Bassplayer58 Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 would i be considered unoriginal if i get a signature bass? I am looking at Stu Hamm's Fender Urge Bass II. I really like it because it has a really comfortable neck and it has both J and P pick-ups and it just has good all around tone. The reason i ask this is because i have never seen a pro(by pro i mean a full time musician) using a signature bass that is not their own. i don't want to be called "unoriginal" or "stealing Stu Hamm's tone." thanks for your advice ahead of time -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassplayer58 Posted September 16, 2003 Author Share Posted September 16, 2003 oh and i will be keeping this bass for a long time -dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addix Metzatricity Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Who cares?! Get a bass that you like, and are comfortable with. If it happens to have someones name attached, then that just means you share certain tastes. Screw people who say otherwise. "Bass isn't just for breakfast anymore..." http://www.mp3.com/Addix_Metzatricity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getz out Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 I wouldn't worry about stealing Stu Hamm's tone by using a copy of his bass. I've played a fretless Jazz Bass, but I still cannot quite steal Jaco's tone. I also played a Jazz Bass with an ash body and a maple neck, but I'm still a bit off of Miller's tone. If you like the bass and it plays well, buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Well, the primary reason you don't see many others using sig. models is because they have the backing to get a custom order bass that matches whatever specs they want, be it an exact copy of a sig. model or just tweaked a bit. I also see a lot of players who have sig. models and do not play them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruiser_dup2 Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 What do you care what other people think? Do you think they care what you think? If you play unoriginal bass lines all the time, people will think you're unoriginal. If you play tasty bass licks all the time, they won't care if you play a cigar box with rubber bands on it. If the signature bass floats your boat, buy it and play the snot out of it. Bruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpcat Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 My Geddy Lee Jazz is my favorite bass ever, but I have never really liked Geddy Lee or Rush. Nor does it make me sound at all like Mr. Lee. If it did, I wouldn't play it. It just happened that when I was looking for a '70s Fender Jazz w/maple fretboard, the GL fit the bill perfectly. I don't know what the Stu Hamm model looks like, but most of the time the "signature" is someplace inconspicuous. Nobody even has to know, unless you tell them. -Matt M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Originally posted by Bassplayer58: The reason i ask this is because i have never seen a pro(by pro i mean a full time musician) using a signature bass that is not their own. Both Stefan Lessard and Randy Hope-Taylor use Flea basses. Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman Irwin Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 One prescription bro... take some punk pills which says "DON'T CARE WHAT PEOPLE SAY" after that hummm....i'm sure you won't re who's name appears on the headstock... If Jaco's bass sound farts, please forgive me for doing it always! ONCE A LEVITE, ALWAYS A LEVITE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 To quote one Mr. Frank Zappa: "who gives a f**k anyway?". Indeed. If you like the bass, the way it feels in your hands, and the tone you can seduce out of it... buy that bastard and play the hell out of it. Who cares if it's a 'signature' series or not? Personally, I think the whole 'signature' series instrument is ridiculous. Who cares what plays? Who cares what their setup is on said instrument? You should play what feels and sounds good to you. I wouldn't want a Brian Timpe signature series bass, made by any manufacturer. First of all, no one would want to buy it, and second, it would have, you know, like 3 knobs, and all of them would be labeled "Suck". You could totally achieve "suck" at 33; because all the knobs would go to '11'. As I turned to you, you smiled at me, how could we say 'no'? (SUPER extra bone-us points to anyone who knows what song that one is from) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Originally posted by Bumpcity: As I turned to you, you smiled at me, how could we say 'no'? (SUPER extra bone-us points to anyone who knows what song that one is from)And that would be Achilles Last Stand. Alex Barefaced Ltd - ultra lightweight, high ouput, toneful bass cabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afro_Man Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Look if you don't buy that bass, i'll buy it cos its sooo damn nice, another vote for who cares and most people won't reconize it (unless you happen to meet one of the people from here and then the only thing they'll say will be "can i have a go") "i must've wrote 30 songs the first weekend i met my true love ... then she died and i got stuck with this b****" - Father of the Pride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Originally posted by C.Alexander Claber: Originally posted by Bumpcity: As I turned to you, you smiled at me, how could we say 'no'? (SUPER extra bone-us points to anyone who knows what song that one is from)And that would be Achilles Last Stand. AlexBeat me to it. What a great tune... As for the original topic of the thread: play what you want. If it feels good and sounds bad-ass then it's the bass for you. Originally submitted with humility by the partial Zaftig known as "Bumpcity": I wouldn't want a Brian Timpe signature series bass, made by any manufacturer. First of all, no one would want to buy