does go

The longer I watch this video, it gets funkier

literally Theodore Roosevelt #NoMireGovernmentSubsidiesForBass #VlanceArmstrength

derek reed no, your eating 4 pounds of white flour pasta.

4 pounds of white flour pasta A NIGHT, just putting in the work!

@@boiboi7717 stop whining!

AttakaiMusic NO MORE government subsidies for active basses

yeah! talk to em

You'd be surprised how many "one trick pony" comments there have been. I'm making a new video to .. address those concerns.

@@almostfreebass9105 oh yeah haha. Cant wait.

Almost Free Bass those people aren’t versatile

@@CouchEconomyTX you think vlance armstrength is shifting into the active bass granny gear in the French alps

You think this isn't versatile? YOU'RE NOT VERSATILE

Of course

E v e r y

S i n g l e

T h I n g

:: insert "the more you know" meme here ::

Well, you could argue that it is limited to only 50, so...

Pretty much Music Man in a nutshell

@@eduardopuccini I guess, but it's nothing special other than having the artist name on it. I've seen signature basses from Fender and Ibanez for a lot less.

@@HumansFreshlyBorn They're midrange priced basses. They're well made, and their prices haven't gone up much at all for at least 20 years At least for the basic models. I got my Stingray 5 back in 1998. They weren't producing a lot of basses per year back then. I was told 80 per year at the time. Their quality is great! It has been my go-to bass since then, and the one I get asked to play.

It really is for Christ sake,you could go to your local luthier and get a bass with the same specs and I bet it wouldn't cost more than half the price. Like what are you paying for,the fact it's a one piece body,with yeah a rather beautiful finish,and that's it?

Phillip Simmer Yeah, that's what Music Man basses cost new. And?

thats not very expensive for an instrument

Look at a wildly overpriced German Warwick or a new Les Paul or ES 335 if you want to be offended by price-quality ratio. Music Man makes some of the absolute best, most consistently excellent (seriously- they're always GREAT) mass-produced instruments currently extant. I think 2 grand is kinda too high, but looking around at other instruments' price tags shows me that it apparently isn't.

@@The_sinner_Jim_Whitney $2000 is relatively cheap for a quality instrument. It is not hard to spend $4k+ on high end instruments

C.J Armstrong Yeah, but specifically Music Man's prices have ballooned a little disproportionately lately. I love Music Man instruments (I own 5) and really don't care what they cost within reason, if the tone is up your alley, I truly don't believe you can buy a higher quality, more dependable mass-produced instrument. Yeah, I know all about high-dollar boutique-ish stuff. I've had US Lakland, German Warwick, Modulus, and Taylor basses over the years. They all got sold, and it would take a HELL of a lot to make me come off of any of my Music Man instruments, of which I intend to buy more.

Do you use La Bella flat strings? 45/65/85/105?

The strings on this bass are the ones that shipped on them. Just going by the color of the thread wrap, which is unique for each string set Ernie Ball makes, they are unique to this instrument, and are "brighter" than the regular Ernie Ball flats.

Thanks for the love! Working on some more content right now :)

mate, sounds like you could just make one yourself

Voice from above I could, and am planning and amassing parts to convert one of my Sterlings to essentially the same setup, but it won't be the cool, special model with that BEAUTIFUL flamed neck. We Music Man freaks are into weirdo stuff that came from their factory, and there are a LOT of factory made Music Man instruments that they made less than 50 of. I want the Dart model because of that nerdiness, plus the aforementioned gorgeous neck.

@@The_sinner_Jim_Whitney Well, someone over in San Luis Obispo must have heard you, because they appear to be on sale once more: www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/joe-dart "Buy Now" and "Financing Available" options appear to be present and functional.

Almost Free Bass Hell, yeah! Now I have to sell something and buy one of these beauties! I can totally get a couple grand out of my LS-swapped Astro van, and my truck has made it kinda obsolete...

Y’all sure make it sound easy to just put together a parts bass and get this bass...you can’t..can you get close..? Probably, but you won’t have the same pickup or craftsmanship that MM has, and I’m not a MM fanboy...I think it’s worth it if you dig the sound and construction...$2k isn’t that bad for a quality passive bass that’s gonna kill everytime you play it.. I mean, it’s essentially a Sterling without the preamp and controls...if you’d pay $2k a new Sterling, why wouldn’t you pay $2k for an all passive one if that’s your thing..?

If u use a picc, you are not epicc 😉

Not anymore . . . ;-P

I mean he played all of Madison Square Garden with this...

@@lukas_copy_1 Reject modernity, embrace tradition

JOE DART ON THE JOE DART

Eduardo Bernheim who in their right mind would prefer a boring, generic Fender over a Musicman? Lol

We may never know

Yes, exactly! And those are frequently two different things. The same is true of guitar tone. The tone that sounds best on its own when you're practicing usually doesn't fit in a band or studio setting. And then any time I've listened to an isolated guitar or bass track from a song I love I'm always surprised how different it is from what I would have dialed in. Beastly is a good example: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-T9xRuViPdkI.html

@@almostfreebass9105 Exatcly, my friend. I came from drums (still a drummer), but nowadays I play bass and guittar too. In drums I´ve learned that a good tone listened from behind the drumset is usually is poor for the audience. To dry and lifeless. The overtones makes the magic. May sound strange for the player, but perfect for the audience. All instruments need this. Guitars usually need more mids and many players like a scooped sound. That´s the fun of music. Learn and never know everything.

No, that's impossible.

I never ever got that quote. I don’t think I’m supposed to.

@@kevinhobbs125 It's from Vulfpeck's video of this bass where Joe Dart himself said it while showcasing it. It also has an unmistakble, cant miss it volume knob by the way

@@epeli4585 okay, but what is it controlling?

