What signature model bass would you say transcends the artist?

[kwmlondon]

And which would you feel pigeon-holed playing? 

 

I'm gonna kick off and say I'd happily own a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz bass. I love early-to-mid-70s Fender Jazz basses and the GL ones have a great reputation. They're proper disco funk machines, as well as being great for rock. I'd feel able to use one of them in pretty much any situation I'd use a 4-string.

 

I don't think I'd get a Dingwall NG as it seems just a bit too focused on the hard-rock/metal genre, though I think they're awesome instruments. I own a Combustion and I can kind-of sneak it into a lot more situations than the NG without looking like I'm in the wrong band! The darkglass tone capsule is also less versatile than the EMG. 

[TrevorR]

The three that spring to mind are the Fender Geddy Lee Jazz, the Fender Marcus Miller Jazz and the Epiphone Jack Cassidy Semi-acoustic. All very well known bassists but with basses that you would be happy playing in all sort of contexts. The fact that two are flavours of Jazz bass probably helps their transferability.

 

The bass I’d feel pigeonholed by would be any pointy metal type bass. They look silly enough in their coven genre but utterly ridiculous anywhere else.

 

I saw Chuck Berry at a festival in 1983 and he was clearly using a pick up band. The bass player had an Explorer shaped bass - an Aria ZZB IIRC. Playing Maybelline and No Particular Place To Go it just didn’t look right!

Edited March 10 by TrevorR
Typos

[Beedster]

Modulus Flea, extraordinarily versatile, does what Flea did with his but so much more

[ezbass]

The Fender Roscoe Beck was just a great bass, arguably the best sig bass the big F ever produced and as not a load of folk were/are aware of Mr Beck’s work, it certainly transcended the artist.

 

I think I’d feel pigeon holed by a Fodera yin/yang or a Status Kingbass, but I’m never likely to find out.

[Lozz196]

I don’t feel at all pigeon-holed playing my Fender JMJ (Justin Meldal- Johnsen) Mustangs. That could well be down to I’m not familiar with his work, just have the basses as they’re just really good instruments that fit my needs.

 

Similar to the above I’d probably feel pigeon-holed by anything pointy/metal oriented.

[kwmlondon]

Yeah, totally, I’d forgotten the while pointy headstock thing! You don’t see so many these days…

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Another thumbs up the Fender JMJ mustangs. Phenomenal basses. I'm sure JMJ himself is a great player, however I'm not particularly interested in the music he's involved with but he certainly specs up a great signature model. Initially I liked my first blue JMJ mustang despite the roadworn finish, but that finish does makes it possible to enjoy playing it without worrying about getting a knock or ding at a gig. I've since added a black one to the collection, plus a second blue one with a view to getting it refinished in a custom colour.

Edited March 10 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[tauzero]

That set me off on a quest to find a signature bass that I would consider owning - surprisingly, I found one, the Kiesel Amos Williams Signature 5-String Headless Bass. Doesn't look like there's any for sale though.

[ezbass]

44 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I don’t feel at all pigeon-holed playing my Fender JMJ

 

21 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Another thumbs up the Fender JMJ mustangs. Phenomenal basses.

Ultimately, they’re just a ‘66 reissue, so any artist association is secondary IMO. Great basses, no question.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Just now, ezbass said:

 

Ultimately, they’re just a ‘66 reissue, so any artist association is secondary IMO. Great basses, no question.

 

Not quite, they were modelled after a particular bass JMJ owned which he wanted to be replicated as close as possible. He preferred the pickup in this bass to others he had played, and this was replicated by Seymour Duncan for the production model. Also the headstock is noticably thicker than is normal for a mustang bass which is an idiosyncrasy of his original one. There were several prototypes made until he was happy to sign off on it. I believe the only thing he was disappointed about that Fender wasn't able to include on the production model was that his original bass has a thin curved 'veneer' fingerboard, however the factory was not geared up for this so the signature model has a slab fingerboard.

[Reggaebass]

I’d happily play the Ida Nielsen Signature Sandberg, I nearly bought one a year or so back, not because of anything to do with Ida or what she plays, it’s just a lovely bass, 

 

[neepheid]

I'm just going to straight out say that the Epiphone Jack Casady Signature has more than transcended JC's use of it.  I would go so far as to say it has become over a 27-ish year production run (and counting) one of the go-to answers to the question "which long scale, hollow bodied electric bass should I buy?"

 

I don't think I've ever played a lick of Jefferson Airplane or Hot Tuna on mine.  It's a great sounding bass regardless of the genre being played.

