Fender and Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus have joined forces for a signature bass guitar that offers a quietly radical reimagining of classic designs, with the latter-day punk icon taking the scenic route through the spec sheet to put his stamp on the Jaguar Bass.
This is the second signature Fender bass release of the year, and comes just weeks after the unveiling of the Blu DeTiger Player Plus Jazz Bass. Like Blu DeTiger’s Sky Burst Sparkle doozie, this too is a limited edition model, and is available now in 3-Tone Sunburst or Sea Foam Green.
Both finish options looking the bee’s knees with those pearloid pickguards, and the Sea Foam Green model even has a matching headstock.
The Mark Hoppus Jaguar Bass is really a looker, and it is the same bass he plays onstage. It pairs the on-trend offset Jaguar body with a Jazz Bass neck, and deploys a reverse-mounted Seymour Duncan split-coil for that high-output P Bass vibe.
Hoppus has gone for a solid alder body because… Well, we’ll let Hoppus reel off the finer points of his new signature model’s build.
“It has a Jaguar body,” he says. “It has a Jazz bass neck, C style, rosewood fretboard, pearloid pickguard, one volume knob because I don’t need a tone knob – my tone comes from the wood, which in this case is alder, the maple neck, and of course, it comes from my pickups. I’ve used Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickups that are mounted inverted so that the lower strings are closer to the bridge and give them a little more brightness. This bass is really nice, and I hope players enjoy it.”
And we are sure they will. There’s also a treble bleed circuit so the tone doesn’t get all muddy and flabby when you dial the volume back, which is useful when you are playing high-volume, high-gain rock and punk, and want to clean up your overdriven bass tone for those quieter melodic parts.
Signature details can be found around the back of the instrument, where the neck-plate is engraved with the “Hi, My Name is Mark” octopus logo. Another cool touch can be found on the headstock where the model’s name is abbreviated to “Jag” in a bold sans-serif typeface. That’s kinda punk.
Justin Norvell, Fender’s executive vice president of product, says Hoppus’ new four-string has everything you need to nail Blink-182 tones.
“Mark knew what he wanted when ideating this bass,” said Norvell. “In turn, that is what fans of blink-182 fans want too. It’s been a true joy to work with Hoppus and help create this signature Jaguar bass. Hoppus’ use of this bass on stages worldwide showcases its exceptional sonic capabilities.
“By incorporating Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickups in a reverse position, he’s enabled fans to achieve the iconic Blink-182 tone they’ve always dreamed of. I can’t wait to see how musicians worldwide will bring their creativity to this instrument.”
Other essential things to note? The scale length is 34”, the fingerboard radius is 9.5” and the nut width measures 38.1mm. As you might expect there are 20 medium jumbo frets, with white pearloid dot markers counting them out.
The neck has a satin urethane finish while the rest of the instrument is high-gloss. You can send your bass guitar strings through the body or top-load them on the 4-Saddle HiMass Vintage bridge. That sole volume control is knurled metal.
The whole thing ships in a signature gig bag – again, branded with some Hoppus signature detail – and it will cost you £1,319 / $1,399. The Limited Edition Mark Hoppus Jaguar Bass is available now. See Fender for more details.
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