@@QaysSyed This bass was shipped with the very strings that are on this bass right now

Yes, absolutely! That track will be on Reckless Deriver's new album that's not quite out yet. Once it's released I'd love to do tabs and maybe even some playalong videos. Thanks for the idea!

Anders Behring Boss how do you get it?

I wasn't fast enough to get one at all, and it really bums me out.

Still using the very same strings it shipped with - they're flats they just sound that bright. They probably won't need replacing any time this century, but I have to admit I'm curious as to how some rounds would sound on it.

@@almostfreebass9105 wow they are quite bright! If you do put rounds on it, you should upload a follow up video. I'd be quite curious

Well, it's buttery and warm, and is at least partly made from maple. This bass has to be at least next door neighbors with pancakes.

@@almostfreebass9105 it's a great looking bass

It wants some fried eggs.

Almost Free Bass it’s next door neighbors with the pancake midi controller Jack Stratton uses in the Birds of a Feather video.

Great question! I don't know about heresy, but I wouldn't change the strings mainly just for the sake of not having to put the slightly-used flats back on. Plus I already have a 1994 Sterling with Rotosound '66s on it. That's in a followup video I made comparing 3 different Sterling basses. With all that maple the flats are already really bright, I can't imagine how bright rounds would be.

They were on sale for about 45 minutes directly from EBMM.

Labellas

It came with a completely new custom flatwound set from Ernie Ball. They're the brightest flats I've ever heard. I'm still not sure how to get a replacement set but I imagine La Bella Deep Talk in wouldn't be too far off.

@@fearless_ambassador_ambo I haven't played the Slinky Cobalts so I can't compare how they feel or sound, but the thread wrap on these is definitely a lighter shade of blue, indicating it's a different formulation from EB.

This is my butchering of the ambiguously named "Allegretto" by Mozart as arranged and performed by Michael Manring on the album "The Mozart Variations".

Yep, I used the very strings it came with, which were a the brightest set of flats I've ever experienced.

The high profile frets combine with the special strings that ship with the instrument to make all that brightness happen. Subbing roundwound for flatwound -- which is what I'm interpreting as "normal" -- would likely have too much fret buzz. I'm not sure what fret size is on my '94 Sterling but it's definitely shorter than the Joe Dart bass. It's got a good amount of bite and snarl already, and definitely doesn't need taller frets to have more.

Then it wouldn’t really be a joe dart signature, would it?

It's the same pickup, but you're probably seeing the black electrical tape over the poles. That just keeps the strings from making contact with the poles and popping.

@@almostfreebass9105 Hey, thanks! Mystery solved!

@@almostfreebass9105 wait, thats a thing?!

@@testtest6169 It sure is, I think it was in one of the AMAs

@Teadat “that’s impossible”

I'm not sure of the exact number, but just over 100 were produced. It was only the first 50 given the "First 50" designation and numbered, signed plate on the neck.

Update: as of January 2020 they are once again for sale directly from Music Man www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/joe-dart

There is no EQ, this is just direct in with no modification.

Can you make more vids with this bass Please

@@copium480 You'll get your wish soon enough, I'm going into the studio tomorrow to record some tracks, so stay tuned!

basses are the low end. What do you mean?

You’re not versatile

If you think the bass is not versatile, YOU'RE NOT VERSATILE

You're not versatile

@@Lovebird_music well im not saying its not versatile, just a little less versitile than a stingray. As all basses can be can be very versitile with the right amp setting. I play a p bass, a very simple bass buy small tweaks on the amp and its very versitile and i imagine this does the same thing but with its own humbucker flavour. But it still is very similar to a stingray in sound and has less features(which can be a good thing). Overall i think its a good bass. Looks like a great funk machine.

STOP WHINING! No government subsides for active basses!

You're the first one to get the pun! Bass is my addiction.. I'd smoke it if I could .. It's almost freebase

Duco Romme It sounds almost nothing like a Stingray, even less like the Sterling it's based on. Yeah, the pickup design and position is going to make it sound vaguely recognizable as a Music Man, but all the sauce that makes them unmistakeable is in the preamp. This sounds and responds worlds different from a typical Music Man.

Sounds nothing like a Stingray

You're not versatile!

i guarantee that if they are limited and not made again for a while that they will skyrocket in price.

And they’re selling them again, and I don’t think it’s gonna be limited run cause I contacted MM

Did you happen to look at the other US made Music Man basses? $1999 is the cheapest model. If you don't want a nice bass that's fine but other people do.

@@almostfreebass9105 dude chill out..

I mean I get the idea of it being a simplistic bass, however, I can get the same feeling out of a G&L Kiloton (another single H passive bass) for about $500 cheaper. There are better simplistic Basses on the market. However, I love Joe Dart. This bass is nice, no doubt. But the price is... yeah a bit much.

@@TheGeekFactor_ exactly, I'm not saying it's not a nice bass, but I'd much rather spend 2 grand on a bass that gives me tonal variation, or at least idk a tone control?

Kraz3e987 well it’s a preference thing. It is neat that it’s super simplistic, but it’s really nothing more than a gimmick. More options is only a good thing

I think you already know that the answer is yes.

that's the cheap musicman copy that the Joe Dart bass was modeled after

@@superandrd Looks like a Yamaha BBN to me, look at the headstock

Yeah, I mean no pickup this, its not versatile!

You're not versatile!

Thanks!

You have wonderfully and comically missed the point of this instrument, this video, bass guitar, and quite possibly life itself. Thank you for your contribution and putting a smile on my face.

Almost Free Bass damn that was cold