bass endorsers and their basses.

[Bassman101]

I duno if artist use the signature models for recording

something which me and a teacher of mine were discussing is the Jaco Pastorius Signature Fender Jazz fretless bass, i dont understand why or how you can make that,

Jaco took a jazz bass, ripped the frets out and put a load of crap on the neck so he didnt damage the wood, and not only that, he f'ed arround with the polarity alot to get the great sound he has.

So unless fender have done all that in their factory i dont think they shuld have made it (i know it was done ages ago) , its just a money making method IMO.

And... they cant get the exact sound he had because no1 knows where his two fender's are, they were stolen after he died werent they? (and he used alot of playing styles, eg. the intro to birdland)

[bass_ferret]

Where have you been - the bass of doom has been found.

The Funk Machine is still missing.

[BigRedX]

But now the 'bass of doom' has had so much repair work done on it since Jaco last played it, it's the instrumental equivalent of one of those 60s bands on the cabaret circuit with only one member (usually the least significant) from the original 'famous' line up.

That's not saying it's not a great bass, but it's by no means the same bass that is on all the recordings Jaco is famous for.

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='347020' date='Dec 6 2008, 08:28 AM']The thing with Nathan East from what I've read is that he likes to take advantage of his high profile by taking the mickey and blagging loads of free stuff.[/quote]

Disgusting behaviour! I would never do that!

[Noisyjon]

My 2p's worth is that we'll never truly know what the players are using.
There's a whole other side to instrument building called 'Ghost Building', where a luthier will replicate a guitar or bass for people but to a better standard or different specs while looking like a normal piece.
Slash must be one of the more famous ones - the Gibson Les Paul he used on Appetite For Destruction was a replica made by a man at a shop in California, but for intents and purposes it looks like a nice Gibson 1959 LP re-issue!

Interesting reading about it can be found [url="http://www.edroman.com/rants/ghost.htm"]Here[/url]

[Bassman101]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='347168' date='Dec 6 2008, 12:14 PM']Where have you been - the bass of doom has been found.

The Funk Machine is still missing.[/quote]


Okay, but as BigRedX said, its been changed from how it was when Jaco Played it, so the replica's (as great as they might be, ive heard their good) cant really be same without asking Jaco Himself what exactly he did to it (which isnt possible)

[Dread Bass]

Im sure i read that mark king said Alembic would only let him pick the type of wood for his sig bass. I dont buy this at all as anyone who orders an alembic can change anything about it within reason. I think Mark king is a bit shady.

[4000]

[quote name='metaltime' post='347212' date='Dec 6 2008, 01:18 PM']Im sure i read that mark king said Alembic would only let him pick the type of wood for his sig bass. I dont buy this at all as anyone who orders an alembic can change anything about it within reason. I think Mark king is a bit shady.[/quote]

The interview I read said they approached him with a case full of facings, from which he chose his wood. I don't believe he said anything about not being able to change anything else. For a start, the first 2 basses he got were 34" scale and the next 2 were 32" scale, so he obviously changed [i]that[/i]. For the record, I met him once and he was a lovely bloke, whether you like his playing or not.

[OutToPlayJazz]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='347045' date='Dec 6 2008, 09:22 AM']There's another story that Mark felt the basses were too inconsistent for swapping on stage.

Mark apparently pays Rob for his instruments, if you believe the folk on Statii.com.[/quote]

This is true, Steve. Mark has to buy his instruments from Status, just the same as you or I. Dawn Green told me that.

I suppose if you're a small family business like SG you're not going to be able to afford to just give artists instruments.

[saibuster]

[quote name='jonthebass' post='347180' date='Dec 6 2008, 12:33 PM']Interesting reading about it can be found [url="http://www.edroman.com/rants/ghost.htm"]Here[/url][/quote]

A quote from that link:

"
[b]Carl Thompson used Ron Blake to Ghostbuild hundreds of basses including one for Les Claypool, Stanley Clarke and Jeff Berlin. In fact Ron Blake built most of the Carl Thompson custom basses for over 15 years.[/b]

"

I dont know how reliable this information is, but this is some seriously disturbing information.

[saibuster]

Who is this Ed Roman guy anyway? he seems to have some very [i]strong opinions[/i] all over his site.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='saibuster' post='347478' date='Dec 6 2008, 08:00 PM']Who is this Ed Roman guy anyway? he seems to have some very [i]strong opinions[/i] all over his site.[/quote]

He's a guy with very strong opinions.

I'm sure that some of the info is true but I just can't get on with the my opinion is the only right opinion attitude, so mainly I ignore him...

[saibuster]

His "[post="0"]Deprogramming[/post]" sessions are very amusing though!!!

"[i][b]A tribe isn't a tribe unless it has one Chief & many Indians.[/b][/i] "

[Doctor J]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='347171' date='Dec 6 2008, 12:19 PM']But now the 'bass of doom' has had so much repair work done on it since Jaco last played it, it's the instrumental equivalent of one of those 60s bands on the cabaret circuit with only one member (usually the least significant) from the original 'famous' line up.

