Gibson IV Bass for $379 BIN!

[Barklessdog]

I owned a red one for awhile a couple years ago and sold it to someone on this board.  It was a fine bass, super light, and sounded decent.  I just had no use for it..

These basses just can't find the love. No yet has had one as a favorite that I know of.

[gearHed289]

These basses just can't find the love. No yet has had one as a favorite that I know of.

That's cause Les Pauls and Thunderbirds look way cooler. 

[PhilT]

I owned a red one for awhile a couple years ago and sold it to someone on this board.  It was a fine bass, super light, and sounded decent.  I just had no use for it..

That was me. I had it for a couple of years, used it on a couple of recordings. It's finest gig with me was at The Punchbowl in Warwick, a pub that has a shelf loaded with old crock pots above head height all round where the band plays. We'd been playing for a couple of minutes when there was a crash, then another and another. Through the set I took about a dozen pots down, fortunately most survived.

It was great as a slightly quirky second bass to my reliably dull Precision, but I'm not a collector, so in the end it fell victim to the restless urge to try something else. Not an out and out favourite, but definitely remembered with affection.

[uwe]

They look horrible, but sound well. That is their secret and eternal burden. If looks isn't everything to you and you crave for great upper register access and even a high E, then the IV is for you. If you want a B string, then the V is a perfect choice for a passive TBirdish sound with a strong B string.

[PhilT]

That's cause Les Pauls and Thunderbirds look way cooler. 

You have to hold it right.

[dadagoboi]

They look horrible, but sound well. That is their secret and eternal burden. If looks isn't everything to you and you crave for great upper register access and even a high E, then the IV is for you. If you want a B string, then the V is a perfect choice for a passive TBirdish sound with a strong B string.

I couldn't help looking at it and thinking how easy it would be to cut the body sides off and "wing" it into something pretty cool.  Easily made into an Alembic Exploiter clone or 22 fret Goofybird...too many projects!

[ilan]

The bridge pickup looks really close to the bridge... how does it sound solo'ed?

[dadagoboi]

Ermmm...like this?

[Denis]

So...what would a good purchase price be for a natural finish IV?

[uwe]

400-600 bucks irrespective whether it's a 4- or 5-string.

[Denis]

400-600 bucks irrespective whether it's a 4- or 5-string.

Wow, the poor things really can't find the love, can they?

[uwe]

Few people outside this circle know that they are - to quote George Carlston - "TBirds in Clark Kent mode". They are often mistaken with Victories and Q-80ies with whom they actually share almost nothing. And their look is indeed grossly unappealing, but their sound isn't. There is nothing wrong with copying a Fender shape if you do it right and add some flourish to it, but those things look like the larva of a Fender. That their look was unfortunate and would hinder success was already known at their inception, but the design department was told "not to do experiments" and simply get them out. Price-tagged around 1.000 US Dollars at the time, they died a mercifully quick death. They were, to their eternal credit, the initial platform for the TB Plus pup though which would then reign supreme over almost all Gibson basses until this day.

[exiledarchangel]

My only gripe with those basses is their headstock, never liked that vee-inspired* thingy. If they had a les paul type headstock they would be great. Especially in red, naturally. If for some reason I had one, I would be VERY tempted to circumcise its headstock pointy tip.





*do I have to remind you Uwe that I don't like anything vee?

[Denis]

Interesting information, guys. How many (or few) years were they made?
I'd like to try one out sometime. I rather like the natural finish ones, but looking around, I have to say I do not at all like the painted ones. The headstock isn't even too bad, in my opinion.

[uwe]

The bridge pickup looks really close to the bridge... how does it sound solo'ed?

Good eye, Ilan. Both the neck and the bridge pup on these are about half an inch closer to the bridge and farther away from the frets (I measured from the 19th fret on both a IV and a TBird) than they would be on a modern day TBird (rereleased at around the same time) which explains why a TBird sounds fatter, but a IV perhaps a little more focused. The bridge pup solo'd sound nasal, but not thin, you could certainly still play fusion with it and be recognized as the bass player! Overall, these basses have a warm and fuzzy sound.

There were only three non-custom colors: ferrari-red, white (which would yellow quickly) and natural (which brings out the maho texture nicely and complements the anodyne body shape better than the more garish colors).

The headstock was a conscious move to avoid the nut pressure issues (the stringholder as the source of all evil!!!   ) of a Fender type headstock (with a nod to Gibson history: Flying V and Grabber), but of course there was no way it could look right with that type of a body. Phil Jones, the designer at the time (it was one of his earliest creations), was very unhappy with the outcome (forced on him, he initially wanted "to bring the TBird into the eighties and make it affordable" with it).

I've never seen one that was not produced in 1987 though I can't rule out that a few crept out in 1988. Essentially, they filled the gap between the death of the Victory turns Q-80 turns Q-90 line and the TBird reissue in late 1987. There was little sense in keeping them around once the new TBirds were out, cannibalizing sales beckoned.

The IVs and Vs have a place in Gibson history for being the first new full maho bass models after a ten year reign of maple with Gibson bass building and for being the first Gibson five stringers (and not bad ones at that).