Fender Adam Clayton CS Sig P Bass

[Hans Gruber]

Sorry, but I think Adam even has insights more than someone like Victor Wooten. Maybe that's a bold statement, but I read one of his interviews. He has a keen understand of phrasing and how notes work and swell, especially in a stadium context.

Sure his lines are easy to cop, but sometimes there are just personal expressions. Get 10 different bassists to play straight 1/8th note lines. They'll all sound a bit different. Adam's got his own thing going on. It's all in the subtleties.

He talked about how Larry's kick feel is just different from so many others. Yeah many others can play better, but they're not Larry. And they're not Adam. And they're not you (or anyone of us).

I disagree about the memorable lines. He plays really focused parts. PARTS. Every note is deliberate. They fill in so much sonic landscape. Take a good listen to Mysterious Ways, or New Years Day. Simple, but there's much going on with the space.

If you isolate the bass, sure it's boring and repetitive. You look at the context of the whole space, ah yes...

If you are to fault him, he's a total endorsement whore, but oh well. Doesn't effect me!

This just pisses me right off. I mean, why is it that people like Adam Clayton get a signature model when so many oither players deserve it more? U2 was cool at first but after about 2 albums you realized how crap they are. Can you name ONE memorable Adam Clayton bassline? And besides that, he's already got like 3 signature models!!! One JUST MONTHS AGO came out from Warwick!!! I think he's got one from Lakland too!!! WHAT THE HELL?! No Eric Wilson signature bass? The man's been using Fender forever! That's a guy with some awesome bass lines! I mean, they gave Frank Bello TWO signature models! A Fender AND a Squier! WHY?! Flea LOVES Fenders! He used them BEFORE the deal with Ernie Ball, now he's using them again! Why no Flea model?! (Edit): ANother guy above made a good point. How about, oh i dunno, A JAMES JAMERSON MODEL. JAMES F***ING JAMERSON. Used a P bass his ENTIRE career!!! One of the best, most influential, most heard bass players of ALL TIME!!!!

Then there's people like Matt Freeman who get a SQUIER signature model. That's just salt in the wound. That's like Fender saying: "Nah, you're not good enough for a Fender. But Adam Clayton? Rich idiots everywhere love U2! We'll make millions!"



/Rant

 

[Hans Gruber]

I'm curious about the Abigail Ybarra handwound pickup. Anybody know anything about Abigail and why her pickup would be special?

Also, if one of these ever makes it way into the hands of a TB'er, it would be interesting to hear if there were differences between this pickup, the pickup in s standard MIA P, a Fralin, Lollar, etc.

Just wonderin'

She was one of the original assembly line people in Fender I think.

 

[smcd]

I've never had an endorsement deal but I would imagine there would be some insentive for the musician. Usually free gear.

Clayton isn't doing this for money or free gear, as he already owns the keys to Fort Knox. It's strictly an ego thing.

 

[can_v]

This just pisses me right off. I mean, why is it that people like Adam Clayton get a signature model when so many oither players deserve it more? U2 was cool at first but after about 2 albums you realized how crap they are. Can you name ONE memorable Adam Clayton bassline? And besides that, he's already got like 3 signature models!!! One JUST MONTHS AGO came out from Warwick!!! I think he's got one from Lakland too!!! WHAT THE HELL?! No Eric Wilson signature bass? The man's been using Fender forever! That's a guy with some awesome bass lines! I mean, they gave Frank Bello TWO signature models! A Fender AND a Squier! WHY?! Flea LOVES Fenders! He used them BEFORE the deal with Ernie Ball, now he's using them again! Why no Flea model?! (Edit): ANother guy above made a good point. How about, oh i dunno, A JAMES JAMERSON MODEL. JAMES F***ING JAMERSON. Used a P bass his ENTIRE career!!! One of the best, most influential, most heard bass players of ALL TIME!!!!

Then there's people like Matt Freeman who get a SQUIER signature model. That's just salt in the wound. That's like Fender saying: "Nah, you're not good enough for a Fender. But Adam Clayton? Rich idiots everywhere love U2! We'll make millions!"



/Rant

Dude, a song doesn't consist with bass line only.

You wanna know what makes people like Clayton, Mark Hoppus, Feildy or even Pete Wentz (that some of you guys like to bash) good enough to deserve their own signature models? Because these guys can make normal people want to start playing music. And, to me, that's fantastic.

