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today's gibson basses

#21
could everyone agree that if they made reissues of their older basses, like the RD,etc, that they would probably reissue them in silverburst only?? they reissue the RD standard guitar and its only available in silverburst. and i though "hey,if they didnt have this guitar in only silverburst, it might actually look alot cooler" but anyways i could picture them doing that.could you all agree with it?? i mean thats fine but i hate silverburst extremely. and then it would still be like ***,they dont even have it in any good colors:mad:
 
#22
gibsonbassist45 said:
could everyone agree that if they made reissues of their older basses, like the RD,etc, that they would probably reissue them in silverburst only?? they reissue the RD standard guitar and its only available in silverburst. and i though "hey,if they didnt have this guitar in only silverburst, it might actually look alot cooler" but anyways i could picture them doing that.could you all agree with it?? i mean thats fine but i hate silverburst extremely. and then it would still be like ***,they dont even have it in any good colors:mad:
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I'm sorry you feel that way, because if they DID do reissues in silverburst, there would be nothing that could keep me from owning one.
 
#23
vicvarado said:
[QOUTE]So, here's the thing. I rarely see Epi (or Gibson) T-birds used in the shops or on CL. I wonder if it is because no one is buying them... or they are such good basses that no one wants to part with them? [QOUTE]

I don't really know, but in my experience, I payed just over $400 by the time I got my epi T-bird and its "large" case. I see them going on ebay for both at less than $300, and this is within the same year of having purchased them. So they are out there, I really like mine and wouldn't sell but compared to most guys on here I'm a bass noob so that's just my opinion. I don't see anything wrong with them cosmetically, very attractive and well finished IMO. I like the heavy growl I hear from it as well.
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I got one a few weeks ago with the big epi case, Hercules stand and a Strap (a cool one too) for 275.00 at Cream City Music.

While I am no snob, I do have 2 Telecaster Basses, but I am fine with my Epi Bird, it looks cool as hell (dark Cherry stain) and the action is awesome.

I did play the Gibson and the pick up are really much better, but not 1200.00 better.

I was going to do something I don't believe in and have never done. Swapped out pick ups for something the thing was not designed for. After a lot of reseach, it's not worth it and it would be a big hassle.
 
#24
I mentioned earlier that it was hard to find Epi-bird's used. But after Christmas, I managed to find a used Epi-Bird with case for very cheap.

I should mention that the bass needed a setup pretty badly. The action was high, the intonation was terrible... and so on. A little time on the bench and she was as good as new.

I really thought it was going to end up being a second or third line bass. However, I like it so much I have been playing it constantly. I have to admit that the neck is a bit larger than what I am used to, but I love to play the thing.

I am considering swapping the pups out. However I am in no hurry to do so. I like the tone. I am experimenting with strings now... any suggestions would be welcome.
 
#26
Steve Zapp said:
I own a Gibson Grabber from 1975-76 and when I took it to the shop for a setup the guy said its a great bass and it was "Gibson's Best Attempt at a Fender" haha biased opinion I'm sure.
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He nailed it with this one. They could never out compete fender when it came to basses, not saying there was anything wrong with the gibson basses, but there just wasn't enough people in the market who were interested. Unfortunate as it is, this continues today. They keep the models that move on the roster and change it up when they aren't moving, including adding in new artist customs when necessary. I love my G3, and it's been my main bass since I got it, but even if they did a reissue now it would not be worth it. For the price they'd have to charge for a reasonable reissue of any of these basses, you would spend less money on an original one 99% of the time.
 
#29
I wasn't a huge fan of any Gibsons until I saw and bought this one.Great build quality and it's perfect for the classic rock I play.




sgsilver006.jpg
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#30
Gibson's main problem as of recent times(this is obviously just my humble opinion) has been that they haven't had anybody in the engineering/design departments that is a bass player or even remotely interested in basses. At least since Phil Jones left in the late nineties(I think),and he worked at the custom shop,which has become it's own seperate division since being removed from the main factory in the early nineties. Basses are clearly an afterthought to the powers that be. Around 2004/2005 The main plant decided to make building new basses their #1 priority. That is the period when the T-bird studios and a couple of other new models came out,that lasted for all of,I don't know,maybe fifteen minutes. Then upper management's ADD kicked in an they moved on to building the next Les Paul guitar model.The T-bird studio was a great idea,except for once again,all they were doing was just throwing designs up in the air with no research or actually getting bass players involved(not to mention the whole cost thing). They just look at what stuff they have laying around and see what they can come up with. It is not the fault of the engineers. For the most part,they're a talented bunch of guys. Their hands are tied by the restraints of upper management and the fact that they have to have something that will make a profit and do so quickly. I am a huge Gibson fan, because they are different and blessed their hearts,they have tried from time to time to be creative. the fact of the matter is that they(management) look at what is profitable and gibson basses have never done well in that department. Bringing out reissues of the Ripper/Grabber/G-3 or other basses would be great,but let's be honest,they would be so expensive,how many of you would buy one? Trust me,it ain't gonna happen. Gibson has been fighting the stigma of their basses since day one. Even their best basses,the original t-birds and EB-0/EB-3's were never huge sellers. Okay, they did sell quite a few EB-0's,maybe they should make a real(read accurate) reissue of the Eb-0/EB-3. Once again,I love Gibson basses. I have a recent T-bird,a seventies EB-1 and a Ripper(that I may have to unload soon to finance my own guitar company,you do what you have to do!). I would love nothing more for them to get their act together. Unfortunately,I don't see that happening. On the bright side,Epiphone is allowed a little more creativity due to their being able to produce lower cost models and some of their bass offerings are very cool(T-bird and Jack Casady models for instance) and affordably priced. Once again,just my opinion.
 