 

Furthermore, I don't feel pigeonholed by any bass.  I don't give a crap what other people think of the bass I'm playing.  I pick them on a whim and if anyone has a complaint, they're welcome to come on stage and take over and do a better job.  I'll play a Mockingbird or an Explorer in church, or at a country gig, and I'd play metal on my JC because I DGAF.  People who complain about these sorts of things should remember that they use their ears for listening, not their eyes

 

[ezbass]

27 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

 

Not quite, they were modelled after a particular bass JMJ owned which he wanted to be replicated as close as possible. He preferred the pickup in this bass to others he had played, and this was replicated by Seymour Duncan for the production model. Also the headstock is noticably thicker than is normal for a mustang bass which is an idiosyncrasy of his original one. There were several prototypes made until he was happy to sign off on it. I believe the only thing he was disappointed about that Fender wasn't able to include on the production model was that his original bass has a thin curved 'veneer' fingerboard, however the factory was not geared up for this so the signature model has a slab fingerboard.

Interesting stuff, I had no idea. But to look at it doesn't scream signature model.

[mattpbass]

41 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I’d happily play the Ida Nielsen Signature Sandberg, I nearly bought one a year or so back, not because of anything to do with Ida or what she plays, it’s just a lovely bass, 

 

I play the 5-string for the bulk of my gigs and it’s fantastic, way better than the American Elite/Deluxe Jazzes (jazz’s? jazzi?) I was using previously. 

[NancyJohnson]

The Mike Lull Paul Anthony model.

 

Chortle.

[kwmlondon]

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

I’d happily play the Ida Nielsen Signature Sandberg, I nearly bought one a year or so back, not because of anything to do with Ida or what she plays, it’s just a lovely bass, 

 

Gonna see Ida next week! 

[itu]

Alembic brown bass.

White Moon.

Fretless StingRay.

3 string fretless StingRay.

2 string fretless played with a slide.

The first 5 string Modulus.

5 string Parker Fly.

Koa Pensa-Suhr.

Carved Rickenbacker.

Double neck Rickenbacker.

Pink JayDee.

Fretless Klein bass.

Six string Ken Smith -> six string Yahaya.

Peavey TL.

Peavey Rudy Sarzo.

Jack Daniels.

Star bass.

Höfner.

Manson.

Kubicki Ex-Factor.

Zon Hyperbass.

Hagström The Swede.

Overwater C bass.

Yahaya Attitude.

 

Whichever of these would certainly sound different in my hands, but never mind. These have been the basses and players in my youth, and still are. Of course there are others.

 

(I'd like to find someone to Mosrite, Atlansia, Ibanez [well, Gerald Veasley is already there], Burns, Danelectro... and if someone does not know the players of the basses mentioned, I think I can add them later on.)

[LowB_FTW]

31 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Furthermore, I don't feel pigeonholed by any bass.  I don't give a crap what other people think of the bass I'm playing.  I pick them on a whim and if anyone has a complaint, they're welcome to come on stage and take over and do a better job.  I'll play a Mockingbird or an Explorer in church, or at a country gig, and I'd play metal on my JC because I DGAF.  People who complain about these sorts of things should remember that they use their ears for listening, not their eyes

Thank you for saying this.

I see here it mentioned quite a lot that this or that bass isn't suitable for this or that type of music and I just think to myself "WTF", because a bass is a bass is a bass and a Thunderbird can be used for country just as a Jazz can be used for doom metal.

I've been reticent to speak up on this though until now because it seems to be some sort of perceived wisdom that I've been counter to the notion of.

 

Mark 

Edited March 10 by LowB_FTW
Typo

[Jackroadkill]

2 minutes ago, LowB_FTW said:

a Jazz can be used for doom metal.

 

In my last band the bass player used my plywood Squier Jazz, tuned to C, for some very heavy, very dirty stoner metal and it sounded the mutt's nuts.  He tried a bass that was more typical in the metal arena (active circuitry, pointier shape, etc etc) and it just didn't have the punch of that Jazz bass.  I still play it now for nasty downtuned noise.

[Reggaebass]

17 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

Gonna see Ida next week! 

Nice one,   I’ve never seen her  ,but if it’s anything like some of the videos I’ve seen she looks like an amazing player 

[TheGhostofJaco]

For me the Sadowsky Verdine White. It really just feels like its own instrument and not a signature model. 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I know this thread is about basses, but in addition to my JMJ mustang basses, I also own a Ben Gibbard signature guitar which is a really nice MiM recreation of the mustang guitars he uses, this specifically being a 70s Ash bodied mustang with one piece maple neck/fingerboard. It also has a few quirks favoured by BG such as simplified wiring and a blocked trem. Unlike an original 70s example which would have used heavy northern ash making it rather heavy, this is nice & light due to the swamp ash body having weight relief chambers routed out. It is irrelevant to me that it is a signature model as I wouldn't be able to name a single Death Cab for Cutie song.

[miles'tone]

Sire Marcus Miller. I bet he doesn't even know about half of them..

Edited March 11 by miles'tone
Marcis?

[crazycloud]

Alembic Stanley Clarke Sig (and my similar S1s). The only thing they transcended was me, but I played them whenever I wanted in whatever genre I wanted because they were awesome.

[mr4stringz]

11 hours ago, neepheid said:

DGAF

Interesting tuning.