Review: Music Man Joe Dart Signature Bass 

We take a look at this funk machine that is endlessly fun to play and tremendously hard to put down

Review: Music Man Joe Dart Signature Bass 

We take a look at this funk machine that is endlessly fun to play and tremendously hard to put down

In 2019, Music Man unveiled the signature series bass custom-made to the specifications of Vulfpeck’s Joe Dart, which quickly caught the attention of the bass world. Releasing them in small batches of 50 at a time ensured that these basses became a rarity on the market, which is why players were excited for the subsequent unveiling of the Joe Dart Jr. short-scale (2021), Joe Dart II with J-style pickups (2022), and Joe Dart III with P-style pickups (2024). For each series, Dart worked with the Music Man team to help design the aesthetic and sonic qualities, which led to some non-traditional choices that are easily spotted upon sight.

The first is that in lieu of Music Man’s typical tone and EQ knobs, Dart opted for a single large white knob that simply controls the volume. If you’re thinking that’s a sparse approach, you’ll be surprised to learn that the Joe Dart Jr. short-scale model doesn’t possess any knobs (yup, just an input jack). So, you know that you’re going to get exactly what you get out of this bass, as Dart and MM intended. The next difference comes with the lightweight ash body, which has a beautiful look that pairs perfectly with the flame-maple neck; it’s reminiscent of 1970s StingRay models, but with a new feel. Less surprising is the fact that this is a passive bass, which is nothing new to MM, although bassists typically equate the recognizable StingRay tone with active electronics.

En Route To Dean Town 

Between the four models, I’ve always been most curious about the original, with the single humbucking pickup, so for this review we’ll look closer at that version. Now, given the rarity of these basses, I’ve only had the privilege of briefly playing one of these prior, and it happened to be Joe’s own personal prototype back in 2020. I was blown away then, but I was curious how the consumer basses would stack up to the one originally crafted for him. Given that Music Man hand-builds each bass to order, it was no surprise that it felt identical to Joe’s personal bass. Even the custom hardshell case that it comes in, with his signature on it, was true to form of the prototype.

Picking up the bass, it feels extremely lightweight (around seven pounds) and smaller than most MM basses, despite it having a 22-fret neck and 34″ scale. The ash body definitely reduces its heaviness; it’s well balanced minus a bit of neck dive from the matching headstock. The 11″-radius figured maple neck is extremely comfortable. The playability of this bass is off the charts — right out of the gate, it was one of the most comfortable necks of any bass I had picked up. While limited with controls, the single volume knob is easy to access given the dial’s size, and the classic MM tuning pegs are of high quality and keep the bass pretty immaculately in tune. 

It Gets Funkier

Plugging in, you get exactly what you would expect from a bass minted by Joe Dart: bright, punchy mids, razor-sharp highs, and growling lows — the sound he’s consistently had throughout his time with Vulfpeck, The Fearless Flyers, and The Ollam. When getting started, I almost instinctively wanted to stay on the A and D strings to really dig in and ride out some ghost-note funk. A bass this punchy could go wrong by lacking in the bottom end, but the E string provides all of the deep frequencies that I wanted, with an aggressive clarity. As fun as it is to rip into a hard fingerstyle technique on this bass, it also reacts to a soft thumb-plucking touch with a warm response that really grooves. And as far as muting goes, it was practically built for that. The more techniques that I threw at this thing (including slap and picking), the more impressed I was with how it handled them.

I tested this model through four amps, including a Bergantino Forté, Ampeg SVT, Aguilar Tone Hammer, and Markbass CASA, and its consistency throughout was pretty astounding. Regardless of which stack I played through, the bass maintained its sound, and even made a small Phil Jones Bass cube sound big. I never quite dialed it in to achieve any kind of dub or rolled-off tone, but that isn’t exactly what this bass was made for. Generally, I found that it fares well with any style of music from jazz to rock, and obviously funk. 

Back Pocket 

It was very difficult to find anything not to dig about this bass. It could definitely be your #1 instrument, so long as it matches the sonic personality you’re going for. Would a tone knob be great on this bass? Sure. Would active pickups send its tone through the roof? Probably. But this bass is exactly what it is, and that is a funk machine that is endlessly fun to play and tremendously hard to put down. In making a Joe Dart signature bass, the folks at Music Man outdid themselves — and I’m just glad that I got my hands on one.

Price $2,600

Pros Lightweight, tons of clarity, great note articulation, punchy mids, deep lows, cool looking natural finish 

Cons I mean…a tone knob would be pretty nice — but we don’t hold it against Joe

Bottom Line An extremely fun and exceptionally playable bass with a distinct tone that made us feel like Joe Dart.

Specs

Body wood Ash

Body color Velvet Natural

Neck wood Figured maple neck

Neck width 1 1/2″ (38.1 mm) at nut, 2 1/2″ (63.5 mm) at last fret

Neck attachment 5 bolts

Finish Satin

Scale length 34″ (86.4 cm)

Fingerboard Figured maple

Fingerboard radius 11″ (27.9 cm)

Frets 22 high profile, wide, stainless steel

Fret markers Dot inlays

Bridge Vintage Music Man top-loaded, chrome-plated steel bridge plate with vintage nickel-plated steel saddles

Tuners Schaller BM, with tapered string posts

Controls 100kΩ volume pot

Switching None

Pickups Music Man custom-wound Sterling Bass pickup (ceramic magnet, parallel coils, no phantom coil)

Strings Custom Electric Flatwounds (.045–.105) 

Weight 7.27 lbs

Made in U.S.A.

For more, visit Music Man

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Jon D'Auria   By: Jon D'Auria

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