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Played a Gibson SG and hated it..

#21
I can see where going from a Fender to the Gibson would give you that impression. Remember Mike Watts never used any of the stock Gibson electronics or hardware. His basses have had an assortment of pickups over the years. His current SG/EB basses use EMG Musicman and a CB Bartolini and a aguilar preamp. He replaced all the bridges with a Badass and a wood spacer to the correct height, tonally this makes a HUGE difference. I've started modding a new SG, the HipShot bridge has been the first change, and a good one. I have 2 EMG HB pickups that are going to find away into the body next, and then some HipShot Ultralight tuners. The stock setup didn't do anything to help the basses appeal. I've leveled the frets and dropped the action after installing the bridge, this also made a huge difference. I like what the bass provides tonally, I want this as contrast to my other basses, the short scale provides some personalities that my others don't.
 
#22
I've liked every SG bass I've tried. Although I don't own one, mostly due to the short scale factor and having too many basses already, the ones I've played in the store have struck me as preferable to the various Fenders sitting next to them in terms of tone, fit & finish, neck feel, and relative lack of dead notes. Then again, maybe Gibsons just work better for guys like me.

1960jbass said:
It seems that when it comes to Gibsons, you either hate them or love them. No middle ground. Of the Gibsons I've tried lately I just didn't care for the feel of them. But I'm sure there are those out there that love them. It's all down to individual choice.
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I hear you. They do seem to have a polarizing effect. Play what you like. It's good to have choices.
 
#24
nicopiano said:
A setup to your taste by a good tech would help.
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Exactly. If the action was high (as the OP said), then that explains why it didn't feel good. You can't really say that you don't like the feel until it is set up to your specs.

That is why I'll never understand why the big box stores don't do a good setup on the basses in their stores. I have gone to GC and Sam Ash and found unplayable basses many times. Last year I found an SG at GC in Las Vegas that had action so high you couldn't play it at all. It looked like you could fire an arrow with it. How do they expect to sell instruments that are so hard to play? Don't they realize that a good setup would sell more basses? /rant over
 
#25
DrDAV14 said:
I can see where going from a Fender to the Gibson would give you that impression. Remember Mike Watts never used any of the stock Gibson electronics or hardware. His basses have had an assortment of pickups over the years. His current SG/EB basses use EMG Musicman and a CB Bartolini and a aguilar preamp. He replaced all the bridges with a Badass and a wood spacer to the correct height, tonally this makes a HUGE difference. I've started modding a new SG, the HipShot bridge has been the first change, and a good one. I have 2 EMG HB pickups that are going to find away into the body next, and then some HipShot Ultralight tuners. The stock setup didn't do anything to help the basses appeal. I've leveled the frets and dropped the action after installing the bridge, this also made a huge difference. I like what the bass provides tonally, I want this as contrast to my other basses, the short scale provides some personalities that my others don't.
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Sounds like a cool project, I would love see some pics and hear clips. I know Mike Watt's famous bass was modded beyond recognition, I didn't know about the bridge and wood spacer though. Thanks for your input!
 
#26
I agree with most of the points here. Gibson definitely isn't everyone's "thing," but there are some good reasons not to like them. Gibson's quality has been in a very sharp decline for almost a decade, and they've never put much attention in their basses anyways.
And I definitely agree that they feel "cheap," somehow. Part of it may be the short scale and heavy finish, but the whole neck profile just feels rough and unfinished.
I think it's telling that just about all famous bass players who payed Gibson "back in the day" have moved on to other things. (I mean, Jack Bruce plays Warwick!)
 
#27
project_c said:
I've been looking into various basses in search of vintage-ish tones, and one of the things I'm really GAS-ing for at the moment is the Gibson bridge pickup tone that you hear on old Mike Watt / Firehose records.
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I saw Firehose several times in the late 80s/early 90s and Watt was always playing a Tele bass in that era. A quick search on YouTube of Firehose videos and live clips shows him usually playing a Tele. I think he got more into Gibsons post-Firehose.
 
#28
AaronVonRock said:
I saw Firehose several times in the late 80s/early 90s and Watt was always playing a Tele bass in that era. A quick search on YouTube of Firehose videos and live clips shows him usually playing a Tele. I think he got more into Gibsons post-Firehose.
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Yeah, I think you're right, he played the Tele PJ with Firehose on my favourite album (Ragin' Full On), and the Gibson came later, although I'm not sure how much later. I love the tone on the Hyphenated Man album, and as far as I know it's a modded Gibson he uses on that, looks like an extra humbucker in the P position - it's not a 'vintage' album (only a couple of years old I think) but a vintage-ish tone nevertheless...
 
