I was waiting for this one to hit my local store: the Gibson G3 Tribute.
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I haven't had much time to play around with it, but these are my first impressions:
The neck is a bit thicker than what I'm used to (Jazz and Thunderbird), so it will take some time to get my left hand adjusted. The sides of the fretboard are just a little bit rough, and the sides of the frets need a bit of work to get rid of the sharpness. Action was on the higher side. My new Thunderbird IV did not have any of these minor problems, so I'm guessing the €400 price difference is not just in the finish. A bit dissappointing. Still, these are only minor gripes that will get solved with a visit to the tech.
Then, the sound. No dissappointment here, this bass does exactly what I wanted. Compared to the Thunderbird: more treble 'zing' and not as mid-centric as the T-bird. Soundwise this is the most Fender-ish Gibson I've had my hands on. With the switch in the 'up' position (neck and middle pickups) the deep 'oomph' is there, but clarity doesn't dissappear. In the 'down' position (middle and bridge pickup) the clear and percussive attack of a bridge humbucker comes through. The middle position (all 3 pickups) holds middle ground between the two (duh). This position appealed to me the least, so I didn't spend much time on it.
Compared to my Thunderbird and active Jazz, it's leaning more toward the Jazz, but with a more 'rock-n-roll' attitude. I'm looking forward to trying it in the band this week, which will be the real test.
Link Removed
I haven't had much time to play around with it, but these are my first impressions:
The neck is a bit thicker than what I'm used to (Jazz and Thunderbird), so it will take some time to get my left hand adjusted. The sides of the fretboard are just a little bit rough, and the sides of the frets need a bit of work to get rid of the sharpness. Action was on the higher side. My new Thunderbird IV did not have any of these minor problems, so I'm guessing the €400 price difference is not just in the finish. A bit dissappointing. Still, these are only minor gripes that will get solved with a visit to the tech.
Then, the sound. No dissappointment here, this bass does exactly what I wanted. Compared to the Thunderbird: more treble 'zing' and not as mid-centric as the T-bird. Soundwise this is the most Fender-ish Gibson I've had my hands on. With the switch in the 'up' position (neck and middle pickups) the deep 'oomph' is there, but clarity doesn't dissappear. In the 'down' position (middle and bridge pickup) the clear and percussive attack of a bridge humbucker comes through. The middle position (all 3 pickups) holds middle ground between the two (duh). This position appealed to me the least, so I didn't spend much time on it.
Compared to my Thunderbird and active Jazz, it's leaning more toward the Jazz, but with a more 'rock-n-roll' attitude. I'm looking forward to trying it in the band this week, which will be the real test.