You really think people in general would listen to Wooten or Jaco? Music taste doesn't develop overnight.

 

[smcd]

Can you name ONE memorable Adam Clayton bassline?

Are you kidding??!! With Or Without You is probably one of the most recognizable bass lines of the 20th century.

 

[Hans Gruber]

Are you kidding??!! With Or Without You is probably one of the most recognizable bass lines of the 20th century.

I use that as a teaching tool for beginner students. If they can play through that with no hiccups, they're on their way to being a working player

Simple, foundational, "memorable", outlines the chords clearly, consistent, rhythmic. It's such a foundation for a pretty emotional tune.

 

[jaywa]

Clayton isn't doing this for money or free gear, as he already owns the keys to Fort Knox.

Depends. Obviously Adam Clayton's income just from touring exceeds 98% of us on this board if not more. Whether he's as filthy rich as Bono or the Edge depends on how their royalties are set up. In a lot of bands the primary songwriters (usually the singer and guitarist) get most or all of the royalties and the bassist and drummer don't get crap.

 

[4StringAxe]

I like a good P bass, but the finish is not my style.
And for the money this must be going for, I would never gig with it, so it would be useless for me.

 

[nagarjuna]

Adam's playing certainly isn't lame, what's lame is that he went from what he was in 1980, to the jaded "Rock Star" that he is now. 50-year-old trying to dress like a 20 year old. I can't believe what happened to U2. Oh well......... and that bass is overpriced hype.

 

[BioDriver]

You wanna know what makes people like Clayton, Mark Hoppus, Feildy or even Pete Wentz (that some of you guys like to bash) good enough to deserve their own signature models? Because these guys can make normal people want to start playing music. And, to me, that's fantastic.

And here I thought it was because they were commonly known names or members of very well known bands and it would be an easy cash in to sell "the same instrument [POPULAR PLAYER X] plays."

Are you kidding??!! With Or Without You is probably one of the most recognizable bass lines of the 20th century.

Only because every pop and rock song over the last 40+ years has used the D-A-B-G progression YouTube - Axis of Awesome - 4 Chord Song

 

[smcd]

Depends. Obviously Adam Clayton's income just from touring exceeds 98% of us on this board if not more. Whether he's as filthy rich as Bono or the Edge depends on how their royalties are set up. In a lot of bands the primary songwriters (usually the singer and guitarist) get most or all of the royalties and the bassist and drummer don't get crap.

Don't get crap?? Not when you're a founding member of U2 and you've reached the level they have. I can guarantee you that Clayton makes more money than 99.9999999% of the people on this board. He is filthy filthy rich.

 

[smcd]

And here I thought it was because they were commonly known names or members of very well known bands and it would be an easy cash in to sell "the same instrument [POPULAR PLAYER X] plays."

Yes, there is that. But can-v is right. Name recognition alone doesn't get you Fender signature models. You have to be someone that inspires others to pick up bass.

 

[can_v]

And here I thought it was because they were commonly known names or members of very well known bands and it would be an easy cash in to sell "the same instrument [POPULAR PLAYER X] plays."

You think it's easy to sell this stuff to normal people?
And you think they didn't work hard to become this successful or well known.

 

[frankenjazz]

personally i cant stand listening to u2 i hate them as a BAND but take away the edge (unless you're like 5 that's the lamest stage name ever) and bono. I think they have a terrific rhythm section, he may not be flashy but damn if Adam isn't tasteful and at the end that beats flashy any-day of the week

 

[Kaa]

It amazes me to see how many ways Fender can continue squeezing blood from the stones of the basic P and J designs and the way people eagerly line up to part with their cash. A P-bass is a P-bass and a J-bass is a J-bass no matter how many ways you change the freaking cosmetics.

As Popeye might have put it, I just doesn't understands thisk at all, I tells ya.

This. So much this.

 

[TMart99]

Sorry, but I think Adam even has insights more than someone like Victor Wooten. Maybe that's a bold statement, but I read one of his interviews. He has a keen understand of phrasing and how notes work and swell, especially in a stadium context.

Sure his lines are easy to cop, but sometimes there are just personal expressions. Get 10 different bassists to play straight 1/8th note lines. They'll all sound a bit different. Adam's got his own thing going on. It's all in the subtleties.

He talked about how Larry's kick feel is just different from so many others. Yeah many others can play better, but they're not Larry. And they're not Adam. And they're not you (or anyone of us).

