OK I Don't Get Gibsons - Help me here

[three]

I've played a Gibson Ripper for much of the past 35 years - inspired by Patrick Djivas of PFM (currently in the UK for two nights after a break of nearly 40 years). Have a listen to Chocolate Kings for a bit of Ripper clank. Djivas was reckoned by Pastorius to be the world's second best player too

[Shaggy]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1473878533' post='3133844']


My first SG copy was - action could be measured in metres! I'm not sure if it was an Avon or possibly a Columbus. Awful and probably put me off G-style basses until I got my Thunderbird.

Kind of coming back to the OP, Gibson (in my mind) never really "got" the bass. Guitars are great (if you can stand the weight) but basses not quite so. IMHO
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My very first bass was a genuine Gibson, of sorts - a mid-60's Kalamazoo KB-1, all of 25 quid in 1977. Pretty decent by the standard of cheapo basses of the time, despite the fact that Gibson sourced a toilet seat manufacturer to make the MDF body (pre-empting the Bongo, maybe? )
Second was a Columbus Jazz bass copy, of which firewood would be too kind a description. There were indeed some real dogs around back then.

As BigRedX says; during the 60's / '70's Gibson basses were hugely popular, but seem to have got left behind in the '80's and been deeply unfashionable ever since.
Shame, as in the early days at least Gibson were genuinely innovative, came up with some radical styling designs that are now iconic (and nicked by other high-end manufacturers such as Alembic, PRS etc), had a reputation for using very high quality tonewoods and proper old-school luthiery manufacturing techniques (rather than purely fast output cheap-as-possible machining), and designed and made some of the best pickups around. They wrote the book on manufacturing semi-acoustic guitars and basses, and came up with the humbucker. Some weak points; though personally I've never had an issue with the 3-point bridge that arouses such antipathy - to my mind the only major failing is the weak neck / headstock area on the earlier mahogany-necked basses.

But maybe it's a good thing in a way, as vintage examples are still affordable to players, rather than the market being dominated by collectors (as Fender)

[matski]

[quote name='pmjos' timestamp='1473541448' post='3131151']
I'll tell you what it is. cannot believe that there is not somewhere in today's sounds for a classic Gibson. I just can't hear it. I can't find it, Everyone says its looks cool, or loved it in that day but are they now just history? Who uses a Gibson today? I know Brian Leiser from FLC uses a LP but its dark stuff very dub.
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Actually Fast has swapped from the Gibson to a Marcus Miller Jazz bass now.

[EliasMooseblaster]

They're probably best described as "an acquired taste." I have acquired said taste, but I can appreciate they're not for everybody. Tonally, they're good for classic rock and blues (and, perhaps surprisingly, older sub-genres of jazz such as swing and bop) but they're pretty lousy for funk. I don't really play slap, but if I did I probably wouldn't use my Thunderbird for it.

They certainly suit the taller lady or gentleman, given the way both the 'bird and my Epi EB-3/SG sit on a strap, but I have been blessed with long arms so this hasn't been an issue. Yes, the neck dive is a bit ridiculous on the SG, but the way my right arm sits counteracts this quite effectively. I'd argue the 'bird isn't as badly balanced as some have suggested, though I don't know whether the Hipshot bridge on mine is adding significantly more weight at the back than the original bridge (which, I agree, is a bit of a silly design!)

For me, the greatest attraction is how articulate they are in the upper registers. The dusty end sings in a way that I just haven't found with many other basses - listen to [i]The Real Me [/i]by The Who for an example of the kind of sound that I'm referring to, and which sparked my initial interest in Gibson-style basses. It's probably also fortunate coincidence that their typical tone sits quite comfortably into my band's sound (thick Les Paul guitar sound, strong female vocal, chuffing loud drummer).

[Funky Dunky]

You don't have to get it. I don't get it either. I like Les Pauls and I've seen a few SGs I thought were cool, but absolutely everything else, especially basses, are hideous-looking to me.

[Len_derby]

I'd love to try some Gibson basses and see how they feel and sound, But there are comparatively so few around.

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1473540871' post='3131143']


This lad could play a Gibbo, go to about 39 mins 30 secs and hang around for a couple of minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqcpx2K2SVA
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I just clicked on to watch Jim Lea's solo and ended up watching the whole thing! Wonderful stuff. Thank you!