Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but I also saw the (very capable) bassist of the Beth Hart Band, Herr Tom Lily, on a Rockpalast feature on German TV from a Bonn gig in March 2011 at the local Crossroads (no Clapton affiliation) festival there and he played that thing on at least two tracks. It is apparently long scale, cherry fin, has a Gibson logo headstock with the crown inlay, features two pups, with the bridge one though farther to the middle than you would know from a vintage short scale EB-2. Pot positioning untypical too. And it looked brandnew.
Gibson Custom Shop one off? Luthier project? Modified Epi Rivoli (the Japanese version)? Your guess is as good as mine. I've written Herr Lily an email on the band's website, maybe he will spoil us with a reply.
Compelling scientific evidence, how could we ever do without it here?, at 1.33:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdxGWXS_-AU
Very good views of it here, looks definitely long scale to me, or is this just a case of neck envy from my side?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3v6__MBOmg
The pickup placement looks very interesting, if I see it correctly, with a neck pick up and the second one almost as middle pick up. Looks a bit like the pickup placement awesome Hagstrom Viking Bass.
Has Rob been loaning out his Bach... ;)
That could well be a Greco SA-B from the 1990s. I owned a long scale single pickup model a couple of years ago. The Greco faker logo is very similar to Gibson.
If so, it's only the second one I've seen.
The bassist is Tom Lilly (http://www.bethhart.com/tomlilly.php). No idea on the bass.
Definitely a long scale. Was Greco into making anything that was not a pretty much spot on copy? The logo does look Greco. Some other ideas at work here would either be some long scale Gibson or Greco neck on a Gibson or Epi body where some one placed the mid section pup.
Quote from: copacetic on May 18, 2011, 12:52:06 AM
Definitely a long scale. Was Greco into making anything that was not a pretty much spot on copy?
Definitely. Here's my long scale Greco SB-B ....
(http://www.deayton.com/guitars/greco87.jpg)
(http://www.deayton.com/guitars/greco87sticker.jpg)
Quote from: Kenny's 51st State on May 17, 2011, 04:54:08 PM
Has Rob been loaning out his Bach... ;)
It's close. :mrgreen: But the BaCH has the bridge pickup closer to the (two point) bridge.
And the headstock inlay looks like the Washburn W...
(http://gallery.me.com/vdbroekrob/100116/P9192106/web.jpg?ver=12848963670001)
Darn it might have been a Greco then. My eyes ... senior citizen ... sigh!
I was hoping it was some prototype for something Gibson were perhaps considering ... They should still bite themselves for sending Jack Casady to Epi.
No I don't think it's a Greco
The logo does not have an O as the last character. It's a character with a "tail". Maybe the N of the Gibson logo or the Y from Burny?
Plus the tuners have large clover clefs. Not the typical Japanese ones which are more rectangular like the one Aussie Mark posted.
There are some chinese copies that have that pup configuration (bridge minihum in middle position), maybe its one of those?
http://www.dhgate.com/red-brand-new-4-string-bass-es335-standard/p-ff8080812c3058d5012c40ed02100dfa.html
Quote from: Aussie Mark on May 18, 2011, 01:10:42 AM
(http://www.deayton.com/guitars/greco87sticker.jpg)
At least it's "Guranteed"!
Of course! It's a super real project ;D
Quote from: exiledarchangel on May 18, 2011, 08:06:53 AM
There are some chinese copies that have that pup configuration (bridge minihum in middle position), maybe its one of those?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/gcarlston/dudepit/Picture3-2.png)
Looks like one to me. Maybe those Chinese ripoff guitars and basses are good for more than kindling?
And those things have a Gibson headstock? :o
I certainly didn't sound that great, but that might have been the recording quality of the gig.
Quote from: uwe on May 18, 2011, 10:34:02 AM
And those things have a Gibson headstock? :o
China has been openly counterfeiting Gibsons in pretty large quanties recently. I saw a fake "Zak Wylde" copy that fooled quite a few people locally a few months ago. FWIW, the build quality was on par with about half the new legit Gibson's I've seen. Fo rthe money Gibson wants for their instruments, they ought to put a little more QC into them.
Those Chinese fakers have the O in the Gibson logo a bit too wide open. That's why some people call 'm Gibsun
Quote from: Basvarken on May 18, 2011, 11:47:52 AM
Those Chinese fakers have the O in the Gibson logo a bit too wide open. That's why some people call 'm Gibsun
There's always Givson guitars for the brave ones amongs us.
