Players that don't warrant a signature bass

[EliasMooseblaster]

No, I shall have to confess my ignorance there.

EDIT: ah, I see, it's that bloke from Alien Art Farm. For some reason I knew he played a six but had no idea what his name was. Or that his six was a custom Fender. I have learnt something new this afternoon!

Edited December 1, 2017 by EliasMooseblaster

[EBS_freak]

29 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

No, I shall have to confess my ignorance there.

EDIT: ah, I see, it's that bloke from Alien Art Farm. For some reason I knew he played a six but had no idea what his name was. Or that his six was a custom Fender. I have learnt something new this afternoon!

So the question is... warrants a signature bass... or not....?

[EliasMooseblaster]

4 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

So the question is... warrants a signature bass... or not....?

If I stick to my perspective of a unique (or at least different) design making the model worthwhile, then definitely - that must be one of the most daring things Fender have put out since the Squier Katana! Afraid I don't know AAF's music well enough to have an opinion on Zamora's playing.

[Bluewine]

18 hours ago, Cato said:

He doesn't have a formal endorsement with Hofner, but I'm pretty sure he has some sort of relationship with them.

I've noticed him with a couple of limited special editions over the years, most notably his Union Jack bass which I guess they probably send to him, rather than him checking their website for the latest models.

Paul also deals with a few  select collectors and dealers of vintage Hofner basses.

Blue

[Dan Dare]

3 hours ago, tauzero said:

Indeed, there's one of these on every music shop wall:

The Jack Bruce Cream reunion signature bass. Although before that, he had a signature fretless Thumb bass from Warwick that was changed from the original - see his website. So sorry, sometimes what you say is true but by no means always.

 

My point exactly. That may be made of exotic woods, with deluxe pickups, etc, but it's a hot rodded EB in essence.

[geoham]

On 30/11/2017 at 15:20, fleabag said:

In my bass history, i've had just the one sig bass. It was a Rudy Sarzo peavey, active job.  I  didnt even know the name of Sarzo. I still dont know who  he played for or if he is ( or was ? ) any good.

One thing i can say, and the reason i bought one, is the build quality was simply stunning. In fact, over the short 2 year period they built the RS, it was their flagship model. Around £1500 in the UK if you could find one.

I also had no idea who Sarzo was until a couple of years ago, when a band I was playing with got a support slot with his band Gunzo.  (My bandmates were disappointed in me!)

He’s a great player and seemed very humble too. Though I think he played a Warwick all night! 

[geoham]

On 28/11/2017 at 23:32, Mister RLP said:

Can I have a Herbie Flowers or a Guy Pratt signature bass, please?

Status do a Guy Pratt signature, the Vintage GP. The only time I’ve seen his use it was with Roxy Music (or may have been Bryan Ferry) - never seen him use it with Gilmour. He does a tonne of studio work, so who knows how much he actually uses one.

I’m surprised that Fender haven’t made a clone of ‘Betsy’ - I’m sure it would sell plenty!

[dmccombe7]

10 minutes ago, geoham said:

Status do a Guy Pratt signature, the Vintage GP. The only time I’ve seen his use it was with Roxy Music (or may have been Bryan Ferry) - never seen him use it with Gilmour. He does a tonne of studio work, so who knows how much he actually uses one.

I’m surprised that Fender haven’t made a clone of ‘Betsy’ - I’m sure it would sell plenty!

Think Guy used the Status on the Delicate Sound of Thunder Tour along with a Warwick streamer (could have been a Spector ?) I had the old VIDEO of the tour but don't think it ever came out on DVD.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

29 minutes ago, geoham said:

I also had no idea who Sarzo was until a couple of years ago, when a band I was playing with got a support slot with his band Gunzo.  (My bandmates were disappointed in me!)

He’s a great player and seemed very humble too. Though I think he played a Warwick all night! 

I first came across him years ago when a band asked me to play S.A.T.O. and i thought the bass line was fantastic.

He's a pretty impressive rock bassist.

