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Gibson Victory Artist - cool looking bass IMO!!
...Anyone else have pics of the Victory?
Gibson Victory Artist - cool looking bass IMO!!
...Anyone else have pics of the Victory?
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Gibson Basses?
- Thread starter jennings
- Start date
In the end, I couldn't resist the recent wave of dealers blowing out the remaining Les Paul Money Basses, and I grabbed a blue one off the 'Bay. Reviews here seemed pretty positive, but it actually surpassed my expectations. I was leery of tales of uneven quality in new Gibsons, but this one anyway was great. I'm very very pleased with it.
I'm glad to hear that your new bass turned out great. I bought two Gibson guitars over the past five years and both were excellent. Playability, fit and finish, and sound were fine.
I take the whole "X" company has questionable quality issues with a grain of salt. We used to get a lot of Gibson bashers complaining about Gibson quality control and price on the Gibson Forum, but in the end, the vast majority of them never even owned a Gibson.
Thats a 1970 Guild JS bass, not a Gibson. The 70 JS-II bass had dual Hagstrom pups and the Hagstrom bridge. The bass in the picture has had the original Haggy pups swapped for the "better" Dark Star pickups.
I personally hate Dark Star, but thats just me.
You are right, GE, about that bass being a Guild JS-II but the original pickups were not Hagstrom. They were Guild ho-humbuckers.
After mod with Dark Stars:
As to hating Dark Stars, I'm assuming that you are referring to the way they look although not everybody finds their sound with them either...I'll grant you that.
I assure you that everybody (so far as reported) found significant improvement with that particular modification. Nobody has told me anything different...and lived to tell about it.
Here's more food for thought:
Go ahead. Hate away.
To this day I think that they (EB Basses) were the coolest looking basses, in the 60s I always wanted one, if they had been as good as they looked they would have been amongst the classic Basses.
Not counting my DB with pickup and the Ashbory, I own just one electric bass -- a 1967 Gibson EB-3. I bought it NOS in 1972, and have played it for 35+ years. I had a brief affair with a Cort "Steinberger copy" some 20+ years ago, but gave it to my son after a few years. When I first started researching my bass on the internet, I was surprised to hear the word "mudbucker" in reference to the model. Maybe it's in the way the instrument is played. I've always gotten good defined notes out of the thing, even when using the neck pickup with the high-pass choke (varitone position 1). And the short scale neck? The scale, profile and action on my bass make playing it more agile than anything else I've played. I've tried the Fenders; like the jazz better than the precision, which feels like a bassball bat.
For sound? At one time I was able to get light gauge round-wound Rotosound strings in a short scale, and could get as much "twang" as I needed straight from either pickup. I haven't been able to find them lately, and I've switched to the D'Addario variety, with good results, too. A good punchy amp helps, no doubt. Right now I'm using a Behringer keyboard amp (stop it right now . . .) with an amp modeling/effects board. I've jammed with other bands and been told, "finally -- a bass player with tone!"
If given a chance, I'd like to try a J-style bass -- fretless and short-scale. Other than that, I don't really GAS for anything else.
I'm glad to hear that your new bass turned out great. I bought two Gibson guitars over the past five years and both were excellent. Playability, fit and finish, and sound were fine.
I take the whole "X" company has questionable quality issues with a grain of salt. We used to get a lot of Gibson bashers complaining about Gibson quality control and price on the Gibson Forum, but in the end, the vast majority of them never even owned a Gibson.
The quality issues I've had haven't been serious at all but they're just little things you wouldn't expect to be leaving the factory. Once remedied, I think they're great. A simple thing like intonation though - a new instrument, leaves the factory with a little "QC" checklist that says intonation is ok. And yet it's way off, why is that? C'mon, that's just wrong...
But, with that said - count me among those who are extremely satisifed with the blow-out Money bass. $600 for a "new" set neck, nice sounding, nice playing US-made instrument w/ top quality hardware and case. Go ahead and slam 'em all you like, I think it was the bargain of the year.
