What signature model is actually worth it?

[DRBP]

Two basses come to mind. The Yamaha Nathan East original B Beast, and the Fender Roscoe Beck bass. These two signatures are not duplications of another production with alterations. These two are a completely stand alone instrument. They have a configuration like no other before it's conception. I have the Yamaha, and wish I had the Fender, which I missed buying when they were affordable. Any donations would by greatly appreciated.

my two main gigging basses (sort of..)! my nathan east is not the original Beast but one of the later 5 strings and it is just an incredible instrument. The RB IV is kind of in a fender class of its own, there really isn’t another fender bass like it. these are the two basses i usually take to a gig. i have several others that i love playing (cij geddy lee, G&L M2500, Regenerate jazz, aerodyne jazz) but these are my go to gig basses.

 

[ColdEye]

I bought the Ibanez Ichika Nito signature headless guitar not because I’m a fan, but because it has a really unique feature set at a good price. Basically a headless 5lb hard tail strat, for under a grand. View attachment 5087527

I am so tempted to get that. Been eyeing it since they got announced.

 

[Dust2Dust]

Geddy

 

[ToddB1963]

Well said! They are surprisingly good basses for their (relatively) modest cost.

Yes, I was seriously impressed. The tone with flats is exceptional.

Truth is, I've long been interested in the JC but never had the opportunity to try one out. Now that hurdle's been cleared, I'm sorely tempted.

My friend's example is gold in color. I could easily see myself getting one of those, but I'm very partial to the Pelham blue as well.

 

[Ghastly]

Tony Franklin fretless is fantastic. Ebony fingerboard, great Di Marzio bridge pick up, nitro finish, hip shot drop D tuner

Adam Clayton Jazz is a great choice. Custom color, matching headstock, lollypop tuners, block inlays, upgraded bridge.

I was thinking of mentioning these very same two!

 

[jd56hawk]

They're are the kinds of signature instruments. They can all be awesome.

The first is a colorway or a configuration of an existing instrument. The glorious purple Reverend Linh Le is the most perfect example - a Reverend Dub King in a very flashy, distinctive colorway. Totally worth it too. I'd toss the Geddy Lee and the pink Road Worn Flea Bass into this category because they have clusters of features that actually existed together before in a previous era. I'd buy a decent example of a Road Worn Flea JB in a second, and I'm not even a fan.

Next is the modded guitars and basses that do something new, but still are exist as P-Basses, JBs, Strats, etc. The most successful version of this is probably a budget guitar - the J Mascis Jazzmaster, which put big frets, a tune-o-matic style bridge, and hot non-Jazzmaster-sounding pickups. They sold like crazy, and they were excellent to play if you wanted a reliable, aggressive sounding Jazzmaster. It was brilliant because it served the needs of actual current-day Jazzmaster users probably better than traditional Fender Jazzmasters did, although the pickups were a matter of controversy. The Jack Cassidy Epiphone is probably the equivalent bass - affordable, with individual features places in a modified existing design, although in this case it was that weird and rare semi-hollow Les Paul Bass. Those two are probably the most worth it of all signature models, at least for players who are inclined to like them.

Finally, there are the new-design signature models like the Reverend Wattplower, Fellowship, and Fatfish. I'd love to have a Mike Watt or Me'shelle Ndegeocello Reverend bass.

Gotta love that Reverend didn’t go the Fender route and tack on an extra $500 for the metal-flake finish.

 

[rockscott]

The les paul jr dc is an awesome bass, good luck finding one!

 

[ga_edwards]

I'm a HUGE fan of the original Yamaha Attitude Limited. Offers a ton of unique and useful features you won't find on any other Precision-style bass:

• Gigantic, rigid neck (profile copied from a '70s Tele bass)
• Unique bolt-on system with milled alloy block locking the neck in place
• Deep lower bout, which allows full access to upper frets
• Scalloped frets under D- and G-strings at the base of the fingerboard, which helps with bends
• Dual-output with EBO-style neck pickup and DiMarzio split-coil

There's literally NOTHING else like it on the market. It feels amazing and sounds phenomenal. Later generations are also awesome, but the first-gen is really special.

Somewhat agree. The original and LTD2 were/are phenomenal basses and were sold at a sensible and affordable price (not cheap, but affordable - Macbook kind of money). But the LTD3 is an eyewatering amount of money that puts it out of reach for many people. They're around £4,500 in the UK at the moment, and I think they were around the £3k mark when released. The Ltd2 in comparison was around £1500-£1700. Even accounting for inflation, it's a steep increase.

