Bass Magazine – Issue 4 2019

96 BASS MAGAZINE ; ISSUE 4 ; bassmagazine.com

Gear Shed

I GOTTA BE STRAIGHT UP — I’M NOT

the biggest fan of signature basses.
I often find that these instruments
have been tweaked aesthetically or
electronically so much toward one
individual’s preference, they are a
bit useless in most contexts. Take
the Gene Simmons Axe bass, for ex-
ample. Unless you’re going onstage
with your fellow face-painted rock
& roll warriors spewing blood and
fire, you’ll just look and sound out of
place (but, hey, you’re ready to chop
wood when the gig ends). I’ve also
seen signature basses that are far too
expensive for anyone but a collector;
I once reviewed a signature bass that

cost over $14,000. Over the years,

however, I’ve found some notable ex-

ceptions. For example, I am a proud

owner of a 1995 Fender Roscoe Beck

V, which I will never part with, and

the Sire Marcus Miller basses are

amazing, as well. Both of these ex-

amples follow my three key rules

when it comes to designing signature

basses: make the instrument friend-

ly to a wide variety of styles, don’t go

overboard on the “signature” part re-

garding looks, and keep it affordable

to players on a modest budget. Rev-

erend’s Mike Watt Signature bass,

the Wattplower, delivers in two of

these areas (subtle signature looks

and affordability), but, in this case, I

don’t mind that it has a specific tone,

since its aggressive sound casts a

wide-enough net within rock genres.

If you aren’t familiar with Mike

Watt, stop reading and spend a good

hour on Spotify familiarizing your-

self with his music. Start with the

Minutemen records, visit some Fire-

hose and the Stooges, and then dig

into Mike’s solo works — he is one

prolific player. Once you’ve done

that, come back and read on.

When I first went play the bass, I

noticed that due to the instrument’s

shape, the shoulder strap has to con-

nect to the back of the neck joint.

Reverend

SIGNATURE

MIKE WATT

WATTPLOWER BASS

By Rod C. Taylor