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signature bass fail...

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#21
Iridescentone said:
Your first question triggers a counter-question..."Are we so full of ourselves, or so envious of famous players, that we consider playing a bass "with someone else's name" on it, to be beneath us? Which is more pretentious?
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Nah I play a Geddy Lee sig and I love the way it sounds. Yes, I'm a Rush fan and Geddy Lee has been my main influence in playing bass that's not the primary reason for getting his signature model.

I got it because it's the sound I'm looking for. The 70s spacing on the jazz bass pickups makes a HUGE difference for me apart from the 60s spacing. More cutting power from the bridge p'up.

That's just me. His signature on the back is an "Okay, cool."

Do I expect to sound like him? Nope, although people have told me I'm coming close to it. Do I WANT to sound like him? Kind of, but I'd rather develop my own sound using his tone as a foundation on which I can build.
 
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#22
Since when is being a good player part of the criteria to get a signature bass? I think many of the signature basses are a way for companies to sell more instruments to kids. I am pretty sure that Fender did the Mark Hoppus bass so they could sell more basses to Blink-182 fans, not because Mark Hoppus was a transcendent bass player. Marcus Miller is a different story....
 
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#23
blowinblue said:
You've asked two very good questions. I'm not really sure of the answers. :unsure:

M. M. :)
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Yeah, this topic pops up around here on a regular basis. Not sure I agree with, or even understand some of the vehemence expressed toward the notion of signature guitars. They may be silly, eccentric, amateurish, or cool.

I mean, when Lakland offered their catalog of signature basses no one thought they were "uncool". So what changed?
 
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#26
Iridescentone said:
Your first question triggers a counter-question..."Are we so full of ourselves, or so envious of famous players, that we consider playing a bass "with someone else's name" on it, to be beneath us? Which is more pretentious?
Click to expand...

Fair point.

But I don't care to have anyone's name on my basses except the folks who made it, really. I've admired and even emulated many players, but I'm no fanboi.

(*sez the guy who just bought a Bob Glaub Lakland... does it count if I'd never heard the name before TB??*)
 
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#28
Just a general question, I've always wondered--when there is a sig model or an "endorsing artist" to a specific model, are they typically just offered a big check up front, or do they get a percentage of each piece sold, or what? I guess this could vary from deal to deal...
 
#29
SanDiegoHarry said:
I don't care to have anyone's name on my basses except the folks who made it, really. I've admired and even emulated many players, but I'm no fanboi.
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Same here. I would buy a sig model if I just fell in love with the instrument itself, but I'd never think "Oh! Player XXX, whom I love, now has a signature bass! I must rush out to buy one." Don't care who it is.

Seeing some other player's name on a guitar or bass kinda turns me off actually. Of course, I don't judge anyone else for playing a sig model.
 
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#30
My favorite of Clayton's models was always this one:

tumblr_l419igkimb1qbqb1do1_500.jpg
 
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#31
SamJ said:
worse part is he's not even that good a bass player... it's not like Geddy Lee or Marcus Miller
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I hear this a lot. Obviously, not everyone shares the same definition of "good". The guy plays the exact parts that the songs call for. Like them or not, U2 has their own "sound" and AC fits the bill perfectly.

Question; How "good" do you have to be to own the bass chair in a band like U2?
 
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#32
Iridescentone said:
Your first question triggers a counter-question..."Are we so full of ourselves, or so envious of famous players, that we consider playing a bass "with someone else's name" on it, to be beneath us? Which is more pretentious?
Click to expand...
Considering that many people buy signature basses I feel like it's crapping all over those people to look down upon whatever might motivate someone to buy one. For what? To prove that oneself is an independent thinker? What is a better motivation to like a bass than to like the music a similar bass has already made? And why do people need to have motivations that measure up to other people's standards?
 
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#33
Muddslide said:
Same here. I would buy a sig model if I just fell in love with the instrument itself, but I'd never think "Oh! Player XXX, whom I love, now has a signature bass! I must rush out to buy one." Don't care who it is.

Seeing some other player's name on a guitar or bass kinda turns me off actually. Of course, I don't judge anyone else for playing a sig model.
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Here's the wonderful irony of life: When the Geddy bass came out, I thought TB was going to implode from all the fanboi screaming. Seriously - it was pathetic, like a virtual stadium full of teenage girls seeing One Direction do an underwear ad shoot.

Then I played one and *actually liked it*... which really ticked me off! :oops:
 
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#35
lowendmafia said:
I am pretty sure that Fender did the Mark Hoppus bass so they could sell more basses to Blink-182 fans, not because Mark Hoppus was a transcendent bass player.
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...although ironically the Mark Hoppus bass is one of the relatively few Fender signature models that offers something other than a regular production bass with a different paint scheme.
 
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#36
DigitalMan said:
Considering that many people buy signature basses I feel like it's crapping all over those people to look down upon whatever might motivate someone to buy one. For what? To prove that oneself is an independent thinker? What is a better motivation to like a bass than to like the music a similar bass has already made? And why do people need to have motivations that measure up to other people's standards?
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Exactly. It comes off like some weird form of bass snobbery. And who are these people anyway? What is their big claim to fame?
 
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#37
SanDiegoHarry said:
Fair point.

But I don't care to have anyone's name on my basses except the folks who made it, really. I've admired and even emulated many players, but I'm no fanboi.

(*sez the guy who just bought a Bob Glaub Lakland... does it count if I'd never heard the name before TB??*)
Click to expand...

I can see that. I feel the same way about Badass bridges. If they didn't have the name plastered on it, I would only think they were a pointless design, instead of an embarrassing pointless design. ;)
 
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