My mistake..it’s actually ACB - 50.. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Signature Basses / Instruments...yes or no
- Thread starter Ajsweet
- Start date
I've always been intrigued by those but I have never come across one in the wild.I just acquired a Signature bass amp… Fender Adam Clayton ACB - 50 combo. It’s a great piece of gear…50 watt tube 15” combo.
Same here until I went to pick up a repair at a local shop and there was a used ACB-50 in the store that I was able to test. I was amazed at the power from just 50 watts…I traded some gear that I wasn’t using. I’m glad it was local..it’s an awkward box and right around 50 lbs ..I can’t imagine shipping it. I’m really glad to have it though..
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I had a couple of Series and an SC Sig at the same time, and the Sig electronics aren't as good. The difference isn't breathtaking, but I know which I preferred.
Sweet.
I have a GVB36 on order, expected soonish. I'd originally planned for some US Bartss to make it basically the same as the 1006, less the wenge strip in the neck, but I think a set of EMG E5Ws will find a home there.
The original idea was to string it E-E, but I might leave it B-C for a while. Or not.
I don't care that the GVB is a signature, it gives me the specs I want.
While I knew about a handful of their tunes, I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of Blink-182; however the Hoppus signature Jag presented itself at the right time, with the right price, with features that intrigued me (reverse P Seymour Duncan QPs, string through high-mass bridge, Jazz-style neck, no tone control).
Its sound is very close to the tone I’ve chased in my head for some time… so, it ends up that it’s the bass more than the famous name. Although I’m happy that Mark spec’d it out and that Fender built it!
(Edit for clarity)
Its sound is very close to the tone I’ve chased in my head for some time… so, it ends up that it’s the bass more than the famous name. Although I’m happy that Mark spec’d it out and that Fender built it!
(Edit for clarity)
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Ever played a P bass? Or a jazz bass? Interesting of you to assume I can't sound like myself when playing someone else's bass..
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Just too bad that black one is all scratched up. If you want to send it to me, I’ll make sure it’s properly disposed of so you don’t have to look at such an unsightly mess.
Just too bad that black one is all scratched up. If you want to send it to me, I’ll make sure it’s properly disposed of so you don’t have to look at such an unsightly mess.
I guess they meant it's weird to try and sound like someone else, which players who buy signature guitars often do.
I am Not implying that's what you do, of course.
It's more of a guitarist thing anyway.
Were I obscenely wealthy, I would have at least one of each signature short or medium scale on the market. There are some unique features that can't be had any other way. Already have a Reverend Mike Watt and an MTD Lynn Keller. Would love an Eastwood Sandman, Tim Commerford Stingray, and Stanley Clarke Alembic. What am I missing?
Yeah, I don't think many bass players are going to the extreme of copying a guy's entire rig from the pick to the instrument to the pedals to the amp the same way you see some guitar players doing. I have one signature bass because I really like the bass (a JMJ), but it's not being plugged into anything else he uses.
Not to mention, the bass also didn't come with a talent switch.
Your own bass with the features that fit your your music, your style and your aesthetic preferences.
I’m in the same boat, 20-something years ago I picked up a Hoppus I really liked. Through the years I’ve made a bunch of changes but the pickup being a tiny bit closer to the neck makes a big difference.
(and of course the other one I own is a Jack Casady!)
When I was younger playing a sig model did kinda bug me, because I was hung up on forging my unique identity on an instrument that wasn't ubiquitous or "someone else's." Go figure, one of my basses is a heavily modded sig model that's become my own.
Nowadays, I have no problem with using a sig model if the specs are what I like. No matter what bass I play, I'll always sound like me. (The basses I'm most interested in trying are sig models: Reverend Me'Shell and Greg Norton sig models, ESP/LTD Frederic Leclercq sig model).
I give the example all the time that one time I was at a music store and I tried out one of the older model K5 Fieldy sigs (with the padauk body). Really nice bass it was. I remember a lot of people avoided that bass because they didn't want to be associated with Fieldy. Unlike Fieldy, I boost my mids and when I did on that bass, the tone was explosive. I sounded like me and very unlike Fieldy.
And, hey, guitarists have no problem using a Les Paul, and that's essentially a signature model for... Les Paul!
Speaking of sig models, I'm really surprised ESP/LTD's RB-1004 and RB-1005 models didn't catch on. They were designed by Rocco Prestia for lighter weight (given his medical needs) and didn't have his name emblazoned on them (as he wanted it to be a bass that would benefit others and not just him). The specs were like candy to TalkBassers, yet few bit. Maybe it's because ESP/LTD is not a brand bassists in our TB clubhouse consider?
