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Gibson G3 with FLATS??? Secret Weapon or Oxymoron?

Jordandrinkwine

Jordandrinkwine

Mar 10, 2016
104
100
28
Massachusetts
#1
Hey Justin! Really big fan of your’s, particularly on the two most recent Paramore albums. I saw on your Instagram that you plan on answering more questions here, and one I’ve wanted to ask you for a while now is your opinion on flats on a G3? Do you feel the pickups are too low output to get the same growl they are known for with rounds??? I have a ‘76 professionally modded with a Rosewood mim p-bass neck, and have Chromes on it right now but can’t seem to get the same zingy tones I was getting before! I’m also curious to hear your opinion on Rosewood boards vs Maple for G3’s since I know Jeremy Davis used a Rosewood-equipped G3 for most of the S/T record.

Hope you stay healthy and keep thumping during these hard times
 
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#2
Well thanks and thanks for coming by. I had a G3, put flats on it, and really thought it was antithetical to the tonal profile of the bass. It's not like flats on a Rick or a Stingray, for some reason those are different flavors of "zingy", but they still work great with flats. But the G3 was decidedly not happening, as is your experience. I mean, you're never going to get "zingy" with flats anyway, but my point is more that I thought the marriage of flats with those pickups just wasn't happy. I ended up selling that bass regardless. I don't have an opinion re: rosewood vs. maple, except to say that Jeremy's weren't rosewood, they were ebony. Not sure if Gibson ever did a G3 with rosewood. Jeremy also used some of my basses for the record as well, including my Ripper, P bass, and maybe a Hofner, if memory serves.
 
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#3
;)
jmjbassplayer said:
Well thanks and thanks for coming by. I had a G3, put flats on it, and really thought it was antithetical to the tonal profile of the bass. It's not like flats on a Rick or a Stingray, for some reason those are different flavors of "zingy", but they still work great with flats. But the G3 was decidedly not happening, as is your experience. I mean, you're never going to get "zingy" with flats anyway, but my point is more that I thought the marriage of flats with those pickups just wasn't happy. I ended up selling that bass regardless. I don't have an opinion re: rosewood vs. maple, except to say that Jeremy's weren't rosewood, they were ebony. Not sure if Gibson ever did a G3 with rosewood. Jeremy also used some of my basses for the record as well, including my Ripper, P bass, and maybe a Hofner, if memory serves.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the quick and concise response! You articulated exactly what I was feeling. I figured with how good flats sound on a Stingray that this would get you into similar sonic territory- clearly this was not the case! The preamp surely adds some extra zing when dealing with flats on the Ray, as well as the pickup location/polarity on a RIC. The G3 is just the perfect storm for “bleh” flats tones. With rounds however? It’s been one of my favorite basses since hearing it on Green Day’s Insomniac (very curious to hear how you feel about Dirnt’s tone there)

Unrelated, but have you ever had any experience with Mustang pups on a full scale bass like the Fender Bullets from the 80’s? Those have distinct nasally Precision qualities in the upper register that I think you would really appreciate (that, and their MIJ Squier counterparts tend to be fairly cheap ;)) Thanks again for the response!
 

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