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Problem with signature basses

#62
ShoeManiac said:
Threads like this seem to evoke the old adage "Don't judge a book by it's cover".

I've been playing a Fender Roscoe Beck 5 string signature bass for the past 14 years. Why? Because it's an a great playing instrument with fantastic tone. On top of that it has some of the most innovative pickup switching options that have ever been offered in a passive bass.
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I do like Roscoe's work with Robben Ford, but regardless, I would completely rock a Roscoe Beck V. I really wish 1) I'd bought one years ago when they were available and relatively cheap, or 2) Fender would reissue these darned things. Really great instruments that were under appreciated for the time.
 
#63
59Bassman said:
I do like Roscoe's work with Robben Ford, but regardless, I would completely rock a Roscoe Beck V. I really wish 1) I'd bought one years ago when they were available and relatively cheap, or 2) Fender would reissue these darned things. Really great instruments that were under appreciated for the time.
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I wound up checking out Roscoe's work with Robben Ford & The Blue Line AFTER I got the bass. I think I *MAY* have seen his name in passing when I was reading the liner notes of Eric Johnson's album Ah Via Musicom. But that was the limit of my exposure to him before coming across his sig model.

As for reissuing that bass? I don't know how good the odds are of that happening. Roscoe wanted his bass to have this particular Gotoh bridge. It just worked really well for the bass. When Gotoh discontinued making that bridge, that was around the time that the RB5 was discontinued.

Fender seems to be trying to draw in fans of the RB5 with their Dimension series basses. The American Deluxe Dimension 5 string bears a remarkable resemblance to the RB5, and has similar pickup switching options. But a different bridge. ;)
 
#64
I have a signature guitar. It's my very own Gaolee signature Zombiecaster. It is so rare and unique that it's the only one in existence, and since I built it out of parts of a Japanese Squier Bullet that had spent a decade and a half in plastic garbage bags, it is 100% priceless. I will entertain offers of no less than one million dollars, but will turn them down because this guitar is worth so much more than that.
 
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#66
Most signature Basses are a variation on a Fender P or J. I have an Allen Woody Rumblecat which is a unique design which was never actually used by the designer. The Jack Casady model is also fairly original design which I would like to try someday.
 
#67
Gaolee said:
I have a signature guitar. It's my very own Gaolee signature Zombiecaster. It is so rare and unique that it's the only one in existence, and since I built it out of parts of a Japanese Squier Bullet that had spent a decade and a half in plastic garbage bags, it is 100% priceless. I will entertain offers of no less than one million dollars, but will turn them down because this guitar is worth so much more than that.
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Priceless. Like this post.
 
#69
ShoeManiac said:
I wound up checking out Roscoe's work with Robben Ford & The Blue Line AFTER I got the bass. I think I *MAY* have seen his name in passing when I was reading the liner notes of Eric Johnson's album Ah Via Musicom. But that was the limit of my exposure to him before coming across his sig model.

As for reissuing that bass? I don't know how good the odds are of that happening. Roscoe wanted his bass to have this particular Gotoh bridge. It just worked really well for the bass. When Gotoh discontinued making that bridge, that was around the time that the RB5 was discontinued.

Fender seems to be trying to draw in fans of the RB5 with their Dimension series basses. The American Deluxe Dimension 5 string bears a remarkable resemblance to the RB5, and has similar pickup switching options. But a different bridge. ;)
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I always wanted to try a Roscoe Beck V but never got around to it. Loved his work with Eric Johnson, saw them live a couple of times and was floored.

I have no problems with sig models. I love my Geddy Lee Jazz, I can't get those same specs without paying more then the $900 I payed for it. Too bad they aren't offering them with the BAII bridge anymore. If I want another one I will have to go used.
 
#71
I have had a bunch of signature basses... Modulus Flea, Fender Marcus Miller 4 & 5, Victor Bailey 5, Fender Mike Dirnt... they were all good basses. I personally don't care if it is a signature series, but I can see why some people wouldn't like the idea.
 
#72
I don't really care about the branding.

I love my Ibanez Gary Willis GWB-1 more than my Leduc, Pedulla, Linc Luthier, Steinberger, and a half-dozen other high-end fretless basses I've owned. Sounds and feels better to me.

I love my Yamaha Attitude Limited more than any other P-Bass I've ever played. Great neck. Great tone. Love the deep lows from the extra neck pickup.

Some sig basses reflect the unique demands of the artist who designed them. They're not all cynical marketing ploys.
 
#73
I'd like a Reggie Hamilton sig, as it's the only way of getting a PJ Fender with a P pup in the 'correct' place, on a Jazz body, with a Hipshot Xtender, and an active/passive option for under a grand (unless I've missed something)

As much as I admire Hamilton's bass playing, and I really do, the fact it's a signature model makes no difference to me. Nobody's going to see me play it and assume I'm ripping the man off, put it that way :laugh:
 
#74
danosix said:
Actually, he's naming LES PAUL as a signature model - and more to the point, have you BEEN to the Gibson website in the last... MILLION years? they have more signature Les Pauls than Ibanez has models. As for Jackson (which is Fender by the way) about half their guitars and basses are named after players.
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Well then - they are all silly.
 