Nowadays, I have no problem with using a sig model if the specs are what I like. No matter what bass I play, I'll always sound like me. (The basses I'm most interested in trying are sig models: Reverend Me'Shell and Greg Norton sig models, ESP/LTD Frederic Leclercq sig model).
I give the example all the time that one time I was at a music store and I tried out one of the older model K5 Fieldy sigs (with the padauk body). Really nice bass it was. I remember a lot of people avoided that bass because they didn't want to be associated with Fieldy. Unlike Fieldy, I boost my mids and when I did on that bass, the tone was explosive. I sounded like me and very unlike Fieldy.
And, hey, guitarists have no problem using a Les Paul, and that's essentially a signature model for... Les Paul!
Speaking of sig models, I'm really surprised ESP/LTD's RB-1004 and RB-1005 models didn't catch on. They were designed by Rocco Prestia for lighter weight (given his medical needs) and didn't have his name emblazoned on them (as he wanted it to be a bass that would benefit others and not just him). The specs were like candy to TalkBassers, yet few bit. Maybe it's because ESP/LTD is not a brand bassists in our TB clubhouse consider?
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I had no idea these even existed and they look really nice, especially the 5.
Definitely not the sort of thing a lot of TBers would like. Maybe if it had a tort PG...
I feel like now, when people are often asking about the weight of an instrument (whether due to health problems or simply not desiring to shoulder a heavy bass for lengthy gigs), that the RB line would thrive. Back when those basses were in ESP/LTD's lineup, "weight?" was not as common a TalkBass-ism.
I've got a few signature basses. Mostly because they were good instruments and did a thing I thought was interesting
- Roscoe Beck V - versatile passive bass with a unique sound, you can't get anywhere else
- Marcus Miller - It's the easiest way to nail that tone (at the time) for a reasonable amount of money
- Will Lee - I like Sadowskys and the added mids are nice to have
- Adam Clayton - I have a 60's fender is this is very close to sound and feel of that instrument and it's replaceable
- Flea Fender (Active) - great sounding active bass that isn't as edgy as a maple musicman can be.
-Joe Dart MM - Where can you get a passive MM style bass for that $$?
At the prices I paid for each of these (most used), I don't feel like a paid a premium for what they are.
- Roscoe Beck V - versatile passive bass with a unique sound, you can't get anywhere else
- Marcus Miller - It's the easiest way to nail that tone (at the time) for a reasonable amount of money
- Will Lee - I like Sadowskys and the added mids are nice to have
- Adam Clayton - I have a 60's fender is this is very close to sound and feel of that instrument and it's replaceable
- Flea Fender (Active) - great sounding active bass that isn't as edgy as a maple musicman can be.
-Joe Dart MM - Where can you get a passive MM style bass for that $$?
At the prices I paid for each of these (most used), I don't feel like a paid a premium for what they are.
I could say the same; Along with... except for a handful of Schecter Doug Pinnick ones? There are pretty much no left handed signature basses. So, they weren't a thing I looked for. However...
I eventually wound up with two signature basses. One was just the luck of the draw, and one was simply the kind of bass it is. The first one was an active bass I bought to replace another active bass. There's a spot in my "Herd" for an active bass. Didn't matter what it was, as long as it had 4 strings; was a lefty; and was an active bass. A '95 Alembic Epic showed up on eBay - so I bought it. It filled the spot for years, but one of the other spots - the "Long Scale Set Neck" spot, was proving hard to fill. So... since the Alembic was a long scale set neck bass? It changed spots, and I looked for another active bass. The first one to pop up (that I thought was worth buying) was a '15 G&L Custom Shop (no production lefties) Tom Hamilton Signature ASAT Bass. I had no idea who he is, but I liked how it looked; it was active; and the price was right...
The other one is a '22 Epiphone Jack Casady Bass. Yes, I do know who he is, but that's not why I bought it. The "Long Scale Hollow Body" spot was one of the very last unfilled spots in my herd, and one that I thought might never be filled - unless I had one custom made. But, Epiphone finally started making lefty JC basses in 2022; and after looking inside one in the Sweetwater in FT. Wayne? Yes, it's a long scale bass, and although it does... bend... the definition just a little? It is a hollow body bass. So, I ordered one from Sweetwater, and it's in my living room right now. But, much as I like the bands that Jack Casady's played in? He is not the reason I bought the bass. I'd have been happy if it just said "Epiphone" on the headstock..
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Does the signature make it better?
I mean, for someone buying the bass, not for Fender or Musicman or Gibson making a few extra hundred dollars by slapping Steve Harris or Joe Dart or Gene Simmons on the headstock?
I mean, for someone buying the bass, not for Fender or Musicman or Gibson making a few extra hundred dollars by slapping Steve Harris or Joe Dart or Gene Simmons on the headstock?