I'm surprised no one has remembered Rick Danko from The Band and his Gibson Ripper Fretless. Now there is a bass I wouldn't mind trying...
How about this old baby?
Had this one a long time. Put a Badass I on it 20+ years ago.
While Ricks remain my favorite (love the action, among other things), I still like digging out this G-3 from time to time. In some ways, the tone is better than my Fender GL Jazz.
Variety is the spice of life.
Now, if only it hadn't been made famous by Gene Simmons...
Had this one a long time. Put a Badass I on it 20+ years ago.
While Ricks remain my favorite (love the action, among other things), I still like digging out this G-3 from time to time. In some ways, the tone is better than my Fender GL Jazz.
Variety is the spice of life.
Now, if only it hadn't been made famous by Gene Simmons...
Guild had originally outsourced their pickups to Hagstrom on the earliest models, rebranding them with Guild markings. I have heard this several times from several reputable experts in American fretted. They might be wrong though, they have a lot of stuff come into their shop.
As to hating Dark Stars, I'm assuming that you are referring to the way they look although not everybody finds their sound with them either...I'll grant you that.
I assure you that everybody (so far as reported) found significant improvement with that particular modification. Nobody has told me anything different...and lived to tell about it.
Never could find my sound with Dark Stars. They always sounded too thin without enough thump for me. I installed a DS into my Franken P and ended up putting the original pickups back in.
You guys, I know everybody is allowed to have an opinion, but this is ridiculous. Yeah, Gibson's are expensive, but comparing different basses is like comparing Apples and Drum sets(They are good for different things). And, anyway, with today's modeling technology (and strings) you can make any bass sound like anything. All the amps and effects have a use.if you don't want to spend all that money, you can buy a bass that is either versatile or to your liking.It is an opinion. It is also a hobo.
I'm glad to hear that your new bass turned out great. I bought two Gibson guitars over the past five years and both were excellent. Playability, fit and finish, and sound were fine.
I take the whole "X" company has questionable quality issues with a grain of salt. We used to get a lot of Gibson bashers complaining about Gibson quality control and price on the Gibson Forum, but in the end, the vast majority of them never even owned a Gibson.
I've seen a number of Gibsons in stores that had issues, but my Money bass was thankfully not one of them. When Gibsons are good, they're still really good. I've played and owned lots of $600 instruments, and this thing is not a $600 bass; it's a lot better than that. Somebody paid a lot of attention putting this bass together.
How about this old baby?
Had this one a long time. Put a Badass I on it 20+ years ago.
While Ricks remain my favorite (love the action, among other things), I still like digging out this G-3 from time to time. In some ways, the tone is better than my Fender GL Jazz.
Variety is the spice of life.
Now, if only it hadn't been made famous by Gene Simmons...
Gene Simmons!!?!??
Yeah, I feel your pain on that one!!! rotfl!!! @ least you gotta Mutron, made famous by Bootsy, Baby Baba!!! I do wish I had never let this one go... I think that regret has fueled my G.A.S.
I'll never let this one go
That CMT (curly Maple Top) RD are really rare. Hang on to it as not only is it a great bass, it will be a nice investment down the road.
My first bass was a Grabber, because of Kiss.
My first bass was a Grabber, because of Kiss.
You are right, GE, about that bass being a Guild JS-II but the original pickups were not Hagstrom. They were Guild ho-humbuckers.
After mod with Dark Stars:
As to hating Dark Stars, I'm assuming that you are referring to the way they look although not everybody finds their sound with them either...I'll grant you that.
I assure you that everybody (so far as reported) found significant improvement with that particular modification. Nobody has told me anything different...and lived to tell about it.
Here's more food for thought:
Go ahead. Hate away.
you're killin' me, Fred. who could hate that DS'd sg???
I finally took a Gibson bass "family portrait" the other night:
Do you own a music store? Or, are all those cases yours?
Either way, COOL pics!
