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A refreshingly honest take on artist signature models from Janek Gwizdala

visog

By visog,
in General Discussion

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thodrik Mentor

thodrik

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

Depends entirely on the individual deal.

 

Like with Marshall amps, even those with signature models (Slash / Kerry King / Joe Satriani etc) had to buy them. Marshall don't do free stuff.

 

But for their artists they have a worldwide support structure, local loan amps so the artist doesn't have to air freight a load of heavy amps and cabs, local tech access etc etc. All probably worth a lot more than a free £1500 amp head. And with dealers in every city on earth likely to host a good sized gig that's a monster network.

 

In the 90s all the metal bands were swapping to Mesa Dual Recs and Mesa was supplying them for big discounts and some free items. It was a good strategy for them as until the Dual Rec they were not a metal brand at all. It made a massive difference to their customer base. Marshall didn't have to do that, but for Mesa it worked so well that the Dual Rec became the must have metal amp for a good 10 years *

 

So it's all a mix of the needs of the company and the artist.

 

 

 

* even though it is actually a really flubby sounding thing without a TS type pedal boosting the mids and cutting the lows. 

 
Or you run the treble at literally zero to get some mids into the signal and then turn up the mids and presence to add treble.

 

A thoroughly strange tone stack on the Rectifier line, especially on the higher gain settings. I still kinda love mine though it is only the Single Rectifier. Would still prefer my brother’s JCM 800 though…

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fretmeister Grand Master

fretmeister

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3 minutes ago, thodrik said:

 
Or you run the treble at literally zero to get some mids into the signal and then turn up the mids and presence to add treble.

 

A thoroughly strange tone stack on the Rectifier line, especially on the higher gain settings. I still kinda love mine though it is only the Single Rectifier. Would still prefer my brother’s JCM 800 though…


I’ve had 3 Dual Recs.

 

In the end I decided that although a TS pedal was best, a Les Paul with a Pearly Gates was the best non pedal option. The PG has a bit of a mid hump that works great with that amp.

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thodrik Mentor

thodrik

Posted
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53 minutes ago, fretmeister said:


I’ve had 3 Dual Recs.

 

In the end I decided that although a TS pedal was best, a Les Paul with a Pearly Gates was the best non pedal option. The PG has a bit of a mid hump that works great with that amp.

Thanks!

I’m also a Les Paul player as well, so will put that on the list!

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lemmywinks Grand Master

lemmywinks

Posted
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On 19/01/2023 at 12:20, Beedster said:

 

When I was in sport it wasn't unusual for a very famous athlete to appear to be using a big brand (for example Nike and Trek, and these are specific examples of very well known athletes) while the shoes/bikes themselves were made by smaller, niche, manufacturers, the branding of the apparent manufacturer - usually also a corporate sponsor - being applied at a later stage with I assume either the permission or at least the knowledge of the actual manufacturer. While I tend to find it amusing when I see an artist who has a signature instrument routinely photographed playing one or more completely different instruments, it's probably better than, for example, Fender branding on an instrument made by a niche luthier (or perhaps that does also happen)?

 

Ghost building is a real thing, I would be surprised if the signature production guitars (Fender etc, not posh brands) used by artists aren't outsourced or masterbuilt by an entirely different (and more costly) set of hands than the ones we scrubs can buy. If the late Ed Roman was telling even 5% of the truth (big stretch but bear with me!) then it's always been smoke and mirrors.

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Ralf1e Mentor

Ralf1e

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23 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Ghost building is a real thing, I would be surprised if the signature production guitars (Fender etc, not posh brands) used by artists aren't outsourced or masterbuilt by an entirely different (and more costly) set of hands than the ones we scrubs can buy. If the late Ed Roman was telling even 5% of the truth (big stretch but bear with me!) then it's always been smoke and mirrors.

Thank you for that great insight

Personally I don't care how good someone is and how much better than me he is. I don't want his name on my ******** guitar.

