I bought my Wal Pro back in '86 because I desperately needed a good bass, and I was in the right place at the right time to snap it up. I knew sod all about Wal and didn't know of any of their name players at the time. All I knew was that a.) I could afford it and b.) it was (still is) a fabulous instrument. When I bought it I was in the process of saving up my shekels for a new bass and had my sights set on a very lovely Pangborn Warlord I'd played at the Wapping Bass Centre (RIP); part of my reason for trying it out was that I had seen Mark King playing one and loved its looks. At the time I thought he was god, but I didn't want a Jaydee because I didn't want to look too much of a fanboi Buying the Wal instead saved me a shedload of cash and has proved to be a good long-term investment!
I bought my Status fiver because I'd always liked Status basses (nothing to do with their Mark King connection) and I wanted a good five string. My Yamaha RBX was nice but the Status kicked its arrse.
I bought my Sire V7 partly because of the Marcus Miller connection, which was what made me notice them in the first place, but mainly because I really fancied an active 5 string Jazz and they represented really stupid value for money. Bought it totally sight-unseen and was not disappointed. I'd very probably have given it a punt even without the MM connection.
So... a couple of very tenuous artist associations in there.