(http://www.givson.com/la/challenger.jpg)
http://www.givson.com/
So, if they made a fake later Tbird, would it be a Gibson or a Bach copy? Either way, I could use the gas money so good for them.
Quote from: uwe on May 18, 2011, 10:34:02 AM
And those things have a Gibson headstock? :o
You can buy just about every Gibson model these days as a Chinese forgery (as well as many other marques). Some of them are closer than others but even the best ones have flaws that are noticeable to trainspotters like us (Logo ever so slightly off, inlays not quite the same, etc) but maybe not so noticeable to non guitar/bass obsessives.
I have a friend that has 8-10 guitars that he's gotten from Chinese sellers. He upgrades the electronics on the ones he thinks warrant it and plays the snot out of them. He says some of them are easily on par with the one Epi LP he owns (a blackburst Ace Frehley model). Other than that Epi, he was never a Gibson guy before the Chinese hooked him in. ;)
There are some very good instruments coming out of China today, including some surprisingly good acoustics. Problem is, it's still a gamble finding out what's good and what's junk. I wouldn't buy anything direct, only brands through an established importer. And I wouldn't buy any forgery no matter how good it might be.
Quote from: Dave W on May 18, 2011, 07:52:59 PM
There are some very good instruments coming out of China today.......
Based on my "Crafted in China" Squier TelePaul I have to agree. This thing is as good as any guitar I've ever played. Fitted neck and all.
http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Squier-Tele/?start=all (http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Squier-Tele/?start=all)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Squier-Tele/Squier-TL263.jpg)
That's nice! Is it a newer model? I don't recall seeing it on US sites.
It's a: Squier Thinline Tele HH I bought it about 2 or 3 years ago from a Fender dealer here in Adelaide. It was a series that ran from 2005 to 2007 when it was discontinued. They did a Brown trans and other variant versions as well. Both are set neck, 24.75" scale length Teles.
CY: C = China, Y = Yako (Taiwan), "CY05" = made in the Yako Musical Instruments factory in Taiwan in 2005.
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Squier-Tele/Squier-TL247.jpg)
There were variations on them like this one as well:
(http://www.chrisguitars.com/fen01sq-setnecktele-red.jpg)
And the Brown chambered version:
(http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/img/other/dyuha/Chambered-Tele.jpg)
The Squier guitars site has a page that lists them here about halfway down the page http://www.squierguitars.com/news/index.php?display_article=67&show_archives=2 (http://www.squierguitars.com/news/index.php?display_article=67&show_archives=2) but the links to the individual instruments go to pages that says "ERROR: Product detail not found. "
Sorry for the left turn into F3nd3r and Geetard territory .....your normal Gibson bass programing will now resume. :-[
Quote from: Dave W on May 18, 2011, 07:52:59 PM
There are some very good instruments coming out of China today, including some surprisingly good acoustics. Problem is, it's still a gamble finding out what's good and what's junk. I wouldn't buy anything direct, only brands through an established importer. And I wouldn't buy any forgery no matter how good it might be.
Couldn't agree more. The usual suspect is ofcourse the hardware. One friend bought a les paul guitar copy from them, it was beautiful but string buzz was everywhere. Then he noticed that the tuneomatic bridge had a completely wrong radius compared to the fretboard, he changed the bridge with a wilkinson (I think) and the guitar plays superb now.
Does this MIA/MIJ/MIM/MIC thing happen in any other industry? I'm just struggling to imagine Apple launching an iPad with an MIA version (gold plated case, scratch proof screen, superior build quality) - MIM version (black metal case, standard screen, not badly made, but you might cut yourself on the edges) - MIC version (all plastic, might last 3 months if you're lucky).
I think all iPads are made in China...
Phil, I can't think of any other industry where it's this common.
Quote from: Dave W on May 19, 2011, 08:54:22 AM
Phil, I can't think of any other industry where it's this common.
I think automobiles may be the closest. They are sourced and assembled in various countries in a somewhat similar fashion. The key is probably the labor cost.
I think you might have something there Al. My wife bought one of the the last of the Nissan Pulsars. Nissan built this brand up by making a very reliable small car in Japan and once the brand/model was established in Australia (I assume its the same in other coutries) they switched to making them in Thailand. Perception true or false is that the cars are of lesser quality therefore the resale value is lower. Sounds like guitars to me :)