2018 Gibson basses. New basses, new topic :)

[Chris P.]

I got the prices.

The retailprices, so a bit highter than street prices:

999 for the EB
1099 for the EB 5-string
1299 for the SG Bass
1699 for the RD
1999 for the Tbird

All euro prices

[Highlander]

... I'm kind of glad to see a red Thunderbird...it does look pretty.

Backslide potential... never say never...

[planetgaffnet]

Backslide potential... never say never...

But I'm buying another Lull.  I'm not made of money!

[4stringer77]

If the Thunderbird has gone back to TB+, what sort of pickups should we expect in the RD and for less money? Granted the Thunderbird is a neckthrough but I figured the RD would have been the bigger ticket item with more bells and whistles in terms of electronics. My expectations aren't so high for some sort of Bill Lawrence reissue pickups or Moog electronics either. I guess at least Uwe is happy to see the black plastic and hardware but it pains me to see Epiphone leading the charge with vintage stylings while Gibsons trots out the same generic looking Thunderbird since the nineties. The Babicz bridge is an improvement over the three point but why not use the regular Babicz bridge? The three point replacement design looks like too much of a flight deck at the end of the bass. Maybe 2019 will be better with a limited release of Rippers with the Seymour Duncan pickups. So far, it seems fantasies are better than what the reality is of what Gibson can deliver for us bassists.

[66Atlas]

As long as they dont stick Jazz bass pickups in it like they Krist Novoselic I might be interested, that just drove me nuts.

[Dave W]

The DeCola pickups that were in the 2015 TBird are still in the 2018 EB 4 and 5. Maybe that's what they'll use in the RD. I wouldn't expect any kind of vintage accuracy.

The US dollar prices at Sweetwater (which don't include the RD) are identical to the Euro prices Chris posted above. Assuming the RD will also be priced at USD 1699, don't expect Moog electronics.

[4stringer77]

Maybe no more moog. An active preamp of some sort would at least be in the neighborhood of recapturing the spirit of the original.

[Dave W]

That's true, but when was the last time we saw an active preamp in a Gibson bass? The 90s LP basses?

[Granny Gremlin]

So like I said before, why call it an RD Artist? If no active electronics ( I'd let it slide if they did that) then be honest and call it an RD standard. It's just basic sense and respect for customers.

[Ken]

I'm really disappointed in what I'm seeing in the 2018s.  I was hoping for some cool stuff, like the two-piece bridge the Epi Vintage Pro got.  This is just a 2013 with a Babicz bridge on it.  They couldn't even eliminate the third mount hole and use a cooler bridge?

[Grog]

They must be saving the active pickups for the 2020 20/20 reissue.............. 

[doombass]

As a sidenote: The Gibson 2018 RD Artist 40th Anniversary guitar has active GEM humbuckers.

https://www.thomann.de/se/gibson_rd_artist_40th_ann._vs.htm

[Dave W]

As a sidenote: The Gibson 2018 RD Artist 40th Anniversary guitar has active GEM humbuckers.

https://www.thomann.de/se/gibson_rd_artist_40th_ann._vs.htm

IIRC Gibson used those on some of their special run gothic guitars 5 or 6 years ago. There wasn't a bass equivalent back then, but you never know what they might come up with.

[uwe]

Interesting that they appear to have reverted back to the old TB+'s.

Because there is nothing inherently wrong with them (ignore the naysayers in this forum!), if you like a beefy bass sound that still gets heard look (and hear) no further. The Jim DeCola pups were more versatile and offered better transparency without ever sounding sterile (and I really love the TBird model equipped with them), but let's face it, nobody buys a TBird to sound versatile. It's a bass bought mainly for its visual appeal and its heritage, plus that not every Joes Blow plays one, and it's supposed to deliver a rock sound, period.

[Ken]

Because there is nothing inherently wrong with them (ignore the naysayers in this forum!), if you like a beefy bass sound that still gets heard look (and hear) no further. The Jim DeCola pups were more versatile and offered better transparency without ever sounding sterile (and I really love the TBird model equipped with them), but let's face it, nobody buys a TBird to sound versatile. It's a bass bought mainly for its visual appeal and its heritage, plus that not every Joes Blow plays one, and it's supposed to deliver a rock sound, period.

I'm quite happy with the TB+ in my 2013.  They also make a very comfortable thumb rest.