Triumphant return

[Basvarken]

Ten years ago I sold my Gibson Triumph (Les Paul Bass with built-in impedance transformer).
It was my back-up bass. I made the pragmatic choice to sell it because I was closing my graphic design studio and getting ready for a new collaboration. Selling the bass helped me to bridge that period.
But I did kinda miss the bass a bit.
Each time when I saw one up for sale I got a little itchy. But never enough to actually buy it.

Until today…
She’s not as blonde as the one I had. But still very pretty.
Does need a proper set-up. And new strings.
This bass has not been touched in 20 years!









Does anyone know what brand those strings are?
I have never seen these ball-ends before.
Brass barrel with the core of the string sticking out a little bit.



After closer inspection they appear to be brass pipes with two torx screws on either side.
Plus two tiny holes where the core of the string goes through.
You fasten the torx screws on both sides to secure the string core.
Pretty nifty little device. Basically a ModBar avant la lettre.
No double windings over the saddles anymore.
I tried a used set of strings to see if I could use them with these barrels. Works pretty good, but it is kinda labour intensive. Took me an hour to replace four strings…

[Pilgrim]

Save the strings!!!

The flats on my 1963 P are 50 years old.  They still sound great.

You can't buy 20-year strings, you can only inherit them and treasure them.

[Basvarken]

They were rusty and full of mould. Completely dead.
I did put them in the compartment of the case. As a relic. ;-)
One of the string cores broke off behind the barrel when I took them off.
Which immediately revealed the achilles heel of this system.
It happened twice when I tried to use the little device on the new (used) strings that I put on the bass.
If you over tighten the torx screw the core snaps.

[doombass]

Nice score! It looks to be in great shape.

[Pilgrim]

They were rusty and full of mould. Completely dead.
I did put them in the compartment of the case. As a relic. ;-)
One of the string cores broke off behind the barrel when I took them off.
Which immediately revealed the achilles heel of this system.
It happened twice when I tried to use the little device on the new (used) strings that I put on the bass.
If you over tighten the torx screw the core snaps.

Well, OK.  Some last better than others.  Enjoy, looks like a fantastic bass!   

[uwe]

Master of Hobbits. 

[Basvarken]

All happy together in the Shire

[Grog]

Congrats on the great find! You don’t see many with the control plate in great shape. Nice family photo!

[morrow]

I remember a Rotosound set that had an adjustable end something like that , similar idea but slightly different .
Lovely group on the couch !

[Grog]

A number of years ago, (before I retired) I programmed & laser cut a few .015 thick spring steel stiffener plates for the Hobbit. I still have some left if you’d like to keep your control plate from breaking. If so, send me a P.M. with your address & I’ll mail a few off to you…….

[Basvarken]

The top of the Triumph is a lot darker than the standard color (same as the sides and the back actually). The standard color of the top being rather yellow.
When I looked up the serial number it turns out this bass is from a limited edition in 1977.
Since the rest of the bass is exactly the same as other Triumphs, I guess the limited edition aspect was the darker finish, right?

[Basvarken]

A number of years ago, (before I retired) I programmed & laser cut a few .015 thick spring steel stiffener plates for the Hobbit. I still have some left if you’d like to keep your control plate from breaking. If so, send me a P.M. with your address & I’ll mail a few off to you…….

Ooh! That looks great.

[Dave W]

Nice find!

I've never seen string end barrels like that.

[gearHed289]

Nice collection. I'm not sure I've seen that lo-Z Genesis before?

[Basvarken]

Nice collection. I'm not sure I've seen that lo-Z Genesis before?

It's a Pearl Export bass. From the same factory as the Epi Genesis indeed.
I bought it as a pickup donor for the BaCHbird when BaCH was developing those.
But the stock Artecs on the BaCHbird turned out to be pretty good, so I figured the Epi/Pearl pickups wouldn't be a real upgrade.

So I put the pickups back in and tried to sell the Pearl Export Bass. But nobody wanted it. Didn't want to sell this perfectly good bass for scraps.
And I decided to have some fun with it. I had scored a loaded pickup guard from a weird project somewhere (can't remember where I found it). It had a lo-z bass pickup in the neck position and a lo-z guitar pickup in the bridge position.
I took to the bass with a chisel and made the pickups cavities larger to fit the Gibson lo-z pickups.

And it works surprisingly well. The lo-z guitar pickup is excellent for bass.
The bass sounds and plays great.
Its only problem is the weight. In its original state it is already a heavy bass. But the two lo-z pickups add some more substantial weight.
Many times I have contemplated to take 10 mm off the body to lose some of the weight. But it has not happened (yet).