I've been waiting for a Victory Custom to pop up for the right price lately.....
Plus, I've got mega GAS for a Ripper in anything but natural. :love:
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Are gibson basses really that trendy?
- Thread starter JoshuaTSP
- Start date
I've got endless Gibson bass GAS.
I like Thrice. Their bassist uses Gibsons:
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I would love to have a vintage Thunderbird. And even more than that, an RD Artist which I think is one of the coolest looking basses ever.
Not sure how much they'd get played but I'd love to have 'em anyway.
Not sure how much they'd get played but I'd love to have 'em anyway.
I don't care for the music, but that's some pretty cool bass tone.
That's a grabber, right?
Hipster^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ LMAO
And why a victory bass? Its the same electrics as a t-bird in a bass three times as heavy.
I can't say if this one was ever trendy either,but I played it from 76-95 until it was stolen. Honestly,who would steal THIS!
It was just like the Wine Red pictured above until one dreaded alcohol fueled afternoon. It sounded like a cross between a Ric & Pbass after it's surgery. Everybody knew MY BASS!
It was just like the Wine Red pictured above until one dreaded alcohol fueled afternoon. It sounded like a cross between a Ric & Pbass after it's surgery. Everybody knew MY BASS!
I don't know if they are trendy, but there is a small, very dedicated, Gibson community. Some of their basses aren't very sought after, the Victory comes to mind, and even the 1st Grabber sounds farty and at least a dirt pedal of some sort is needed to make a "decent" sound. But the RD basses, Standard and Artist are very sought after. The Ripper/Grabber/G3 also. Prices are increasing every year since I've had my eye on the market. I bought my first Ripper for $600 about 5 years ago, and now they are going for about a grand on Ebay. The RD Artist is also going up in price, they were hovering around $1000 a few years back, and now they go from eleven hundred to even sixteen hundred. Stores will try and sell RD Artists for upwards of 2 grand, but people don't seem to bite.
There aren't a whole lot of popular bassists using Gibsons, but the whole alternative/underground/post-rock/cool-new-genre-we-tb'ers- don't-even-know-about/metal/doom scenes have gotten into Gibsons over the past few years.
Krist Novoselic from Nirvana had about six Gibsons. He recorded Nevermind and In Utero with a Ripper. A similar Ripper knocked him out during the 92 VMAs. He toured heavily with the RD Artist, and lots of pictures can be found with him using one. He also had a RD Standard in the "Heart Shaped Box" video.
Brian Cook has used a Grabber in Botch, These Arms Are Snakes, and Russian Circles. Also has an older sunburst Ripper (envy).
Nick from Young Widows has the ketchup and mustard Fireburst RD Artist.
Gene Simmons and his G3.
Nate from the Foo Fighters used a Ripper in the "Best of You" video.
Excuse my ranting, I am just a Gibby fanboy. I don't think they are trendy. I believe that there is just a diehard fanbase, albeit a small one.
There aren't a whole lot of popular bassists using Gibsons, but the whole alternative/underground/post-rock/cool-new-genre-we-tb'ers- don't-even-know-about/metal/doom scenes have gotten into Gibsons over the past few years.
Krist Novoselic from Nirvana had about six Gibsons. He recorded Nevermind and In Utero with a Ripper. A similar Ripper knocked him out during the 92 VMAs. He toured heavily with the RD Artist, and lots of pictures can be found with him using one. He also had a RD Standard in the "Heart Shaped Box" video.
Brian Cook has used a Grabber in Botch, These Arms Are Snakes, and Russian Circles. Also has an older sunburst Ripper (envy).
Nick from Young Widows has the ketchup and mustard Fireburst RD Artist.
Gene Simmons and his G3.
Nate from the Foo Fighters used a Ripper in the "Best of You" video.
Excuse my ranting, I am just a Gibby fanboy. I don't think they are trendy. I believe that there is just a diehard fanbase, albeit a small one.
It makes me think of a jeans analogy: Fenders are like Levi's (ubiquitous, because they were there first, are of general high quality, have some specialized fits, and you know why they are classic and industry standard). Maybe Gibsons are like Lees.
Never known of gobsons basses to be trendy except maybe among some classic rock fans into jack bruce etc gibson bass tones. I think what hurt gibson the most in not becoming as popular as other bass mfg with soapbar pups is the other mfg did better job of voicing their soapbar pups and mainly stayed with soapbar pup sizes that are interchangeable with most aftermarket soapbar pup makers offerings. The poor balance heavy neck dive of popular gibson basses also helped prevent them from becoming trendy/popular. Imo.
To piggyback on darkstorm's comment, when I started out many of the admired and IMO among the best bass players back then did not play Fenders. Jack Bruce, Phil Lesh, Jack Casady, Glenn Cornick, and Paul McCartney come to mind.
I am aware that some used Fenders for a time but mainly these folks played Gibson, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and later makes such as Alembic.
There were some great Fender players too. Point is it wasn't so odd not to be playing Fender back then. In some circles today it seems frowned upon not to have a p or J bass if not both. Neither Fender or Gibson are the be all and end all of bass guitars.
Trendy?
Well, that the old Gibson basses that hardly anyone respected when they were new are suddenly "Cool" can be explained by the emergence of what I call The Cult of the Old and Crappy.
But new Gibson basses are, for the most part, firewood.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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