#30
Bought an SG Standard Bass in Worn Cherry a couple of weeks ago. After selling a couple of basses I had only one fretted and one fretless bass (both Precisions) left and wanted a halfway cheap backup. I also wanted it to go into a slightly different direction sound-wise (other than a P or a J or the like).
I must say that I love its thumpy sound and I even think that it's a quite versatile little guy. Loads of sounds in it when you play around with the pickups and finger-positions. I like it for being "different".
 
#31
I think some people are so used to Fender type basses that they don't "get" Gibsons. I play Gibson's after having a Gibby and a Fender at the same time for a year. I eventually migrated to the Gibson and finally decided to sell the Fender. Both basses have their positives and negatives. The neck dive on Gibson's is a legitimate beef. The high action is also valid. On my Fender I found the design of the head stock gave me some A-string issues. I could have added another string retainer (which my Godin had stock) but I simply didn't bond with the Jazz so I traded it in. I have found that I may just prefer a short-scale bass, I am not trying to copy someone else's sound, I prefer the looks of Gibson's and like being different.

I love that Gibson now has an American made bass for under $700.00 now. If Fender made a US built Mustang at that price point I would be all over it.
 
#32
I must admit that i do not like the present day SG basses. In direct comparison i feel a lot mor comfortable with older EB-x basses and would actually prefer a reissue of the ´60s EB-3 with the pickup positions of the SG-basses and, of course, a Hipshot supertone bridge.
Actualy i am pretty close to that becase one of my Epi EB-3s is modified that way - but the old Gibsons seem to have a better attack (stiffer necks).

BTW: among the recent Gibsons, the LP Junior DC was my favorite bass.
 
#34
I bought a SG reissue when they were blowing out the 2013 models, I tried to love it but couldn't. When you install a hipshot bridge there is no going back because it left an impression in the finish. The SG that I bought was a beauty but I have to agree that Gibson has poor quality control, they will ship out anything. I know this from the many Gibson guitars I've owned and tried in the past, none of which I still own, I've never found a keeper.
 
#35
Apolicious said:
I agree with most of the points here. Gibson definitely isn't everyone's "thing," but there are some good reasons not to like them. Gibson's quality has been in a very sharp decline for almost a decade, and they've never put much attention in their basses anyways.
And I definitely agree that they feel "cheap," somehow. Part of it may be the short scale and heavy finish, but the whole neck profile just feels rough and unfinished.
I think it's telling that just about all famous bass players who payed Gibson "back in the day" have moved on to other things. (I mean, Jack Bruce plays Warwick!)
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I was actually surprised to find that they felt weird and were difficult to play despite the short scale, rather than because of it! Usually, when I pick up a short scale, it's almost always easier and quicker to play, I'm short so it's usually a relief to play a short scale. It's the first time for me that a short scale felt more awkward to play than a full length bass, it totally baffled me. Whilst the high action really didn't help, it wasn't the only thing that made it feel weird, the heavy finish definitely added to it, and perhaps the bridge thing too, it somehow felt like I wasn't really in direct contact with the bass, or like I couldn't find an angle where it felt right. Did sound really good though, especially when digging in by that bridge pickup.
 
#36
I don't understand the "heavy finish", I have a gloss heritage cherry SG and "Faded" SG 6-string and T-bird bass and one of the things that I like is that they do not have a heavy poly finish. It seems he SG special with it's faded finish would be amuch thinner application than a poly.
 
#39
Allz I can say is this... which is the opposite of my usual experience:

I picked up an SG in a store one time and fell in love. Was not a bass on my wishlist, but got added immediately. Looked, felt, played, and sounded awesome. About a year or so later I bought one. My experience was as you describe. I set it up to my liking, and still felt a big disconnect. Returned it after 2 days, all SG gas out of my system.

Just bought one of the 2013 EB basses when they went on sale at the end of the year. I am aboslutely in love with it on every level. It's not an old school sounding bass, but it gets into that territory. Point I think I'm trying to make here, is that much like Fender, Gibson has become very hit or miss. IMO anyhow. I don't have a lot of experience with older Gibson basses, but I've owned a couple of old Gibson guitars, and this is my 3rd Gibson bass. Had a thunderbird studio that was also pretty much on the money. The SG come to think of it, was the only Gibson I really disliked.
 

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