Adam's new bass

[Mack_Again]

yeah probably it's his.

And I realized that after research, that SG bass is the one that is currently made (named SG bass) instead of EB-3, the vintage one that looked like SG as Edge's have 3 knobs instead of 4.

 

[TheLoungeFly]

I think having a signature instrument makes sense if you have a signature sound or style. You design something, in collaboration with whatever company, that has not been available so far and create something new that enables you as a musician or performer to be unique (could be sound, looks,...).

In my opinion it would have made great sense to do an Adam Clayton signature Fender Precision Bass, based on an 60s bass with a Jazz neck. Because that is what he used to do with his Precision way back then and used for many, many years.

So the gold sparkle Precision was pretty cool.
It had a sound he was known for and had something unique (gold sparkle color) that fit him as a performer (posh bass player).

Suddenly having 4 different signature models, in my opinion, contradicts the general idea of what a signature model should be.
And dropping 2 of his own signature models after a short period of time is even worse

Now in regards to Egde, I think a signature model absolutely makes NO sense. He defines himself through different sounds and styles. So out of all the different guitars he used so far, what would be the signature model?
The strat, the explorer,...?

So I guess if you just do a signature model so the company can put a sticker on it and sell it for double the price, it leaves a bad taste in some customers mouths. And the possibilty is there when Edge does a signature model.

Okay, that clears things up a lot! Thank you for explaining that. That makes a lot of sense. I didn't know that Adam had dropped some of his signature models. That makes no sense whatsoever! And that's a good point about Edge having so many guitars and so many sounds. There's no way to make one signature model to cover his entire range, so it does seem like there'd be no point in trying.

But on the bright side, I guess there are some new collector's items out there now.



Wow! Those bass pictures are glorious! I'm so jealous. I've never played a semi-hollow before. I'm sure they both must be amazing!

 

[Mack_Again]

Okay, that clears things up a lot! Thank you for explaining that. That makes a lot of sense. I didn't know that Adam had dropped some of his signature models. That makes no sense whatsoever! And that's a good point about Edge having so many guitars and so many sounds. There's no way to make one signature model to cover his entire range, so it does seem like there'd be no point in trying.

But on the bright side, I guess there are some new collector's items out there now.

Wow! Those bass pictures are glorious! I'm so jealous. I've never played a semi-hollow before. I'm sure they both must be amazing!

Im sure they wont cover the entirety of Edge's sound. But it's probably true tat Edge's most of sounds were created by 70s strat. look at 360 tour rig. except for LP, Fernandes, Gretsch, Explorer and Casino, and all, everything was mostly teles and strats. so I guess it's good decision for him to produce sig. strat using 70s strat spec. I wish there would be replica of 76 explorer reissue, but.......Edge isn't with Gibson anymore. I wish Edge would use more Gretsch in place of Gibson guitars just for surprise but...nah, that's not gonna happen. the fact that Fender is allowing Edge to use whatever he wants is actually quite impressive. I mean, he is using Gibson, Taylor and all that.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Dallas and the band have a far more inside elation ship with Fender (and hence Gretsch) than Gibson.

So a the fact that the bulk of the signature items (Adams P and Jazz basses, B's Irish Falcon along with Edge's impending Strat) are with Fender.

Second, with the Explorer, he has what he wants. And Gibson proved they could make a guitar that looks like his (The cloned LP Custom) but not sound like his original. This is why the cloned LP was used little and not amused at all at this point.

With Fender they can mix and match neck shapes, fretboards, body woods, pickups, pots etc.

Gretsch, Rickenbacker and Gibson have set necks. It's a whole lot more labor intensive to mix and match and try things out than merely swapping out and testing parts - as one can on. Fender.

So if you do the math, a Fender custom/signature Edge guitar is what makes the most sense.

Could be like the Clapton and Eric Johnson signature guitars (iIe. - more than one finish available).

It's also possible there will be at least two models... With and without sustainer.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Mack_Again]

I feel like whole point of "guitar which looks like original" is so overrated at this point; i feel like some of old guitars aren't as good as new one, obviously.

 

[The Edge15]

https://twitter.com/U2/status/661912403987271681/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Shot of the basses behind him, looks like he has at least two other signature Jazz basses out on the road in addition to the one that he has on him in the pic. Can see one Warwick, and I dont know what the other bass in the rack is.

BASS 1: unknown

BASS 2: sig Jazz

BASS 3: sig Jazz

BASS 4: Warwick

 

[Rockhound252]

How can u see that? I see nothing!

 

[Mack_Again]

How can u see that? I see nothing!

probably the headstock? my eyesight is terrible so can't see nothing.

 

[Mack_Again]

Second, with the Explorer, he has what he wants. And Gibson proved they could make a guitar that looks like his (The cloned LP Custom) but not sound like his original. This is why the cloned LP was used little and not amused at all at this point.

Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

I see bunch of replica of iconic guitars like 59 LP or early Goldtop from Gibson (including their CS) but I have always wondered how they sound compared to the original ones; i see their demos so many times but never seen the original so i can't even tell whether Gibson's doing great job in replicating these sounds or not........ Same as Fender CS, thou.

