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Gibson Bass Guitar

#101
My RD Artist was my first bass, bought for $400 back in the mid-1980s. :D It's still the most versatile bass I've ever played. Neck like a baseball bat and very heavy, but it's got crazy tone. I like it enough that I went out and got a matching guitar. :)
 

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#105
KellyM said:
The coolest looking Gibson basses tend to be neck-heavy, and none of them sound good. To me it is like the company only builds basses because it is expected of them. And they have been this way since the seventies.
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I recommend listening to the first three Cheap Trick albums (and most since where a 4 string is used) and rethinking the bolded part.

As for being neck heavy, I haven't found that to be the case once a decent strap is in place and the straplocks are moved if needed. I've owned around 30 Gibson and Epi basses over the years and played at least that many more. The idea that they're overly neck heavy just doesn't comport with real world experience on most of them. Some aren't super well balanced but I can deal with that in exchange for having such beautiful looking and sounding basses.

I'll certainly accede to the notion that most of them are not 'modern' sounding basses, but that sound (to me) is generic and lifeless anyway, so nothing lost there. More power to those who like that sound, but the Gibson hate on this board tends to be foolish and mostly ill-informed. JMHO, of course, but so is all that stuff about how Gibson can't build a decent bass. ;)
 
#106
The neck heavy issue, IMO is simply the front strap lock location, at least I can say that for my EB3L models. Even so, my split headstock does not neck dive. The solid hedstock is a work of art, neck dives a little, but a suade-lined strap lock pretty much takes care of the issue. What I don't like about it, is that the bass will tilt forward if I let go of it. Again, the front strap lock location is to blame.
 
#115
Victory Standard without a doubt. Very versatile range of sounds from a single humbucking pickup in the sweet spot, huge sustain and bottom end for rock and heavy stuff. Switch to parallel for funky slapping. Plenty of space between the 24 fret neck and pickup to allow my fat fingers to pick'n'pop. Learn to use the tone control! I've just put on a Hipshot drop D tunner...magic!

I also own a Zebrawood Thunderbird (good for classic rock but limited access to upper frets and not quite right for other syles) and a Q-80. (My theory is that Gibson's custom shop where using up all the old Victory bodies making the Q-80s. This is a totally different bass, more like a T-bird with access to the upper frets.)

ps. Does anyone know where I can get a Victory truss cover?
 

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