I'd like to hear more feedback re my comments on signature models. Please.
I don't have any complaint about the Fender signature models and I don't see that they are overpriced, for the most part. Some of them I could care less about, some of them hold some interest for me and among those I don't seen any overpricing. I must be really taken with the Reggie Hamilton Standard Jazz, I just bought one!! And, yeah, it is more expensive than its nearest cousins, the Deluxe Active Jazz and the Deluxe Active P Bass Special. However it has a nicer neck, 18V preamp wiring, a nicer P Bass pickup, an active/passive switch, and a Hipshot detuner on the E string. Considering all that it is hard to say that it is overpriced. And that is what I find about all the signature models that I've had any interest in, if they are more expensive than the nearest equivalent they also offer some additional feature(s) that at least partially justifies the pricing. The rest may be due simply to the extra cost of producing a lower volume specialty model. If you don't like them, you don't buy them. Many of them have been offered consistently for a few years so they must be doing something good for Fender that justifies their inclusion in the catalog and what is good for Fender is ultimately good for your chances of eventually seeing a model offered that you do like.
If you really want a Standard passive P/J Fender does offer the Aerodyne and the MP Jaguar. The Reggie Hamilton plays just fine in passive mode (though you might want to add a passive tone control somehow) and the Deluxe Active P Bass Special could be "pacified" easily enough. There are P/J options if you want one bad enough, although the more the merrier as far as I am concerned.
An affordable frettless P bass (even though it be sacrilege against the "Precision" name) is a gaping hole in the Fender lineup. I actually love the Tony Franklin, I just cannot justify the price right now.
The only thing I use my basses for is playing in a worship band at church. So signature models with bats and skulls and gaudy graphics of any kind are complete non-starters in the competition for my bass buying dollars. Some of the signature models like the Reggie Hamilton, the Tony Franklin, and others mentioned above are well thought out and reasonably priced offerings that need make no apology for their place in the catalog. I'd like those two, especially, whether they have someone's name attached to them or not. I am most familiar with the Reggie and I know that it was configured by him to meet the variety of gig-driven needs that a real working bassist really faces. It's gold as far as I am concerned.
Ken