I disagree about the memorable lines. He plays really focused parts. PARTS. Every note is deliberate. They fill in so much sonic landscape. Take a good listen to Mysterious Ways, or New Years Day. Simple, but there's much going on with the space.

If you isolate the bass, sure it's boring and repetitive. You look at the context of the whole space, ah yes...

If you are to fault him, he's a total endorsement whore, but oh well. Doesn't effect me!

Agreed.

In my mind, music and playing music is as much about the spaces in between and the notes you don't play; as it is about the notes you do play. Musically speaking, just my opinion.

 

[BrandonBass]

I think he's great, supportive, and he's in the most successful band in the world and if they thought he sucked they could probably find a replacement to take the gig. Imagine U2 with the following bass players instead, and tell me if you think the imaginary sound works as well.

Watt
Flea
Lemmy
Jaco
Mingus
Duff
Jamerson
George Porter Jr
JimmyM

Ok, Jimmy could probably rock the gig, but all the other guys as awesome as they are would sound pretty weird.

Im sure these players can keep it simple if they need to. Just because Flea made a name for himself doing slappy funk stuff doesnt mean he cant play straight eights when paid to do so.

 

[TRichardsbass]

The stadiums are NOT packed because of the bass player (in this band). If he wasn't there, ticket sales would be the same.

But if he floats your Bassplayer-Boat, so be it.

As a player of modest success for the past 30 years, I always knew that those who labor over their instruments, breaking down everything Jaco, Jonas, Jeff, Mark, Steve, Stanley and a host of other jazz kats think that if you don't play what they play, or have the ability to morph your fingers into unknown positions, you suck.

Far from it. I had a long conversation with a very good and cool bass player this past Sunday and he had a seven string Conklin. He was an amazing player, but when he handed me his bass to play a song I politely refused. I can barely play the 4 I'm used to, passable on 5, but 7?

I had a lengthy exchange about all the extra strings and he at every instance when into the upper registers and high up the fretboard. Played like a genius. Then I pointed out to him that the whole gig he'd been playing he stayed on the EADG nearly exclusively, with only a few forays into the low B.

Of course he commented on he was playing what fit the gig. He also commented that this was his only real and steady gig. So I asked him again, why, other then the $7G he invested in it years ago, did he drag the 7 to a 4 or 5 string regular gig. He just looked at me.

I went to my car, pulled out my Steinie Q4 and played a few blues songs with the band. I got more compliments then he did, and he is far and away soooooooo much better then me technically.

So, for all those who say that Adam Clayton is "lame", your opinion is your opinion. However, I know many starving players who can play the living crap out of "extended range" basses, however they never seem to leave their garage or basements.

Lastly, I usually go to open mics with only my crappiest 4 string and sing and play only bass lines. Not unlike Nick Lowe. But then again, I'm sure those who find Adam lame would find Nick lame as well. And of course, I'd be even lamer in their books. (But that's okay. I've got a beach home, two new vehicles, a complete rehearsal and recording studio with my home and enough left over to vacation several times a year...yep, lame.)

 

[Sadowsky]

In a word, overpriced. You could seriously buy or assemble this exact same bass and pay a third the price if you left Fender off the headstock. Although I have to wonder why Clayton, in the span of only a few years, went from Lakland to Warwick and now Fender.

I really don't understand the criticism of Adam here. Adam, like many of us, loves to own and play a lot of basses. I was in the studio with him a few months ago and he had Laklands, vintage Fenders, Warwick, Sadowsky and a few others I don't remember. My personal instincts are that the companies approach Adam to do a signature model, not the other way around. I have known Adam since 1994 and this conversation has never come up.....so I really don't think Adam is going around asking for endorsements from everyone.

I know that for myself, I would never expect a player to play any one model or brand on an exclusive basis.

Roger

 

[TMart99]

It amazes me to see how many ways Fender can continue squeezing blood from the stones of the basic P and J designs and the way people eagerly line up to part with their cash. A P-bass is a P-bass and a J-bass is a J-bass no matter how many ways you change the freaking cosmetics.

As Popeye might have put it, I just doesn't understands thisk at all, I tells ya.

Honestly, Fender should focus more on consistency in quality build, playability, setup and materials, in their P-Basses and J-Basses; rather than coming up with new bizzare colors/aesthic designs for them (which sometimes are hideous).