82 Victory

[Freuds_Cat]

Victory lovers untie 

Love the description:

Direct from the "What were they thinking" dept. at Gibson, comes the Victory Bass. Some say ugly, some say cool, some say nothing. You decide. Hard case included.

http://www.gbase.com/gear/gibson-victory-bass-1982-black#

[Dave W]

I never thought they were ugly. Just too heavy.

[Nocturnal]

I like how the black ones look. Makes them look meaner to my eyes.

[jumbodbassman]

I never thought they were ugly. Just too heavy.

mine weighs a ton....  pretty good bass otherwise

[Denis]

I like mine and it only weighs .1 lbs more than my '80 Ripper. In my opinion they are neat looking basses.

[EvilLordJuju]

Yeah I like description. It's good to see people not taking things too seriously.

I must admit the looks of the Victory series have grown on me over the years - as the early eighties seem more and more of a distant memory, maybe?

I should be loving my 20/20 in roughly 6 years time 

[uwe]

They did a good job at modernizing a Fender shape without getting too carried away. And with the headstock included a nice nod to Gibson's past.

[Freuds_Cat]

yes but did it have to be THAT heavy?

[uwe]

From the Grabber/G-3 experience, some of which suffered from less than stable necks, they wanted to make the neck super-sturdy and stuck in those additional steel rods. That can't have helped with the weight. And they probably were happier for a heavier body to prevent the bass from becoming neck-heavy due to the additional reinforcement. Plus in the early eighties, heavy basses were en vogue.

If I'm honest, I have to say that I prefer a too heavy bass to a too light one - there is something in heaviness that I find reassuring of quality. Silly, I know, but I identify light with cheap, but I'm probably not the only one since most boutique basses end up being heavy (probably due to exotic woods and heavy, up-market hardware).

[Barklessdog]

I always had trouble getting past the name. Victory over what?

Your back?

[uwe]

Endsieg over Fender of course!!! Or not.

I think the Victory was Gibson's last earnest attempt of cutting a slice away from Fender as the leading big brand bass maker. Ever since the Victory failed, they have resigned themselves to their fate of being a niche bass producer. Of course, the Victory was in look, structure and material already too close for comfort to a Fender to actually be attractive to Fender players. Why play something similar to a Fender without the brand heritage to it?

Uwe

[PhilT]

They get their share of abuse. Since this ebay auction picture is too dark to see much, I lightened it.

[neepheid]

With a decent strap I don't find my Victory too bad.  I've tried a few (Mono, Planet Waves pad on regular strap) and found the Neotech Mega strap to be the best at making the load bearable.

http://neotechstraps.com/mega-strap.html

Oh and because I never get tired of plastering a picture of my restored 1981 Victory on any relevant thread -

[jumbodbassman]

a real looker....  mine is pretty beat up

[Droombolus]

Silly, I know, but I identify light with cheap.

Me too, but I guess my mind is sorta conditioned because I grew up with light, cheap-ass Japanese copies and the instruments I couldn't pay and was drooling over were heavier as a rule ....... Still in the back of my mind I still have a weight issue with my SG basses, even though I've often wished that the ol' 70s EB-3 was lighter in the bad ol' days ...... Guess I'll need a shrink sometime soon .....