This looks fun: "Vintage GIBSON Les Paul bass 1969 possible prototype" on ebay

[doombass]

That is nice Rob. Those coils do really use thick wire. It sounds really good. Like you said, thinner but still nice with some Mahogany growl.

[OldManC]

That sounds really nice! Great score...

[exiledarchangel]

Great sound!
That big grey thing maybe is an inductor, those are used to give or cut mids, or something like that.
Great sound!!!

[Basvarken]

That big grey thing maybe is an inductor, those are used to give or cut mids, or something like that.

No it's an impedance transformer. I checked it with the wiring schematics of the Triumph. There's that same symbol.

[uwe]

A Triumph/Recording sound with even more of a singlecoil characteristic than they already have. Nice!

[shadowcastaz]

Very nice catch. I have seen the green wire before .Cant remember where but I believe a small pickup maker had it. The cardboard works! Who knew!

[Barklessdog]

That's sounds really nice Rob, but I bet any bass you played would sound that good.

[EvilLordJuju]

Look theres another one!

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=716120&highlight=gibson

[Dave W]

Very interesting.

Rob, do you still have yours? And did you ever reach any conclusions about what it is?

[Basvarken]

Very Cool!!
Yes I do still have mine.
I never found any information on this bass other than what the seller in the Ebay auction provided.

The one that popped up now has the Gibson logo embossed on the neck pickup.
Mine doesn't have any logos on the pickups. They do have those black plastic ovals on the backside just like the one on TalkBass.
But underneath that black plate you can look straight at the thick green enamel wire. The pickups are held in place within the casing with sheets of cardboard. Very "prototype" if you ask me.



Mine has a BadAss brigde. But you can still see the holes where the studs of the two point bridge used to be.
Mine also has black Gotoh Res-o-lites on the headstock. The footprints of the original machineheads are still visible.

I don't have a lot of footage of the bass in action.
But the ones from this gig are pretty cool:

[Dave W]

Someone, somewhere ought to know more about these. I was doubtful at first but yours seems to be a real Gibson prototype. The large gauge pickup wire makes me think it really could be a forerunner of the LP Bass.

[Basvarken]

Gibson made a good decision when they changed the body shape and thickness to the Les Paul shape:

The prototype has a slab body which is rather thin. With the large gear machine heads it has a neck dive. Fortunately for me the previous owner put the Res-o-lites on, which just about cures that flaw.

The Les Paul Basses (or Professional Bass) balance perfectly thanx to the larger and thicker body.

The prototype however, has superior upper fret acces. The body meets the neck at the 21st fret!


All the rest of the prototype is identical to the later Les Paul Bass.

[rockinrayduke]

And.....it's gone.

[Dave W]

And.....it's gone.

The one at the start of this thread was gone 2 1/2 years ago. Rob owns it.

Jules just revived the thread because of the one at Talkbass.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

No it's an impedance transformer. I checked it with the wiring schematics of the Triumph. There's that same symbol.

Can you repost the picture that shows the item in question or maybe a Triumph schematic? The reason I ask is that a transformer IS an inductor.