NBD - Wait…a Les Paul BASS??!

[Davebass77]

Went to Carbondale, Colorado 3 weeks ago, to visit my former NYC music partner, Dave. He owns Cool Brick Studios where he does audio, video and film scoring sessions. Of course, he broke out his acoustics and I grabbed a FSO and played for a good long while. Great fun!

Then Dave suggested I try this Gibson bass. I have no experience with Gibson basses; was more than a little reluctant to try it. The only thing I have read from TB consensus is that Gibson doesn’t do basses well; they’re strange, uncomfortable and neck heavy. Not in this case! This first professional pic is from an evilBay listing, bass serial is 10 newer than mine.

According to the Gibson website, this is a 1993 Gibson USA Les Paul LPB-2. Researched - Mahogany body with flamed-Maple top. Color is Translucent Amber. Bartolini pickups and preamp; Volume, Bass, Treble, and Blend controls. Mahogany neck with Ebony fretboard, Abalone inlays. 1 ¾” nut, 34” scale. And flats! Oh, and 8.8 lbs. Original hard-shell case. Surprisingly great neck and love the sound.

Then Dave said something that absolutely blew me away; “When you go home to Virginia, take it with you. It’s yours.”

My reaction: “GET THE *#$% OUTTA HERE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? OMG!! THANK YOU!!!!”

Took a while to finally calm down. I’ll tell you, it was more than a little nerve-wracking flying home; having to gate check the bass in Denver, CO and then get it back in Charlotte, NC and then Richmond, VA. We both made it home in one piece.

Wait…a Les Paul BASS?!? That was the reaction I got from the band and others when I played it for the first time at the gig on this past weekend. Next weekend, 3 gigs – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Think I know which bass to bring!

Is there a Gibson Bass or LPB-2 bass club on TB? Love to join!! How?

 

[rebellovw]

That is gorgeous. Congrats

 

[Bruce Pete]

I'm going to refrain from saying many things but, if you get a chance ........ play another version of the Les Paul bass too.

 

[Killing Floor]

Absolutely baller bass! Congrats.

Surprisingly great neck and love the sound.

And these 2 should not be a surprise.

 

[creaturegods]

A Tale of Two Daves.

Congrats on the new bass! Your friend sounds like a good guy. Glad the bass survived the flight.

 

[Michedelic]

Went to Carbondale, Colorado 3 weeks ago, to visit my former NYC music partner, Dave. He owns Cool Brick Studios where he does audio, video and film scoring sessions. Of course, he broke out his acoustics and I grabbed a FSO and played for a good long while. Great fun!

Then Dave suggested I try this Gibson bass. I have no experience with Gibson basses; was more than a little reluctant to try it. The only thing I have read from TB consensus is that Gibson doesn’t do basses well; they’re strange, uncomfortable and neck heavy. Not in this case! This first professional pic is from an evilBay listing, bass serial is 20 later than mine.
View attachment 5095256
According to the Gibson website, this is a 1993 Gibson USA Les Paul LPB-2. Researched - Mahogany body with flamed-Maple top. Color is Translucent Amber. Bartolini pickups and preamp; Volume, Bass, Treble, and Blend controls. Mahogany neck with Ebony fretboard, Abalone inlays. 1 ¾” nut, 34” scale. And flats! Oh, and 8.8 lbs. Original hard-shell case. Surprisingly great neck and love the sound.
View attachment 5095249
Then Dave said something that absolutely blew me away; “When you go home to Virginia, take it with you. It’s yours.”

My reaction: “GET THE *#$% OUTTA HERE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? OMG!! THANK YOU!!!!”
View attachment 5095245
Took a while to finally calm down. I’ll tell you, it was more than a little nerve-wracking flying home; having to gate check the bass in Denver, CO and then get it back in Charlotte, NC and then Richmond, VA. We both made it home in one piece.

Wait…a Les Paul BASS?!? That was the reaction I got from the band and others when I played it for the first time at the gig on this past weekend. Next weekend, 3 gigs – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Think I know which bass to bring!

Is there a Gibson Bass or LPB-2 bass club on TB? Love to join!!

The concept of a “Les Paul Bass” dates back to the early 70’s…

Then there was the “Triumph” variant with expanded electronics…

I'm going to refrain from saying many things but, if you get a chance ........ play another version of the Les Paul bass too.

View attachment 5095269



View attachment 5095270

They can call it anything they want, but it’s really just a trickle-down from the original EB-0 design from 1959…

…complete with backwards facing “banjo” tuners, it was the first bass I ever had, and while it looked cool, it was pretty worthless as a player…baseball bat neck and mudbucker with ineffective tone control, plus I’m not a fan of shortscales. Any connection with Les Paul this new one may have stems from the fact that this original design was derived from the budget(at the time)double cutaway Les Paul Jr. guitar.

