The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: 4stringer77 on November 26, 2012, 10:21:01 AM
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Les-Paul-Bass-/181029972455?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D3736542140063917623%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D181029972455%26
Day left on this one, no bites. Love my 07' money so much makes me gas for these too. The toggle is a 3 way pickup selector right? and knobs are v/t/v/t? The earlier unchambered carved tops without the toggle were all active I think. Thoughts?
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I'm not sure whether the chambered bodies came immediately with the departure of the active electronics (Bartolini TCT circuit) which occured around 97/98, I believe they came later. That said, my active LP Standard is a lot heavier than my later passive one. It may well that with the introduction of the toggle switch and the routing that necessitated on the passive ones, they started "Swiss cheesing" the body too. But if memory serves correctly, the chambered bodies were not mentioned before the early noughties when the step to LP Standards in passive had already been made for some years.
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I love that guy's style in his auction description. If I had the money, I'd buy that bass for two reasons: one- I love the GOOD modern-era LP's and two- that guy doesn't mince words; we'd get along.
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Sold for $910. The last bid came at almost the last second. Wasn't me, I have more important priorties at the moment, besides, who needs 2 volumes 2 tones and a toggle?
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Pretty good deal at $910.
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and up pops another. This one's a minty. Glad I'm not a fan of cherry burst.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Les-Paul-Standard-/251165301428?pt=Guitar&hash=item3a7a9e5ab4
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I do like cherry burst, but for that kind of money I buy a new one with the improved headstock
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-GIB-BA13-LIST
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When it comes to headstock size, I'm inclined to think bigger isn't necessarily better. Bridges, on the other hand, benefit from added mass. Tough to beat that warwick bridge. One thing I wonder about the new oversize LP is since the bridge saddle section is not perpendicular but on an angle to the strings, do the saddles still adjust on a parallel axis in relation to the strings?
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I do like cherry burst, but for that kind of money I buy a new one with the improved headstock
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-GIB-BA13-LIST
Agreed. And the cherry burst one may never have been played but that doesn't make it new. Not very smart to ask for the same price as new unless you're an authorized dealer selling a warranted product.
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When it comes to headstock size, I'm inclined to think bigger isn't necessarily better. Bridges, on the other hand, benefit from added mass. Tough to beat that warwick bridge. One thing I wonder about the new oversize LP is since the bridge saddle section is not perpendicular but on an angle to the strings, do the saddles still adjust on a parallel axis in relation to the strings?
:mrgreen: Of course they don't. But it doesn't matter unless, perhaps, you intend to change strings only every ten years in which case they might be a little bit more break-prone. They don't adjust the bridges on the guitars either, only a company like Warwick/Framus might do that, but not Gibson.
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These things are crawling out of the woodwork like crazy. This one is a bit pricey.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINT-2005-Gibson-Les-Paul-STANDARD-BASS-Tobacco-Sunburst-Electric-Guitar-RARE-/190769699494?pt=Guitar&hash=item2c6ac29aa6
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Wow, that bridge on the new ones is disapointing used that way. Looks like those Chinese aftermarket bass bridges that started appearing a few years back, and then on those Ibanez hollowbodies IIRC. I didn't mind it though I assume intonating might have been tough with some guages, but at least they installed it straight.
I just installed a Schaller bridge on a client's 6 banger SG ho that has slanted saddle axes (as well as easily 1.5X, if not more, of the saddle travel than a standard Tune-o-matic) so that mounting it slated like that not only looks cool but works very well.
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Wow, that bridge on the new ones is disapointing used that way. Looks like those Chinese aftermarket bass bridges that started appearing a few years back, and then on those Ibanez hollowbodies IIRC. I didn't mind it though I assume intonating might have been tough with some guages, but at least they installed it straight.
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It's just a bass version of the original tune-o-matic bridge. Don't know whether or not it has enough travel for proper intonation, but any Chinese bridges that look like that would be knockoffs of the Gibson original, not the other way around.
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It's just a bass version of the original tune-o-matic bridge. Don't know whether or not it has enough travel for proper intonation, but any Chinese bridges that look like that would be knockoffs of the Gibson original, not the other way around.
Wilkinson sells that bridge and tailpiece. It's made in China, possibly in the same factory making Gibson's "Grovers". Angling the bridge has the effect of narrowing the string spacing as well as allowing more adjustment travel The bridge angle can be compensated by filing the saddle string slots so they are parallel to the string run.
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Speaking from experience: Range on those slanted ones is tight depending on what string set you have.
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It's just a bass version of the original tune-o-matic bridge. Don't know whether or not it has enough travel for proper intonation, but any Chinese bridges that look like that would be knockoffs of the Gibson original, not the other way around.
Except that Gibson never made this sort of bridge until after the Asians did (or just started using theirs) - the Gibson bass version of the tune-o-matic was the 2 and then 3 point. LPs still used the Warwick when I started seeing these on Ibanez Artcores, and as aftermarket parts on ebay (shipped direct from China). I remember this clearly because I considered getting one for a project that ended up not happening.
dadagoboi's info supports this.
dadagoboi's info supports this.
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You're missing the point. Gibson invented the bridge. Saying it looks like a Chinese bridge is like saying a Gibson Les Paul looks like one of those cheap Chinese Epis.
