The Last Bass Outpost

Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: uwe on August 30, 2011, 04:16:20 AM

Title: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: uwe on August 30, 2011, 04:16:20 AM
http://www.ebay.com/itm/81-Gibson-Victory-Bass-Custom-/290602596458?pt=Guitar&hash=item43a943b86a

(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/81-Gibson-Victory-Bass-Custom-/00/$(KGrHqZ,!i4E4q0VTNSWBOU9wHkoBw~~48_12.JPG)

(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/81-Gibson-Victory-Bass-Custom-/00/$(KGrHqZ,!jIE4rZ)Y27HBOU9wwkutg~~48_12.JPG)


Sure gives this Victory (one of the comparatively rare Custom ones, i.e. double pups, but passive) a different vibe. Undecided whether I like it though. Also the first Custom I see in sunburst.

Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: PhilT on August 30, 2011, 06:41:48 AM
I like it.

Is it ok to collect for pickguards?
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: uwe on August 30, 2011, 10:49:04 AM
Silence!!!  :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Nocturnal on August 30, 2011, 01:17:43 PM
The tort works well with the sunburst, but I've never warmed up to the tort look.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Aussie Mark on August 30, 2011, 05:28:30 PM
That works really nicely.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: godofthunder on August 30, 2011, 05:47:14 PM
Pretty sure it is aftermarket.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: TBird1958 on August 30, 2011, 07:03:31 PM


That bass kicks A$$!
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Denis on August 31, 2011, 05:58:16 AM
That's a beauty!
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: jumbodbassman on August 31, 2011, 08:11:40 AM
Passive.  with all those switches???  was it originally active.  being a fender guy Sb and tort is where it all starts for me.  love the look.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Denis on August 31, 2011, 08:35:37 AM
Auction's ended... Wonder who, if anyone, got it. Top bid $525 and didn't make reserve. Someone must have made an offer on the side. Even Standards go for more than that.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Dave W on August 31, 2011, 08:42:26 AM
Since it didn't make reserve, nobody got it. Unless you're seeing something I've missed.

It's not likely to sell for a $1200 BIN.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: uwe on August 31, 2011, 08:58:01 AM
The switches are a mini three-way toggle for the pups plus a two-way mini toggle for series/parallel pups (or some midboost, what do I know about stuff like that!). Vol, bass and treble knobs. (Not 2 x vol for the two pups as one might think plus master tone.)

I guess it was the bass for people who wanted a two pup bass and perhaps one with the neck pup upfront, but sans battery. (Unlike the RD Artist's active electronics, the Victroy Artist's active electronics have held up well, it's an aggressive, early Stingray'ish type pf sound, not as hifi as the RDs.) And the passive Custom sounds a bit more refined than a one-pup Standard would, due to the pup of the Standard being wound more to P Bass mode and placed in the middle.  

Of course, the tort guard on this specimen visually reinforces what the Victory Custom was in fact aiming to be all along: A new Jazz Bass, only better. It fell between the crevice of the passive single pup Standard and the active dual pup Artist though, sold in small quantities and had the shortest production span (came in late and left early). I am not aware that Gibson (unlike with the other two) ever even advertised it. Took me a while to find mine in fact.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: uwe on August 31, 2011, 09:05:40 AM
Quote from: Dave W on August 31, 2011, 08:42:26 AM
Since it didn't make reserve, nobody got it. Unless you're seeing something I've missed.

It's not likely to sell for a $1200 BIN.

