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 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 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. Usually I don’t dig this type of setup, as it often makes the bass feel imbalanced, but that didn’t occur here. Everything felt perfectly balanced. If you haven’t played a short-scale instrument, you might think that the shorter neck makes it feel weird, but I haven’t found that to be the case. I own a Danelectro ’58 Longhorn reissue, and I never feel awkward when switching between it and my Fender basses. It’s different, for sure, but not difficult to adjust to at all. The same was true with the Mike Watt bass — I took right to it. The distinctive tone of this instrument definitely pays tribute to Mike’s sound and approach; it’s got growl for miles. No matter how I set the tone knob or where I played in relationship to the pickups, the growl spoke loudly and with attitude. That’s by design, for sure. You’ve got a volume and tone knob, and that’s it. Someone wanting something more subtle or versatile in tone might be unhappy — but then who would be considering this bass who wasn’t into the ethos of its signature artist and the genre in which he performs? As such, I loved it. It begs you to play c