First off, so long as your bass says 'Fender' on the headstock, you can't make any claims about originality or uniqueness. And, while I have to meet you halfway in that, I don't want a sunburst bass because I find it kind of typical, I also don't think that it matters if the player I'm seeing at a show is playing a straight-up 'burst Fender P or J. I'm watching his hands and listening to his tone, because even after more than a quarter century playing, I learn something everytime I see a good player play.
When I was looking for something non-cliche to play a few years back, I bought a Lakland 55-02, because I didn't have to depend on something as frankly unnoticeable as abalone blocks to make my bass stand out. Case in point: I have seen *one* other player on the circuit in my city playing a 55-02. There's another who plays a 55-94, though. I get the feeling I'd see more of these basses if I were playing in Chicago, so don't take what I'm saying as anything other than a non-scientific observation.
The fact that, say five bands may all have the same model and finish of Fender bass doesn't mean anything other than that the model works in many contexts. It doesn't make those bands clones of one another. I think you're concentrating on the least important aspect, here.
Second, I think that marked-up strat is the most immature, college-level 'custom' job I've seen in a long time. And a peace sign is so cliché at this point that it's almost a visual joke. That's a guitar disguised as the back page of some art-school student's textbook.
Where I *do* agree with you is that I think that, if it's your bass and you want to spray paint it, carve on it or dip it in chicken fat and roll it in lye, you should feel that you can do so.