Dave

[geoham]

52 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Think Guy used the Status on the Delicate Sound of Thunder Tour along with a Warwick streamer (could have been a Spector ?) I had the old VIDEO of the tour but don't think it ever came out on DVD.

Dave

I have it on DVD! Think I bought it while waiting on Pulse being released. I’ve not watched it for years though.

[tauzero]

6 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

My point exactly. That may be made of exotic woods, with deluxe pickups, etc, but it's a hot rodded EB in essence.

So it's not a standard issue bass. Thank you for making my point.

[Mastodon2]

17 hours ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

If I stick to my perspective of a unique (or at least different) design making the model worthwhile, then definitely - that must be one of the most daring things Fender have put out since the Squier Katana! Afraid I don't know AAF's music well enough to have an opinion on Zamora's playing.

He's a better player than he lets on in AAF, he used to be in a Primus cover band iirc, which is a bit more demanding than AAF from a technical standpoint at least.

 

His Fender signature is an interesting one, I would imagine you can still order one if you really want but it wouldn't be cheap as they are hand made by the master craftsmen. It was built to replace a very similar bass which can be seen in the music video for their song "Movies", which was destroyed in a bus crash.

[Kev]

Signature instruments are such a turn off, literally puts me off buying, have someone's signature on the headstock that isn't mine.  Iv owned two brilliant signature instruments in the past few years (Dingwall NG-2 and Fender Flea - incidentally two artists 'deserving' of a signature bass IMO) and I know I would have loved them that bit more if they didn't have another artist's name plastered on them.

[EBS_freak]

True! The BBNE2 - love that bass. Not so keen on the BB EAST inlay though.

[dmccombe7]

12 hours ago, geoham said:

I have it on DVD! Think I bought it while waiting on Pulse being released. I’ve not watched it for years though.

I had no idea. Need to go look at Amazon now. Thanks for that. Is it a genuine UK one as i can only see Japanese imports and i think that's why i never bought it. Just had some doubts about it workng properly in UK for some reason. ?

Dave

Edited December 2, 2017 by dmccombe7

[geoham]

2 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I had no idea. Need to go look at Amazon now. Thanks for that. Is it a genuine UK one as i can only see Japanese imports and i think that's why i never bought it. Just had some doubts about it workng properly in UK for some reason. ?

Dave

I just tried scanning the barcode in to the Amazon app and it didn’t find anything. I don’t know how ‘official’ it is. It’s released by ‘Picture Music International’ and has a wee bit of German on the back of it. I think I got it on EBay about ten years ago.

[LukeFRC]

On 11/28/2017 at 17:42, dmccombe7 said:

I'm a fan of earlier Kiss and i like Gene Simmons more as a showman than a technical bassist so maybe a bit biased. He's a Rock bassist so being technically brilliant isn't really what its all about. 

I would think that if Gene Simmons was endorsing your bass there would be significant sales mainly because Kiss have a lot of fans whether you personally like them or not they are one helluva business.

Think there are too many bassists out there with Signature basses that a standard bass would have suffice. The one that comes to mind is Roger Glover with his Vigier. I'm a fan of his but the standard Excess bass is virtually the same as far as i know.

Cliff Burton from Metalica had a signature Aria or he used an Aria and the company eventually made a Cliff Burton bass so not sure if that counts.

Think the Adam Clayton signature bass is the odd one for me too. Not sure it brings anything to the table and it looks daft too.

 

I think the example of Roger Glover and Vigier I like. It feels like there's a relationship there that both benefit from, Roger gets the bass he wants, and helps a smaller company get a bit more publicity. I bet people have ordered Overwaters based on Scott from Scot's bass lessons using them on his online thingys - things like that that move sales from massive corps to smaller builders I like. 

On 11/28/2017 at 23:32, Mister RLP said:

Can I have a Herbie Flowers or a Guy Pratt signature bass, please?

