Herr Trujillo with an 81 Gibson Flying V Bass ...

[uwe]

[lowend1]

I saw this last week and immediately thought, "Of all the instruments you own, you chose THAT atrocity?"

[uwe]

Well, it looks cool with that shape and fin and all. But a short scale bass with those limp Ripper pups wouldn't be my first choice if I otherwise play an active long scale Warwick. But the bass signal on the new Metallica album is most likely so heavily processed, he might as well play a rubber band over a shoe box and it would still sound suitably menacing.

Not a Metallica fan, but, yeah, a couple of seconds into the intro and you know it's them.

And what the hell happened to that Gene Simmons Flying V bass so grandly announced a while back?

[ilan]

Hetfield with alternate picking?!

[uwe]

It's called arthritis and gets us all.

[lowend1]

Well, it looks cool with that shape and fin and all. But a short scale bass with those limp Ripper pups wouldn't be my first choice if I otherwise play an active long scale Warwick.

I bought a black one new in 1981. It sounded like ass in the store, but I was smitten with the look. I was convinced it would sound better when I ran it through my Ampegs. It didn't. I traded it a year later, even up for a new Kramer Pioneer Bass.

[uwe]

A smart choice with the Kramer, let me tell you.

Those things were (and are) awful. The worst sounding off the rack Gibson bass ever (and that includes the SB series). Close runner-up: the SG-Z.

https://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/2000gibsonSGZ.php

[doombass]

A smart choice with the Kramer, let me tell you.

Those things were (and are) awful. The worst sounding off the rack Gibson bass ever (and that includes the SB series). Close runner-up: the SG-Z.

https://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/2000gibsonSGZ.php

Put those humbucker coils in series, then wire up a push pull switch allowing for an additional both pickups in series  (the only choice not provided using the mini switches) and it actually sounds really good, not as beefy as TB Plus pickups but beefy enough. I did that on my SG-Z.

[uwe]

Yeah, it's solely a pup wiring issue, I know. They were obsessed with the cliche that Gibson basses "always sound too dark and boomy" and fell into the other extreme.

I of course went the other way and implanted an extra mudbucker! 

[Ken]

And what the hell happened to that Gene Simmons Flying V bass so grandly announced a while back?

You mean the one on his signature Thunderbird's pickguard?  He also mentioned left-handed versions.

[uwe]

No, IIRC they had announced that an actual Flying V bass was scheduled too. Hopefully, it will be long scale.

A long scale Flying V is even longer than an Explorer Bass or a TBird from wing end to headstock end, hence the tendency to give them less than long scale necks. Unfortunately though, the inherent drawbacks of the Flying V body shape (greatest mass of body wood in too much distance from the pups) don't take kindly to loss of neck mass. That is why my Dean Dime Razorback V is the best sounding Flying V in my flight school of six Flying V basses (two Gibson shorties, two Dean long + extra-long scale, one Ibanez long scale & one Kramer Flying Broom XKB-10 medium scale), it even has an extra-long scale neck (35"). Make no mistake: size matters.



Assless leather chaps to go with it were case candy.

[lowend1]

...my flight school of six Flying V basses (two Gibson shorties, two Dean long + extra-long scale, one Ibanez long scale & one Kramer Flying Broom XKB-10 medium scale), it even has an extra-long scale neck (35"). Make no mistake: size matters.

Which Ibanez do you have? Is it one of the 70s "Rocket Roll" basses?

[TBird1958]

Assless leather chaps to go with it were case candy.

 Did they fit? Inquiring minds and all, you know 

[uwe]

This one:




This precedes the Rocket Roll ones by a few years, it existed as early as 1973, Jim Lea would sometimes use it for TV miming, but I'm not sure whether he ever used his live or to record. It sounds nothing like Jim Lea's regular bass sound at the time, especially noticeable in the second vid which is a re-recording of the studio track for TV (Brit Musicians' Union rules required this back then) with an especially boisterous upfront bass mix.





The Rocket Roll basses looked different (and likely sounded better with their P/J pup combo), I believe they are also rarer because they were only produced for a short time:



That earlier 1973 model was in essence an EB-3L with wings and none of the kalamazoomph, a docile-sounding cult object, nothing more. I bought mine because I drooled for one as a teenager, but honestly the Ric 4001 Ibanez bolt-on Ho I played at the time sounded better. Gorgeous to look at though.

[uwe]

 Did they fit? Inquiring minds and all, you know 

Didn't I say the bass came XL?! Tends to be kinda cold though. Or sticky if you sit for a longer time.