Bash the new Gibson Bass!!!

[uwe]

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Bass/Gibson-USA/LP-Junior-DC-Bass.aspx

[exiledarchangel]

You forgot "this color rocks", how could you?


Uwe's edit: I have dutifully rectified my grave omission.

[Basvarken]

I like it. Like Uwe said: it's a nice nod to the Gibson past.
I saw it in Frankfurt at the Messe. The color looks beautiful in real life.

The nice chap from Gibson that I spoke with told me they changed the neckjoint area on purpose because the original double cut EB-0 had a very weak neckjoint. I think that makes sense.

I do miss the pickguard though...

[ack1961]

What's not to like about it?  It's kinda cute.

[Barklessdog]

What's not to like about it?  It's kinda cute.

"They missed it by this much" - (in a Maxewll Smart tone). Why didn't they use the exact body shape of the original? It does look like the Hammer, Epi Gennesis, Alembic, whatever, but not a Gibson 59 EB-0.

Still its cute in its own right, but so close to what we really wanted, so I vote dissapointment.

This!



I'm surprised that no one made one here yet?

[uwe]

It's a fair question to ask whether Gibson really needed a third short scale bass (after the SG and the Hobbird) in their ranks. But then the sales of the SG obviously weren't abysmal. Makes Gibson probably the major brand with the most short scale basses on offer. 

They have also reintroduced the RD Standard,

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Explorer/Gibson-USA/RD-Standard-Exclusive.aspx

albeit only as a guitar. But in maho. Start sending polite wish letters to Henry J. now.

[Barklessdog]

Its such a lovely shape, why not do a Mahogany bass version with TB pups?

I would be all over that.

[EvilLordJuju]

Why didn't they use the exact body shape of the original?

Yeah, I agree with John, When I heard about these, I was DEFINATELY going to get one. When I saw the pic, I changed my mind. Remins me too much of the money bass etc. Of their new offerings, a gold top Les Paul Standard bass is the only one I might go for.

[Chaser001]

If they're going to start focusing on short scale, I wish they'd reissue an authentic EB-3. 

[uwe]

Someone has to break it to you: The era of the mudbucker is - like that of the biplane - over.   You'd bring a kid to tears today if you gave him a seriously "real" EB-3 for Christmas and he would then vainly attempt to sound like his favorite bassists with it.

Bringing it out as limited edition is another matter. If, say, the Custom Shop did 30 EB-3s for about 4.500 bucks a piece, aged and all, they would probably all sell over time. Not quickly though.

A mudbucker sound is a joy for the player, but it doesn't really record well (though in the CD age you could at least hear those sublows for the first time) nor work well on a stage. Never did. We'd see and hear a lot more of them if it had been otherwise.

And I'd never thought I'd see the day where I would read a Martin Heidegger quote here!!! 

[Dave W]

Gibson is clueless. What else is new.

It's not a DC Junior, it doesn't have the style of that continuous curve. It doesn't have much style at all.

The color is very nice, but I don't think most of Gibson's current customer base wants solid colors. Look at some of the comments.

No matter how many people on various bass forums swear by short scale basses, it's still a very small portion of the market (just like flatwounds!). Putting out another short scale model isn't going to increase that market. You're not going to get long scale players to change. If you want to reestablish your company in the bass market, you need to do it with long scale basses.

[uwe]

Personally, I have to squint my eyes to see a difference between the new bodyshape and what my cherished brethren here profess it should be. On any stage of the world this would be immediately recognized as a "bass in an LP Junior shape".

A shape which incidentally did so well and was so appreciated by the general public when the original EB-0 came out that it lasted for about 12 months before it was swapped with the SG shape.  Some success.

[Pilgrim]

Looks primitive to me.  It's a slab with color on it...looks like a Japanese knock-off of some vaguely familiar but not quite identifiable type of bass.

If they sell it for $175, they'll probably move them out the door.  No worth over $200.

Frankly, Fender's Bronco is much more visually appealing.

[Dave W]

Personally, I have to squint my eyes to see a difference between the new bodyshape and what my cherished brethren here profess it should be. On any stage of the world this would be immediately recognized as a "bass in an LP Junior shape".

A shape which incidentally did so well and was so appreciated by the general public when the original EB-0 came out that it lasted for about 12 months before it was swapped with the SG shape.  Some success.

It's clearly not a bass in a Junior shape. I don't see how anyone who knows the Junior/Special shape could think so.

The change of the original EB-0 had nothing to do with success. It was done b/c Gibson switched everything to the SG shape.

It's a short scale Monkey Bass. All it needs is a tacky TRC.

[uwe]

But wasn't the original primitive too? That was part of its archaic charm. I actually find that they captured that utalitarian look quite well. Only a hammer paint fin could have enhanced that aspect more. Slab of wood sprayed in one color, two pups, bridge and tuners on it, finito!

Of course, a spalted maple top could have ...