Very true, even pristine Artists go rarely for more than 700 hundred. The Victory, for all its strengths and the ruggedness of its construction, is a non-collectible. Not even a lot of people in this forum have one. I, of course, have to over-compensate for that: I have four: An Artist (sunburst), a  Custom (glaringly garish metallic CAR), and two Standards (in greyish silver and a dark burgundy/cherry that might have been another type of CAR at one time, but looks totally different to the Custom today). Wot, sez you, we caught Uwe collecting for fins?!!!  :o :o :o No, you didn't, the greyish silver one is a fretless.  :P  

The casualities of The Union with their Red Badges of Courage may forgive me,

(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5504542478_1ebf496ab1.jpg)

but I could see breaking my fin vow for one of those Confederate fin ones though I could not envisage myself playing that in public unless I was asked to join Lynyrd Skynyrd!
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Dave W on August 31, 2011, 09:19:19 AM
Around 5 or 6 years ago you could often find a Victory Standard on the bay for under $400 and the occasional Custom for not much more. I did think they were underpriced then.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Denis on August 31, 2011, 10:28:37 AM
Got my Standard for free provided I help a buddy put his motorcycle back on the road. He's never actually asked me to help him with the bike...
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: uwe on August 31, 2011, 10:40:03 AM
Sometimes, having a friend with a bad back is a great thing!
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: jumbodbassman on August 31, 2011, 02:33:56 PM
Quote from: uwe on August 31, 2011, 08:58:01 AM
The switches are a mini three-way toggle for the pups plus a two-way mini toggle for series/parallel pups (or some midboost, what do I know about stuff like that!). Vol, bass and treble knobs. (Not 2 x vol for the two pups as one might think plus master tone.)

I guess it was the bass for people who wanted a two pup bass and perhaps one with the neck pup upfront, but sans battery. (Unlike the RD Artist's active electronics, the Victroy Artist's active electronics have held up well, it's an aggressive, early Stingray'ish type pf sound, not as hifi as the RDs.) And the passive Custom sounds a bit more refined than a one-pup Standard would, due to the pup of the Standard being wound more to P Bass mode and placed in the middle.  

Of course, the tort guard on this specimen visually reinforces what the Victory Custom was in fact aiming to be all along: A new Jazz Bass, only better. It fell between the crevice of the passive single pup Standard and the active dual pup Artist though, sold in small quantities and had the shortest production span (came in late and left early). I am not aware that Gibson (unlike with the other two) ever even advertised it. Took me a while to find mine in fact.

i have an active ,  sounds great  - should come with a chair...  never noticed the switches on the passive ones.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: EvilLordJuju on September 01, 2011, 08:10:34 AM
I suspect the guard is aftermarket - based purely on the lack of other examples - but seeing as this comes with all the original paperwork, had it been a special order, it would probably be mentioned there.

I think this looks really nice actually.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Dave W on September 01, 2011, 08:21:55 AM
Have you ever seen any Gibson electric with a tort guard? I can't think of any offhand. Some acoustics and mandolins have them, but that's not the same division or factory.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Nocturnal on September 01, 2011, 08:58:35 AM
Didn't some Rippers have tort, or something like tort on them?
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: ramone57 on September 01, 2011, 09:06:31 AM
some Rippers did have a tort guard but it almost looked black.  that looks like the same material as the aftermarket guard I used on my Ripper.

(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b342/rsteiner/76ripper-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: uwe on September 01, 2011, 09:16:05 AM
Early Grabbers had that blackish tort stuff that tended to fall apart after a few decades. True, it's untypical for Gibson to use.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: Denis on September 01, 2011, 10:46:45 AM
Quote from: uwe on September 01, 2011, 09:16:05 AM
Early Grabbers had that blackish tort stuff that tended to fall apart after a few decades. True, it's untypical for Gibson to use.

They were also a single ply affair, I believe. Some months ago I scored an original, unbroken torty-almost black pg for an early Ripper. You can't even tell it's torty unless you hold it up to the light...
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: uwe on September 01, 2011, 10:48:24 AM
Yes. And it turns all brittle over time. On my old Ripper it fell apart, just atomized.
Title: Re: Wonder if that tort guard is after-market ...
Post by: PhilT on September 02, 2011, 11:51:47 AM
There was a single ply tort guard under a WD Music black guard on my early Ripper. I thought it might be original, but it looked more tort than black. Not as red as the one on Ramone's, or the one I had to replace it with, more a dark brown. A previous owner had sprayed it black, along with the rest of the body, and my inept efforts to remove the paint destroyed it.