PBS Tracks The Origins Of A Motown Legend's Amp

James Jamerson played bass on a string of Motown hits. A bass amp with his name on it is the subject of PBS's "History Detectives." / Free Press archives

When Los Angeles musician Steve Fishman came upon a vintage bass amplifier in 2009, he had extra reason to be excited.
Stenciled on the back was the name of a Motown legend: "JAMES JAMERSON."
Did the old Ampeg amp once belong to the late, revered Funk Brothers player, source of the grooves on countless Motown hits? Fishman, a bassist who has recorded with Paul McCartney, knew he had an intriguing case on his hands, and alerted the popular PBS program "History Detectives," which enlists researchers to settle historical mysteries.
The segment, which will premiere Tuesday as part of an hour-long episode, brought Fishman and scholar Eduardo Pagan to Detroit in February to track the amp's origins. If you don't want to know the results of the investigation, read no further.
Fishman was quietly confident the amp was the real deal, he tells the Free Press, but "I knew it would make an interesting show, and I did want the provenance of the amp."
In the segment, Pagan carts the amp to a variety of experts, including Hewitt's Music in Dearborn -- where Jamerson bought gear in the '60s -- and James Jamerson Jr., son of the late bassist.
It's left to Motown guitarist Dennis Coffey to definitively settle the matter.
Fishman winds up with a surprise bonus: a jam session with Coffey and Jamerson Jr., which closes out the episode.
As for the amplifier? Fishman says he'll loan it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Jamerson was inducted in 2000.
"I'm not planning on ever selling it," he says. "Jamerson has been my favorite bass player since I started playing. That's not something I'd ever want to get rid of."