Keymusic have the Midtown bass on their website:
http://www.keymusic.com/product/Gibson-Midtown-Bass-Vintage-Sunburst
(http://www.keymusic.com/gfx_productcode/133367/Gibson-Midtown-Bass-Vintage-Sunburst.jpg)
i would like to try one of those.i hope they make it to nz.
It says long scale (34"). Is that correct?
Herr Hornung, am I to procure one? ;)
Quote from: OldManC on September 18, 2012, 09:45:17 PM
It says long scale (34"). Is that correct?
Looking at the picture I'd say yes.
It's not what I initially heard from my Gibson contact but looking at the position of the Holy Immaculate Trinity Bridge (that shall be its name here from now on everafter!) which corresponds with where it is with the LP and JC Sig it has to be!
Mark, let me check first if I can get one here in Krautland!
Best
Uwe
Very keen to try one of these. Not that I need another hollowbody though. ;D
Cool! if it has the SG-pickups it could be very cool!
only two knobs on a 2 pickup bass? odd. couldn't even find it on the Gibson website.
Very observant! If this was a true mudbucker, I'd say that dialing down treble is not all that relevant ...
I don't dial down the treble on any of my SGs too so I'd re-wire it to 2 Vol, but still it looks like kinda cheap ( should I say Fenderish ? :mrgreen: ) this way....... a bit like a EB2-D knock-off ..... Still that's only envy talking because I don't do long scales anymore ...... :sad:
fenderish. ??? cheap certainly does not pertain to fender's quality control, unlike gibson's never ending bitch list.
The description says:
TB plus Humbucker and TB Mini Humbucker, 1 Volume and 1 Tone-knob, 3 way Toggle switch.
Fenderish? Did they ever put a toggle switch on a bass?
Quote from: the mojo hobo on September 19, 2012, 07:43:38 AM
Fenderish? Did they ever put a toggle switch on a bass?
Yes they did. My Fender Jazz Special (as used by Duff fron G-N-R) has a toggle switch on it. Probably some others too, but nothing that I can think of off the top of my head.
I like the simplicity in the electronics. To me it seems like the old EB-2s, EB-3s, etc. were needlessly complex in that department, and the sonic results would have probably been more widely accepted had they just implemented "normal" v/t/toggle-type setups. Either that, or tuned the filter/choke setup to more useful frequency ranges. I think this is especially the case with the EB-2- stock, the neck pickup sound is either shrill or amorphous. Kind of a shame, given what's hiding in there.
These Midtowns look cool to me :vader:
That's a nice looking bass indeed!
Quote from: Wilbur88 on September 19, 2012, 03:09:55 AM
Very keen to try one of these. Not that I need another hollowbody though. ;D
It's not a hollowbody. In an earlier thread, the mojo hobo pointed out that Gibson's website page on the guitar version describes it as a chambered mahogany body with a maple top.
....the Midtown line's advanced chambered, solid-wood construction (rather than laminated top and back) to truly embody the optimum marriage of solidbody and archtop.
Out of curiosity, I'd be interested in knowing how close it is to the original EB-2 sound.
I'd be quite suprised if it was...
Quote from: westen44 on September 19, 2012, 03:08:09 PM
Out of curiosity, I'd be interested in knowing how close it is to the original EB-2 sound.
With TB-Plus pickups, nowhere near the sound of an EB-2. That's a good thing IMHO.
Wrapping a wet towel around one's head should get the sound in the EB-2 ballpark ;D (self-deprecating humor.. I do love my EB-2D)
Seriously, though, I wouldn't expect it to sound very close, being that its long scale with different pickups, no boom/suck switch filtering at play, and it sounds like the body construction is quite a bit different. Looks like it'd be a nice instrument in its own right, though.
I can only paraphrase what he said, but I remember reading some remarks about the EB-2 from someone on the British board last year. He said although they weren't popular, he had a few and did like the sound. He said it was good for recording, at least for whatever kind of recording he did. It was good for a 3-piece blues rock band or maybe jazz trio. But you wouldn't want to use one in a band with two guitars; you'd have no chance of being clearly heard.
