61
Gibson Basses / Re: Reproduction NR Thunderbirds
« on: February 11, 2015, 05:31:53 PM »
The most recent NR Thunderbird is not a reissue in the same way the current Thunderbird is not a reissue, or have I over simplified things?
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62
Gibson Basses / Excellent customer service from Gibson (Europe)
« on: January 30, 2015, 04:41:05 AM »
I probably have been quite scathing of Gibson's CS in the past, and with good reason, ranging from them knowing diddly squat about things they don't manufacture any more to being outright ignored.
Anyway, scroll forward to recent times - my EB suddenly became unwell at band rehearsal with a big volume drop. After erroneously blaming the amp and fiddling with it and cursing at it, I finally worked out that the volume returned if the bridge pickup was soloed.
Only a couple of months of warranty left, and figuring it was a wiring oops I took matters into my own hands and took it to my own tech. Unfortunately, he informed me that it would seem the neck pickup had gone bad. Oops.
Was going to get it rewound (seeing as the bobbins are only glue gunned in place, not entombed in epoxy), but I got in touch with Gibson anyway and told them my warranty voiding tale of woe. To my astonishment, a very friendly chap called Boris offered to send me a replacement pickup "as a courtesy" (which I think is code for "don't void your warranty again, you silly boy"
). A week later, it arrived. I fitted it and everything's back to normal (or it will be when I replace an earth wire I forgot about!)
Anyway, just wanted to say it's not all doom and gloom, I'm very grateful to Gibson for digging me out of a hole and I hope to have more of these positive experiences in the future.
Anyway, scroll forward to recent times - my EB suddenly became unwell at band rehearsal with a big volume drop. After erroneously blaming the amp and fiddling with it and cursing at it, I finally worked out that the volume returned if the bridge pickup was soloed.
Only a couple of months of warranty left, and figuring it was a wiring oops I took matters into my own hands and took it to my own tech. Unfortunately, he informed me that it would seem the neck pickup had gone bad. Oops.
Was going to get it rewound (seeing as the bobbins are only glue gunned in place, not entombed in epoxy), but I got in touch with Gibson anyway and told them my warranty voiding tale of woe. To my astonishment, a very friendly chap called Boris offered to send me a replacement pickup "as a courtesy" (which I think is code for "don't void your warranty again, you silly boy"
). A week later, it arrived. I fitted it and everything's back to normal (or it will be when I replace an earth wire I forgot about!)Anyway, just wanted to say it's not all doom and gloom, I'm very grateful to Gibson for digging me out of a hole and I hope to have more of these positive experiences in the future.
63
Gibson Basses / Re: Need pix of the brothers!
« on: January 20, 2015, 05:21:22 AM »No one but us will understand this but I remember twiddling with your knob, once upon a time...
Heh, these go up (and down) to ... 5.
64
Gibson Basses / Re: Need pix of the brothers!
« on: January 19, 2015, 09:47:07 AM »
No-one been playing this game for a while, so here's an update:
17th October 2014 - Aberdeen Oxjam Takeover, The Tunnels, Aberdeen
28th November 2014 - Cafe Drummond, Aberdeen
Just getting in the mood for our first gig of 2015 on the 30th
17th October 2014 - Aberdeen Oxjam Takeover, The Tunnels, Aberdeen
28th November 2014 - Cafe Drummond, Aberdeen
Just getting in the mood for our first gig of 2015 on the 30th
65
Gibson Basses / Re: Supertone replacement bridge!
« on: January 16, 2015, 07:07:27 AM »
Ha, I did spy that.
Three point bridge is NOT my friend right now - I was doing some work on my Midtown and I had the audacity to stretch the strings, as I have done on many occasions in the past on many basses. Damn body insert lifted out of the body, chipping the finish around the hole. Damn it all to hell and back again! I managed to lift the insert out with my fingers and push it back in place, must have changed the orientation of it because it stayed down, but I still have finish damage. Which I hope to hide at some point in the future with either a Supertone or a Babicz.
Not happy. It's not the first time I've had posts lift out under string tension (usually due to incorrect front/back angle of the bridge as a whole), but this is the first time one has spectacularly decided to make a bid for freedom when I'm stretching my strings.
