NAMM 2015: Fender unveils new Geddy Lee, Steve Harris signature basses
NAMM 2015: Fender is showing off several new signature artist basses at Winter NAMM. Two of these artists have a long relationship with the company, and their signature basses have received some exciting updates.
From press release: Bassists have loved the signature Geddy Lee Jazz Bass for years. The new U.S.A. Geddy Lee Jazz Bass is a new version that combines the specs and features of Lee’s three favorite basses—two Fender Custom Shop versions of his signature model and the original sleek black ’72 Jazz Bass that Rush’s revered bassist/ vocalist has riffed away on in front of millions of devoted fans worldwide and on many a mega-selling album.
The neck has a thicker custom profile, topped by a maple fingerboard with elegant white binding and white pearloid block inlays. For enormous tone that crackles with life and bristles with the energy, its two vintage-style single-coil Jazz Bass pickups are specially wound and voiced to sound like those on Lee’s prized 1972 original, and a Geddy Lee signature High-Mass bridge provides rock-solid intonation. Available March 12, 2015.
Fender Steve Harris Precision Bass
Steve Harris’s galloping fleet-fingered basslines have turbocharged U.K. metal titans Iron Maiden for decades and have made him the most influential metal bassist alive. Harris has stayed true to his battle-hardened Precision Bass over the years, and his signature Steve Harris Precision Bass now comes in his famously regal gloss White finish with special pinstriping, mirrored pickguard and West Ham United F.C. crest.
Other ironclad features include a single powerful Seymour Duncan Steve Harris signature model pickup, Fender High Mass bridge, Rotosound Steve Harris Signature flat-wound strings and Harris’s signature on the back of the headstock. Available February 17, 2015.
For more information, visit Fender.
Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.