I still wish I had bought the copy of Herbie flowers jazz that Wes Steed built - it was up for sale here a couple of times, most recently by @molan
To be honest I have no idea who Herbie Flowers is, and typically don't get on with Jazz basses, but Wes built an amazing looking bass and.... GAS!

23 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

 

Ahem. Yes, that is the word Fender on the headstock.

This is why, even though we moan about it, they really should stick to Precison and Jazz basses... 

1 hour ago, geoham said:

I just tried scanning the barcode in to the Amazon app and it didn’t find anything. I don’t know how ‘official’ it is. It’s released by ‘Picture Music International’ and has a wee bit of German on the back of it. I think I got it on EBay about ten years ago.

If you can't actually get hold of the video anymore... how unethical is it to share it with someone in your community.....

Edited December 2, 2017 by LukeFRC

[cetera]

19 hours ago, geoham said:

I also had no idea who Sarzo was until a couple of years ago, when a band I was playing with got a support slot with his band Gunzo.  (My bandmates were disappointed in me!)

He’s a great player and seemed very humble too. Though I think he played a Warwick all night! 

That was a standard Spector EuroLX he played.....

He now has (within the last few months) a sig Spector EuroLX with Sims pickups and a deeper cutaway to the lower side of the neck.

Edited December 2, 2017 by cetera

[cetera]

19 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Think Guy used the Status on the Delicate Sound of Thunder Tour along with a Warwick streamer (could have been a Spector ?) I had the old VIDEO of the tour but don't think it ever came out on DVD.

Dave

It was an original US made Kramer Spector NS2, not a Warwick Streamer....

[dmccombe7]

3 hours ago, cetera said:

It was an original US made Kramer Spector NS2, not a Warwick Streamer....

Wasn't sure which one it was but i think Spector were and probably still are far more popular basses.

[Dan Dare]

On ‎02‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 00:19, tauzero said:

So it's not a standard issue bass. Thank you for making my point.

Agreed, it's not "standard issue". However, it's essentially an EB3, but made of pretty woods and with a massive price tag. That's my point. But it's your money.

[el borracho]

Can't see any mention of surely the most unwarranted signature bass ever, the Gibson Les Paul bass, although I must admit to quite liking the look.

I stand to be corrected but as far as I am aware Les Paul never played the bass.

The guitar version though must be the most successful signature ever.

[oldbass]

double post

[Sibob]

With regards to the Tye Zamora bass, it wasn't strictly a signature bass, it was a one-off custom made by one of the Masterbuild team. You couldn't buy it as a model, they won't make you one etc etc. But still, certainly one of the stranger instruments to have 'Fender' on the headstock.

I've owned a couple of signature basses, a Fodera Matt Garrison standard, which was amazing, and a Lakland Skyline Darryl Jones, which was also excellent.
Both of those players had a hand in the engineering of those basses (design, shape, specs etc), although Darryl's was essentially done with A basses first, then Lakland effectively just licensed the shape when Albey started getting more busy as a player.

Si

[EBS_freak]

26 minutes ago, Sibob said:

With regards to the Tye Zamora bass, it wasn't strictly a signature bass, it was a one-off custom made by one of the Masterbuild team. You couldn't buy it as a model, they won't make you one etc etc. But still, certainly one of the stranger instruments to have 'Fender' on the headstock.

Im not entirely how true this is. The Tye Zamora bass was available for sale. I know a guy local to me who bought one (Birmingham), hence why it is so readily in my mind... then he spent the best part of 5 years trying to move it on without loosing a stink load of cash. I don't know how many were made - there seems to be many, many stories. There was one attempted to be sold on eBay not too long ago.

http://vi.vipr.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=181680800060&t=1442031318000&tid=10&category=4713&seller=technoempire&excSoj=1&excTrk=1&lsite=0&ittenable=true&domain=ebay.com&descgauge=1&cspheader=1&oneClk=1&secureDesc=0

Tye himself was selling some - prototype/real thing... whatever

How many "the rest" is, I dunno!

Here's the guy in Brum with said bass -

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by EBS_freak