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Signature Basses

#21
I get GAS off and on for a Steve Harris sig model. I have played them before, and the ydon't really feel much different then my current p bass, which is probably why I have never pulled the trigger on one.

Same with the GEddy Lee j-bass, I really like it, but it does not fee lmuch different than my current j.

They both definitely sound different. I feel like I would get one if I ever ran ito a huge sum of extra cash just to have...but that will never happen
 
#22
saustindavis said:
I know where you're coming from. I don't get the signature thing either. The Geddy and/or Miller Jazz interest me, but only slightly. I'd rather have something that wasn't so specific to the artist that I could tweak and make sound/play the way I like it. I'm interested to know why they appeal to so many people also.
Click to expand...

Regarding the part in bold......The Geddy sig and the MM sig can't be tweaked or modified because........?
 
#23
Does it matter if you by the signature bass of an artist who you have no clue who they are? I did. Have owned it 12 years and counting. Have exactly one CD where that artist plays and I never listen to it, so that rules out "fanboy" or "I wanna sound just like ________" as a reason for purchase.

Bought it because it had the features I wanted on it.
 
#25
I don't worry too much about the sig's on basses...

Geddy & Marcus Miller Jazz's are pretty hot looking - Blocks & Binding - plus the MM preamp (good or bad) is only in the MMsig...

Yamaha's BBNE2 - is a fantastic bass

Want a Dinky J? - check out Lakland's Darryl Jones - SWEET

Fender's Jaco Sig is a little disappointing - should have a coated board...

Peavey B QUAD - Graphite neck & Piezo bridge pup - NICE!!!

That's all I can think of off the top of my head (I have one each of the above mentioned basses & they're all mine - Sig or not)...

I'm pretty Sure I've seen Geddy playing a Jaco & Les Claypool playing a CT bass with Geddy's signature on it (not a Fender Geddy Lee)...

If was P bass shopping... the sparkly blue Steve Harris would definitely catch my eye...

Almost forgot.... I have a Fender with Alain Caron's signature on it - pretty cool, but I'd gladly trade it for an Alain Caron signature Fbass...
 
#26
I wouldn't buy a bass solely because it is a "signature model," but I would buy a signature model bass if it sounded good, played well and looked good. Back in 1972 I bought a Rickenbacker 4001 solely because Chris Squire played one, but I did it for the sound, and there was no "Chris Squire signature model" then. If there had been and they weren't charging too much extra for it, I may have bought it. I love the old style Fender P bass -- single bar pickup, small headstock -- but I wouldn't buy the Sting model just because it has his name as a 12th fret marker. None of the current crop of other Fender signatures interest me either, although I did rather like the Roscoe Beck models.

However, I do have a Hofner Icon and I'll have to admit that if McCartney hadn't played one, I probably never would have looked at Hofner in the first place. But I was not going to pay an additional $1,500 for the German 500/1 Beatle bass. The Icon looks close enough and sounds very much like the German model, and that's enough for me.

I just bought a Rickenbacker 4001C64 in Fireglo, which is patterned to replicate McCartney's Rick before the psychedelic paint job (and subsequent stripping/sanding). OK -- some of the reason is because McCartney played one, but more is because I like the Rick sound, wanted the horseshoe bridge PUP and prefer the unbound dot-marker neck over the bound triangle-marker neck that I had on the 4001.

I absolutely can't see coughing up $8,000 for something like the Warwick Adam Clayton Reverso or even $1,500 their over the top Bootsy model.
 
#30
No not really. It is a Les Paul style bass with a Maple unlined fretless board. To my knowledge it was never made. The only way it would be made is if I were to purchase a Warmoth (Not a Les Paul) with a custom maple board neck... So, I still would not play a signature model bass and I stand by my initial statement. However, please know that I am not against anyone else playing them, I just don't understand why/
 
#31
Although I quite like Green Day (been a fan since "Kerplunk!"), my love of the Fender Mike Dirnt sig bass has nothing to do with the namesake. The bass has a unique configuration that was all the things I wanted in my P-bass...

...after I modded the hell out of it.

Actually, it's just the Dirnt body I wanted. Paired with a '51RI neck, Fralin pup, Hipshot tuners, and some other Fender hardware, I got a (nearly) perfect bass for me.
 
#32
it's not a Les Paul it's a LP
:ninja:
lp4.gif


lp9.gif
 
#36
My favorite 2 basses are Tony Franklin signatures; a fretless one, and a fretted one.
I favor them because I believe they are the best P/J's that Fender makes. They fit me, and the way I play better than most others, and they sound amazing.

If I could have a luthier make a custom pair of fretted/fretless basses for me, they would be very, very close to what I already own in these two basses.

I think Tony Franklin is pretty darn cool, but I would play these things if they had his name on them, or not.
 
#38
So a few years ago I was planning on having a P bass built for me. It was going to be PJ, with a pickup selector, fretless with an ebony board, and have a D-Tuner. Then I was surfing the web and spotted the Fender Tony Franklin Signature Fretless, seemed like a better use of my money.
 
#39
Good points made about the LP signature.

Its difficult to compare the Gibson LP to the slew of current Fender signature models. The Fenders differ slightly- different flavors of the same concept. But if you look at how different the Gibson Les Paul was, it was a very distinctive overall design during its time. Other manufacturers are offering more distinctive bass offerings lately and I would like to try some of them.

I like something about most sig basses, but nothing has nailed all of the design points or tone goals to make me want one of them. I wouldn't rule it out, but I would be inclined to customize a stock model myself before buying a sig. Play what you like!
R
 
#40
iriegnome said:
I would like to know what is up with signature basses.
Click to expand...

What is up is that a whole lot of people do not have your biases. As a result signature models will typically sell well and that is why they are made. This is true in all walks of life, not just bass guitars. Signature models of just about everything are offered for sale. Some signatures are so common that you may not see them as signatures but they are: Fender, Squier, Ford....

One of my three basses is a Reggie Hamilton Standard Jazz and I bought it solely on the basis of its feature mix. It instantly became my main bass as a result of its features. I had no idea who Reggie Hamilton was when I ordered it only that I liked the configuration that he chose. Turns out he is a great bassist, a nice guy, and he takes the time to hang out on the thread here devoted to his signature instrument. That is all great stuff. But if I had loved the configuration of a signature model honoring someone I detested (not sure who that would be really) I would have bought it anyway. One can always sand the signature off as so many Squier owners seem to do. I guess I am kinda the opposite: I actually will not buy a Squier that someone removed the signature from!

Ken
 

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