Hey guys, here's a review of the aforementioned bass. It's also in another thread, but I figured I'd also post it here to allow people to put their own experiences with it.
I actually own the T-Bird 5......for tonight, the thing goes back tomorrow. And here are the reasons why. For the truly curious, here is what I ran it through: Eden WT-800, Eden 210XLT, SWR Big Ben, Monster Bass Cable, I play fingers only. No lack of bottom ability from the rig
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1. Finish, finish, finish: You keep hearing it, and it's still true, especially here in Canada. You think you've got finish issues in the States? Try coming to Canada, I work at L&M in Calgary and see every Gibson that comes in, so sad. They say Canada gets the seconds, and it's true.
2. Technical Issues: Does anyone at Gibson really check out these instruments before they go out the door? My inspection card has a straight line through all the check boxes, no individual checks. This would indicate to me that one guy just looked at it, briefly, and ran his pen through it.
I removed the pickups to try and fix a slant issue (bridge PU was leaning backwards), and lo and behold, the area where the adjustment screws go into the body was cracked in half, on both sides, on both pickups. Pre-drilling? Who knows if they even did it.
The truss rod. What a nightmare. First of all, hard to adjust as it was so close to the headstock wood. Secondly, the truss rod when well adjusted rattles like a loose tuning head. So annoying, and not easily fixed. Again, no attention to the most basic elements of setup.
3. Sound: I have to admit, G through E were nice and warm, if a bit muddy, which was also not helped by the inability to set the neck without truss rod rattle. The ceramic humbuckers are pretty nice, at least for those strings. The B, on the other hand, had the weakest sound I've heard in a while. The balance was completly out, and no matter what I tried I couldn't make it sound good.
Here's an example: While playing a simple open B power chord (B,F#,B) I could hardly hear the low B, the E had great tone, as did the B. But what's the point of a 5 string? Low B of course.
So, a bad example, or a bad bass in general? I don't really know, although with pickups being a problem it could easily be the whole line that has issues.
I'm gonna try that Ibanez BTB Prestige 1205 I passed up to get this bass. Hopefully that one will grab me and not let go.
I actually own the T-Bird 5......for tonight, the thing goes back tomorrow. And here are the reasons why. For the truly curious, here is what I ran it through: Eden WT-800, Eden 210XLT, SWR Big Ben, Monster Bass Cable, I play fingers only. No lack of bottom ability from the rig
.1. Finish, finish, finish: You keep hearing it, and it's still true, especially here in Canada. You think you've got finish issues in the States? Try coming to Canada, I work at L&M in Calgary and see every Gibson that comes in, so sad. They say Canada gets the seconds, and it's true.
2. Technical Issues: Does anyone at Gibson really check out these instruments before they go out the door? My inspection card has a straight line through all the check boxes, no individual checks. This would indicate to me that one guy just looked at it, briefly, and ran his pen through it.
I removed the pickups to try and fix a slant issue (bridge PU was leaning backwards), and lo and behold, the area where the adjustment screws go into the body was cracked in half, on both sides, on both pickups. Pre-drilling? Who knows if they even did it.
The truss rod. What a nightmare. First of all, hard to adjust as it was so close to the headstock wood. Secondly, the truss rod when well adjusted rattles like a loose tuning head. So annoying, and not easily fixed. Again, no attention to the most basic elements of setup.
3. Sound: I have to admit, G through E were nice and warm, if a bit muddy, which was also not helped by the inability to set the neck without truss rod rattle. The ceramic humbuckers are pretty nice, at least for those strings. The B, on the other hand, had the weakest sound I've heard in a while. The balance was completly out, and no matter what I tried I couldn't make it sound good.
Here's an example: While playing a simple open B power chord (B,F#,B) I could hardly hear the low B, the E had great tone, as did the B. But what's the point of a 5 string? Low B of course.
So, a bad example, or a bad bass in general? I don't really know, although with pickups being a problem it could easily be the whole line that has issues.
I'm gonna try that Ibanez BTB Prestige 1205 I passed up to get this bass. Hopefully that one will grab me and not let go.
