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Another Adam Clayton Bass?

That’s a bass that was given to Adam Clayton. It was commissioned by watchmaker H. Moser & Cie as a gift and built by Wilde Customs.

It’s a one-off presentation bass. It’s not a signature model production bass. I doubt there will ever be another.

From the link:

H. Moser & Cie teamed up with Wild Customs to gift the U2 bassist with a gorgeous custom bass that brings his passions together.

“A founder member of U2 who writes about contemporary art for British GQ, Adam Clayton combines musical virtuosity with a refined rock elegance. A devotee of fine watchmaking, he is a friend of H. Moser & Cie., whose fumé dials are a particular pleasure of his,” Wild Customs writes. “Finished in the magnificent Funky Blue seen on H. Moser & Cie. fumé dials, this unique instrument features multiple references to the pared-down and elegant style of the Schaffhausen-based Manufacture.”
 
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Does anyone know anything about that pickup?
Looks like a Reverend design, but they call it a “custom hand-wound Precision pickup”, but that’d mean that only the pole peices work, and the bars are purely decorative.
Otherwise, it’s not a Pbass pickup at all.
Seems a cool design. I’d like to hear the sounds it gets.
I think the whole bass has a cool Reverend-y vibe ..headstock, shape etc...PU too
 
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I understand where you’re coming from, but that’s b.s.
My main player is a Fender Roger Waters. I immediately swapped out the pickup because all i cared about was the neck. It’s the only Fender model with that neck.
Before that, my main player was a Lakland Joe Osborn. I had no idea who he was when i bought the bass.
So many people play signature instruments not because of a name but because of the bass.
The Flea sig is a friggin’ nice Jazz bass, and I don’t like Flea.
Same with the Pino Palladino Pbass, but i LOVE his playing.
Judge the bass by its own merits, not by whatever name may or may not be on it.
And trust others to do the same.
End of the day, if a sig gets kids playing, then that’s a good thing.

I have played many signature basses in stores and that friends of mine own. I have never found a significant difference between them and non signature basses. I make a good living so it's not a question of being able to afford signature basses. I just have a problem with justifying spending several hundred dollars more just because there is a artist's name on the headstock. Especially since the difference in cost to produce the bass is negligible.
 
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Adam Clayton's early bass lines are actually quite cool and creative (Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Year's Day come to mind) but he also could drive a song hard with those 8th notes. I personally love his tone on those albums even though I am not a huge fan.

As an aside, I tried a Geddy Lee bass years ago and settled on a Lakland instead. The neck was actually stiff even though it was pretty fast - far different from other Jazz basses I had played up until that time.
 
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.

IME - I’ve been playing this signature model for a while now and I couldn’t be happier - amazing instrument.

DE4D9AF0-121C-4BA7-A110-862E6FE64A1E.jpeg
 
What's behind this signature-thing is what PR guys and the advertising industry describe as "image tranfer". For me it works, but in the completely opposite direction: I can not decide what I detest more: the artists or the companies.
I strongly agree. I would never own an instrument that had an artists name plastered on it.
I once bought a Lakland Darryl Jones that had his signature on the head stock and immediately sanded it off.
 
Right, so, over the past 40 years can you name any interesting bass parts Clayton has played outside of U2? You'd think that with a decades old mega-platinum career, international recognition and several signature bass models the guy might have stretched his legs a bit outside of his day job. You know, show the people what he's been holding back on all these years
+1

Some people don't get the difference between 40 years of experience and 1 year of experience 40 times. To be clear, I think he's a solid bass player, but certainly no more. Some people also can't differential financial success with musical talent.
 
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.

I agree. It’s a money grab.
 
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Hurr durrr U2 sucks guys. By the way The Edge uses too many effects pedals and Bono wears sunglasses indoors. Adam Clayton can only play root notes and doesn't deserve any signature basses....

Have we had that argument yet?


Wait, is it bash U2 week again already? I thought the 1st week of January was for bashing Nickleback and this week was for Bieber. It's so hard to keep up with the latest bashing fashion trends?

Now if you'll excuse me I need to find a custom font for the dollar sign in Gene $immon$. I want to be ready for next weeks thread!
 

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