Signature basses

[etechstan]

What does it take to get a signature bass? I won't mention names, but some of these guys are very mediocre and are being put into the same league as Geddy, Jaco, Steve Harris and others.

 

[franzkafka]

If a company can make money off of it, they'll produce it. That explains pretty much all signature instruments, regardless of the skill of those who endorse it.

 

[artistanbul]

popularity and demographics of the potential customers probably.
I'm guessing ibanez fieldy sig sells much more than warrior adam nitti signature model

 

[Mikio]

it takes certain amount of Fame, I guess that's all you need =D

 

[superbassman2000]

popularity and demographics of the potential customers probably.
I'm guessing ibanez fieldy sig sells much more than warrior adam nitti signature model

exactly--its not so much about skills as much as it is marketing

 

[PBass101]

Warwick has the "Signature" John Alec Entwistle Buzzard and "Stryker", despite the fact that the Stryker didn't exist when John was alive and he loved his Warwick Buzzards so much he stopped using them... After already having replaced the necks with Modulus graphite replacements...

Signature instruments are nothing special. I saw a Geddy Lee interview where he mentioned playing a GL Jazz because he needed to swap the neck on his original '72 Jazz, and disliked the tuners so much that he convinced Fender to start using new, better machineheads on further GL Jazz models.

 

[Jazz Ad]

Being able to sell full trucks of your signature bass is the main way.
More than often signatures are never played by the guy who signs them.
There are exceptions though. Most Ibanez endorsers play their signature instrument for example.

 

[southernrocker]

Fame of course. I think one of the best sigs is the geddy lee. I can't say how many people have bought it not because of geddy, but because the bass is awesome. I'm a geddy nut, though. But in the Pete Wentz case, I guess the ability to suck a golf ball through a garden hose will get you a signature bass.

 

[darthplagis]

i personally see signature series as pointless UNLESS there is a unique point to the bass.

the john entwistle sigs both by status graphite, B1 and B2 (B1 sadly OOP) and by warwick, stryker and buzzard. or like a stu hamm urge.

all these sigs that have just a name splatted over them or even worse associated with them (yes i mean the geddy, and the likes of the wentz) i see as a waste of time. yeah the geddy has a maple neck/board WOW!!! its just a jazz bass

as for getting one i do agree with southernrocker on the pete wentz thing. i think artist endorsement would be better if the bass is only slightly modified from stock.

 

[seamus bass]

one company that holds true to the artist sig and you basically have to be around 20+ years is gibson,not epiphone, gibson. even though im not a fan of there basses its pretty hard to get an endorsement from them

 

[Number27]

Fame of course. I think one of the best sigs is the geddy lee. I can't say how many people have bought it not because of geddy, but because the bass is awesome. I'm a geddy nut, though. But in the Pete Wentz case, I guess the ability to suck a golf ball through a garden hose will get you a signature bass.

at least the pete wentz model is only a squier

 

[PBass101]

They probably just don't need the money from sales.

 

[JTE]

There's only one reason a company makes a signature bass. Because they think they can make money marketing it.

NOTHING else matters.

jte

 

[Cyber Soda]

exactly--its not so much about skills as much as it is marketing

And thus, the Pete Wentz signature bass was born.

Someone had to do it.

 

[Cyber Soda]

Can mine be the end of the bashing? Jeez, they're not canceling it any time soon. Imagine how many fan boys bought the thing.

 

[que-ever]

Fame of course. I think one of the best sigs is the geddy lee. I can't say how many people have bought it not because of geddy, but because the bass is awesome. I'm a geddy nut, though. But in the Pete Wentz case, I guess the ability to suck a golf ball through a garden hose will get you a signature bass.

haha wow, I've never heard that phrase used in that instance, as in someone sucks in terms of ability. For a second I thought you were caling pete wentz gay.

 

[JTE]

So, how many more MIJ Jazz basses with good PUPs, a BAII, and a maple neck did FMIC sell because they could sell it as a Geddy Lee Signature model, than if they'd just intorduced it as the "Hot Rod '70s Jazz Bass"? How many people got a really really nice 1954 single-coil P bass repro because it was marketed as the Sting model (even with the unfortunate reaction to the "Stinglay") than if they'd merely introduced it as a 1954 Classic or Vintage Series?

Both are very fine basses on their own merits, excellent in my opinion (though I personally hated that ultra thin neck on the GL I owned). But by having the name attached, FMIC was able to get more attention to them in the catalogs and on the 'net. That leads to the dealers paying more attention than if they'd just called them two new reproduction models. So they sold them.

Now there's a lot of players who got Geddy Lees and/or Stings who have no real attraction to the signature artists. Like me, they probably played them in a store or thought "that's what I want" and really liked the instrument. I got the Sting because I wanted a SCP, and I wanted the contours. So that's one level where a Signature instrument really helps and works for the general players as well as the company.

Another level is the Urge (Fender Stu Hamm signature model), the Roscoe Beck, and the Peavey Palladium (the Jeff Berlin model). Those are basses that are pretty far removed from what those companies offered. Now they might have come up with a 32" bass that had J/P/J and active on their own, or a really killer passive 5-string that nailed the Jazz Bass vibe (at least sonically), but it's more likely that those artists really drove the instruments. Big enough names to sell, but more importantly, they have very definite ideas about what a good bass is (and it's not just internet conjecture about what makes it good- they know enough to talk to instrument makers about what they want and how things work).

Then there's the Pete Wentz sort of thing- like the Mark Hoppus (I think I spelled 'em right- I have no clue who those folks are at all). But FMIC isn't marketing those basses to me. They're aimed at younger players most likely who wouldn't know who Joe Osborn or James Jamerson is.

jte

 

[Korladis]

one company that holds true to the artist sig and you basically have to be around 20+ years is gibson,not epiphone, gibson. even though im not a fan of there basses its pretty hard to get an endorsement from them

It's not hard to get an artist endorsement with Gibson.

It is hard to get your own signature model though. Course, they don't have many signature basses, as I recall...