Others will no doubt disagree, but I can't see anything in the Ltd3 that makes it three times better than the older ones.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

I am so tempted to get that. Been eyeing it since they got announced.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Fender Deluxe Precision Duff McKagan signature P/J with Fender Rumble stack.

 

[Fretbuzzard]

On the 6 string side, the Eric Johnson strat is killer. It looks like any other strat, but has a bunch of subtle improvements (frets and fretboard radius, quartersawn neck, pickups, headstock shaved to work without string trees…) that add up to something special.

 

[Sharko]

Also, Jack actually plays them on stage. How many signature models can you say that about?

I have seen Troy Sanders play his sig Squier on stage several times. He plays his sig fenders too, but the Squier got my attention

 

[EagleMoon]

IME, the Geddy Lee sigs and the Sadowsky Will Lee are top in my book. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy either of them.

 

[marchone]

IME, the Geddy Lee sigs and the Sadowsky Will Lee are top in my book. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy either of them.

I bought a German Sadowsky Metroline Will Lee RW4. Check out my signature line. I don’t play anything else. That’s nuts. But it checks all of the boxes.

 

[stigbeve]

Why are both of these special?

The main selling point for me were the custom pickups.

 

[Neon Blues]

348362450_805540041191488_4205087635288256568_n

• Neon Blues
• Jun 6, 2023
• mono neon

All the signature action I need.

 

[dmc79]

I had a couple Nate Mendel precision basses, not because of the endorsement but because of the neck. I sold both because they were too heavy. I finally found a lightweight one and it's a keeper. A little pricey for a MIM bass but worth it.

I did make a couple mods, though.

Trying to find some kind of ballpark weight for this model. How much did the 3 you tried weigh?

 

[GIBrat51]

I just learned the Dave Grohl signature guitar is going for upward toward $25k. That seems insane for what is likely a standard 335 style guitar with little diamonds instead of F-holes. 335s are expensive enough, but now this?

Got me thinking about other signature guitars and basses and wondering if any of them are special or unique enough to warrant a premium, or are they just valuable to a fan because the fans like the player. Of course, fans want to buy what their idols play, thats understandable, but are any of these guitar or bass signatures good enough that a non-fan would want the unique specs?

Edit: if you know of one, list it and add why it's special. Thanks!

I really couldn't say. Being left handed, signature model basses are, for the most part, foreign territory for me. Maybe we're not supposed to have favorite bass players, or something... In any case, I do own the only lefty "signature" model bass I can recall ever seeing. It's a G&L Custom Shop Tom Hamilton ASAT Bass - with the "Hamiltone" pickups. TBH, I have no idea how they differ from the regular G&L pickups; maybe they're "better" - maybe not. I like them, anyway... As for the "unique specs"? The pickups and the over-the-top, blingey metalflake blue/metalflake silver finish are the only differences from a normal ASAT, far as I can tell. If the Sugar Pine body is also unique, it's news to me. I'm not exactly a Tom Hamilton fan (had to look him up), but... I do like the finish; it filled the "Active Bass" spot in my herd; and the price was right. As for "premium price"? G&L still lists them (RH only), but they're "built to order"; I have no idea what a new one costs. About what any other "built to order" ASAT bass from the Custom Shop costs, I imagine. So, does that qualify as "additional cost"? That's... debatable..., IMO.
In any case, I'm happy with the thing - whether it's a signature bass, or not...

 

[tpaul]

Trying to find some kind of ballpark weight for this model. How much did the 3 you tried weigh?

I had one that was 9 lbs and one that was 10 lbs. The one I have now is 7.8 lbs after swapping out the high-mass bridge for a traditional Fender bent steel bridge. The lightweight ones do come up from time to time, so if you want one, keep your eyes open and be prepared to jump if you see one advertised for sale. The bodies on these are ash so they tend to run a little heavy but obviously there is significant variation.

 

[dmc79]

I had one that was 9 lbs and one that was 10 lbs. The one I have now is 7.8 lbs after swapping out the high-mass bridge for a traditional Fender bent steel bridge. The lightweight ones do come up from time to time, so if you want one, keep your eyes open and be prepared to jump if you see one advertised for sale. The bodies on these are ash so they tend to run a little heavy but obviously there is significant variation.

Thank you. I saw a comment on here saying they can range from 8.5lbs (possibly even slightly less) to a whopping 10.5lbs. My Player P is 8.6lbs, still relatively light for a P, but at the top end of what my back can take these days. If I see a Nate Mendel at the lighter end of the range, I'll try it for sure, as I know it's possible to shed further weight with the likes of Hipshot USA tuners, BBOT bridge, etc. I love P basses with slimmer necks, I love CAR and am beginning to like nitro finishes, so I feel like I have to try a Nate someday.