Gibson IV Bass

[Hutton]

I have just bought this Gibson IV Bass (1987) and have been trying in vain to find out a bit more about it than just the basic details. I was directed to this site so am hoping someone here knows a few things about the IV Bass.

[n!k]

Welcome!

The IV is essentially a Thunderbird, but with a more modern body design (and great upper fret access). They're great basses.

What do you want to know about it?

[Hutton]

Thanks nik. I would like to know some factory setup details i.e. radius/truss rod/action. I have set the bass pretty much to my liking but would like to know the factory settings. Some historical stuff might also be good to know such as years of production and how many were built.

[barend]

Is that you on that picture? 

[Basvarken]

Welcome Hutton. You've come to the right place.
Uwe is about to chime in with detailed info, any moment now.

[sniper]

to give you a little history, try this site. it talks about the Victory model which was Gibsons precursor to the lV.

Jules (evil lord juju in here) has a site that is very informative about Gibson bases, although it doesn't have much on the 4, 5 or the Q-90 if anything at all. http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/Victory.php

Uwe is grinding on his reply, i can here the wheels turn here in the midwest all the way from Germany. with that said, Uwe is prolly one of the definative resources on Gibby history on this side of the universe.

[nofi]

if that's a 51 year old male in the pic then i guess that's him.

[Chris P.]

Wow, I wish the 51 year old males in Holland looked that way.

Where's Uwe? Busy fighting the credit crunch?

[sniper]

Where's Uwe? Busy fighting the credit crunch?

prolly trying to expand his Gibby collection or his Spandex wardrobe!

[Hutton]

Thanks for the replies and info chaps. I should perhaps clear up the story behind the photo. It's definitely not me holding the bass. The photo was taken by a bass-playing pro photographer who can call upon various nice young ladies to make his photos look rather splendid.

[TBird1958]

Welcome!

 I saw that post on TB, I *think* JZumbro may have this bass as well, hopefully he'll stop by and prove me right..........

Wow, I wish the 51 year old males in Holland looked that way.

Where's Uwe? Busy fighting the credit crunch?

 As for you!.................. 

[PhilT]

I had a red one for a while, in fact it's still in my avatar. By the time I got it, the factory settings were long gone. According to the Blue Book they were made from 1987-1989. Don't bother going to the Blue Book for anything else, it says they're Alder/Maple, when it's obviously Mahogany all through.

You should probably brace yourself for the "Poor man's TBird" quip, though they've treated you kindly so far. Whenever Uwe's posted pictures of his, it still had the price tag on, so he can probably measure the factory settings for you. 

I remember seeing that picture, must have been on eBay? They don't come up often.

[Hutton]

Thanks Phil for your helpful info. I don't really mind any 'poor man's T-bird' quips. I think this is a great bass in it's own right. It feels very comfortable to wear. It's very well balanced and plays superbly.

[Hutton]

Oops! I've just read the rules for the forum which states that there should be no pictures of girls with basses. Many apologies to the moderators but it's the only photo I have that shows the whole bass. The others showed different angles but not the whole thing. Not a very good start!

[sniper]

well, she did show a fair amount of skin, you're forgiven.