[quote name='Dr M' timestamp='1375101245' post='2156655']
The thing is, different companies treat signature models in different ways ...
[/quote]
This is right; not all so-called signature models are the same kind of thing.
For example, the Epiphone Jack Casady Bass (which was based on the Gibson Les Paul Signature Bass) is not just a different finish version of a bass which is already in production. It's a model of bass in its own right.
Quite a few people here own or have owned a Fender Tony Franklin Signature Fretless Precision. I doubt very much if any of them, certainly not I, bought one because of (more likely despite) Franklin's name on it. It remains the only stock unlined fretless MIA Precision.
The now renamed Lakland signature basses were not quite the same kind of thing as a signature from Biffy Clyro or Blink 182 or even Rush.