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Played a Gibson SG and hated it..

#41
frankieC said:
Wow. Sorry to hear that. I've got a 68 EB3 and I absolutely love it.

Well, To each his own.
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If I had a 68 Gibson EB-3, I'd probably love it, too. The problem is there are often quality control issues, though, with newer Gibsons (as has already been noted.) That is one of the main problems with Gibson now, IMO. On the other hand, to issue a blanket statement and say that all Gibsons are bad isn't accurate. Some are good, some are bad.
 
#42
i have a 71 EB-0L and its awesome, but im not picky about weight and neckdive like many are. yeah its heavy and dives like crazy, but it sounds awesome and looks bad ass so its cool. plus id assume most people arent trying to shred on a gibson bass so theyre nice and comfy for playing metal and rock lines and nothing too flashy that requires lots of movement. i wouldnt slap on one or pretend i was marcus miller using one, but if you want massive thunder look no further.

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#47
Basshappi said:
I absolutely love mine. It is everything I could have hoped for. Mine is light weight (7.5 lbs) and well balanced. The new pickups are actually the same as the current Thunderbirds and thus there is a much clearer sound than the old EB-3s. My has a very woody tone and by rolling back the tone knob I can get a very upright-like sound out of it. With the tone wide open and a pick it gets quite snarly and mean. This is most certainly not a toy!

As a long time Fender player I would just say that you have to take the SG on its own terms, it is NOT a Fender tonally, ergonomically or any other way. Nor is it a one trick pony. It may not be for everyone, t definitely has its own thing going on, but if one takes the time to really get to know the SG I think they would be quite surprised and find it is a great bass in its own right.

Cheers!
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+1. I could have written the above post about my newer SG.
I have been playing Fenders all my life. A few years ago I was having some back issues so I purchased a SG from GC and put some flats on. The truth is, I have received more compliments on the tone of the SG base from other seasoned bass players than all my Fenders combined. It does have some neck dive but can be fixed with a 3 or 4 inch wide strap. It is now my go to bass and my Fenders are just collecting dust.
Anyone want to buy a Fender?
 
#49
Joe Nerve said:
Point I think I'm trying to make here, is that much like Fender, Gibson has become very hit or miss.
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This is apparent in the way they handle their UK dealers as well, by the way. Their number one supplier in London doesn't have a single Gibson SG bass in stock (in fact they have nothing apart from a couple of TB's), and when I called them, they said "maybe call back sometime in February, you never know with Gibson.." I had to drive to the edge of London to find a single one of these basses, and the other one was on the south coast 60 miles away. (That counts as a LONG way in the UK..)

I know Gibson are busy selling guitars by the s**load, and the bass market means nothing to them, but it's still pretty weak. There isn't a single SG available to try in central London right now, as far as I know.
 
#50
beebassdude said:
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Great looking bass!


SactoBass said:
Project c:

I went into a GC a while back (yeah, I know, it's embarrassing, but I was bored that day), and I played a new SG bass as I was curious to find out how they felt. Similar to your experience, I was disappointed in how the bass felt. It just had a "cheap" feel to it, as if it was an entry level bass.
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That's exactly how I felt. Which then made me think about just buying a cheap copy for a tenth of the price and modding it.. I'm still contemplating that one.
 
#53
Funny mentioning Mike Watt...he just jammed with Blue Oyster Cult last night in Hollywood, a band known for always using SG guitars but not necessarily basses.

As an owner of a 65 Gibson SG Special and playing countless 60's SG's, Gibson SG's vary.....they can vary a LOT.

My friend has collected Gibson SG's for 35+ years and owns lots of EB basses too...these things were dirt cheap for years.

Anyhow, go play a BUNCH and do check out the Epi versions too.

I think the "muddy EB sound" is very good for power trios..Mountain, Free, Cream, all had great success with the fat EB sound in a trio.

Fender basses are too lean sounding, though I have wondered about a short scale Fender bass made of mahogany...I bet you could get very close to an EB sound.
 
#55
Jazz Ad said:
Basses built by guitar builders, without any consideration for the specificities and needs of the instrument.
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That pretty much sums it up. Back in the day, Guitar Trader (remember them?) in Red Bank NJ viewed them more like tropical diseases: "They're really interesting but I wouldn't want to have one."

That being side, the OP appears to really want an EB-esque bass despite the downsides he encountered firsthand. There's an interesting (...and I'm being kind) walnut EB 4L available locally for $700. Looks to be in okay shape although the owner doesn't know how to string the durn thing. If anybody has an interest, I'll scout it out as a courtesy.

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Riis
 
#57
I'm a longtime Fender player and my main bass is a Conklin Gt7, but I have really been getting into my Gibson basses lately. They are definitely their own thing... I think you have to understand that to appreciate what they really can do. I recently got a new Sg Special with the worn Cherry finish and I love how the neck feels, it's well balanced and I dig the TB+ pickups. My first thought on playing it through an amp is that it is what an EB3 should sound like. It does not sound like a Fender, it's a different sound. The price on the Special was nice too. I've got an Epi Elitest Eb3, and I tell you you really can tell a difference in quality between the Epi and the Gibson.
 
#58
DavidEdenAria said:
Funny mentioning Mike Watt...he just jammed with Blue Oyster Cult last night in Hollywood, a band known for always using SG guitars but not necessarily basses.
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That makes me green with envy.. You guys get to see my bass hero on a fairly regular basis, he hardly ever makes it over to the UK. He was here last year, it was awesome to finally see him play.

*edit: I just noticed they're playing London on April 19th.. can't wait.

Zooberwerx said:
That being side, the OP appears to really want an EB-esque bass despite the downsides he encountered firsthand. There's an interesting (...and I'm being kind) walnut EB 4L available locally for $700. Looks to be in okay shape although the owner doesn't know how to string the durn thing. If anybody has an interest, I'll scout it out as a courtesy.

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Riis
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Thanks for that, unfortunately I'm in the UK, so that bass is a bit too far away..
 
#59
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. I LOVE that tone, and the general sound of the old EB-3 and the new SG, I think those basses sound awesome, and I also really love the way they look.

So I played a couple of Gibson SG's, and yeah, the tone was there in all its' glory, but both times these basses just felt terrible to play. For starters, they were both pretty heavy for a short scale, not crazy heavy, but heavier than my 83 Fender p-bass, which is not light. I couldn't find a decent way to balance it on my lap. Also, there was something about the neck that just felt weird, and kind of cheap, like it was sticky and covered in tons of lacquer or something. Both times the action was way too high, and my fingers kept getting caught on the frets too, the whole thing just felt awkward, it really did not feel like a bass that costs upwards of £1000.

Maybe the bass might feel a lot better to pick players, it seems to sit better in a slightly more downward position and lends itself well to palm-muting, and the high-ish action is not such an issue. And of course the pick tone is super good.

I really wanted to love this bass (so much that I tried 2 of them in different stores), but I walked away pretty disappointed. Did I just get unlucky and try 2 duds, or is this similar to your experience? My main basses are the 83 Fender precision and a 2011 Fender Jazz Deluxe, both of which feel a lot more solid and better built in comparison, but I'm just craving that tone...
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So... don't get one.

Or get a good feeling but cheap instrument and put in the bridge pickup you want, where you want it.
 

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