I keep seeing Giannini jazz bass copies and wonder how they rate compared to other J-bass copies. Anyone ever try one?
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Giannini Jazz bass copy? GB-1
- Thread starter FretlessFatty
- Start date
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- Tags
- jazz bass
To bump my own post... Saw this on Youtube. Looks/sounds pretty good, but it's always hard to get the audio in a video like that. Can anyone translate the Portuguese? 
Video review of Giannini GB-1:
Video review of Giannini GB-1:
You guys might force me to buy one of these (they're cheap!) to see for myself... That's right; I just blamed YOU for my GAS.
That's right; I just blamed YOU for my GAS.
Okay, I did it. Very cheap, so to try it out... I bought it direct from Giannini USA in NY. White Giannini GB-1 with tortoise shell pickguard.
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Attractive, IMO. And here's the nifty neck plate, kinda swell for a cheap bass:
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So. My early impressions -- before plugging it in (I like to check it out "dry" first):
1. Much heavier than I thought it would be. The body is listed as basswood on the site, but it sure feels heavy to me.
2. The back of the neck feels great. Satiny and smooth.
3. The rosewood fingerboard feels a little tacky/sticky. Is there an easy-ish fix for that?
4. Set-up was terrible. Had a bit of a back bow. I was able to fix with truss rod, not a big deal. But still.
It seems like a solid, decent jazz bass copy. Later I'll plug it in and tell you how it sounds. I know you can't WAIT to hear my review. There is SO much interest in this topic!
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Attractive, IMO. And here's the nifty neck plate, kinda swell for a cheap bass:
Invalid Link Removed
So. My early impressions -- before plugging it in (I like to check it out "dry" first):
1. Much heavier than I thought it would be. The body is listed as basswood on the site, but it sure feels heavy to me.
2. The back of the neck feels great. Satiny and smooth.
3. The rosewood fingerboard feels a little tacky/sticky. Is there an easy-ish fix for that?
4. Set-up was terrible. Had a bit of a back bow. I was able to fix with truss rod, not a big deal. But still.
It seems like a solid, decent jazz bass copy. Later I'll plug it in and tell you how it sounds. I know you can't WAIT to hear my review. There is SO much interest in this topic!
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I'm back. Plugged it in. You know what? This is a spanky jazz bass copy! Not bad at all, great for the price. The pickups are actually surprisingly powerful... much more powerful that the "Seymour Duncan designed" one on my friend's Squier fretless. The downside is, there is some buzz/noise. But they are nice and loud when I play. I think I'll experiment more with the string height/set-up, put on different strings (these are fine, not to my taste), and enjoy.
So... gonna report back, though no one else seems interested! For the record... took it to my local luthier. He was impressed with the resonance of the bass and thought it was a very nice starter level model indeed. I asked him to swap out the stock pickups (which were fairly powerful, but a tad noisy) and put in Fender SCN Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pups. Meanwhile, I put on Chromes. This bass now sounds and feels GREAT. It is better than most Squier J-basses. Luthier concurs. Just FWIW.
Congrats on finding an instrument that speaks to you! As for the lack of responses, oh well: you've added to the knowledge database this forum is, among other things (and I for one appreciate this particular aspect of it); sooner of later somebody might bump into a Giannini bass and look for opinions here...and thank you, even years from now and regardless of you being active in the forum at that point!
By the way, if this were a classical guitar or a craviola, and in the context of another forum, the name Giannini would ring many bells: albums upon albums of MPB (that is to say Brazilian Popular Music)
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Thanks for your response! And yes... I have continued to comment and add in spite of no earlier comments because I love the knowledge database aspect of Talkbass too. I agree... Someday someone will find this thread and be glad.
I used to have a Giannini classical. Very nice. So I'm glad to learn that they do a nice job with a starter bass, too. The craviolas are cool; Jimmy Page using one is probably the first time I ever heard of the company.
Thanks for the note. Lots more interest for the GB-4 than the GB-1 in these parts, it seems! Looks like a great violin bass. I have a Jay Turser Beatle bass that I like a lot.
The lack of response might be attributed to AJBC (Another Jazz Bass Clone) Syndrome. Glad to hear it worked out for you!
I guess the question is with so many clones, why choose this one over all the others?
I guess the question is with so many clones, why choose this one over all the others?
I'm sure you're right! My quick answer is: It was so cheap that I could put in new pickups (Fender SCN Samarium Cobalt Noiseless, which were quite cheap on eBay) and it's STILL cheaper than most Squier J-basses, and to me, sounds and feels better than most. I guess, honestly, it is "just another j-bass clone". But for the price it would be hard to beat. So if you're in the market for a j-bass clone, and you see a Giannini, give it a chance.
^^^^^ + 1 to everything here...and I mean everything (one of the absolute best posts Ive read here on TB, thank you, HAS).....
OP, Congrats on the bass and the detailed review....veddddy interesting
Thank you very, very much, sir, it means a lot. It's midnight here and reading your post just now closed my day on a very high note...^^^^^ + 1 to everything here...and I mean everything (one of the absolute best posts Ive read here on TB, thank you, HAS).....
OP, Congrats on the bass and the detailed review....veddddy interesting
(I'd better quit while I'm ahead!)
I do strongly love and try to contribute to the database trait of this forum. Hence also my compulsive crosslinking and quoting when I haven't got anything from personal experience to contribute
it's great to hear the name of Giannini in this forum. I think they are making their first steps outside Brasil apparently.
here they always were kind of what we had available, so we never give too much attention to them. but it is great they are able to make new steps.
the craviola is a very original guitar designed by Paulinho Nogueira to giannini go get the sound of the viola caipira (traditional brazillian folk guitar) and the cravo (harpsichord). in my opinion the most original giannini guitar by far.
here they always were kind of what we had available, so we never give too much attention to them. but it is great they are able to make new steps.
the craviola is a very original guitar designed by Paulinho Nogueira to giannini go get the sound of the viola caipira (traditional brazillian folk guitar) and the cravo (harpsichord). in my opinion the most original giannini guitar by far.
Thanks! I thought about the CS60... but I found the SCN Samarium Cobalt for cheap -- I'm definitely on a budget. I saw good reviews for them online, so I gave them a try. I like them a lot, and they're very quiet.
I just purchased a Giannini GB 3V vintage 50's style P bass. Haven't got it yet, but from what I saw of them on youtube videos and now your review, I'm feeling pretty good about the purchase. Thanks for all your up to date info.
In regards to the GB-1 Jazz bass copy - is the hardware (pickguard, control plate, bridge, tuners, etc.) the same as a Fender or Squier jazz bass? If you were to mod this bass, could you use standard, readily available hardware pieces and parts?
Good question. The tuners, bridge, control plate, neck pocket, yes. Seems to swap out with Fender stuff, no problem. When I swapped out pickups, though, the GB-1 had to be routed a bit for the noiseless Fenders to go in. I don't know if those pickups are a bit wider than usual or not. I think perhaps they are, because at one point I tried to put on a standard Fender pickguard, and the the new noiseless Fender pickups were too big for that, too. Otherwise, the Fender pickguard fit -- just the usual thing of it being slightly off where it hits the control plate, but I've experienced that when changing pickguards on actual Fender basses and guitars, too.
