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Gibson Apparently In Trouble.

#181
My second professional bass was a Gibson EBO. At the time I hated its flat, bassy tone. I wish I had it today. Sorry I ever sold it.

This isn't mine but it's the model I had.

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#182
alaskaleftybass said:
I am GREEN with envy. I remember in the early 80's seeing DEVO live at the Paramount in Seattle and the bass player had a Ripper. Man it sounded awesome! And through an SVT double stack!

Beautiful piece there!
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Thx. I love the thing. The only bass I ever owned that I'd be devastated if I ever lost it. It's precious. My precioussssss gollum! gollum! :laugh:

I used to run it through an Acoustic 360 plugged into an Acoustic 361 18"-folded horn cab back in the 70's. My band's nickname for it was: Nodens - Lord of the Abyss.

Perhaps I shouldn't tell you it's most often plugged into a late 60's Ampeg B15-N these days?

The sweet sounds of the golden age live on in my den. I am its guardian. Sorta. :thumbsup:
 
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#185
Well I give them kudos for taking advantage of the relationship between Steinberger, a Gibson property, and Jeff Babicz, former production manager for Steinberger in that Gibson asked Jeff to provide OEM versions of his Babicz eCam bridges for new gibson bass models. I played a left over EB2014 not so long ago, being decidedly not into vintage instrument brands like Gibson and Fender I expected to hate it, I was surprised when I found I didn't totally dislike it, it was marked down being old stock left unsold from last year, I was almost tempted except I hate the pickups, just too dark for me.
 
#186
rogerbmiller said:
Topic: gibson apparently in trouble.

No joke betcha Epohone is thriving. Totally accessible price point, classic designs naturally, and some of the specifically Epiphone stuff is incredible.
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That's the thing for me. I can't justify a Gibson as I just play for fun. I could justify an Epiphone if they reissued a Ripper or a Victory or an LPR as an Epiphone. I could see the value in a good MIA Jazz or P, though, as the price point is a bit more friendly.

It could be that the Fender production decision has turned out to be a bonus - a relatively inexpensive to build, replaceable, kit of parts held together with screws, as opposed to the more time-consuming (expensive) set neck. I notice many Epiphones with bolt on necks when I bothered to look at things. Hence with more expensive production, the Gibsons cost more. A small difference in price initially can be amplified as Fender can gain market share and then make up for the lower cost by lowering it a bit more by cutting the percentage profit margin and making up for it on volume, provided there is still a premium market to be exploited.

Given that there is debate about how much of a bass's sound is electronics versus construction if it is the former then the Squier VM Telebass I had (which had been further modified) suggests an EB-0 or something else along those lines is not for me anyway.
 
#188
Jah Wobble Fan said:
Any experience with the new Gibson tuning system? Apparently Gibson have invested a huge amount in this technology, which appeared a little shoddy to my eyes
when I inspected them at Guitar Center.

Do these tuning systems work? Any gigging guitarists using them?
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No - no experience. But let me tell you - for a company to spend THAT Much energy on something so... silly - that is telling. Why would I care for one second to have my bass "auto-tune" itself? Dumb. Just dumb.
 
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#191
SanDiegoHarry said:
??
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Not only did Tobias and Steinberger sell their business, they also sold their NAME, that is a "sell-out" if I've ever heard one. And it's not like Mr T or Mr S has retired from the game(thankfully).
I can see your point though; I was P- off when Fender shut down Hamer, which is considered the first "boutique"
manufacturer. Why did Fender do this; imo it is because Hamer was producing way better quality products than the big F.
I have never worked for Gibson or Henrey, but he did not become the CEO of the greatest string musical instrument manufacturer in the world by having a lazy work ethic. Some people are go getters, others not so much.
 
#192
CrUiSeR said:
.

Maybe Michael is the Jerk or maybe Ned is the Jerk or maybe people who live in CA
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Here's one of life's little secrets: we are all capable of being, and often are, "the Jerk". The folks who claim to be the "nicest" can often be the worst offenders. YMMV.
 
#194
My gripes with Gibson lie in the 2015 price-hike.

Here in europe we always get hit with a higher price than you guys over in the States do, but the SG went from £650 to £1100 in one year. Gibson almost doubled the price on the caveat of using "higher grade materials", an upgraded bridge, and thicker wiring...sorry to say, but it's not enough to justify the giant and sudden hike. Seems like they're rinsing the gibson name even more than usual to make up for previous ill-guided business decisions. That's business, but not my business!

Would you pay $1733 for an SG bass, when there are so many other options available?
 
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#195
The new Gibson tuning system represents an investment and calculated gamble of tens of millions of dollars once the cost of R&D, retooling, manufacturing and advertising are calculated
(or so I read earlier this week - still searching for link).

If this tuning system is a total miss with consumers, it ain't gonna be pretty watching Gibson try to turn the ship around.
 
#196
Jah Wobble Fan said:
Any experience with the new Gibson tuning system? Apparently Gibson have invested a huge amount in this technology, which appeared a little shoddy to my eyes
when I inspected them at Guitar Center.

Do these tuning systems work? Any gigging guitarists using them?
Click to expand...
I own a 2015 les paul and the tuning system is actually pretty cool. I checked it against my pitch black and it is spot on. It has 10 factory programmed tunes including 1/2 step drop d standard tune ect. It has 10 more places to program it for custom tuning. I have had no issues with it at all. The battery lasts for ever.
 
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#198
SanDiegoHarry said:
No - no experience. But let me tell you - for a company to spend THAT Much energy on something so... silly - that is telling. Why would I care for one second to have my bass "auto-tune" itself? Dumb. Just dumb.
Click to expand...

It just occured to me, any of us older ones remember Arp? They sunk all this money into trying to work out a guitar controller for their synth line and got so obsessed with that it bankrupted them. This was way, way before MIDI was even though of. Wonder if that could happen here.
 
#199
My biggest concern with an auto guitar tuning system is ironically that it would make alternative tunings too easy and it tends to degrade the strings, so ...ping... If retuning is annoying enough then you tend to stick with one tuning or swap to another guitar. I say this as someone who changes between standard and DADGAD.

For bass... apart from some drop D I don't think there is nearly as much demand for alternative tunings. You could add CGDA in too, which I have used, but really you need to change string sizes at the same time, and that would be impressive!
 
#200
I looked at some Gibsons and Epiphone guitars today, just to see what was out there. There's a reasonable Epiphone set-neck SG for a reasonable price. The cheapy Epiphone Les Paul Specials look nice, but those are bolt on, and the first set neck Epiphone LPs don't look as bare bones cute. If they did an Epiphone like the old Gordon Smith guitars (not sure if Gordon Smith is still going) then that would be a welcome change. The GS guitars had the option of a tone pot that on maximum disconnected itself from the circuit (as other guitars do) as well as various other switching options, depending on what you asked for, and it could add quite a lot of edge to a bridge pickup. It's not a Tele but it started getting up there in twang territory. Maybe some LPs have that, I don't know. I have a Tele for that, but if the Tele needed to be replaced then an Epiphone or Gibson with that would be tempting.
 

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