Quote from: westen44 on September 19, 2012, 09:27:37 PM
I can only paraphrase what he said, but I remember reading some remarks about the EB-2 from someone on the British board last year. He said although they weren't popular, he had a few and did like the sound. He said it was good for recording, at least for whatever kind of recording he did. It was good for a 3-piece blues rock band or maybe jazz trio. But you wouldn't want to use one in a band with two guitars; you'd have no chance of being clearly heard.
Some crafty EQ and overdrive goes a long way with the louder bands. EBs in general seem to mate really well with a tube head and some creamy overdrive to add more harmonics and cut thru (the bridge pickups help in that dept too, IME). They're a blast to play, but coaxing a clear and articulate sound out of them isn't always immediate, intuitive, or possible (it's easier at low volumes, as you mentioned)
That Midtown will likely be a lot simpler to dial in by comparison, and I think those TB pickups are killers - at least based on my brief encounter with an SG.
I think both ebony and cherry finishes look really cool. But I don't like the sunburst one, I dunno, something about the teardrop patern that makes it look kinda weird, visually unbalanced.
What I find odd is the binding on the neck though. Has Gibson ever made a bass with neck binding? I can't think of any. Probably has something to do with the baked maple, and they have to hide the sides of the board because it might not look too good.
The slothead EB-3 had binding. Here they probably did it for a vintage look. It can prevent board shrinkage spikiness unless the shrinkage is so extreme that even the binding breaks, but that normally takes years and when it happens the frets don't stick out as badly anymore.
It will sound nothing like an EB-2, luckily. But it should be close to an EB-650, same scale, same pups (in essence), similar construction (this is chambered, the 650 was hollowbody, but crammed with the hugest sustain block imaginable taking almost all acousticness out of it), only the wood is partially different as the 650 was all maple. The Midtown sould be mellower. But I would imagine it to have a sound most people should really like here.
I believe this model has gained hugely through the long scale in versatility, vintage looks aside, Gibson did something different this time. Let's hope it is more succerssful than its hollow-body predecessors LP Signature, EB-650 and -750, none of them a bad bass, which were all commercial failures though the Signature at least gained some recognition on the vintage market.
Quote from: nofi on September 19, 2012, 07:13:56 AM
fenderish. ???
Oops ! I should have said Squierish ....... but that sounds even more cheap ...... :sad:
Whatever! I want a cherry one.
The smaller body may help sales. The ES-33x series/EB-2 look in a more compact size might be more appealing.
Quote from: Dave W on September 20, 2012, 08:53:27 AM
The smaller body may help sales. The ES-33x series/EB-2 look in a more compact size might be more appealing.
I'd like a smaller body too. The scale length might be a challenge for me, but I'd give it a spin anyway.
Quote from: drbassman on September 20, 2012, 08:54:58 AM
I'd like a smaller body too. The scale length might be a challenge for me, but I'd give it a spin anyway.
Gibson's website listing for the guitar doesn't show the body dimensions but does say "...a trimmed-down and more player-friendly body size that still emulates the lines of the ES models..." We'll just have to wait to see how much smaller.
Quote from: Dave W on September 20, 2012, 08:53:27 AM
The smaller body may help sales. The ES-33x series/EB-2 look in a more compact size might be more appealing.
Better than making the Les Paul BIGGER! Some bean counter probably wanted to get more mileage out of the Buckethead program in their CNC. :P
I really like these! Long scale, simple control layout. I think it's a winner!
Not sure if this has been posted before, but Gibson has info on their website. It looks like a winner to me.
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Bass/Gibson-USA/Midtown-Standard-Bass/Specs.aspx
That's a beauty (baked maple regardless)! I may have to sell off my SG RI and TB shorty and get this.
well now its interesting that the tb plus under the big cover has cermaic magnets but the rear one has alnico magnets .
Same scheme as on the LP Jr. bass. They must do it for a reason.
between those and the g3 pickups they seem to started designing bass pickups again.
I doubt it. These seem to be the same pickups that have been on the SG Bass for years now.
Only newer pickups are the G-3 single coils and the MM-style on the new EB Bass (not shown the site yet) which is two of the G-3s in humbucker mode.
do you know anything about the pickups on the bfg bass on their site? they say on one hand that they are les paul bass pickups,but on the other claim that they are low impedance-with a 500k tone pot(?)interesting bridge and tailpiece.
