Official Tobias Club

[shade615]

Here is my Standard Fretless. It's one of the Japanese ones with the ash/purpleheart neck. I believe the wings are maple. It's a bad, bad bass, too. Easily the best fretless I've ever played. Apparently, according to the control plate, it was custom built for Rick Wilson. You out there, Rick? Anyways, can I join?

 

[sayman]

I had a pre-Gib purpleheart Tobias, and it was very definitely purple.
Amazingly, beautifully purple.

Wow.

 

[sayman]

Here is my Standard Fretless. It's one of the Japanese ones with the ash/purpleheart neck. I believe the wings are maple. It's a bad, bad bass, too. Easily the best fretless I've ever played. Apparently, according to the control plate, it was custom built for Rick Wilson. You out there, Rick? Anyways, can I join?

Are those "Black Beauty" strings? How do you like them?

 

[shade615]

They're actually LaBella Tapewounds. They're pretty cool. Definitely takes things more toward upright land. Things can also get nice n synthy with some overdrive, too. They take some time to break in, much like metal flats.

 

[wolfmancharlie]

hello all,
I just made a great trade for a Tobias Growler. I know there isn't a lot of love for anything other than fender or their clones here but I have never cared for Fender basses.I love the Tobias.Beautiful woods,well constructed,and the tones are amazing.I'm actualy happy that most people don't care for Tobias by Gibson because it made it much easier to get the trade. The guy wnted 800.00 so I showed him 3 recent sales on E-bay where growlers sold for around 500.00 and I got it cheaper. When I get photobucket working for me I will post pics.Ihave owned a lot of basses thru the years and the Growler is one of the best.Soon I'll be able to ask for a club number.

 

[kesslari]

Sweet. Although Gibson didn't always get it right, they produced a lot of great Tobias basses. Congrats on your score.

 

[Red Planet]

Absolutely nothing wrong with a Gibson Tobias.


As far as poor quality all I've ver seen here was conjecture, no here it is (a bad one).

I reconcile this more with the whole "the original X" was better mentality.

Here is my Arkansas Bass. Absolutely no flaws of any kind.

 

[sayman]

I have a couple Gibson Tobias and although I've never had the opportunity to compare against pre-Gibson, they do play wonderfully and sound great.

 

[sayman]

They're actually LaBella Tapewounds. They're pretty cool. Definitely takes things more toward upright land. Things can also get nice n synthy with some overdrive, too. They take some time to break in, much like metal flats.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll try them soon.

 

[el_crawfordo]

I just scored a third Tobias! Or rather, I put it on lay away, its a pre-gibson basic 4 fretless with maple wings. $1499! I got it from a guitar center of all places. If any of yall are looking for a tobias guitar, there is one listed on guitar centers used section, its sn 10 (of roughly 250), cherry sunburst w/ bart single coils for 1399...pretty cool tobias rarity.

 

[bucephylus]

Absolutely nothing wrong with a Gibson Tobias.


As far as poor quality all I've ver seen here was conjecture, no here it is (a bad one).

I reconcile this more with the whole "the original X" was better mentality.

Here is my Arkansas Bass. Absolutely no flaws of any kind.

Nice bass Red! And SHHHH, everyone should keep thinking they are lousy; keeps the costs down.

 

[bucephylus]

OK, to add to my previous comment:

Indeed, the hand made Mike axes are special and did set a mark that the Gibson instruments generally don't quite get to. Also, there seem to have been at least a few batches that surfaced on the East coast that did have serious QC issues, maybe somewhere in the 7XXX serial range.

But, many of the Gibson produced basses were really quite nice and pretty well executed on the original design; and they can be screaming deals on eBay etc. My 2c experience.

 

[el_crawfordo]

i agree, i have played some gibson made tobias basses that are smoking. the two gibson made tobias guitars i have are great. its kinda like the cbs fender buy out. for years people said anything past mid 65 was not good, then it was 68 for the last year of nitro...now the 70s ones are collectible, especially the early 70 to mid 70s, and you used to be able to buy them a dime a dozen in comparison. Just because leo wasnt there past 65 doesnt mean that they made bad guitars and basses...

even some of the pre cbs fenders sucked...ive played a dud or two...

the tobias instruments are different, they are more heavily constructed and take more wood working ability than a fender, since the guys in nashville were just learning to make those basses not all of them were great, but some of them defiantly are...and some of them may "play in" or get an owner who cares enough to drop the dough on a quality refret...ive heard the arkansas made basses are better...but there still had to be a learning curb...

i could see the gibson tobias instruments becoming collectible but it will take a little while...

 

[whoapower]

I just scored a third Tobias! Or rather, I put it on lay away, its a pre-gibson basic 4 fretless with maple wings. $1499! I got it from a guitar center of all places. If any of yall are looking for a tobias guitar, there is one listed on guitar centers used section, its sn 10 (of roughly 250), cherry sunburst w/ bart single coils for 1399...pretty cool tobias rarity.

