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Signature basses

#61
First Bass bought last year when I decided to see if I could actually learn to play. I don't know much about set ups, scales, picking etc,etc but.... it was fun enough for me to keep trying
Now the part most of you love to hate. Fallout Boy Peter Wentz for 75 bucks I'm cool with it
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#62
staurosjohn said:
I refinned a Squier Mike Dirnt body… added a Mike Dirnt RW neck (& other hardware, etc.)… have zero interest in Green Day :thumbsup:View attachment 4675634
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I kind of did the same thing with a MIM Roadworn Dirnt body. (Dirnt is OK but not my "god".) The bass now kind of has a Dusty Hill vibe thing going on.

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#63
Love me some Tommy Stinson, Peter Hook too, but won’t buy a P bc of those names … the Hook bass is cool in and of itself tho! I have a bass that does the MIA Stu Hamm thing (the pickup configuration not the bassist) but I’ve never owned any music he’s been on. If my current bass were anyone’s signature I’d still have got it bc of its inherent properties. I prefer it when the signature is on the back of the headstock to be sure.
 
#64
Since we're also sharing pictures of our modded signature basses...

Stock HTB-600: iokjpl2rjqjwsg6nuxi7.jpg

My heavily modded HTB-600: 20200921_111331.jpg
(Besides having a luthier I know give it that sick swirl paint job, I also had him swap out the EMG-DC active electronics for a pair of passive Duncan soapbars with a V/V/T setup, add a Hipshot Xtender for forays into drop D, and add Dunlop straplocks).

As for signature basses I would love to try, I would totally dig one of those discontinued ESP/LTD Bunny Brunel sig model 5ers, the BB-1005. I know little of Bunny and his music, but the specs on that bass speak to me.
 
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#65
My first nice bass I bought for the same reasons one gets a signature bass, in my case a Gabriel obsession; it was an EBMM Stingray and I hated how it felt in my hands. What works for your heroes might not work for you!
 
#66
Auggieinks said:
First Bass bought last year when I decided to see if I could actually learn to play. I don't know much about set ups, scales, picking etc,etc but.... it was fun enough for me to keep trying
Now the part most of you love to hate. Fallout Boy Peter Wentz for 75 bucks I'm cool with it
Click to expand...

Wow... I remember seeing that one on Craigslist.

I tried to buy it but you beat me to it.:roflmao:
 
#68
This is a ESP/Grass Roots Bass IV Tetsu/Tetsuya L'Arc-en-Ciel signature model. I had to research the player and band which I wasn't aware of after seeing/buying this bass. It was a Japanese market only bass, and I bought it from Nogoya Japan. Very cool bass modeled after the Fender VI that plays/sounds great regardless of it being a sig model.

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The first generation ESP branded model was more specifically modeled after Tetsu's bass with the gas-station (?) stickers and matching hs colour.
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#71
If you mean from wanting to emulate the player, none of em. I've owned these sigs:

- Carvin Bunny Brunel (4 and 6 unlined FL, R.I.P. 2 years ago)
- Carvin Brian Bromberg "S" model 5 string unlined FL (R.I.P. 2 years ago)
- Fender Tony Franklin (2 of them, not yet stolen/trashed by drunk, etc)
- Fender Jaco Artist (not the custom shop, 2 of them, not yet stolen/trashed by drunk, etc).

and I don't play like any of the artists. I got them all because of a particular feature set they had that the artist specifically came up with. the Bunnies and the Bromberg had the ergonomic features like radiused pickup faces on the Bromberg, the Tony Franklin and Jaco the FL fingerboards, the TF has the TF pickups and switch, etc.

They're all great players but I hardly know any of their bass parts. I know kinda sorta one Brian Bromberg tune and I can kind of stumble through The Chicken. That's about it. But I love(d) the basses....

L
 
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#73
I couldn't care less about signatures. However, I have a Sting signature, bought because I wanted a SCPB and this is what I ran across. I like the thick neck, the light weight and prefer the contoured burst body as opposed to the more known yellow slab body. The signature marker doesn't bother me. Audiences have no idea what it is and can barely see it anyway. If another bass guy comments, I just say "so what".
I did change a few things to give it a kind of "country" vibe-- pickup/bridge covers and an aged pearloid pickguard.

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#76
I have owned a handful of signature guitars over the years, but never because I was a fan of the artist. It was always because I liked the specifications, and the signature elements were unobtrusive.

No signature basses, though. I like the Reverend Mike Watt one with one pickup, but the inlays kill it for me, as does the price. I am not buying the prices of Reverends these days. I remember when they were $400-$500 new, and built just as well as they are today, if not better.

The signature axes I have had are:

Gibson Les Pauls (various)

G&L Jerry Cantrell Rampage

Fender Jimmy Page Mirror Telecaster

Fender Chrissie Hynde Telecaster (installed standard guard instead of mirrored)
 

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