Signature basses

[Green Knight]

Anyone have a signature bass they love but don’t care about the bassist it’s named after?

 

[4SG]

I love my Geddy Lee signature JB and I respect Lee as a musician but you'd have to pay me to listen to Rush.

 

[Bass V]

just the opposite for me and my Epi Toby Std., no name on it, no fretboard markings, just a clean cool black ax with attitude forever and a decent tone pallet that comes alive with the bass boost.
this bass would be my design if a company came a'knockin' but didn't.

 

[Gorn]

The Tony Franklin bass is my favorite Fender. He’s very good but I’m not a fan.

 

[Spidey2112]

... but you'd have to pay me to listen to Rush.

 

[Gorn]

I love my Geddy Lee signature JB and I respect Lee as a musician but you'd have to pay me to listen to Rush.

View attachment 4675356

I concur. Lovely bass but I’d rather listen to a squeaky ceiling fan.

 

[micguy]

I build all my own basses, and sign the headstocks with my initials. They're one offs, made by me for me. So, I am the artist. And the manufacturer. I like all my basses (at least the ones I've held onto), and I like the artist. He's not a musical genius or anything, just a good, solid bass player. So, I like him, I don't idolize him.

 

[Pings Bass]

I love my Geddy Lee signature JB and I respect Lee as a musician but you'd have to pay me to listen to Rush.

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I suspect this is a very common take.

I've never owned a signature anything, but I've considered a JMJ Mustang. I had to look up who JMJ was. Same with Tony Franklin. Cool basses, but I'm just not into rock.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

…I don't idolize him.

Kinda sounds like you do…

 

[Dincrest]

One of my basses is a heavily modded LTD HTB-600, the signature model of Children of Bodom bassist Henkka T. Blacksmith. While I think Children of Bodom is a killer band, I'm not a die hard super fan. Heck, when I bought that bass (secondhand), I was in that phase where I thought the band had lost their edge, become a poseur band, their old stuff was better... I'm almost ashamed of the metal elitism I exhibited in my younger days.

Go figure, I bought that Children of Bodom bass to be a backup to my then #1 (a "nicer" bass), yet it replaced that "nicer" bass as my new #1. It has toured up and down the US east coast with me, I've recorded with it, it's even been in photo shoots with models... and now I'm looking to retire it as a display piece.

 

[JMarkD]

I have two "signature" basses. Neither was purchased because of that quality. One is a Fender Roscoe Beck V. I respect Roscoe and am familiar with some of his work, but I bought that bass for its unique design and great sound.

The other one is a somewhat rare Warwick Jack Bruce Thumb Bass. It is a fretless Thumb with some inlays and neck LEDs. It is one of the nicest fretless basses I have encountered and I got a good deal on it. Obviously Jack Bruce is a legend but as much as I love his work, never a major influence for me.

A great bass is a great bass no matter what they call it or whose name marketing folks place on it. In the case of these two basses, both artists had some very real input into the final design. But their names had no influence on my decision to purchase.

 

[TonyP-]

Yeah...The guy is jerk too...

 

[staurosjohn]

I refinned a Squier Mike Dirnt body… added a Mike Dirnt RW neck (& other hardware, etc.)… have zero interest in Green Day

 

[57pbass]

I never thought about it until I saw this post but I actually have 5 signature basses. I purchased them a long time ago except for the Geddy Lee which was a 2020 purchase. All so great and all so different.

USA Geddy Lee
Fender Victor Bailey 4 string
Lakland Bob Glaub
Lakland Joe Osborn
Victor Wooten Classic

I enjoy listening to all of their work..

 

[thunesBARROW]

Les Paul. I don’t dislike his music, I’m just not too familiar with it.

 

[Green Knight]

I feel like I've only had the heavily alliterative Fender Franklin fretless ... great bass, great player, don't listen to any of his music ... oh wait, I had a Dingwall Combustion NG ... great bass, never listened to the music (nor heard of the bassist until after I'd owned the bass).

I guess a related question might be, would you buy your favourite player's signature bass even if it meant compromising on your preferred specs?

 

[Andy Marshman]

I have a Fender CIJ Sting Precision Bass. It's the one instrument that I've held on to the longest. I almost never play it, partly because I choose to only play short scale basses now. The Sting model is light weight and actually fun to play. It's brighter tone-wise than what I prefer and that's another reason I don't reach for it often. My wife is a huge Sting fan. I like the guy and we've seen him many times (and will again in August this year) but do I "care" about him? - no. I don't emulate him in any way, musically. Some people are hung up on the autographed 12th fret inlay. Not a problem for me. I did change the huge white pick guard for a black one. I tried mint green and even went with no pick guard (looked sorta like a Jaco jazz, which also didn't turn me on).

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

I have a couple of Dirnt Precision's, he's ok. A MIJ Geddy and a MIA Geddy Jazz, and I'm indifferent to him. A blue sparkle MIJ Steve Harris Precision, can't name 3 songs. An Adam Clayton purple sparkle MIA Jazz, I'd trip him in a dark movie theater coming back from the snack bar. I just like the instruments and features.

 

[QweziRider]

Anyone have a signature bass they love but don’t care about the bassist it’s named after?

Dirnt road worn P bass. Didn't have a clue who he was until I bought it. Only got it to fit the image of a show I was with at the time. No longer with the show, so I got the bass refinished in a color I really liked (ice blue).

 

[QweziRider]

I did change the huge white pick guard for a black one.

I've been contemplating one this week because, yet again, it fits the show I'm joining. Switching to the black guard is exactly what I want to do as well. Looks slick that way.