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Problem with signature basses
- Thread starter InThePocket123
- Start date
Double reply here - I actually worded that poorly - I didn't mean "loved their Geddys" I actually meant it to say "used Geddys as an example" as it is the perfect example of Fender screwing players who want a particular feature. There's LOTS to love about that bass, it would just be more lovable for a couple hundred less like it was pre sig.
But the Geddy has another feature not found on the 70's Jazz RI that you didn't mention: extremely slim neck profile. The slimmest Fender's ever done, IIRC. That neck, combined with everything else, make the Geddy attractive at most any modest pricepoint.
Same thing with the Roger Waters and Steve Harris sigs: both have a neck profile that is harder to find. Yes, it's the same as on the Classic 50's P, but the shop didn't have one of those in stock and I knew I was gonna swap the pup no matter what I bought, so I got a sweet deal on a Roger Waters P and haven't worried about it since.
The Geddy has been around for quite a while - I'd be surprised if inflation alone wouldn't have pushed it up a couple of hundred since then.
Yeah, it's probably a taste as well as an age thing. I wasn't aware of Rush at all until a few years back (it's pretty much just hardcore prog fans that are into them in Australia, I don't think I ever heard them on any kind of radio station) and their music still doesn't do much for me personally. I was never really a metalhead either so Iron Maiden wasn't something that I listened to. I respect that people go crazy about them though, don't get me wrong!
For me, though, It was Flea, Les Claypool, Mark Hoppus, Mike Dirnt and a few others like that who I was first aware of as bass players. I hardly listen to them anymore but they certainly go me interested in playing. Fall Out Boy were, I imagine, influential in a similar way for punk kids 6 or so years younger than me - they were one of the bigger bands to ride high on the pop-ification of emo music. Pete Wentz also had a bigger profile than most bass players in pop bands, as he tended to be the most visible member of the band and did a lot of the media stuff that the singer would usually do.
When I think Punk, I think Sex Pistols, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Flipper...70s Punk would make today's so-called punk bands wet their pants in fear. Again, it's an age thing. I think everything that was big when I was a kid is superior to the stuff that's out today, and younger people don't want to hear music their parents grew up with, for the most part. To me Fall Out Boy is to punk what Justin Bieber is to Death Metal.
I grew up with Blink 182 and Green Day but never was really into Hoppus and Dirnt because back then, I was primarily a drummer. Nowadays, I still listen and respect Green Day, but they've definitely been bumped down on my list of influences.
I stopped listening to Rush for a week just to explore new artists. Kings of Leon, Lifehouse, Muse, Def Leppard, and I might start getting into Foo Fighters.
Kings of Leon, though...WOW!
I stopped listening to Rush for a week just to explore new artists. Kings of Leon, Lifehouse, Muse, Def Leppard, and I might start getting into Foo Fighters.
Kings of Leon, though...WOW!
Yeah, several of you have said that - but it would seem to me that it couldn't be significantly smaller than a 60s jazz neck - esp with wood "removed" for binding - those (like mine and most MIJ Jazzes) are puny, 1.5 nut width wide and quite shallow - there's a distinct "step" at the transition b/w the neck and headstock. I know a lot of the newer-style jazzes are deeper to give more integrity there, but all the vintage style ones are pretty small.
I've got a Yamaha RBXJM2 (John Myung Signature) bass that is freakin awesome - incredible, fast neck, 16.5mm string spacing, monster pickup and preamp, and it PERFECT for the kinds of music I play. Actually, his name doesn't appear anywhere on the guitar, but I would play this bass no matter who it was associated with.
Exactly - why does he have to have his name on your/my bass? If you know it's his and that makes you interested in it you will check it out, if you happen to want a bass with those features and you find it in on the wall at the local guitar shop, is his name going to make you buy it? Probably not. That's the other thing with the whole signature thing - it's a flawed marketing tactic - the signature sticker isn't going to get anyone to buy it (those who want it because it's Adam's or John's or Geddy's will buy it without, it won't get anyone unfamiliar to buy, and it can actually turn off more than a few players if this thread is any indication.
But it's NOT a failed marketing concept. If FMIC intrduced a new generic Jazz Bass in black/maple, BA-II, vintage sounding PUPs, and an impossibly narrow neck it would get lost in the plethora of Jazz bass shaped stuff they mwke. Dealers and customers would gloss over it. Associating it with a prominent bassist draws attention to it, the point of marketing. I'm mot cynical enough to think any one at any major manufacturer believes substantial sales are going to come from people BUYING instruments because they're signature mod3ls, that's ludicrous. Rather, the signature gets people to TRY the instrument.
And don't forget that the manufacturer has to get dealers to try them so potential retail customers can try them.
And don't forget that the manufacturer has to get dealers to try them so potential retail customers can try them.
+1
I hadn't heard of Rush until I joined TalkBass, and the only songs or theirs that I've listened to are YYZ and Tom Sawyer. They don't do it for me and I find Geddy's voice to be about as pleasant as Les Claypool's. Blink, Sum 41 and The Offspring were what I grew up listening to.
Also, Mark Hoppus' sig bass is one of the most unique ones that Fender do.
Oh dear: not wanting to flame at all but I think Ged sings a lot better than Deryck Whibley.....
Different strokes for different folks (I never liked The Strokes either).
Mike Dirnt actually took the time to collaborate with Fender to produce his signature models. I honestly don't think Geddy did that. Fender just saw the bass and took specs and replicated it.
It's weird. Yet people flock for these basses. I myself am guilty because I have a Geddy bass and want the new RW Mike Dirnt bass
It's weird. Yet people flock for these basses. I myself am guilty because I have a Geddy bass and want the new RW Mike Dirnt bass
Yep, what they said.
I have the Nate Mendel bass, which I bought without knowing who Nate Mendel was. But that bass is the best P for me. In fact, I was temped to buy another on the weekend just in case something happened to the first one. I think it's a better bass than the Am Special or Std, or the $2K Hot Rod P. The signature on the back is not important, nor is it a deterrent. The player association is not important either; playing a Pino bass or even Pino's actual bass will not make me sound like Pino. So, I bought the bass that my hands and ears knew was the right one for me; my short fingers, aching back and desire for great sustain and low-end carry.
One advantage of the sig. models is that it makes it easier to identify a certain bass, instead of P 2335-5 Mk II or whatever, we can say, 'Mark Hoppus'.
Frankly I just don't see the point in getting angry or outraged about this one way or the other. Getting over the gear-fixation stage of your life is a great step forward. Then you play more and shop less.
I don't care. A lot of times signature basses have the parts i want. For example why spend more money buying the standard whatever and swapping out the pickups, bridge and whatever for something else when you can get the bass ready to go for less. There's some signature basses out their id own of people i don't even listen to. Id own a Marcus miller jazz bass, only ever listen to him on YouTube bass videos. Id own an esp dk5 and I would die of boredom if i had to play like Danny Kenny all the time.