Three point bridge is NOT my friend right now - I was doing some work on my Midtown and I had the audacity to stretch the strings, as I have done on many occasions in the past on many basses. Damn body insert lifted out of the body, chipping the finish around the hole. Damn it all to hell and back again! I managed to lift the insert out with my fingers and push it back in place, must have changed the orientation of it because it stayed down, but I still have finish damage. Which I hope to hide at some point in the future with either a Supertone or a Babicz.
Not happy. It's not the first time I've had posts lift out under string tension (usually due to incorrect front/back angle of the bridge as a whole), but this is the first time one has spectacularly decided to make a bid for freedom when I'm stretching my strings.
66
Gibson Basses / Re: 2015 - Memphis ES-Les Paul Bass
« on: January 02, 2015, 12:09:52 PM »
Not for me, looks too crowded with the small body and F holes, short scale's not for me either. Looks like 2015 will be a quiet year for me, as far as new Gibson acquisitions go anyway
67
Gibson Basses / Blinging Victory Standard!
« on: December 24, 2014, 06:19:40 PM »
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121525918061
I've never seen a gold one with matching neck before. Black, sure, but never gold, and never this golden either. Is it as the factory intended? Date stamp looks too crisp for a refin, to me anyway. Usual Gibson anomalies (brass nut on a Standard for instance).
Looks lovely, apart from the weirdness in the bottom cutaway/neck pocket area. Just never seen one this radiantly gold before.
I've never seen a gold one with matching neck before. Black, sure, but never gold, and never this golden either. Is it as the factory intended? Date stamp looks too crisp for a refin, to me anyway. Usual Gibson anomalies (brass nut on a Standard for instance).
Looks lovely, apart from the weirdness in the bottom cutaway/neck pocket area. Just never seen one this radiantly gold before.
68
Gibson Basses / Re: Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Whatever you call it.
« on: December 23, 2014, 11:21:40 AM »I may be just a wee bit to the west of you this time next year... somewhere near that Loch...
Cool, say hi to Nessie for me
69
Gibson Basses / Re: Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Whatever you call it.
« on: December 22, 2014, 03:53:25 AM »
All the best for Christmas and the new year, love from Gibson Aberdeen. I mean, me
70
Gibson Basses / Re: Judicious use of chrome (also - metric FTW)
« on: November 20, 2014, 03:05:57 PM »To complicate things further, the Americans have different sized pints and gallons to the Brits. A British gallon is 4.55 liters, but a US gallon is 3.9 liters. Don't ask me why though.
Ha, I thought everything was bigger in the USA. Seems not in this case
71
Gibson Basses / Re: Judicious use of chrome (also - metric FTW)
« on: November 20, 2014, 09:15:35 AM »
Oops, a can of worms that isn't labelled "chrome hardware"! I'm happy to live in a land where the two systems co-exist. I'm much more comfortable talking about small things (screws, nuts, bolts, small gaps, hex heads) in metric, but use imperial for larger stuff (road distances, height/weight of people, bags of sugar, weight of meats, scale length (863.6mm doesn't quite trip off the tongue like 34" ). I can't stand all this talk of eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds and sixty-fourths of an inch. I think nut width is my tipping point (where I'd rather say 38mm than 1 1/2")
Sometimes we get swindled in the conversion. When I was a kid we used to be able to buy a quarter pound of sweeties (candy?) which got shortened to "a quarter of" whatever (Kola Kubes if you're offering). Once the shops went metric, we got offered 100g bags - no doubt for the same price. A whole 13.3g less. Scandal! It can work out in your favour though. Because people like to make nice sounding numbers, I was in a restaurant recently which offered a 250g sirloin steak. That's an extra 3 sixty-fourths of a pound, folks. So it's not all bad
). I can't stand all this talk of eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds and sixty-fourths of an inch. I think nut width is my tipping point (where I'd rather say 38mm than 1 1/2")Sometimes we get swindled in the conversion. When I was a kid we used to be able to buy a quarter pound of sweeties (candy?) which got shortened to "a quarter of" whatever (Kola Kubes if you're offering). Once the shops went metric, we got offered 100g bags - no doubt for the same price. A whole 13.3g less. Scandal! It can work out in your favour though. Because people like to make nice sounding numbers, I was in a restaurant recently which offered a 250g sirloin steak. That's an extra 3 sixty-fourths of a pound, folks. So it's not all bad
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Gibson Basses / Re: Judicious use of chrome (also - metric FTW)
« on: November 20, 2014, 08:31:07 AM »I think if you do the pickups covers, it'll be really nice. I don't think I like the chrome and black together for some reason.
