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new gibson and epiphone basses coming out

#23
Fender does not have to come out with anything new. Leo Fender designed two of the most perfect electric bass guitars in history... still to this day. If copying is the highest form of flattery than there is a long line of names behind Leo which include Fodera, Sadowsky, Lull, etc, etc, etc.

Then Leo started Musicman and introduced the Stringray, then Leo started G & L etc.

Gibson has never found a design that resonated with the vast majority of working pros. They have a history of building basses that never caught on in the main stream, never created anything really usable for most of us low end guys. (I know, someone will post a picture of Entwistle with EBO which he used for 12 seconds or a picture of Nikki Six with a firebird, which by the way, was actually a Spector.)

I wish they would get it together and get some energy and life into that company. The problem is that you need a forward thinker willing to try new stuff. Big companies don't encourage that type of behavior for the most part. That being the case, you get more of the same regardless of how bad.

We would all benefit if Gibson reinvented itself with some killer designs. Maybe they will.... who knows?
 
#25
Baird6869 said:
Whoever manages Gibson's bass R&D must have pictures of the CEO in compromising positions with farm animals. Unreal how poorly they have managed that entire portfolio over the last decade (and more).

I think I could do a better job. Seriously, what is "new" in the last 10 years?

SG Reissue? Wow! How groundbreaking! Copy something exact to how it was released 40+ years ago. Sorry, there is "new" writing on the trussrod cover!

LP Money Bass? How cutting edge! Cut out an upper horn on a standard LP bass.

A TBird with fancy woods? Crazy!:spit::D

Seriously, I love older Gibson basses but they really do need to come up with some completely new ideas.

I really hope they do come up with some cool new stuff. Better not be a "robot" SG Reissue,, Money bass, or TBird.....:p:D
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They're alot like Harley-D and Fender in the respect that they don't mess with the money crops. But yeah, This was the company that gave us the Thunderbird and Explorers right? Well the 50's are over, Please get out some pens and paper! Show us what you can do.
 
#28
So since 1970, and this is probably an incomplete list –

EB 3L
SB 450
Les Paul Recording - Triumph
Ripper
Grabber
G-3
1976-79 issue Thunderbird
RD Standard
Rd Artist
Rd Artist Maple top
Explorer 2 pickup
Explorer Piezeo
Flying V
Post ’88 Thunderbird re-issue
Q-80
Victory Standard
Victory Artist
Leland Sklar Sig
SG-Z
SG-RI

Has Fender done this much? If you choose to actually look at these as individual instruments you'd see many different and interesting combinations of woods/ construction and pickup types, which give different tones. Msot folks don't realize it but Gibson has in fact tried many different things as a bass manufacturer - Commercially sucessful? maybe not but if you wanted something different (i.e. non-Fender) you could always look to them.
 
#31
RED5 said:
They're alot like Harley-D and Fender in the respect that they don't mess with the money crops. But yeah, This was the company that gave us the Thunderbird and Explorers right? Well the 50's are over, Please get out some pens and paper! Show us what you can do.
Click to expand...

The reason why they don't do such a thing is that nobody would buy it. Gibson is a brand with a type of instrument attached to its name. As is Fender.

The Victory and the Grabber and G3 basses were meant to lure Fender players away from fenders by offering Basses with similar construction (bolt on maple necks and alder bodies) and similar electronics. But they forgot the key thing here: If your avarage joe walks into a musicstore looking to buy a bass with Fender-type construction, feel and sound, he'll BUY a Fender.

It's also the other way round, if Fender comes up with a Bass similar to anything Gibson makes it will NOT sell because if a player wants to buy a Gibson, he'll buy a Gibson, not a fender that offers the same thing.

Both Fender and Gibson made themselves Guilty of offerring the "right instrument but from the wrong brand" mistake.

Take for example this...
fen68coronado-bass.jpg

Fender hired ex-Rickenbacker guy Roger Rossmeisl to develop a semi acoustic range to take their share of the popularity of Gibson's ES and EB series guitars and Basses, the result was the Coronado series which were a SPECTACULAR flop. Keep in mind: Rossmeisl is the guy who gave us the awesome Rickenbacker 4001 series bass, so you 'd expect that this guy knows what he's doing. Fact is that it was evident that Fender was offerring a very UN-Fender range of guitars in order to get some of the Gibson Customers to make the change. They offered us a Gibson that didn't say "Gibson" on the headstock and so people never took to it.

That's why it's a wise decision from both Fender and Gibson Marketing to stick with the classics, knowing that offerring something that hints to something that other builds will keep people away.
 
#33
Blazer said:
Their five string P-bass comes to mind.
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The 5-string P-bass is certainly new for Fender, but hardly revolutionary.

As someone earlier said, Fender has hit on a formula that works for them and they don't have to revolutionize the industry any more.

By the way, I'm not bashing Fender. They seem to be doing fine with their Jazz and P-basses. More power to them.
 
#34
TBird1958 said:
So since 1970, and this is probably an incomplete list –

EB 3L
SB 450
Les Paul Recording - Triumph
Ripper
Grabber
G-3
1976-79 issue Thunderbird
RD Standard
Rd Artist
Rd Artist Maple top
Explorer 2 pickup
Explorer Piezeo
Flying V
Post ’88 Thunderbird re-issue
Q-80
Victory Standard
Victory Artist
Leland Sklar Sig
SG-Z
SG-RI

Has Fender done this much? If you choose to actually look at these as individual instruments you'd see many different and interesting combinations of woods/ construction and pickup types, which give different tones. Msot folks don't realize it but Gibson has in fact tried many different things as a bass manufacturer - Commercially sucessful? maybe not but if you wanted something different (i.e. non-Fender) you could always look to them.
Click to expand...


Sure Fender has, only go back to the beginning of the Fender line.

1951 Fender Precision (1st commercially sucessful solid body bass)
1957 Completely redesigned Precision (split pickup)
1960 Jazz Bass makes it's debut
1961 Bass VI comes out
1965 Bass V
Mustang Bass
Musicmaster bass
1968 Telecaster Bass
Coronado Bass
1972 Tele bass gets a revamp (new humbucker)
1980 Precision Special (First Fender with active EQ)
1982 Elite I and Elite II P bass (Elite II is the first P with 2 pickups)
Mid 80's and 90's had quite a few models come out;
-Precision Bass Plus (First P-bass with J @ P pickups)
-Jazz bass Plus
-Precision Bass Deluxe
-Urge Bass
-Roscoe Beck Bass
-Deluxe Precision (not the same as the P-Deluxe
-Deluxe Jazz

There are more, but you get the point. Sure, they are variations on a theme, but so are the Gibson's. Take an already used body shape and doll it up differently. Also, none of Gibson's bass models have ever survived as long as the P-bass, nor have they ever enjoyed the success of the P-bass. The reason gibson came up with more body shapes was because of necessity, they were trying to find something that would appeal to the public, unfortunately, most didn't (like the victory and RD series).
 
#39
Muddslide said:
True. I'd really dig on a passive RD. I guess there's the First Act Delgada, which is hot as can be...oh, who'm I kidding? I couldn't afford either.
Click to expand...

They did make a passive RD, it was called the RD Standard. The RD Artist had the moog designed circuit and was the "deluxe" version.

Both would be cool reissues, as would the Ripper, Grabber, G3 line.

I think Gibson is a bit afraid to reissue those though. Probably looking back and saying they weren't that successful then they probably won't be now.

I know the Urge and Rosco came out in the 90's, I just didn't want to put dates because I wasn't sure of exact dates. I should have said 80's and 90's though.
 

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