LeftyBassist.com

I am Warwick freakazoid but even I was like WUT? Not that I blame him I had sent a personal email to Hans asking about employment and although turned down he responded directly to me within 3 hours even though it was a no I thought it was awesome! Yes Warwicks sometimes have issues but I have yet to own a bass without one.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f28/steve ... er-759381/

wow thats refreshing to hear an artist actually be honest about endorsment choices, how many times do you see an artist jump ship because he wanted a better instrument only to go back to the previous company and play the same instrument for the same reason, and its kind of cool that at even at that level of popularity (among bassists anyway) at the end he just wanted a company with a more personal touch

I just think it's really sad how much flack he caught for his decision. Sad.

exactly, its not like he is Robert Trujillo who goes through endorsments like people change socks, who by the way just switched to warwick himself, so that woud be musicman,washburn,tobias,esp,yamaha,fernandes,rickenbacker ,yamaha,zon, and now warwick, when steve starts getting as bad as rob then i would understand the criticisim

What about Chuck Rainey who has endorsed every bass product ever?

i wasn't meaning to criticize Rob, sorry if it came out that way i was just saying he changes companies every two years and he doesn't seem to get the flack that Steve is getting, not a huge fan of either but at the end its the artists personal decision as to who they want they're name associated with, i honestly don't see how fans or non fans can be offended by what brand an artist uses, if the brand had some sort of negative stuff going on (i.e owner was an out spoken racist or something to that extent) i can see people getting upset because the artist is associating himself with those people, but just because the fan doesn't like Fender or Warwick or Fodera or ESP or whatever does not mean they have the right to criticize the artist for what they want to play or how often they change companies, it doesn't make them a worse or better musician or person for that matter. besides i kind of stopped liking chuck when i saw his name on my mom's Barbra Streisand live album

The funny thing about Trujillo is that he doesn't even switch companies... because he doesn't have to. The fact that he's with Metallica allows him to cross out any kind of "exclusivity clause" that might be contained within an artist endorsement contract.

The one credit that I can give him is that he actually plays most of it live in each show... here's the live equipment list from their last tour:

Warwick 5 string Trujillo chrome
Warwick 5 string Trujillo heavy chrome
Warwick 5 string Trujillo "Terminator" black chrome
Warwick 5 string matrix turquoise
Warwick 4 string Trujillo blue chrome
Warwick 5 string Trujillo blue stain maple "Surf Stringers"
Warwick 5 string Trujillo black stain
ESP 5 string Trujillo model army green Nash
ESP 5 string Trujillo model Dirty Donny
ESP 5 string Trujillo Red Scorched
Tobias 5 string "Aztec de la Chloe"
Tobias 5 String blue stain
Tobias 5 String black stain
Nash 4 String P-Bass white w/ red tortoise pick guard
Nash 4 String P-Bass "Jailbreak" black
Nash 4 string P-Bass 62 Black w/ copper pick guard
Nash 4 String P-Bass yellow "Shitblaster"
Nash 4 string "Flamethrower"
Zon 5 string "Klown"
Zon 5 string "HoodRat"
Fender 4 string P-Bass black w/ white pick guard
Fender 4 String P-Bass tobacco burst
Music Man 4 string Fretless Sting Ray root beer sparkle
Yamaha 5 string "Aztec"
Yamaha 5 string "Rat Rod"
Rickenbacker 4 String 4003
Rickenbacker 4 String 4003 "Mean Green"



On recent live BLu-Rays I have seen, he plays almost every bass on that list. He literally switches bass for practically every song... it's insane.

Personally, I almost NEVER actually play more than one bass during a gig, and I usually ever only have an extra for backup. Once I "warm up" to a bass and get acclimated to it, changing will freak me out.

But... then again, I'm not playing for Metallica and I don't have people lining up a mile long to PAY ME to play their gear either.

wow i had no idea, i thought he went through those companies not that he endorsed all of them....wow...... but as to his bass list, thats not suprising at all i think its in metallica's contract with q prime or something that they have to change instruments every song, i saw them on robs first tour and literally every song was a diffrent guitar and diffrent bass for each guy, heck during nothing else matters james went through 2 and acoustic for the first part and a electric for the last 2 min, the drum tech's were even coming out between songs while james talked to change out a snare or a tom or cymbals each song, i think in metallica's mind its part of the show, "we're gonna go through more instruments in one night then most of these people will ever own in their entire lives...they'll love it!"

Well, when you're at Metallica's level of endorsement agreements, you transcend the typical "I get free shit" endorsement deals, and actually get royalties based on sales of gear that is attached to your name.

So, for some instrument changes... not all... it's a chance for them to "advertise" their signature guitars and add a little extra padding to their bank accounts by selling more instruments, than it is to get the tone they need for that particular song.

I didn't take it that way, I was just pointing out that there are other artists (and lots of them), who also endorse a ton of products and don't get flack for it.

No need for Steve Bailey to get grief for it either.

oh, ok then right on

Or Will Lee!