Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

I have Fenders and Gibsons and I love my Gibson Thunderbird and EBO, different tones for different songs!

[Jeffrec]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

I'm not a bass player, but I've always loved the look of the EB-3 and Thunderbird

[jeremy]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

the thunderbird is a great bass. the les paul bass is kinda similar with a different body shape. the short scale ones are different beasts but can be very cool in the right circumstances. like others have said, they can be wooly but in a rock trio (like old mule or cream) it can be perfect. it stays above the frequency of the bass drum that will have good punch, provides a fat cushion of bottom end with just enough clarity for definiftion but stays out of the way of the guitar and other drums

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

The big pickup next to the end of the fingerboard started with the EB-1 and persisted through all subsequent EB models. The mini humbucker in the bridge position is exactly what it looks like - an Epiphone mini humbucker, just with four polepiece screws instead of six. (Good enough for Rickenbacker! Why not Gibson too?)

The Grabber/Ripper series pickups are Bill Lawrence designs. Different approach. (i.e. Some actual pickup designing going on.) I cannot remember whether the RD bass pickups were his design or in-house.

The Victory Bass did not last long enough for me to remember who did the pickup(s) for it.

Some more recent models get Bartolini pickups. (Good choice, IMO.)

Thunderbird Bass pickups are in a little world of their own. So are the low impedance ones on the LP Triumph.

All of these designs are different from each other. Small wonder that there is no cohesive notion of what a Gibson bass guitar should be like or why somebody should want one.

[uOpt]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

The whole EB thing is a bit sad. They simply were too lazy to try out different pickup positions, not to mention winds. So they simply went for a guitar's "bass" position and a really fat humbucker.

[post toastie]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

i remember Brett Hudson from The Hudson Brothers played a Les Paul bass.

[Chickenwings]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

Thunderbirds are epic rock monsters.

EB-0's are cool too but have a much more diffuse, woolly sound that gets a bit closer to a fretted double bass kind of vibe. Not what a lot of rock musicians like unless they add extra pickups.

An old bassist i used to work with had a les paul bass. Heavy as hell. Good sound, but he replaced it with Status basses (lol! it was the 80s!)

[ginormous]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

I've got a Jazz, a fretless P and an LP Triumph (the mid-70's version of the Recording model). The LPT can hang in almost any musical situation. It can drive some hard pick sounds, bring the funk, or bubble up some primordial mud from the bottom of the swamp.

I wouldn't consider a Les Paul circuit design a "poor relation to Leo" by any means.

[Simon_F]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

[Snake Aces]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

The Gibby Les Paul Standard bass is a helluva bass! I'd consider trading my left nut for one.

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

I know I've seen Gibson basses being sported by a variety of musicians over the years, but the only one I van readily think of is Mark Hamilton of Ash. He plays a Thunderbird with just 3 strings on it and throws it around like it's a piece of fitness equipment. Sounds good though.

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

...or they have predetermined which demographic they expect will buy the product.

[uOpt]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

I think the most attractive is the thunderbird. But current incarnations have nuclear pickups (the Firebird guitar, too) and vintage style replacements are very expensive. It's almost like they want to put obstacles in front of potential Gibson bass users.

[Severen]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

Gibson Basses are not for everyone but for the right person they are cool looking and sounding instruments. The Thunderbird is the most popular model and has the most variants. Jack Bruce in Cream played the EB-3 (I forget if it was the 0 or the 3 but I think it was the three) which is the short scale SG shaped bass, some guys really like their Les Paul Basses quite a bit as well. Go play some and see what you think. I can't get along with short scale basses at all. Just not for me as it feels to loose and floppy to me. Allen Woody loved short scale and even has a signature Epi model based on his specs.

Most are short scale except for the Thunderbirds so know if you like short scale basses as some really do and some hate them. I played a beat up late 60's or early 70's model of Thunderbird when I was a teenager and really like it. The pickups were more vintage sounding and it was really versatile. I played everything from Hard Rock to Western Swing with that Bird. Unfortunately it was stolen from me and vanished from the face of the earth. I am mostly a Vintage style Fender player but if I needed a non Fender Bass a new T Bird in White with Lollar Chrome T Bird pickups would be my first choice. The only bass I loved more than my Bird was my current MIJ '51 P Bass Reissue and my MIJ '96 Jazz Fretless.

I will say that when I think of certain models of Gibson basses I think of unique sounds to the instrument but it may have been the player too. Thunderbird I think Pete Wey of UFO, EB basses and I think of Jack Bruce.

Good luck on the search and hope you find the bass that inspires you.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Gibson bass guitars. Yeh or nay?

I'm not a bass player at all but I'm always trying to pay attention to bass players who stand out.

I saw The Donnas in New York a few years ago and Maya Ford's Thunderbird through her ampeg was totally sick. She was always there...wherever the music went. She didn't disappear at all.

It just left an impression.

I did a very small stint at the Gibson show room in New York and when I was volunteering there, very few artists came in looking for basses.

I delivered guitars to the Letterman show at least 4 times a week for months and never one bass.