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#75
Ten years ago the only reasonable way to get an emulation of
a 1954 Precision (contoured body, single-coil PUP, 2-saddle bridge, big fat neck) was a Sting signature. The Geddy Lee specific combination of impossibly skinny neck, black blocks and binding, BA bridge, etc. has an appeal for a lot of people. If the instrument sounds and feels right, does what I want, then any of that other stuff is utterly meaningless.

John
 
#76
InThePocket123 said:
Ok. I realize that this is probably just me, but I just can't bring myself to use gear with someone else's name on it!
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No, it is not just you but it isn't everyone either. Some people are attracted to signature models, some people evaluate them just like any other bass, and some people are repelled by them. I'm in the middle group, see below. Every bass I currently own has Leo Fender's name on it and many other brands carry the name of the brand's founder. I don't see any reason to draw the line at an artist's name but not the brand founder's name.

Hank Scorpio said:
I'd like a Reggie Hamilton sig, as it's the only way of getting a PJ Fender with a P pup in the 'correct' place, on a Jazz body, with a Hipshot Xtender, and an active/passive option for under a grand (unless I've missed something)
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My main player is a Reggie Hamilton. I knew him not when I bought the bass but since buying it I have checked his work out and he is a fine bass player and he is fine person too, as you learn from his posts on the thread devoted to his bass. The thing that attracted me to the bass was how well designed it is to fill a variety of roles and that is a reflection of the fact that Reggie Hamilton is also a fine bass designer which reinforces the notion that balking at his name but not Leo Fender's is a bit silly. A fair number of artists do modify their instruments to make them better suited for what and how they play which makes them bass designers as well as artists. It should not surprise anyone that an instrument well designed for a certain purpose would appeal to everyone who values that purpose. Those of you who dislike signature models don't think anything of buying a bass designed by some unknown bass designer at Fender or any other company. Perhaps you should ask yourselves why you would refuse to buy a bass merely because you know the designer's name? Does it surprise you that a bass designed by someone who plays bass for a living would be well designed? The best designers are always the ones who use what they design. If you won't buy their designs you are refusing to try some really well made basses.

Now it is true that some signature models are just cosmetic blushes on standard products to attract buyers who like the artist. In some cases there is nothing special about the artist's bass to begin with, it is just his/her signature "look". In other cases a cosmetic signature model just captures the look of a bass that may have interesting functional features too. Either way cosmetic signature models tend not to attract me and sometimes repel me because their look is unappealing. Squier makes three signature model Precisions that kinda run the gamut for me. I find the Pete Wentz unappealing because of the bat graphics. I am fond of actual bats and their voracious appetites for mosquitoes, I just don't like the bat motif as used on that bass. The Eva Gardner model's artist specific design elements are tastefully done, in my opinion, so I could see myself buying one, the fact that it is a signature model is neutral in this case. The Matt Freeman model on the other hand is hardly distinguishable from a plain vanilla Squier CV Precision other than the black/maple color scheme which I like and in fact if I were in the market for a well made but straightforward Precision Bass at a good price I would go with Matt's.

Oh, but now I see Squier has a black/maple CV Precision 70's, don't they? And the matching headstock on the Eva Gardner does look nice, doesn't it? Great, now I have GAS for three Squier Precisions....
 
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#77
the only signature basses i would get would be gene simons axe bass and steve haris, because gene's is a unique design and steve's is a blue p bass. also i would get the robert trujillo 5 string blue bass because it's blue and 5 stringed.

i would like an aerosmith bass. tom hamilton does have a signature bass. it's blue but i want the army with the aerosmith logo. i want it mostly for the logo. if the blue one had an aerosmith logo i would get it sooner.
 
#78
I have not read the whole thread so forgive me of this has been mentioned. Not to long ago I have to chance to play a few different Will Lee Sadowsky's. While the slightly narrower nut may not matter, the mid switch was huge. It is a bass I would but. It is a bass I could spend full retail on.
 
#79
For the most part, if it sounds good and feels good I will play it. Granted my budget won't always allow that.
aesthetics would really only matter to me if I was in another cover band or started/joined an original group.
For the most part though when it comes to design(or sound),give me a P or a J over anything regardless of the artist name on the headstock.
 
#80
LordRyan said:
Most signature Basses are a variation on a Fender P or J. I have an Allen Woody Rumblecat which is a unique design which was never actually used by the designer. The Jack Casady model is also fairly original design which I would like to try someday.
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Jeff Scott said:
It could have been if it wasn't based on this:
http://guitarsafari.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/003.jpg

;)
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Yeah. The Epiphone Jack Casady is based on the Gibson Les Paul signature bass from the early 1970's. According to Link Removed there were only a few hundred ever built. I first started seeing some guys using these back in the 1990's. Notably Johnny Colt when he was with the Black Crowes and Magnus Svenningson of The Cardigans.

In the case of the Jack Casady, I think they probably improved on the design to a degree with his Epiphone signature model. Especially with the hardware and onboard electronics.
 

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