 

[Bruce Pete]

Let the haters, hate, lol

Quote: "The concept of a “Les Paul Bass” dates back to the early 70’s… "

Actually, Late 60's ....

Gibson Les Paul Bass (1969-1971) >> FlyGuitars

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Barts are probably giving that bass a lot of great tonal mojo, but if it feels good too, then yeah that speaks a lot to how good the basses are. I've typically shied-away from Gibson basses in the past, but have been interested in trying a 60s neck Thunderbird as of late.

 

[ezstep]

A friend of mine bought one back around 1982-ish.

 

[Scarysharkface]

Went to Carbondale, Colorado 3 weeks ago, to visit my former NYC music partner, Dave. He owns Cool Brick Studios where he does audio, video and film scoring sessions. Of course, he broke out his acoustics and I grabbed a FSO and played for a good long while. Great fun!

Then Dave suggested I try this Gibson bass. I have no experience with Gibson basses; was more than a little reluctant to try it. The only thing I have read from TB consensus is that Gibson doesn’t do basses well; they’re strange, uncomfortable and neck heavy. Not in this case! This first professional pic is from an evilBay listing, bass serial is 10 newer than mine.
View attachment 5095256
According to the Gibson website, this is a 1993 Gibson USA Les Paul LPB-2. Researched - Mahogany body with flamed-Maple top. Color is Translucent Amber. Bartolini pickups and preamp; Volume, Bass, Treble, and Blend controls. Mahogany neck with Ebony fretboard, Abalone inlays. 1 ¾” nut, 34” scale. And flats! Oh, and 8.8 lbs. Original hard-shell case. Surprisingly great neck and love the sound.
View attachment 5095249
Then Dave said something that absolutely blew me away; “When you go home to Virginia, take it with you. It’s yours.”

My reaction: “GET THE *#$% OUTTA HERE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? OMG!! THANK YOU!!!!”
View attachment 5095245
Took a while to finally calm down. I’ll tell you, it was more than a little nerve-wracking flying home; having to gate check the bass in Denver, CO and then get it back in Charlotte, NC and then Richmond, VA. We both made it home in one piece.

Wait…a Les Paul BASS?!? That was the reaction I got from the band and others when I played it for the first time at the gig on this past weekend. Next weekend, 3 gigs – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Think I know which bass to bring!

Is there a Gibson Bass or LPB-2 bass club on TB? Love to join!! How?

A friend has a Les Paul Recording Bass, and it weighs as much as my long-scale Alembic Series, but it also plays and sounds great.

John

 

[Aussie Player]

Gibson has made a lot of great bases over the years but you'll learn that the guys who know most about them are the ones who never owned one and scream neck dive on every post. I feel fortunate to have bought the only Gibson's ever made that never had neck dive so I am very lucky and unqualified to comment further.

Congratulations on your first acquisition. More to follow I bet.......

 

[Altitude]

Nice score. Shout out to Carbondale too; it’s a great town that has really benefited from a capital influx lately. I like it there.

 

[ajkula66]

A very cool bass and a great story! Congrats !

Play it in good health and enjoy!

P.S. I *think* that someone tried to start a Les Paul Bass Club, but it failed to gain traction. There is, however, a Gibson club

GIBSON Club. Part II

 

[ArteK]

One of my favorite basses was a cherry mahogany Les Paul bass with a pair of Thunderbird pickups. Thing screamed. Really hot output.

 

[Scarysharkface]

My Gibson bass story is about a '76 Thunderbird. I bought it for that "Does It Really Happen" and "Release, Release" vibe. I played one gig with it and traded it for a power amp. Such a cool bass in so many ways, but completely unworkable for me in a live setting.

John

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Super rad!! I’ve played an Epi LP bass before. I liked everything except the 34” scale length. To me it feels (and more so Looks) awkward on that tiny body. That particular bass also suffered nasty neck dive. Glad to hear that’s not the case with your!

That bass you have is absolutely gorgeous!

 

[MaxSpinrun]

I always wanted to play one of those but never got the opportunity. Congrats, nice snag!

 

[Ellery]

A Bridge Too Far...or if your prefer comedies...Blazing Saddles

• Ellery
• Mar 16, 2017
• bridge les paul saddle

This nameless Les Paul knock-off was the house bass being used at a local open jam. The E...

I got to play one at an open jam session once. I think you can tell by the custom E saddle that it was not as nice as OP's.

 

[bassbrad]

Gibson does offer a viable alternative for playability and sounds, despite the detractors.

 

[evs]

Gibson make great basses.
A lot of people just have an inbuilt prejudice against them, without having even giving them a proper go.
I admit that I was like that too.
Got a massive shock when I tried the DC Junior....It is an awesome bass, and I bought it on the spot.