• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Another Adam Clayton Bass?

I don't get it. He has Warwicks with his name on them. He has multiple Fenders. It kinda diminishes the whole idea of a signature bass doesn't it? Not knocking the guy or the basses, but it seems a bit much.

It was a gift given to him by the Moser watch company. He's a zillionaire who collects fine watches. God knows how much he may have spent on fancy watches. I'd be surprised if any basses like it will for sale to the general public, which is a different thing than all his "signature" basses from guitar makers.

"Adam Clayton is a bassist with style. He’s an avid collector of fine watches, and now he has just the instrument to match. H. Moser & Cie teamed up with Wild Customs to gift the U2 bassist with a gorgeous custom bass that brings his passions together."
 
I don't get it. He has Warwicks with his name on them. He has multiple Fenders. It kinda diminishes the whole idea of a signature bass doesn't it? Not knocking the guy or the basses, but it seems a bit much.
Reminds me of a female bassist named Rhonda something who was endorsing a different bass or string company every year, year after year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gjohnson441496
I have never and will never buy a signature bass. People buy them thinking they are going to sound like the bass the artist uses. In reality, many artists make modification after they receive their basses from the manufacturer. For example, I remember reading an interview with Marcus Miller and he said that the first thing he did when he received his basses from Fender was to send them out and have the preamp changed. So people were buying the Marcus Miller signature bass and it wasn't even what he was using. This is typical of signature basses.
Most signature basses are just stock basses with an artist's name on the headstock. There may be some minor differences depending on the artist such as the bridge or pickups but the overall cost to produce them are relatively the same. Is it really more expensive for Fender to produce a stock MIA bass with an artist's name on it than it costs to produce one without the the artist's name? The answer is no. Yet people spend several hundred dollars more just because it has a name on it. I don't get it. In my opinion, it's just an excuse to artificially inflate the price of a stock bass.