On my vintage burst, mine are V V T all inline, with the input at the bottom.
Nah, that's a chrome step too far for me
Also, I prefer the jack socket where it is because I suspect it's better for when one puts one's lead through one's strap.
73
Gibson Basses / Judicious use of chrome (also - metric FTW)
« on: November 20, 2014, 04:37:44 AM »
Hi guys
I'm not a lover of vast swathes of chrome (control plates and the like say on a Jazz, Stingray or '51 P - so industrial looking) but I never really got on with the black hardware on my NR Thunderbird - just didn't suit. So I've changed my tuners and bridge to chrome. Just got the strap buttons to go, but already I think it looks way better.
On a side note, the bridge is actually off an Epi JC and it fit perfectly - metric bolts and everything. When did Gibson go metric?
Yes, much better. That's enough though - quite happy to leave the pickups as is. To my eyes, the chrome/black is balanced out by the knobs being both.
Also, I have absolutely no intention of swapping the tone pot with the jack socket so don't even suggest it
I'm not a lover of vast swathes of chrome (control plates and the like say on a Jazz, Stingray or '51 P - so industrial looking) but I never really got on with the black hardware on my NR Thunderbird - just didn't suit. So I've changed my tuners and bridge to chrome. Just got the strap buttons to go, but already I think it looks way better.
On a side note, the bridge is actually off an Epi JC and it fit perfectly - metric bolts and everything. When did Gibson go metric?
Yes, much better. That's enough though - quite happy to leave the pickups as is. To my eyes, the chrome/black is balanced out by the knobs being both.
Also, I have absolutely no intention of swapping the tone pot with the jack socket so don't even suggest it
74
Gibson Basses / Re: "Why Bass Players Choose Gibson ..." (Warning: inane content)
« on: November 12, 2014, 04:41:22 AM »
Banal and superfluous article aside - why indeed? A question I have recently been finding myself asking, the more bloody production bloopers I find.
Answer: I was playing my NR Thunderbird at band rehearsal last night and it sounded absolutely majestic, filling the room with bass. That's why I guess. A wonky cavity cover can't change that.
Answer: I was playing my NR Thunderbird at band rehearsal last night and it sounded absolutely majestic, filling the room with bass. That's why I guess. A wonky cavity cover can't change that.
75
Gibson Basses / Gibson - please pay attention to what you're doing
« on: November 10, 2014, 03:16:39 AM »
I was tinkering around with my NR Thunderbird at the weekend and I removed the control cavity cover. One of the screws seemed real easy to remove, like it wasn't screwed into much. That's because it's screwed into next to naff all. That's because it's in completely the wrong place. I mean not off by a little and it's blowing past the bit of wood it's supposed to be in. The wooden sticky out bit where the screw was supposed to go has not even been drilled.
Stock shot, with correct cover
Mine, spot the difference?
That top screw should be a couple of inches to the left. Gibson, I love you, but why for the love of all that's accurate can't you spot these things? Someone has made the cover wrong, and either no-one spotted it (I doubt it, I spotted it in seconds and I'm no expert) or more likely no-one gave enough of a damn to send it back down the line to get redone.
FFS Gibson! Get your head in the game!
Stock shot, with correct cover
Mine, spot the difference?
That top screw should be a couple of inches to the left. Gibson, I love you, but why for the love of all that's accurate can't you spot these things? Someone has made the cover wrong, and either no-one spotted it (I doubt it, I spotted it in seconds and I'm no expert) or more likely no-one gave enough of a damn to send it back down the line to get redone.
FFS Gibson! Get your head in the game!