it, and second, it would have, you know, like 3 knobs, and all of them would be labeled "Suck". You could totally achieve "suck" at 33; because all the knobs would go to '11'.Wait a second, I already own this bass! Y'all will be lining up at the door to own a Seismic Sweet Willie signature model once they're in production -- mark my words... spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cup Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Personally i don't like signature basses, or those "beat up in the factory" models either. Why? Because the idiots they seem to attract. But you don't seem impressed by the name, so get it! It's a bass that plays well, feels good and has good tone. They only thing fukcing it up is a silly little name. Cover the name up with tape, stratch it off, do whatever, buy it, play it...change your name, tell people Fender made it for YOU. Cup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bear Jew Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Another thing to remember: Every kind of instrument out there has probably been played by someone famous at one time or another. Not everyone who plays a Music Man bass is a Flea clone, and playing a yellow Telecaster doesn't always invite Bruse Springsteen comparisons. In other words, don't sweat it. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Well, I think we've DEFINITELY got a consensus here: play what you want. I too play a Geddy Lee Jazz, because I just fell totally in love with the sound & feel of the thing. (I like Geddy Lee, but I'm also glad that Fender put the sig on the BACK of the headstock!) That Fender Roscoe Beck also sounds just too spongeworthy. And our own Ed Friedland owns a Carvin Bunny Brunel sig or two. As far as I have been able to tell, this has not done a lot to detract from his originality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower8 Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 I actually avoided picking up and trying out any Fender Jazz basses when I was starting out, simply because I thought they were "unoriginal" and "everyone plays those" (I was a stupid junior high kid at the time)... after my original bass (a Washburn) was stolen, I finally tried one out... 14 years later, I can say I'm the proud owner of a Fender Jazz, and I've only played a few basses out of dozens I've tried which I think fit me better... so play as many basses as possible in any store you can find, to figure out the sound and feel you really want... "Tea & Cake, or Death!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addix Metzatricity Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Originally posted by Lawnmower8: "Tea & Cake, or Death!"HAHAHA!! Eddie Izzard! Death please. "Bass isn't just for breakfast anymore..." http://www.mp3.com/Addix_Metzatricity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Phil Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Originally posted by Iceman Irwin: One prescription bro... take some punk pills which says "DON'T CARE WHAT PEOPLE SAY" after that hummm....i'm sure you won't re who's name appears on the headstock...A prescription for you... learn how to spell, check your words, and use correct grammer. http://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/blue.JPGhttp://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/black.JPGhttp://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/fuscia.JPGhttp://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/grey.JPGhttp://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/orange.JPGhttp://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/purple.JPGhttp://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/red.JPGhttp://www.briantimpe.com/images/LDL/dots/yellow.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addix Metzatricity Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Originally posted by phil6006: A prescription for you... learn how to spell, check your words, and use correct grammer. None of those things are very punk. "Bass isn't just for breakfast anymore..." http://www.mp3.com/Addix_Metzatricity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Grammar is the formal structure of a language. Grammer is that guy on Frasier. "Hello, Kettle? This is Pot. You're black." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc_dup1 Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 I have a Nathan East signature bass. I bought it because, for a bass of its quality it was being sold at a very low price (£950 new, about $1500). Even a few years later, I've never knowingly heard Nathan East play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted September 16, 2003 Share Posted September 16, 2003 Originally posted by bc: I have a Nathan East signature bass. I bought it because, for a bass of its quality it was being sold at a very low price (£950 new, about $1500). Even a few years later, I've never knowingly heard Nathan East play.You have heard Nathan East play if you've heard Clapton or Phil Collins play in the last 10 years. Not to mention the countless studio gigs he's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassplayer58 Posted September 17, 2003 Author Share Posted September 17, 2003 Thanks for support/inspiration. i will be buying the bass as soon as money permits. -dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getz out Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 Originally posted by dcr: Grammar is the formal structure of a language. Grammer is that guy on Frasier. "Hello, Kettle? This is Pot. You're black." Okay, I just pee'd myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc_dup1 Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Agreed Cornbread in saying I hadn't "knowingly" heard him I meant I'd never heard him knowing it was him - so his playing or sound would never have influenced my choice of bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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