Quote from: drbassman on September 20, 2012, 08:54:58 AM
I'd like a smaller body too. The scale length might be a challenge for me, but I'd give it a spin anyway.
It looks a little shorter than the Gretsch in terms of reach don't you think Bill? By the way, I'm still loving that bass - it is just the best!
It came really well set up for me too, not sure how it handled the long trip so well. Thanks again.
Quote from: tubehead on September 20, 2012, 05:32:34 PM
do you know anything about the pickups on the bfg bass on their site? they say on one hand that they are les paul bass pickups,but on the other claim that they are low impedance-with a 500k tone pot(?)interesting bridge and tailpiece.
I'm almost sure they're not low impedance.
You might recall that Uwe bought one and put skull knobs on it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/IMG00002-20100331-1344.jpg)
Got mine reserved at the HOG!
Quote from: Dave W on September 20, 2012, 09:34:57 PM
I'm almost sure they're not low impedance.
You might recall that Uwe bought one and put skull knobs on it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/IMG00002-20100331-1344.jpg)
Yeah, tasteful and adult, wasn't it? :mrgreen: The original knobs went on the fretless Mon(k)ey in satin natural finish, you can see them in the background.
The BFG pups sound like TB Plus chromes to me which they probably are, just in black.
The heralded bridge allows close but not perfect intonation, about as good as it would be on a Dean bass, worse than on any Ibanez that is. Too little range although it's positioned slanted. For sheer intonation range it can neither compete with the Holy Immaculate Trinity (HIT bridge) nor the Waffenwick Königstiger bridge.
Quote from: Wilbur88 on September 20, 2012, 07:25:02 PM
It looks a little shorter than the Gretsch in terms of reach don't you think Bill? By the way, I'm still loving that bass - it is just the best!
It came really well set up for me too, not sure how it handled the long trip so well. Thanks again.
Yeah, it's a great bass, sure wish my arms were longer!!!!! It's really one of the nicest looking hollow bodies around. It looks like the Midtown bridge is lower down the body compared to the 6072. I'm expecting the new Gibson might be a little shorter with a small body. We'll see!
Quote from: drbassman on September 21, 2012, 07:10:53 AM
Yeah, it's a great bass, sure wish my arms were longer!!!!! It's really one of the nicest looking hollow bodies around. It looks like the Midtown bridge is lower down the body compared to the 6072. I'm expecting the new Gibson might be a little shorter with a small body. We'll see!
Just for grins, I counted the frets on the 6072 and the Midtown. The 6072 joins the body around the 19th fret, making for a really long neck. The Midtown joins around the 15-16th frets. You can see how much further into the body the heel is on the Midtown. I suspect this might be one hollow body bass with a 34" scale that I can handle. My problem just isn't reach in terms of my arm length. I have left shoulder problems and reaching out for a couple hours at a gig just plain hurts! So, shorter necks hurt less. Very simple really! I can only take so much Advil.
Either way, the first cherry Midtown that comes into the HOG is mine!
got my eyes peeled(ouch)for a midtown bass at the 2 "big" music retailers in nz.i want to hear one.i wonder why gibson did not put the bfg bridge and tailpiece on the tb nr reissue?its not as if they seem overly concerned about it working properly or not.perhaps they just buy them in from somewhere else.
Quote from: drbassman on September 22, 2012, 08:32:25 AM
Just for grins, I counted the frets on the 6072 and the Midtown. The 6072 joins the body around the 19th fret, making for a really long neck. The Midtown joins around the 15-16th frets. You can see how much further into the body the heel is on the Midtown. I suspect this might be one hollow body bass with a 34" scale that I can handle. My problem just isn't reach in terms of my arm length. I have left shoulder problems and reaching out for a couple hours at a gig just plain hurts! So, shorter necks hurt less. Very simple really! I can only take so much Advil.
Either way, the first cherry Midtown that comes into the HOG is mine!
Sounds like the ticket for you Bill. Keep us posted - I'm keen on an in hand report from someone.
Quote from: Wilbur88 on September 24, 2012, 07:38:35 PM
Sounds like the ticket for you Bill. Keep us posted - I'm keen on an in hand report from someone.
We will see! I'm hopeful.