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govegan
Junior
Username: govegan

Post Number: 14
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 9:40 am:   Edit Post

My band is being filmed for a reality show in conjunction with our local news station / internet site.

Some nice shots of the Bass in there, and if nothing else it's good for a laugh now and then :-)

http://videos.syracuse.com/post-standard/2010/01/the_scarlet_ending_tapes_a_cal.html
rami
Senior Member
Username: rami

Post Number: 915
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 1:27 pm:   Edit Post

When I feel like having a good laugh, I usually look at a Gibson Bass.

P.S. Just this weekend I traded a my much HATED Gibson Thunderbird for a Beloved Alembic Epic - my first Epic!
bigredbass
Senior Member
Username: bigredbass

Post Number: 1352
Registered: 9-2002
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 1:55 pm:   Edit Post

Actually Rami, I've come to consider 'Gibson bass' as big an oxymoron as 'government intelligence' and 'jumbo shrimp'.

Joey
govegan
Junior
Username: govegan

Post Number: 16
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 2:38 pm:   Edit Post

I actually don't mind the ripper too much. It's nothing like my Essence but it has a cool tone.

But yes, the majority of Gibson Basses are garbage.
fmm
Advanced Member
Username: fmm

Post Number: 286
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 3:00 pm:   Edit Post

I regret selling my Ripper.

Of course, I think I've regretted getting rid of all the basses I've sold except maybe one.
poor_nigel
Junior
Username: poor_nigel

Post Number: 44
Registered: 11-2009
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 6:34 pm:   Edit Post

Uh oh. . . People are making fun of the basses I learned to play bass on. I must retaliate! "Oh ya, well, my dad can whip your dad anytime!" You know, since my father came out of the closet last summer, it gives that come-back a whole new meaning. Might be best to just walk away this time, or run, if they rode in on Harleys.

(Message edited by poor_nigel on January 20, 2010)
811952
Senior Member
Username: 811952

Post Number: 1797
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 6:59 pm:   Edit Post

I bought a '76 Thunderbird solely because of this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL68VE-Qi7Y

John
ajdover
Senior Member
Username: ajdover

Post Number: 803
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 7:06 pm:   Edit Post

I like Gibsons. I have:

A '76 Bicentennial Thunderbird.
An EB-3.
A '74 Ripper.
A '77 RD Artist
An '81 Victory Artist
An '87 Custom Shop Thunderbird

Are they Alembics? Hell, are they Fenders? No.
But I like them just the same. My Ripper, for example, is a beast - and I love it.

And too many have played Gibsons, and happily so to term them "garbage," as govegan asserts.

To wit -

John Entwistle - Gibson Thunderbird
Jack Bruce - Gibson EB-3
Leon Wilkeson - Gibson Thunderbird
Jack Bruce - Gibson Les Paul Signature
Peter Cetera - Gibson Ripper
Gene Simmons (yeah, I know, not a great player and an endorsement deal) - Ripper, Grabber, G-3
Nikki Sixx - Gibson Thunderbird

Gibson hasn't had as good a reputation as, say, Fender for any number of reasons. They have a tendency not to fix problems (e.g., neck dive on Thunderbirds, weak pickups on Rippers, weight on RDs). This being said, they are unique and appeal to a certain clientele, I think. This isn't unlike our beloved Alembics, which certainly aren't everyone's cup of tea (though they might be ours!).

All this aside, I like my Gibsons, and play them with joy.

Alan
mike1762
Senior Member
Username: mike1762

Post Number: 443
Registered: 1-2008
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 3:15 am:   Edit Post

My first "good" bass was a Ripper... I wish I still had it. I recall a 5-way(?) switch on it that gave it tons of different tones. It was with this bass that I discovered you had to change strings every now and again!!! It was sounding like crap (and the rust on the strings was probably irritating the skin on my fingers) so I decided to put fresh strings on it... Voila!!! I also had a Les Paul Recording Bass (actually it may have been a guitar... man, I'm getting old).
govegan
Junior
Username: govegan

Post Number: 17
Registered: 9-2008
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 4:34 am:   Edit Post

AJDover

I am not downplaying that many people such as Entwistle have played and enjoyed the Thunderbird... however every Gibson I have had the chance to play on has been sub par with the exception of the Ripper I mentioned.

No offense of course, I use garbage in the broadest sense of the term possible and probably should have included the word "new" before "Gibson".
lbpesq
Senior Member
Username: lbpesq

Post Number: 4297
Registered: 7-2004
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 7:09 am:   Edit Post

Don't forget Rick Danko of The Band, another Gibson bass player.

Bill, tgo
rami
Senior Member
Username: rami

Post Number: 918
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 8:04 am:   Edit Post

I also have a Gibson SG-Z which I like. But the T-Bird is way over-rated. It's the difficult upper register access and that HORRIBLE directional hum that makes it virtually unplayable. They'd never let one of their guitars leave the factory with such a glaring flaw. Shameful indeed.

Rami

(Message edited by rami on January 21, 2010)
bracheen
Senior Member
Username: bracheen

Post Number: 1536
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 9:08 am:   Edit Post

Alan, I've never seen Jack Bruce play a Les Paul but he has been playing an EB-0 recently. Or is it an EB-1? I get those confused. It's the violin shaped one.

Sam
adriaan
Senior Member
Username: adriaan

Post Number: 2402
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 10:10 am:   Edit Post

Jack Casady, not Bruce. The Epiphone Jack Casady Signature is based on the Gibson Les Paul Signature
benson_murrensun
Advanced Member
Username: benson_murrensun

Post Number: 217
Registered: 5-2007
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 10:43 am:   Edit Post

Jack Casady has played the Gibson Les Paul Signature as well as a standard-shape Les Paul Bass. Phil Lesh has played an SG-shaped Gibson, don't know the model.
I had a Gibson EB2 that played well but sounded like crap. I had a Gibson Grabber that wasn't too bad...
Oh oh, the thread's been diverted!
cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member
Username: cozmik_cowboy

Post Number: 642
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 - 10:52 am:   Edit Post

Lesh's Gibson started as an EB-0, but he quickly modified it with 2 Guild/Hagstrom p/ups (or, more likely, Mssrs. Turner, Stanley, and/or Wickersham modded it for him).

Peter

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