 

[BB Mac]

sum knob settings

and herdim's

 

[Mack_Again]

was i the only person who thought Adam always set all the knobs on his basses to 10?

 

[BB Mac]

seems he keeps the same knob settings heres 'City of Blinding Lights'
the previous pictures were 'Beautiful day'

 

[BB Mac]

Heres the Warwick in use

 

[0verfl0w]

Now who can get the settings of the Warwick ??

I wonder how he matches the levels of his basses.
The Warwick has so much more output than the Fender....

 

[Mack_Again]

Now who can get the settings of the Warwick ??

I wonder how he matches the levels of his basses.
The Warwick has so much more output than the Fender....

Doesn't his streamer use regular P-bass style pups (possibly from SD)?

 

[schnitzolaus]

Doesn't his streamer use regular P-bass style pups (possibly from SD)?

The Streamers got a Quater Pounder inside. More output...

 

[Mack_Again]

The Streamers got a Quater Pounder inside. More output...

i looked it up, and it said QP has 14k of output......wow, that's really hot (if it's guitar pups, even JB is abut 16k)

 

[BB Mac]

another screen capture from the Warwick
this is on ' out of control' seems all the same
knob settings

 

[Mack_Again]

are all the bass pickups marginally hotter than the guitar pickups or am i biased?

 

[Precision73]

In my opinion it would have made great sense to do an Adam Clayton signature Fender Precision Bass, based on an 60s bass with a Jazz neck. Because that is what he used to do with his Precision way back then and used for many, many years.

.

Isnt this true only of the iconic 73 sunburst model seen extensively throughout the Outside its America movie? It has a dark red tortoiseshell plate and is very relic. Back in 73, sunburst models with tortoiseshell plates came on rosewood neck models. Sunburst maple necks had black plates (from 69 on).

 

[U2BROTHR]

Ok...here is a very quick summary of what happened.

Adam always liked Fender Basses, both Precision and Jazz basses.
With very rare exceptions he didn't use anything else live until the Elevation tour.

The reason behind this is very simple:
The studio got flooded and most of his vintage Fender gear was destroyed.
Because there was no time to shop for vintage gear he switched to Lakland basses.
The models he used have been "copies" of 60s Fender Precision and Jazz basses. I still think that these basses were one of the best he ever had and I personally think that new Lakland basses definately sound more similiar to vintage Fender gear than current Fender basses do

After the Elevation tour he had time to shop for vintage Fender gear again, which he used for the Vertigo tour.

Then suddenly he enjoyed to experiment a bit more in the studio on the NLOTH sessions and he especially seemed to like the Warwick Stryker.

He approached Warwick and they offered him a custom model.
He wanted to have a Fender copy, but Warwick denied that saying that if he wanted that, he should talk to Fender and they can do better.

As he was liking the Warwick Stryker so much, he wanted to keep that shape, but reverse it. The result of this was the first Adam Clayton signature bass called "Reverso" (still sounding exactly like a Fender precision but with 3 times the cost ).

He used several models of this bass with all kind of variations during the 360 tour, together with some Fender vintage basses and some Gibson basses.
But the star of this tour was still a golden, sparkle Fender precision bass (that later got a purple brother).

And suddenly Fender decided to make an Adam Clayton Signature Precision Bass in gold sparkle.
This was a limited edition and has been discontinued.

Suddenly Warwick came and gave Adam some custom made "Streamer CV" models in gold (because he likes shiney stuff). He seemed to like that basses very much and even used them on SOI and a bunch of promo TV shows.

Out of nowhere suddenly came Fender again and wanted to do another Signature Bass. This time it was a Jazz Bass. So we got the Adam Clayton Signature Jazz Bass in Sherwould Green that he also used on the album and is using currently as one of his main basses on the I&E tour.

But as 3 signature basses was just not enough he approached Warwick again. He had changed his mind about his own Warwick signature "Reverso" and wanted something more handy to jump around on stage.
So the "Reverso" was discontinued and the new shiney, white/black Adam Clayton Signature Streamer was born, which was based on the golden models he liked so much. This is his second main bass he uses now on the I&E tour.

So he completely dropped the signature precision and the signature Reverso. They have not been used for a single song during this tour.

For whatever reason he got back to a Warwick Stryker for WOWY.
But other than that it is the 2 new signature models he uses for the whole show now.

So to sum it up there are a bunch of signature models that you can/could buy:

Warwick Adam Clayton Reverso Custom Shop (discontinued)
color: nature
price: $ 6000+

Warwick Adam Clayton Reverso Artist series (discontinued)
color: gold / sunburst
price: started at $1800, went down to $800 in the end

Fender Adam Clayton Precision Bass Custom Model (discontinued)
color: gold sparkle
price: $ 3500+

Fender Adam Clayton Jazz Bass Artist series
color: sherwood green
price: $ 1800+

Warwick Adam Clayton Streamer CV Custom Model
color: white / black
price: $ 3500+

Warwick Adam Clayton Streamer CV Artist series
color: white / black
price: $ 850+

Thank you for this info!

I own the limited edition purple sparkle Jazz.... and the sherwood jazz. I'm trying to get my hands on the gold sparkle precision. Useful info indeed.

Here's my purple jazz signed by Adam.

The jazz basses are the best basses I've ever played.