What do you think of Signature Guitars/Basses?

[AciDBatH666]

So, this Christmas has been pretty good to me. I've managed to get a nice bonus from my new employer (it's nice to work for a private up and coming engineering firm being the first hired employee). I've cashed out 40 hours of vacation pay, gotten a separate bonus for some other nuclear valve work that I knocked out in record time.
All of this has equated to me finally building a whole new rack rig with everything I wanted, paying off all my bills, and I'm about to bite on an Ampeg 8X10 from a Craigslist ad to finish the new setup.

Now I'm contemplating a new bass. I'm a huge fan of used gear. I think the only new thing I own is the B.C. Rich Warbeast that I got new, everything else was bought used from Craigslist ads and from wherever I could find it in good shape for a good price. I'm debating on one particular bass just to finish off this treat to myself. But it goes against my logic when it comes to buying gear.

I won't go into detail, probably because I'll get ragged on for it. But this bass is about a grand, and I can probably find a used one for $750 or so. But I'd normally never consider such a thing because of the price. My Ibanez BTB was only $300 used and I completely dig it.
What do you guys think about "Signature" Basses. I think they're overpriced, and I can't see myself dropping a full $1K on something that I could buy a similar model of at a fraction of the cost, maybe change the pickups, and consider it's close to the goal of the bass I am trying to seek. Parts of me are telling me to splurge on myself for once (even tho I just did with the whole new amp setup I'm running), and part of me is like "Meh, you can get some nice used gear for less than half the price".
I'm not asking what I should do (I prolly won't spend the money on it), I'm asking what you guys think of higher priced Signature models.

[mdogs]

Love my Geddy Lee Jazz, good as any Jazz I have ever owned which includes a '69 that I bought used in high school. I paid $500 for the GL and it has its share of character meaning, the body has got some pretty good dings in and I love it that way. It plays like butter! I added a Tonestyler tone control to it and the growl from it is beyond belief, in fact too much at times. My son plays it as his primary bass and everywhere he takes it other bass players are absolutely stunned by the thing. Are they overpriced, not in my book. It is the cheapest bass that I own even if I had paid the $999 new price. I play it exclusively on acoustic gigs where I don't use an amp and I can get a great sound straight into the board even though I almost always use my Sansamp Bass Driver DI which is another piece of must have equipment for me. This is the first maple fretboard bass that I have owned and I think the additional bite and snap can be attributed to that but...YMMV.

[plangentmusic]

I hate the presumed "idol worship" that goes along with signature guitars. Do any big stars use someone else's signature bass?

I actually like the Geddy -- sounds and plays nicely, but I don't like black basses. (Even less with white pickguards). And I don't like the black blocks on the neck.

All this stuff is just another way to get more merchandise on the shelves. It's like Cheerios and honey nut Cheerios and frosted Cheerios and Cheerios in individual packs and family size portions. They're still all just Cheerios.

[KsToaDangr]

personally, i'd rather get a cheaper bass and switch out the parts i don't like than spend two or three times as much on a signature model, but then again, i've never played a signature model that i really liked anyway.

[yaboiimizz]

The only sig i like/would buy at the moment would be the Marcus Miller Jazz played it the other day at my local music store and fell in love with it. Haven't had much experience with any other ones.

[AciDBatH666]

Originally Posted by plangentmusic

I hate the presumed "idol worship" that goes along with signature guitars. Do any big stars use someone else's signature bass?

I think this is part of the stigma that I'm stuck on. Part of me is worried people are going to think "Oh this guy has a XXXX bass, he must think he's some hot sh*t or something".

Originally Posted by KsToaDangr

personally, i'd rather get a cheaper bass and switch out the parts i don't like than spend two or three times as much on a signature model, but then again, i've never played a signature model that i really liked anyway.

And the other half of me thinks "Maybe it's made REALLY well and I've just never had the chance to play a top notch bass... If the signature lines are that high of a quality.

[BBQV]

I like the signature basses conceived by the player, like the Fender Urge and Roscoe Beck or the Yamaha Attitude. Those are unique instruments based on the needs of unique players and therefore not over priced; you can't get the same instrument anywhere else.

I don't like it when builders take an off the shelf model, add another decal on the headstock and then add a zero on the price tag...

[JTE]

I don't care if it's a signature bass or not. What matters is how does it found, and does UT feel acceptably comfortable. I had a Geddy Lee, after six years of looking for a great Jazz bass. If the neck were not stupid skinny I'd have kept it. Find another Jazz with those features- the vintage-style PUPs, the narrow neck, the alder body.

Same with the Sting Precision- there's not a single-coil P with the contoured body and that fat neck. I didn't buy it because it was a Sting, but because it was a very good reproduction of a 1954 P bass, and the most resonant and alive solid body instrument I've ever played in over 30 years of playing.

Buy what you want and ignore all the other crap like whether it's cool, uncool, cheap, expensive, brand name, no-name, blue, red, striped, etc. You play the bass, not the catalog nor Talk Bass's collective opinion.

John

[geremia]

Originally Posted by plangentmusic

All this stuff is just another way to get more merchandise on the shelves. It's like Cheerios and honey nut Cheerios and frosted Cheerios and Cheerios in individual packs and family size portions. They're still all just Cheerios.

