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Gibson Les Paul 5 Stringer

D

Dega500

Mar 6, 2007
26
0
#1
Hey guys,

I have a 93 Gibson (LPB-25) Les Paul Premium Plus 5 String Bass that I'm thinking about selling.

I've been playing guitar exclusively for the past several years and this bass just sits. I love this bass and gigged it pretty hard back in the 90's and early 2000's but my bass player son won't have anything to do with a 5 string. He likes his 4 string Fenders too much I guess so I'm thinking of fixing her up and putting it on the market.

It has a Cherry Sunburst, flamed, flat maple top, mahogany neck and body, 20 fret ebony fingerboard with trap position markers and black hardware.

It has Bartolini Soapbars and Active 9 Volt Bart. electronics (either the TCT or TBT, I can't remember right now) and it needs a new treble pot which I am in the process of replacing.

I have also considered upgrading to a more modern complete system. I can get a brand new Bartolini NTBT systems here:

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I just wanted to get some opinions about whether or not it would be worth my while to spend the $110 + bucks on the bass. Would it appeal to some of you more with the newer electronincs or the originals.

I'd also like opinions on the Bartolini NTBT system if any of you have experience with it or something similar. The old sytem sounded so good and gave you so much control over your tone.


It's is in good condition cosmetically but has it's share of mojo in the form of dings, scratches etc. but there are no breaks or issues that might affect playability. It came with a brown/Pink Cali-Girl case.


Thanks,

Dega
 
#2
if it were mine, I'd getting it working and let the next owner decide whether or not to upgrade. fwiw, I bought my son a '94 LP that had the Bart pre and it's a fantastic bass. it sounds much better since we yanked the pre and converted it to passive.
 
#3
Hey Aquateen,

What exactly was involved in coverting your son's Les Paul to a passive system. I think I read that the Barts could be used either way. Did you pretty much do a standard Les Paul wiring setup with coil taps and such? What value pots and caps?

Thanks,

Dega
 
#4
we wired it 2 vol, 2 tone and used 500k pots for everything, cap .047mfd. I found the wiring diagram on the stewmac website, iirc. no coil tap or toggle switch. we didn't want to drill any holes. oh yeah, his has the TB+ pickups which are passive but I'm pretty sure the Bart pickups are also passive. should be relatively simple to convert to passive. if you're not comfortable doing it yourself, a shop shouldn't charge too much. the place I use charges $50-60.

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#6
yup, it can restored to back to factory wiring if desired. they're great instruments that often get overlooked simply because of their body shape. post some pics of yours when you can, please, and good luck with the wiring.
 
#7
Wow, that's got to be a fairly rare bass, no? I didn't even know such a thing existed. Any idea what it's worth?

I agree, don't mod it to sell it... a potential buyer will likely have a different vision of what to change (or maybe not want to change anything at all).
 
#8
I need to take some pics of it for sure but I'm a terrible photographer and only have a crappy camera.

I don't know if it's consided rare or not. And as far as value goes I'm really not sure. I don't see these for sale enough to get a good idea. A black one w/ a gig bag that was supposedly only gigged once and in perfect condition sold for around $1100 a year or two ago on some guitar museum site.

I'm not expecting to get nearly that much for mine. I know mine was gigged a good bit and sports it's share of mojo but it's still a stellar looking bass and is solid as a rock.

Anyway, good advice fellas, Thanks,

Dega
 
#10
These Are Great Basses! I would leave the Barts in, they sound incredible. Ive had many comments on how fantastic the tone is from mine. Let me know when yours goes up for sale!
 

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#11
Update,

I figured out what the two switches on the bass were for. It turns out that the Bartolini pups in her are dual coil/ four conductor pickups and the switches are coil taps. I found a factory Bartolini wiring diagram online that shows exactly how they were wired. I can't be sure if they came form the Gibson factory like that but the steel plate the pots are attached to in the cavity have what appear to be factory holes the switches are mounted in.
 

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