Brad,
I think I'm finally getting it. To be honest, I really don't have enough experience with enough top-dollar basses; those I've heard are the ones those whose ears I trust were willing to spend what it costs to buy them. So it's probably a very slanted sample. I'm not going to claim ownership of the sort of golden ear that can hear these differences, although perhaps I would agree in the case you mention here, the shiny pig.
And this was in fact my reaction to the two $5300 Tobias signature model basses I tried out. Beautiful workmanship, top quality woods carefully matched and positioned, same electronics as what I bought. But no excitement in the sound. I like a dark, punchy sound with lots of overtones. It wasn't there. These expensive basses produced a clean, smooth clear thin sound. Someone else may love it.
I must say, I don't have the impression Gibson is doing custom work in any way. They have their formula, they don't take special orders, you the buyer don't get any choices except tone wood - and you only get Gibson's choices. Exactly like choosing a color for your car - it comes in 4 colors. Which one do you want? As a customer, your interaction with any particular Tobias bass starts after the completed bass is delivered to the dealer. Not before.
But there's that big grin I can't suppress every time I pick up the Tobias Killer B and pluck a note. And there's the fact that I never want to set it down, and never get tired of listening to it. And for that I'm willing to pay whatever I can afford. And maybe unfortunately, all the basses I've found that affect me that way have been very expensive.
Well, I'm not going to evaluate the quality of by instruments by headcount. A few great ones is better than a roomful of "adequate", for me.
I think I'm finally getting it. To be honest, I really don't have enough experience with enough top-dollar basses; those I've heard are the ones those whose ears I trust were willing to spend what it costs to buy them. So it's probably a very slanted sample. I'm not going to claim ownership of the sort of golden ear that can hear these differences, although perhaps I would agree in the case you mention here, the shiny pig.
And this was in fact my reaction to the two $5300 Tobias signature model basses I tried out. Beautiful workmanship, top quality woods carefully matched and positioned, same electronics as what I bought. But no excitement in the sound. I like a dark, punchy sound with lots of overtones. It wasn't there. These expensive basses produced a clean, smooth clear thin sound. Someone else may love it.
I must say, I don't have the impression Gibson is doing custom work in any way. They have their formula, they don't take special orders, you the buyer don't get any choices except tone wood - and you only get Gibson's choices. Exactly like choosing a color for your car - it comes in 4 colors. Which one do you want? As a customer, your interaction with any particular Tobias bass starts after the completed bass is delivered to the dealer. Not before.
But there's that big grin I can't suppress every time I pick up the Tobias Killer B and pluck a note. And there's the fact that I never want to set it down, and never get tired of listening to it. And for that I'm willing to pay whatever I can afford. And maybe unfortunately, all the basses I've found that affect me that way have been very expensive.
Well, I'm not going to evaluate the quality of by instruments by headcount. A few great ones is better than a roomful of "adequate", for me.
