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Gibson basses

#43
Blenin said:
Everything old is new again, so you never know. I have had my share of Gibson's. A Thunderbird, LPB, G3, Explorer, EB-3, Ripper etc. For various reasons I ended up selling all but my Ripper. I love that thing. Has Velvet Hammer P bass pickups on the neck and the original on the bridge.

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Likewise great photo!

Pauly 4001 said:
I was drawing pictures of Rippers in my jr high notebooks back when "Welcome Back My Friends" was released. To be fair I was also drawing elaborate drum sets with fake Chinese superstructures and giant gongs and poor representations of huge Moog modular synths.
I acquired the Ripper proclivity early on and never lost it.
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This great thread is bringing' it all back to me :roflmao::thumbsup:
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#45
J Wilson said:
IF I were in the new regime at Gibson:

Re-Issue the Ripper. To my mind, the closest they ever came to a mainstream bass that would compete honestly with the rest of the market. Traditional EB's are married to that tone, and T-Birds often struggle with neck dive. Contact Seymour, use his Ripper pickups, use the HipShot replacement Gibson bridge and update the rotary switch functions. The re-issue they attempted some years back was still-born alongside the originals.

A subtle fine-tuning of the Thunderbird (puh-leeze go to UltraLight keys !) by smart engineers would cure the neck dive. Offer them with Nordstrand passives or let Lindy Fralin take a whack at updated pickups. It's iconic, but just needs a little careful fine-tuning to really make it a useful alternative. Do NOT give up the neckthru construction, and add the Hipshot bridge.

A new version of the Victory Bass: Easier as they weren't as iconic as their other offerings. Take about a 1/2" out of an often heavy body, streamline the slightly-too-big headstock, and work with EMG or Bart for replacement pickups and tone network, and keep that slanted neck pickup, a visual landmark for these. Make this a sophisticated choice, in various woods.

And finally, what with the selling-like-hotcakes Jack Cassady's, a real, ES-based long scale bass, fretted and fretless, within the genuine Gibson line.

Despite my frequent snipes ('Gibson Bass is an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp or government intelligence') with a little careful development and input from accomplished players, the roots are there. They just need to go to finishing school. Gibson basses always seemed to me the way bass guitars in the early days were also-ran, extra income products made by a guitar company. Ease them into a product identity where they finally feel and look like basses built by a bass company, they might laugh all the way to the bank.

Stranger things . . . . . have happened.
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i got a `64 T-Bird that had a wicked neck dive that was easy fixed by sticking some wheel balancing weights in the back space til i had no neck dive
 
#46
2009-Ripper-II-1500.jpg



The 2009 Gibson Ripper II is a probably the most faithful reproduction of all Gibson bass reissues. Basically the same as the original from the seventies, except for the rotary switch that features two extra positions.
The Ripper II was part of the Limited Run Series. Only 350 were made.
 
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#49
ac100X said:
I don't know anything about building guitars but could this work?
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It could work for getting a certain sound I suppose. But I doubt it'd sound anything like a TBird. And it definitely wouldn’t do anything to help reduce complaints surrounding the TBird’s aready neck heavy design. If anything a lighter chambered body would only make it far worse. Because the TBird body shape doesn’t have anything up around the 12th-15th fret to attach a strap to. And that area is where the natural balance point on most long-scale basses is lurking. A half inch on either side of that can make a dramatic difference in balance. Which is why basses that balance exceptionally well tend to have a long horn on the strap side.
 
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#53
Son of Wobble said:
Likewise great photo!



This great thread is bringing' it all back to me :roflmao::thumbsup:
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I'm having flashbacks to all the Marvel comics I used to but as a kid - the back covers always had either an illustrated comic strip advert for tootsie rolls???, Or one with The Harlem Globe Trotters slam-dunking Spalding basket balls (neither product was available in the U.K. which just added to the allure).
 
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#54
MotorCityMinion said:
I always liked the Victory Artist Bass tone as it was, right out of the box. Looked good in Tobacco as well.
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I used to encounter Victory basses from time to time, throughout the 90's, in second hand stores.

At the time, I thought they looked stupid (I think I was hung up on the fact that they didn't seem in any way related to their more iconic basses, but instead seemed like a half-arsed attempt at a Fender, without wanting to in any way acknowledge the existence of Fender), they felt cumbersome, and unwieldy, and I wasn't blown away by the sound.

I'm not a knee-jerk reactionary teenager anymore.

The look has totally grown on me now, and furthermore, I can see how the appointments would really play to the strength of my playing style.

I really haven't thought about these instruments in a really long time (I doubt I've even seen one since the millennium), but I really want to spend some time putting one through it's paces now.

Of course, I've no doubt they've gone from being unloved, and gathering dust, unsold at the back of the shop, to being sought after collectors items, commanding inflated prices - so I doubt I'll ever encounter another, let alone find one at a price I'd be willing to pay.
 
#55
Wood and Wire said:
I'm having flashbacks to all the Marvel comics I used to but as a kid - the back covers always had either an illustrated comic strip advert for tootsie rolls???, Or one with The Harlem Globe Trotters slam-dunking Spalding basket balls (neither product was available in the U.K. which just added to the allure).
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Hard times indeed with Comic advertising here in Aotearoa

Twinkies
Harlem Globetrotters
No Smoking
Sea Monkies (Grow your own)
 
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#59
Wood and Wire said:
Of course, I've no doubt they've gone from being unloved, and gathering dust, unsold at the back of the shop, to being sought after collectors items, commanding inflated prices - so I doubt I'll ever encounter another, let alone find one at a price I'd be willing to pay.
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Standard models still pop up under $1K which I don't think is bad at all. Artist version is twice as much, or a bit more depending on condition and finish. Custom...who knows ? I've seen one for sale over the past 5 years.

So it's not that much of a desperate situation...:)
 
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#60
ajkula66 said:
Standard models still pop up under $1K which I don't think is bad at all. Artist version is twice as much, or a bit more depending on condition and finish. Custom...who knows ? I've seen one for sale over the past 5 years.

So it's not that much of a desperate situation...:)
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Standards are relatively easy to find and reasonably priced for the most part.

An Artist with all original electronics in good working condition is considerably rarer.

I haven't so much as seen a Custom anywhere other than at a Gibson road show event back in the 80s where I got my one and only chance to play one.

Lucky me that the Victory I want is the Custom. :laugh:
 
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