I've got a spare one I never use and would sell it. Blue and perfect shape. My #1 is cherry, play it all the time. Anyway PM if interested.
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Gibson Les Paul Junior Tribute DC Bass comeback
- Thread starter basslayer
- Start date
I owned a Revo Callan bass for a while and have played the Gibson DC. Their similarity lies mostly in the body shape and scale, as the Revo with its big "mudbucker" located at the neck delivers a significantly different tone than the DC. Yes, the Revo has a second PU at the bridge but like others with this design, it's largely useless IMO. Much of the time, I preferred the sound of the neck PU soloed to anything with the bridge blended in and when using it, only a small amount was added (I'm much the same with my Hofner Verythin). Turning both PUs on full (or almost) cuts the Revo's output significantly and yields a generic (at best) bass tone.
That said, the Alan Entwistle-designed neck PU does have a massive low-end, especially soloed, with at least some clarity and if you're after a woolly tone, it can do that. I used it on a couple of low-key gigs playing 60s and 70s covers and found it a bit challenging to get a tone from the Revo that worked for everything, though I should note that I do not use a pick (due to physical necessity) and that could certainly help. The Revo Callan had its moments but just wasn't worth keeping around for me.
The build quality on mine was quite good, but one major flaw became apparent when I went to change the factory strings. I used a set of medium scale (required due to the string-through only bridge) Pyramid nickel rounds and discovered that the ferrules in the back of the bass were too small for the ball ends of the Pyramids, or any other string that I've ever used. The ball ends on the factory strings are unusually small, so with any other string that I tried or can think of, the ball ends all rest outside of the ferrules, jutting out from the back of the bass. While this can't be seen when playing or resting on a stand, and did not seem to affect the sound or playability of the strings I tried, it was annoying and for some I'm sure a dealbreaker. I also tried medium scale GHS Super Steels as I thought perhaps the brightest strings possible would bring more clarity, with mixed results at best.
John Hornby Skewes (JHS Music) which distrubutes the Revo series (and many others) is winding down operation in the coming months, so these may be out of production already. I'd recommend buying a used one as the current $749 is too much for what it is IMO. But then, what do I know? When the Gibson DC came out and my local shop got one in, I drove over there immediately intending to buy it. At the then price of $999, I was...disappointed. Then I tried the Epiphone Embassy bass they'd also just gotten in and liked that much more, and for $349. That bass, I should've kept.
Thanks I've seen a Vintage brand guitar in a pawn years ago but didn't check it out.
If a company would create a proper adjustable bridge and possibly tuners that are drop in non invasive would be great...with modern strings, amps and eqs the mudbucker is workable...I hear there were several in my area as we had a Gibson dealer in the 50s.
