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Gibson Midtown Club.

#23
Maestro,

You know, I do not like the black, and I think I'm just going to go with the cream colored one. Thanks for the honesty brother!

Mr. Ray, I actually have a pickguard like that, its from my rivoli, but I don't really like the shape, plus it's not "gibson" enough, if that makes sense. It's a classic epiphone shape.

I will post again when I get the pickguard from Pickguardian.
 
#25
Calexia13 said:
I actually have an SGD sidewinder coming in for the neck pickup. I don't know if you guys have opened up your basses but, the poles are just for show, this is actually a blade pickup, and the magnet seems to be on the bottom instead of the top, also some of the high end is robbed because of the plate it's soldered onto. Another option if you want to keep the same pickup, is to have it rewound and make the pole pieces functional, so if you are missing any highend from the neck pickup those are a few options. For right now, I have a model 1 wired in parallel, might go series though. SGD has a looooooooong wait so it might be in there a while.

I also installed an SGD bridge pickup which is a rare earth metal one I think. It sounds really good, it's fatter and higher output than the stock bridge.
Click to expand...

I just bought a Midtown and am thinking about changing out the neck pickup. Are you happy with the SDG Sidewinder? Is it a straight drop-in replacement? Would you recommend it as a non-invasive upgrade? Thanks.
 
#26
Still waiting to get it, but maybe you should listen to it first and see if you like it. I changed it because to me it sounds woofy and coming from a fender p-bass background I am used to and like that type of sound. Will report back when I get the pickup. I have an sgd in the bridge right now that I really like a lot, which can be wired series/parallel. Parallel sounds very close to the gibson which came with it, not a bad sound at all, sounds pretty good actually, I just happened to have that pick up and dropped it in.
 
#27
Thanks, Calexia. I received the Midtown yesterday, and through my practice amp it sounds pretty good. Have to wait till I get to my rehearsal space to give it a full run-through. My main basses are P-basses and Guilds with Hammon Dark Stars, and I've heard that the SDGs have more that kind of tone, hence my interest.

Mainly, I wonder if the SDG T-bird plus pickup profile is a drop in replacement, since the Midtowns have the faux-mudbucker chrome covers. I'm loving this bass BTW. Very comfortable to play and really nice looking.
 
#28
Well folks, my Cherry Red Left Handed Midtown bass arrived this week after being on order for 6 months, and I have to say, what a disappointment. I was so excited about this bass but once it arrived and I opened the case, I got a sinking feeling. Here are the little issues that caused me to return the bass within a day:

1. The finish where the neck meets the body on the top was messy and sloppy looking. It clearly had not been cleaned up.

2. The entire nitro finish on the body had not been buffed very well. I could see big swirl marks on the top of the bass that really stood out.

3. This is a lefty bass but has right handed pots (irritating)

4. There was a clearly drilled strap pin hole on the bottom horn that had been filled and then finished over (are you kidding me?)

5. The bottom of the neck on the side of the finger board was completely unfinished! It looked like the guy spraying it just didn't bother to spray about a 3 inch long section leaving it completely bare.

6. And finally, the bass was not grounded properly. I had a crazy hum when the volume was turned down a bit and was actually getting a shock when touching my amp. ( I trouble shooted with different cables, basses and amps and it was clearly the Midtown with the problem)

I went from total excitement to being down right pissed off. This is not a low end bass. Its a US built Gibson but it had more problems then any Squire or low end Ibanez I have ever seen. Its not like I had an option to exchange it for another one as there are no other lefties available.

In addition, the bass was horribly setup. The neck had no relief, the action was high and every string was buzzing. I added some relief, took the bridge down significantly and was able to dramatically improve the playability. Still, that's pretty weak.

On the plus side, I really liked the tone, the fretwork was very nicely done although the fingerboard was dried right out with what looked like nitro finish dripped all over the last couple frets.

So I was pretty much forced to return it. The guys at the store were disgusted and said this one is going straight back to Gibson and would not be resold.

So this pretty much ends my Midtown dreams. If there was an option to order in another one, I would have but Gibson refuses to provide ETA's and I already waited six months for this sorry one.
 
#29
Sorry to hear that Crabby. Having purchased a brand new Gibson in much the same condition (2001 Tbird) I had a lot of apprehension about buying a new Gibby sight unseen. My Midtown is great, but I'm not shocked that yours had problems. Nothing worse than a disappointing NBD. Good luck on whatever your next purchase may be.
 