The 2- and 3-point bridges were never versions of the tune-o-matic, they don't have separate tailpieces. At least the original T-bird bridges did.
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OK, but what's the point of looking at it that way?
The fact is Gibson never made a 4 banger tune-o-matic that looked just like the 6 banger tune-o-matic but bigger. Never (until this recent LP bass iteration). Obviously the tune-o-matic design belongs to Gibson and the Chinese/Wilkinson/whoever ripped it off and modified it for bass use; nobody would ever dispute that, but the fact remains that Gibson never thought to do this (or used to think it a bad idea if it did occur to them).
I'd consider the individual saddle adjustment mechanism to be the defining feature of the tune-o-matic (as it is the GD namesake of the thing) moreso than a seperate tailpeice. It was unike anything else at the time that Gibson originally came up with it. The 2/3 point then used the same saddle design/adjustment mechanism, even if slightly differently implemented vis a vis string anchoring and longer travel for intonation, making the thing(s) look very different. I think I even remember old Gibson lit referring to the 2 piont as a 'bass tune-o-matic,' but I'll have to check up on that.
I'm not saying it looks like a Chinese bridge; I'm saying it IS a Chinese bridge (that Gibson never designed, even though they designed the original that this one was based on.... and the reason why Gibson never did this themselves being that it probably isn't very good, as regards saddle travel, but then the Artcores used it and it looked pretty cool and nobody here really knows the rest of the story). The need to slant the bridge to get the right striing spacing is indicative of the metric vs imperial nature of Chinese vs US made hardware.
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Nitpicker. :P
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Speaking from experience: Range on those slanted ones is tight depending on what string set you have.
I believe it, in my experience the minimum travel needs to be 20mm from E to G
The original Thunderbird bridge was referred to by Gibson as a 'Tunematic" IIRC. Works fine if located properly, e.g. Peter Cook's Fenderbirds.
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Nitpicker. :P
;)
The original Thunderbird bridge was referred to by Gibson as a 'Tunematic" IIRC.
I knew I saw it somewhere in ref to a bass bridge. Then again, doesn't mean that the 2/3 points weren't also called tune-o-matics (a la the Nashville vs AB1 for 6 bangers).
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When did the (short-lived) five string EB/SG shape bass from Epi come out? Late Nineties? It had that bridge - albeit for a five-banger.
(http://mgrinventory.s3.amazonaws.com/small/Irhb9_6AbE26QTWtZzuoRA.JPG)
Don't see that type of bridge as a cause for jubilation - inferior to the here so much derided three-point in all relevant aspects. And it looks cropwded as hell. Also Jake is right, it was never used on Gibson basses much and therefore - unlike the holy immaculate three-point - has no vintage tradition to speak of.
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... Works fine if located properly, e.g. Peter Cook's Fenderbirds.
That I can (sort of) vouch for... ;)
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The need to slant the bridge to get the right striing spacing is indicative of the metric vs imperial nature of Chinese vs US made hardware.
To be honest, I thought the slant was to give the fatter strings a bit of a helping hand in the intonation department, as the saddle travel is limited.
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Without the slant the allowed travel of the saddles would have to be much more. Even with slant these cannot be intonated to perfection with some string sets.
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Yummy honey burst!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINT-Gibson-Les-Paul-STANDARD-Electric-BASS-Guitar-Sunburst-Lightly-Used-/130819230008?pt=Guitar&hash=item1e756f0938
In regards to the new LP, I was going to say it's another candidate for a Hipshot D type. Then I realized the slant would make that tricky, and the carved top wouldn't make it any easier either.
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Yummy honey burst!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINT-Gibson-Les-Paul-STANDARD-Electric-BASS-Guitar-Sunburst-Lightly-Used-/130819230008?pt=Guitar&hash=item1e756f0938
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Now that one's really nice looking.
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That beauty almost lured me in to bid but the knob placement gave me second thoughts. If you like to pick Nicky Sixx style by the bridge I could imagine the back of your knuckles wacking into those knobs. Think I'll hold out for a double cut in root beer with gold hardware.
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That honey burst is nice! Might go for a great price too. Excellent bridge/tailpiece and no "over-sized" body!
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That honey burst is nice! Might go for a great price too. Excellent bridge/tailpiece and no "over-sized" body!
His reserve wasn't too high. Someone could get a bargain. Still three days to go though.
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To be honest, I thought the slant was to give the fatter strings a bit of a helping hand in the intonation department, as the saddle travel is limited.
That's a secondary/fringe benefit.... and as Uwe said, still not quite enough.
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"Honey" went for $1,675 :o and a couple others in this thread went for $1,500. So at least a few people think they're worth as much as the new oversizes.
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At those prices they might be Christmas presents where cost isn't as big a concern. I don't think they would go for that much at other times.
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That's a secondary/fringe benefit.... and as Uwe said, still not quite enough.
I doubt it's merely a fringe benefit. I always took the slant of the bridge as part of the design and intended to aid intonation. perhaps poorly executed, but it never struck me as anything other than intentional.
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I hate to admit that I played a part in driving up the price of the honey burst. I mean c'mon, that thing was pristine and the figuring on the maple top was radiant. Thankfully my stubborn determination gave way to common sense and I let someone else absorb the cost. Dave, I hope your right about prices coming down in the future.