That's not saying it's not a great bass, but it's by no means the same bass that is on all the recordings Jaco is famous for.[/quote]
The repairs were completed over a year before Jaco died, IIRC, it's pretty much the same now as the last time he played it

[Lfalex v1.1]

I can see why manufacturers use artists to raise their profile.
I can see why artists endorse equipment;
[b]1)[/b] To raise their profile.
[b]2)[/b] Because they had an opportunity to include some genuinely original or useful features / personal aspects to the design.
[b]3)[/b] Because they can get cheap / free goods.
I can even see why some people buy signature series basses simply because they are signature series instruments.

I'd like to think that the learned members of BassChat ignore such fripperies when selecting their instruments, and return to the good old dogma that states;

"[i]A good instrument is a good instrument, no matter what name is on the headstock[/i]"

I guess that goes for endorsees as much as for manufacturers.
Personally, I don't think I could endorse anything but strings. I wouldn't want to be dictated to about my equipment.

And yes, I DO own a signature bass. But I bought it because it's a (really) good instrument. The endorsing artist had a lot of input into its design and construction, and came up with something a bit different. That, and the fact that it's made by a well-respected manufacturer. In a [u]Japanese[/u] factory.

[Tee]

Are there any bassists who designed and/or built their own bass? ie not just picked up an exisiting brand/bass.

For example in the guitar world, Brian May built his own guitar from a fire place and Nuno Bettencourt designed his owned signature guitar. Washburn had their own plans as to what his guitar should look like, yet Nuno said no, i want to build 'this' guitar (his design).

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='Tee' post='347767' date='Dec 7 2008, 11:15 AM']Are there any bassists who designed and/or built their own bass? ie not just picked up an exisiting brand/bass.

For example in the guitar world, Brian May built his own guitar from a fire place and Nuno Bettencourt designed his owned signature guitar. Washburn had their own plans as to what his guitar should look like, yet Nuno said no, i want to build 'this' guitar (his design).[/quote]

Some that spring to mind;

Billy Sheehan - The Various Attitudes. Yes, they're based on a modded "P". But he did a lot of the mods on his original himself.
Stu Hamm - Urge/ Urge II. Hardly standard Fender.
Roscoe Beck - Roscoe Beck IV & V. Evolved from a Jazz, for sure, but with substantial changes. Took him years to perfect.
Flea - Modulus Flea signature. Arguably their take on a MM Cutlass, but his choices, tailored to his sound and style
Michael Manring - Zon Hyperbass. 3 octave (long) fretboard. Huge lower cutaway. D-tuners on all 4 strings and Fretless.
The Ox - Buzzards, both Status and Warwick.

I think it's more often the case (certainly like those above) that manufacturers approach the artist. Then it's up to the artist to lead the way or take the "Whatever" approach, and just let the manufacturer do it for them.
Hats off to anyone who (like Nuno) says; "This is what I want. Help me make it."
Or, in Roscoe Beck's case works the bugs out of it for ages before they'll put their name on it.

[BigRedX]

Have a look at the [url="http://www.espguitars.co.jp/artist/index.html"]ESP Japan Artist page[/url]. Only a few are variations on the standard ESP range and a good quarter of the signature basses are original designs.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='347774' date='Dec 7 2008, 11:39 AM']Flea - Modulus Flea signature. Arguably their take on a MM Cutlass, but his choices, tailored to his sound and style[/quote]
Its probably worth pointing out that the "Flea Bass" was formerly known as the Sonic Hammer and had a more Quantum-like shape. So perhaps not quite designed from scratch in the same way as some of the other instruments.

[attachment=16939:sonic_hammer.jpg]
This was mine. A superb instrument but it didn't take prisoners.

[Sean]

Lakland's "Signature" model endorsees all play USA Laklands except Darryl Jones who for the past five years has played Skylines. This year he has had a US DJ4 built, you can see him playing solo on it [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Kypqr0RWY"]here[/url]

[4000]

[quote name='saibuster' post='347478' date='Dec 6 2008, 08:00 PM']Who is this Ed Roman guy anyway? he seems to have some very [i]strong opinions[/i] all over his site.[/quote]

I met Ed whilst in Vegas. I kind of wish I hadn't.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='4000' post='348119' date='Dec 7 2008, 09:09 PM']I met Ed whilst in Vegas. I kind of wish I hadn't.[/quote]
Oh he didn't try and [i]sell[/i] you something, did he? He seems to try and do that a lot, but I don't know why.

[Sean]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='348186' date='Dec 7 2008, 10:34 PM']Oh he didn't try and [i]sell[/i] you something, did he? He seems to try and do that a lot, but I don't know why.[/quote]

He's the king cnute that sold Lindsey Buckingham that god-awful guitar he uses - what a joke. And "How much!?"

[fullrangebass]

I have had three encounters with Ed Roman, over three separate deals. All three left a bitter taste in mouth and I would hesitate to recommend dealing with Ed Roman to anybody.

Anyway, back to the topic, Lee Sklar has been using Dingwall basses for both live as well as studio work. I own his first Dignwall and the signed letter of authenticity states that this very bass was used in every Studio recording that required a 5str, from 1995 till 1999. So Lee has been using exactly what he has been endorsing.

[SisterAbdullahX]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='346728' date='Dec 5 2008, 07:03 PM']I recall a link to a Billy Sheehan vid from another thread in which he states that the bass he uses is the off the shelf signature model, no special gubbins or woods, exactly what you'd get if you bought one.
Has to be applauded, even if he is a scientologist [/quote]


Billy is a scientologist, is he? Oh no. My heart just sank!