Gear Shed
Reverend
SIGNATURE MIKE WATT WATTPLOWER BASS By Rod C. Taylor
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 example. 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
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cost over $14,000. Over the years, however, I’ve found some notable exceptions. 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 examples follow my three key rules when it comes to designing signature basses: make the instrument friendly to a wide variety of styles, don’t go overboard on the “signature” part regarding looks, and keep it affordable to players on a modest budget. Reverend’s Mike Watt Signature bass, the Wattplower, delivers in two of these areas (subtle signature looks
BASS MAGAZINE ; ISSUE 4 ; bassmagazine.com
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 yourself with his music. Start with the Minutemen records, visit some Firehose 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 connect to the back of the neck joint.