If I could outplay the bar steward it might be different but then I would cross out his name and write mine on. he he he

Not gonna happen is it he he he

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lemmywinks Grand Master

lemmywinks

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5 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

Thank you for that great insight

Personally I don't care how good someone is and how much better than me he is. I don't want his name on my ******** guitar.

If I could outplay the bar steward it might be different but then I would cross out his name and write mine on. he he he

Not gonna happen is it he he he

 

I quite like the Marcus Miller ethos where he has some input into the design of the Sire basses and Markbass amps, ok it's basically selecting eq points but in both cases they've resulted in a better product I think. The basses were designed as a solid, low cost platform for students, not as his own personal signature model which is something I can get onboard with.

 

Although somewhere I do have a signature Jimi Hendrix strap I bought for next to nothing in a rush as I needed a cheap strap, still look at it and think "why?"

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obi 2 kenobi Rising Star

obi 2 kenobi

Posted
Posted
On 19/01/2023 at 14:42, Chris2112 said:

Disappointing to hear of Matt Garrison going on like that. It is unusual that round about the time he was being critical of Janek was around the same sort of time as he pretty much disappeared from the bass scene. Before that he had seemed pretty busy and got some decent parts, and everyone was talking about the 'Matt Garrison' right hand technique. Perhaps he had some sort of an episode then, he's only 52 now so it effectively seems like he jacked in aged 40. 

True enough...saw Matt with John McL and others years ago. He was amazing tbf.

But he did create a number of copycats, with 5 string single cut Foderas, tuned E-C, 33" scale plus ramp. Ok, Janek may have moved the instrument jack or whatever, but the core template came from Matt so maybe that's why he's whizzed at Janek

 

 

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ezbass Grand Master

ezbass

Posted
Posted

Finally watched the OP video and I’m left wondering why someone as relatively little known as JG would even warrant a signature bass. I can only imagine that Fodera bigged him up because of the differences he had installed in his personal instrument. The same goes for Matt Garrison, hardly a household name, even amongst the bass community, and not particularly high profile IMO, but suddenly there’s a signature instrument. If Janek is to be believed, Garrison is a bit of a diva (I wonder if Anthony Jackson threw a hissy when either of these 2 ‘signature’ basses were produced? I’m guessing no, as AJ is high profile in our world and too busy working), but given that Fodera lavished both protagonists with ‘signature’ basses, I guess it’s easy to start having an over inflated opinion of oneself. I have 2 custom built Maruszczyks made to my specs, they must be my ‘signature’ models and perhaps I should approach Adrian about making them available at a cheaper price point for my acolytes? Oh yeah, I’m a nobody, as you were.

 

As to the, “I wish I could pick up the phone and apologise,” comment, man alive! Come on, you’ve sat there, recorded, edited and generated a long video, you could’ve picked up the phone during the upload. Passive/aggressive perhaps?

 

Finally, with regard to @ped’s editing comment, it irritates me too and seems all the rage in an effort, I guess, to be edgy. Other folk I follow occasionally have these jumps, but it’s plainly where they’ve ‘dropped in’ due to an error/retake, either that or they’re not very good at the edgy style. ;) 

 

 

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Chris2112 Mentor

Chris2112

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23 minutes ago, ezbass said:

 given that Fodera lavished both protagonists with ‘signature’ basses, I guess it’s easy to start having an over inflated opinion of oneself. 

 

 

 

It's a fair comment and it didn't start with Janek and Matt either. There is a trend in the bass world which has grown over the last few years with some builders where any Tom, Richard or Harry ordering a custom bass seems able to put their name on it and call it their signature bass. It's a little bit cringe to me, like they're buying the dream of being a big name without actually being so. I feel like there must be a distinction somewhere between genuine signature models and some guy just getting his name on it because he paid big bucks for it. 

 

Fodera were ahead of the game on this. They gave signature models to friends and local players. Remember the Lincoln Goines signature? He is a good player but I would never have heard of him were it not for his name being on the Fodera website. Again, I'm not saying that you have to be Geddy Lee before you get a signature bass but it has to have some authenticity, as in an actual demand for it. 

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