I just don't trust a man who thinks honey nut cheerios are just cheerios...

[Phalex]

I couldn't participate in he poll due to the lack of a "Carrots" option. All of your criteria are based on price. I don't care if a bass costs $50.00 or $5,000.00 if I don't like the way it feels, plays and sounds.

I bought a Hoppus sig bass solely because it was cheap, and I intended to use it maybe once for a sketchy gig and get rid of it. (I had no idea who Mark Hoppus was when I bought it, but it had a lot of the stuff I wanted and the price was right) Turns out, it's a tone MONSTER!! I didn't much care for the P neck, so I swapped it out, but for less than $600.00 I got myself a bass that I love! I probably could have built a similar one from discrete parts for over a grand.

Don't let the name (or lack thereof) on the head stock influence you. If a bass makes your loins tingle, it's worth whatever you can buy it for.

[spade2you]

What's the best signature bass for metal?

[s_mcsleazy]

unless joe lally got one im not intrested

[dave64o]

Originally Posted by plangentmusic

I hate the presumed "idol worship" that goes along with signature guitars. Do any big stars use someone else's signature bass?
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On the recent Time Machine tour, Geddy Lee plays a Jaco signature on Malignant Narcissism.

Geddy had asked Fender about getting one of the new Jacos to mess around with fretless. While he was messing around with that bass during the recording of Snakes and Arrows, the producer recorded him noodling around. The riff the producer recorded eventually became the song Malignant Narcissism.

Originally Posted by Phalex

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Don't let the name (or lack thereof) on the head stock influence you. If a bass makes your loins tingle, it's worth whatever you can buy it for.

There's the right answer, short and sweet.

[unclejane]

Sometimes signature basses have fixes to common problems on other basses that can make them more suitable for you too. Course, that stands to reason since the players are players and so the solutions in their signature models are often pretty practical fixes.

I play a Bunny Brunel Carvin because it's main features are good balance and a particular type of tone, two crucial characteristics for me.

OTOH, a signature model could be the worst possible choice for you even tho it's great for the original artist. I.e. the Yamaha Attitude has everything that would make it a terrible bass for me - massive neck dive, a gigantic neck, frets and Billy Sheehan's preferred P bass kind of sound. But of course it's perfect for BS and he makes it sound magnificent. But I wouldn't be able to even get through a single song with it.

So signature basses are like any others, they can be the wrong or right choice for a particular player. But often they have some kind of unique solution that can really hit the spot.

LS

[AciDBatH666]

Originally Posted by Phalex

I couldn't participate in he poll due to the lack of a "Carrots" option. All of your criteria are based on price. I don't care if a bass costs $50.00 or $5,000.00 if I don't like the way it feels, plays and sounds.

I think if I do decide to buy a signature model, I'll now want to play it first. I ordered my Warbeast without playing one (because you simply can't find em anywhere), and I like the feel of it but if I could of tried it out first I might have debated against it. Don't regret it, but I'd love to try before I buy. Sometimes it's a gamble you take.

On the signature model I'm debating on, I can damn near guarantee that I'll never find one at a music store around me even if I drive 2 hours away. So I'll prolly never invest in one since I can't really get the feel of how it handles and sounds first hand.

[cnltb]

Why would I want to use an instrument that's speced for someone else?
That would be way too "fanboy" for me.
I'm past that stage I think-NO OFFENSE intended!

I'd much rather have one made for my own needs and prefferences.
Took me long enough to get them decided on.

But...
I think the willis 5 string is a very well thought out and nice instrument.
They also seem consistent in terms of quality-judging by the ones I tried( not more than 30 or so...).
So if I had to have someone else's signature bass it wuld be the willis 5 at the moment.

[Double Agent]

Originally Posted by plangentmusic

I hate the presumed "idol worship" that goes along with signature guitars. Do any big stars use someone else's signature bass?

A good bass is a good bass, who cares if someone else's signature is on the headstock or not? I have seen the bassist for the Killers, as well as the bassist for Bruno Mars, using the Geddy Lee Jazz on a live gig. Neither have a playing style that suggests any hero worship of Rush/Geddy. Maybe they are not big stars, but they are both at a point where they could probably play any bass they want and they are still rocking their Geddy Jazz basses.

Also, lots of "star" guitar players play Les Pauls, which is possibly one of the first signature model guitars. Are any pros using the new Sadowsky Will Lee model? I would guess that they are. I have seen some pros using the Roscoe Beck model bass. There is even a metal bassist out there (can't remember which band) that I have seen using the Marcus Miller Jazz. If it works for you, and you like it, who cares if it's a signature model or not?

[s_mcsleazy]

no carrots no poll

[cnltb]

Then there's of course this...

Originally Posted by Phalex

Don't let the name (or lack thereof) on the head stock influence you. If a bass makes your loins tingle, it's worth whatever you can buy it for.

+1

[ZuluFunk]

I got the Ric 4001CS to play in Yes tributes. I love the tone. I had another Ric and didn't love it that much. The Geddy bass would be one that I'd prefer to get an old Fender and renovate it.

By the way, Geddy has two Jaco basses, a fretless and fretted.