• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

signature bass fail...

Status
Not open for further replies.
#382
two fingers said:
Pretty much every bass has somebody's name on it. They are all someone else's ideas of what should make up a bass.

Leo Fender, Dan Lakin, Michael Tobias, Ned Steinberger, Stuart Spector, Vinny Fodera, Roger Sadowsky, Keith Roscoe, Ernie Ball, Michael Pedulla (you get the point)...... These names are on literally millions of basses combined. Are the owners of those basses all losers because they bought into the hype of what someone else thinks is a good bass?

Unless you cut down a tree and built your own, you are playing someone else's "signature bass".
Click to expand...

No one is a loser because they play a signature bass. They have simply made a choice that some other players would not make. And there would seem to be a significant difference between a 'brand' and a 'signature model' of said brand. This thread is about signature models.

M. M. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Iridescentone
#383
Listening to all these people diss Adam Clayton, I'm starting to wonder if they've listened to anything but their biggest singles. Once you get past The Joshua Tree, where his playing is admittedly very monotonous, you have Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop which all have some solid inventive bass lines. Or look at No Line on the Horizon. I myself didn't really care for All That You Can't Leave Behind or How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

For a guy who didn't take any lessons until the late 90s, he sure made it work. And before anybody claims this is off topic, let me just point that half of this thread has been people trashing U2 and trashing Adam Clayton.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jim nolte and Reggie Hamilton
#384
My Fender CS Adam Clayton P Bass. Yes, it does play and sound as good as it looks.

10_zps0ljfg5k7.jpg
[/URL]
 
  • Like
Reactions: bmac314, pedroims, FC Bass and 2 others
#385
Seboar said:
For a guy who didn't take any lessons until the late 90s, he sure made it work. And before anybody claims this is off topic, let me just point that half of this thread has been people trashing U2 and trashing Adam Clayton.
Click to expand...

I know from my last bass teacher (Danny Morris - Berklee professor) that AC takes lessons from Patrick Pfeiffer in NYC. That guy is a great teacher and a monster player. At least AC makes an attempt to improve. And you know, when this thread started I went and listened to some recent U2 live performances. He doesn't make mistakes live from what I could tell. Say what you will about his simple bass lines but they sound close to the album live. They just don't do anything for me personally.
 
#386
Seboar said:
Listening to all these people diss Adam Clayton, I'm starting to wonder if they've listened to anything but their biggest singles. Once you get past The Joshua Tree, where his playing is admittedly very monotonous, you have Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop which all have some solid inventive bass lines.
Click to expand...

It's generally not difficult to play, but it serves the pieces well (in some cases U2 tracks are entirely driven by the bass and drums). I'd say that this simplicity can be heard in tracks that followed. It's not as if U2 invented the notion of songs being driven in this way, of course, but it's been more widely heard than many, and it's something that is known (even if few know his name) to many musicians and non-musicians. There's something to be said for going for a simple line to power a rock song along. In a suitable context there's even an argument for montonous ones. It all depends on what you are going for. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes it is just... less.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steve Dallman
#389
Rocker949 said:
What baffles me the most is how U2 got so popular in the first place. Nothing personal against Adam Clayton or anyone in the band, but their music has always been incredibly boring to me. It would have been to my advantage to like it, too, since I've spent so much time in Ireland, a place I like very much. It seems a lot of people have enjoyed their music. I honestly tried and was unable to. But maybe a lot of those people were never able to enjoy Hendrix while I've always liked his music very much. Maybe it all equals out. I know that people either "get" Hendrix or they don't, and maybe it's the same with U2. Maybe it's the same with any band. It's just that with many bands I can at least see why people like them, but in U2's case, I can't say that.
Click to expand...

I can answer that, but first...
Disclaimer: Not a U2 fan at all, apart from liking a couple of their songs. I don't like Bono at all, on any level.

When U2 hit the air waves with their big hit "I Will Follow", they went on tour in the States. I thought the tune was catchy and their sound was fresh. So I went to see them at the Park West in Chicago. I didn't really expect too much from a teenage rock band from Ireland, so I was kinda floored by the show they put on. They "electrified" the joint. For real.
 
#391
Double E said:
It is primarily about brand recognition folks. Fender wants to present a stable of musicians that endorse the product with representation from many genres. With less consideration for the individual talent of the players than their or their band's notoriety.

They are presenting the image that successful artists from all walks of life have chosen their instruments.

They are not trying to change the minds of avid enthusiasts that have very narrow tastes.
Click to expand...

Agree. I would just add that Fender is also reflecting that image. Because that image is the reality, and has been for a loooong time.
 
#400
Iridescentone said:
I can answer that, but first...
Disclaimer: Not a U2 fan at all, apart from liking a couple of their songs. I don't like Bono at all, on any level.

When U2 hit the air waves with their big hit "I Will Follow", they went on tour in the States. I thought the tune was catchy and their sound was fresh. So I went to see them at the Park West in Chicago. I didn't really expect too much from a teenage rock band from Ireland, so I was kinda floored by the show they put on. They "electrified" the joint. For real.
Click to expand...

Maybe if I had seen them in person my reaction would have been different. But I tried liking their music several times through the years. It just never registered with me at all.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back