#31
I would buy a RD-artist reissue in a hearbeat. As far as Gibson is concerned, I just don't think they pay attention to much except the Les Paul. I have a new (2006) thunderbird. It's got its strong points ... good looks, great tone, fast and thin neck. But the pickups are noisy and the truss rod needs tweaking every time the weather changes. I really don't think Gibson pays attention to these. I brought it to a luthier to see about the pickup buzz, and none of the electronics cavities had been shielded at the factory. The cavities in my $200 Epi eb-0 came shielded (usual black paint), but the $2000 made in USA T-bird's cavities were bare wood. Very disappointing.
 
#32
ATTENTION: THIS IS OFF-TOPIC A BIT. SORRY. It does go toward the "What has happened to Gibson" theme of the thread, but it's a bit ranty. Sorry again in advance.

GOX42 said:
...Tobias...they still make some decent high end stuff...
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There's some $3000 Tobias at my local dealer and it has glue coming out of the binding and the frets are sticking out from the fretboard to the extent that they would literally cut your hand if you weren't really careful. I can pick up almost any $200 bass and not have this problem. Maybe Tobias still has the occasional good bass, but the fact they let THAT one through quality control gives me reason to believe they're probably mostly junk now. Pretty woods and a nice sound, but it needs to have a little more fit and finish for $3000!

Gibson in general has gone down hill. As with most manufacturers, part of the dealer agreement is that the dealer will take X amount of high-end stuff along with the other stuff they actually want. Well, I saw the "high end" Les Pauls that came in with the "high end" Tobias they have at this local shop, and they had the same binding and fret issues the Tobias has! It's insanity. One of them even had a small scuff in the finish!

If you're a dealer, it might be reasonable to expect to pay someone to set up new guitars and such, but to actually have to clean up sloppy mistakes from the factory and do fret work? No way. I just don't understand how such a historied company can let their quality control go so far downhill...

Sorry for the rant and I don't mean to be a typical "basher", but I saw these issues with my own 2 eyes, so I don't feel like I'm bashing as much as passing along my own experience.

Jacob H
 
#34
I bought a Ripper L9S back in 75 and it was a pretty fine and versatile passive
rock bass imho. I liked the older neck-thru T-Birds and the long scale EB3's and the last gasp EB4L was nice, but was too little too late. The Rd artist with the MOOG electronics was a fantastic bass, but somehow never caught on.

My major gripes with Gibson basses as is that I think as of late, what little they have been offering is overpriced and underwhelming. I tried a couple of new Studio T-Birds and I wasn't impressed at all. In fact I actually like my friend's bolt on EPI sunburst version better. It would be nice if Gibson did get a little more serious about their basses.
 
#36
gibsonbassist45 said:
now,i figured i would ask you guys of this.obviously by my name im a fan of gibson.and theres many of theyre basses i want that are from the vintage era,RD artist,ripper,eb-3..etc.
it seemed like they had quite a selection of basses back then,in the 70's. now think presently.the only two basses they have listed on their website is the thunderbird and the sg bass.which are great basses.and i know they still have a few more like the les paul and a couple of different t-birds.but is it just me,or do they seem really dull in the bass department nowa days?? i know the basses are good.but they just dont seem to have a wide selection like they used to back then.and they seem extremely overpriced to me..maybe im wrong but it just seems that way.what do you think????
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I agree with you on this. Gibson used to make some really cool basses such as the ripper, grabber and RD Aritst but at the moment they seem to have a limited choice, and the ones they do have are the obvious ones. I was at Gibson headquarters in london a few weeks back with my guitarists from my band as they were working out an edorsement deal and trying guitars.... in boredom of watching people try guitars, i picked up a couple of basses - i played a gibson thunderbird and it felt really uncomfortable to play, i've also played a les paul bass and it left me the same undesirable feeling of playing a not so great bass... it also didn't help the strings were dead as well.. wasn't impressed at all.

I think it's a shame because I have player 70s gibson basses and they have been amazing if a little 'interesting' in the intonation department when going high on the neck.

I actually think epiphone are coming out with more interesting basses. Just a shame gibson don't but as much effort into their basses as they do with their guitars.
 
#38
I think some of the SG basses are pretty cool. I have played a few that sound and play pretty darn good. The Epi did not compare. However, I didnt even bother to take the Gibson T Bird off the wall since it was 9 times the price of the Epi T-Bird and that Epi seemed to be good enough. I wonder how they can justify the price differences.
 
#39
given the quality of Epiphone T-Birds, maybe Epi ought to re-release the G-3, Grabber, Ripper (i know they've done variations on this), etc. i think their build quality in general has come around to justify a release of fairly accurate reissues.

frankly, i think Gibson lost the bass plot for good in the 90's, when Mike Dirnt of Green Day brought the G-3 back from the dead. Green Day, and that bass, were EVERYWHERE. they could have done something cool with that, had they chosen to. instead, they slept through that one. same w/ Krist Novoselic and his army of Gibson basses.
 

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