Two of the best Fender playing/sounding basses I have owned have been signature models - JMJ Mustang and Roscoe Beck lV. I’m not interested in buying basses because of the endorsement, it’s all about whether or not it’s a good instrument.
I don’t dislike Ed, in fact, I quite like some of his stuff. As you say, this gives us all hope, when we inevitably drop a clanger. My favourite was forgetting to reset the D Tuner from the previous song .