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Okay, what's the deal?

#21
Brad Johnson said:
Are the Gibson/Tobiases "real" Tobiases?...Yes...just not
very good ones, overall:D
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate? I keep hearing people bash the Gibson/Tobias, but never give details. Does your comment mainly relate to the foreign made Tobias, or the US made as well? I have a US Gibson/Tobias Classic 5 which is a beauty to look at and to play.

Not trying to start a war here, but I am genuinely interested in why people dislike them so much.

Have you tried one lately?

Pete

Edit: Ha, I just noticed how old this thread is, but I am still interested in your opinions.
 
#22
jackholexxxx said:
Can you elaborate? I keep hearing people bash the Gibson/Tobias, but never give details. Does your comment mainly relate to the foreign made Tobias, or the US made as well? I have a US Gibson/Tobias Classic 5 which is a beauty to look at and to play.

Not trying to start a war here, but I am genuinely interested in why people dislike them so much.

Have you tried one lately?

Pete

Edit: Ha, I just noticed how old this thread is, but I am still interested in your opinions.
Click to expand...


Yes, I did try one lately... back in 2000:D. At that time, my opinion of what I'd seen stands. I think that may have been around the time Washington Music Center was blowing out what I considered a bunch of sub standard basses. IIRC of course. At that time I owned a 1978 four and 1984 five string Tobias, made by Mike and there was no comparison. So while I can't tell you why people dislike them, that's why "I" did.
:cool:. Yes, I am biased, I still own both basses, got the first one back around 1980 and got hooked on the Tobias vibe.

BTW prior to checking out the previous generation Gibson basses, I got one of the early MusicYo Toby basses that was licensed through Gibson. While it looked like a Tobias (for the most part, the differences were pretty glaring to people who knew the instruments), that was all it had in common. Not a bad bass but certainly not what had become known as a Tobias. It was heavy with a chunky neck and a finish that made the wood look fake. Of course it was far less money too.

Couldn't say about the more recent Gibson basses, haven't really seen much of them.
 
#23
Yeah....ancient thread. I know.

Anyway, the reason The Alien is made in Vietnam is to keep costs down on labor. It takes a lot more hours to build an acoustic bass than to build an electric. Having solid chunks of wood roughed out on a CNC machine by a computer is a lot cheaper than some guys spending MANY days hand bending/gluing/finishing an acoustic bass guitar.

It appear that Warwick supplies its original quality parts and specs for some guys to handbuild The Alien in their bamboo hut in 'Nam, so at least we know it won't crack in high humidity :)

On a more serious note....I actually own one of the original 100 Aliens that were still hand-made in Germany. Mine was the first one in the U.S. (SN# in the #40 range) that I actually wrote the original magazine review for back around 1994. I liked the axe so much that I bought it, which caused a minor problem because it was meant for T.M. Stevens. But I said "Tell T.M. he has to wait. I'm not shipping it back, so send me an invoice."

The one thing I found odd is that it came in a Warwick gigbag...not much protection for a high-end acoustic bass.

I've been wondering if the new 5-string version made in 'Nam is worth getting or if I should wait until I find a used Tacoma Thunderchief that I like (missed the last two I spotted that sold really fast.)
 

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