#30
Crabby,

Sad to hear about your bass experience man, even worse because as you said you can not exchange it until you find a good one.

Daveman,

I believe the SGD pickup is a drop in replacement, he gave me the option of rewinding the pickup so that the pole pieces actually work and not just decoration, or to wind a whole new pickup, he said it's the same size as the fake mudbucker. What do you think about this bass, pickguard or no pickguard?
 
#31
I really was hoping to add a Gibson bass to the arsenal, but I returned the Midtown and discovered that the retailer has a lefty Stingray5 in a fantastic color combo sitting in the warehouse. It should arrive this week. Ernie Ball basses are a "known good" in my experience so going to give that one a try. They had no lefty Gibsons of any kind in their system.
 
#32
Crabby said:
Well folks, my Cherry Red Left Handed Midtown bass arrived this week after being on order for 6 months, and I have to say, what a disappointment. I was so excited about this bass but once it arrived and I opened the case, I got a sinking feeling. Here are the little issues that caused me to return the bass within a day:

1. The finish where the neck meets the body on the top was messy and sloppy looking. It clearly had not been cleaned up.

2. The entire nitro finish on the body had not been buffed very well. I could see big swirl marks on the top of the bass that really stood out.

3. This is a lefty bass but has right handed pots (irritating)

4. There was a clearly drilled strap pin hole on the bottom horn that had been filled and then finished over (are you kidding me?)

5. The bottom of the neck on the side of the finger board was completely unfinished! It looked like the guy spraying it just didn't bother to spray about a 3 inch long section leaving it completely bare.

6. And finally, the bass was not grounded properly. I had a crazy hum when the volume was turned down a bit and was actually getting a shock when touching my amp. ( I trouble shooted with different cables, basses and amps and it was clearly the Midtown with the problem)

I went from total excitement to being down right pissed off. This is not a low end bass. Its a US built Gibson but it had more problems then any Squire or low end Ibanez I have ever seen. Its not like I had an option to exchange it for another one as there are no other lefties available.

In addition, the bass was horribly setup. The neck had no relief, the action was high and every string was buzzing. I added some relief, took the bridge down significantly and was able to dramatically improve the playability. Still, that's pretty weak.

On the plus side, I really liked the tone, the fretwork was very nicely done although the fingerboard was dried right out with what looked like nitro finish dripped all over the last couple frets.

So I was pretty much forced to return it. The guys at the store were disgusted and said this one is going straight back to Gibson and would not be resold.

So this pretty much ends my Midtown dreams. If there was an option to order in another one, I would have but Gibson refuses to provide ETA's and I already waited six months for this sorry one.
Click to expand...

Sorry you got a bad one...Because they are VERY, VERY...Sweet.

You are just dealing with typical Gibson...Sometimes very poor QC.

It really is a gamble with Gibson...Luckily all Gibson's I own are good. But, it may have taken a time or two to get them this way.

Should not be!

Gibson I hope you are reading this:bassist:
 
#34
Waiting on My Pelham Blue! It may be hard to replace my Eppi JC .We will see.Im mostly an Upright player so I hope the finger boards aren't to small?Thats the problem i have with my 67 Guild Starfire Spacing between strings is to Small.Anyways will post my thoughts when my Gibby comes in Tommorrow.
 

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#37
Ok its in and ALL i can say Is Holy Crap Its Tight!Fat Tone The Pelham Blues is awesome looking plays like a BAT OUT OF hell! Nice size fretboard.I think I just replaced my Eppiphone JC as my main electric Bass.If your on the fence about getting this bass dont be !Buy It you wont regret it!It sits well on the lap and has some weight to it but man o man.
 

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#39
Received mine a couple of days ago. Did my first gig yesterday night with it. I play thrue an ampeg b15r. Let me tell you, this bass has a huge low end. HUGE !!!! This bass is alive! Full of sustain. It arrived perfectly setup. The finish is perfect as well. Well done Gibson! The only thing: the neck pickup was rattling inside his cover from the strings vibration. Had to put some more foam under the pickup. Problem solved. That's a keeper! And for the price i paid, cost + 5%, its one hell of a deal.
 

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