Great find! Pre-Gibson 4's are rare! And the Guitar is gone! (cause I had to do it!)

 

[Red Planet]

I think a lot of the bad press is just simple hogwash.


For instance shrinkage of the fingerboard. That can be a common problem with any instrument. My Luthier can fix that in 5 minutes.

All the posts on Talk Bass are from guys saying they saw/played one with issues. No I do not expect anyone would buy an instrument that was not right but with all the speak about it you would think at some point through the years someone would have come along with a "here it is" post. This leads me to believe that most of this is hockey puck and the rest is folks just repeating what they truly do not know.

Also I bet if one looked hard enough one could find a screwy thing or two with an original instrument but that would be sacrilegious would it not?

I have seen a few originals that looked like rats nests in the electronics cavity and I have seen some Gibson's that looked immaculate.

I did find a post on TB where a guy said he knew of a Bass that was a reject that got finished and sold out the back door.

Here is the quote.

Food for thought, I once had a Gibson Nashville-era Tobias Classic 5 string that was built by an employee who scavenged the parts out of the factory, completed the basses at home, and stamped his own serial numbers on it, passing it off as a "real" Tobias. Apparently, the body/neck had a slight cosmetic defect and it was set aside as a quality-control reject.

The employee periodically left work with various parts in his pocket, and completed several of these instruments at home, and sold them as used. The serial number on mine wasn't even on record with Tobias as a Classic 5, it was made up. I no longer have the bass, and made the buyer aware of its questionable history . . .

I do not think that Mr Tobias is a bad guy at all but he is the only one that has laughed all the way to the bank on both ends of this deal.

For me when seeking a Neck Through Bass a Bolt On will not do. Nothing wrong with a Bolt On Bass but not the same. For those seeking that original Tobias Bass I suggest looking for a used one.

The Gibson units certainly are a steal of a deal.

Ever see a Killer B's or Growler's quality knocked? But Gibson built all of those. Interesting stuff indeed.

I believe there has been a magnifying glass used when looking at the Gibson units and Rose Colored Warm and Fuzzies when looking at the originals. After all theses are man made instruments, made from wood. Wood sometimes does things you would not want it to regardless of who ran the saw.

 

[Red Planet]

Great find! Pre-Gibson 4's are rare! And the Guitar is gone! (cause I had to do it!)

No Pics no gear.

 

[whoapower]

No Pics no gear.

Ha! How about this, when it arrives, I'll see if this one gets along with the other Tobiases and take pictures.

 

[Red Planet]

Ha! How about this, when it arrives, I'll see if this one gets along with the other Tobiases and take pictures.

I'll be patiently waiting.

 

[WayneP]

Wow, lots of activity over the holidays! Looks like Santa Claus was good to quite a few people here! Welcoming six new members:

Updated list:
1. magneezius
2. Flintc
3. Eaglemoon
4. Vladpire
5. ireidt
6. saxofunk
7. Kesslari
8. ctmullins
9. rice128
10. westrock
11. grifo
12. kerenn
13. Jackholexxxx
14. rotassator
15. mrbassman de
16. Fealach
17. Debased
18. alexofc69
19. tombowlus
20. Phantasm
21. Tony G
22. Scubaduba
23. bucephylus
24. greenbass
25. johnpaulbass
26. rad87gn
27. manjonning
28. Basshole
29. capnsandwich
30. Flintc
31. Wadge
32. whoapower
33. Hella
34. Mungibunga
35. skb5string
36. toby23
37. NoFrets4Me
38. Gubna
39. Bassflute
40. ZionBound
41. tiz 1
42. abarson
43. Indigo
44. xk3smith
45. fitzy73
46. gr8fulhiker
47. jam.majors
48. aeonmouse
49. basspro557
50. svoncampe
51. sdbss
52. gbarcus
53. Agito
54. marvelous
55. shakey slim
56. Mattsochistic
57. joevcool
58. ClassicJazz
59. 73jbass
60. bassballs dk
61. architect
62. IvanMike
63. JMBassist
64. sayman
65. Holdsg
66. bass4worship
67. dofranco
68. MrLenny
69. Markus Tobias
70. w_bass
71. Carlosrzz
72. oystein
73. RoosterRusek
74. PlanetariumERB
75. el_crawfordo
76. gregwatts2008
77. sonyho
78. bwoodman
79. oystein
80. jo_mix
81. shade615
82. Red Planet


Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt


Administrator, Tobias Club
Pedulla Club #45
Big Cabs Club #23
Tobias Club

 

[el_crawfordo]

Did you buy that guitar whoa? I thought that I was the country's leading Tobias guitar collector with two!