Has anybody seen one of those?

[Dave W]

If this had been built, it wouldn't really have been a Gibson, though I do understand why you wanted it.

[uwe]

It wouldn't have been a Gibson by name only, Gibson would have built with a Tobias headstock. As they shortly after relegated Tobias to those Toby budget basses of their Epi line, Henry J probably didn't want to devalue the Gibson brand by having a Tobias built in Nashville.

Not that Gibson hasn't brought out enough basses since 2009!

[Dave W]

What really happened is that Gibson engineers were stumped trying to figure out how to put a three-point on it. 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

What really happened is that Gibson engineers were stumped trying to figure out how to put a three-point on it. 

It was combining the three-point with the Warwick tailpiece for the B string that was the killer. Gibson managed to design a bridge that couldn't be restrung without the aid of four other people and since the Alabama monkeys were all busy winding Les Paul guitar pickups, Henry just couldn't spare the manufacturing manpower to string them all up once built, so he had the bodies all routed into SG guitars and turned the necks into banjos and declared those Tobias basses a business loss on his taxes. The Feds confirmed this when SEAL Teams invaded the Gibson factory during the artifically-created flood they used as cover.

[Barklessdog]

It wouldn't have been a Gibson by name only, Gibson would have built with a Tobias headstock. As they shortly after relegated Tobias to those Toby budget basses of their Epi line, Henry J probably didn't want to devalue the Gibson brand by having a Tobias built in Nashville.

Not that Gibson hasn't brought out enough basses since 2009!

If they continue this trend you might have to rent another floor of your office building 

[OldManC]

No prototype to search for? This is an insult to your collection, someone needs to be slapped!

[ilan]

following the sad Continental V affair

Wanna fill me in?

[Highlander]

Wanna fill me in?

Seriously, you don't know...? (or are you intent on winding him up )

[Dave W]

Wanna fill me in?

The Continental V was announced in 2005. It existed at least as a prototype, IIRC Uwe saw one at Musikmesse. Never made it into even limited production. Uwe has been sore about it ever since.

[ilan]

Thanks, Dave.

[uwe]

They robbed me of it. I had it in my hands ...

[Highlander]

Unbelievably, there are still web pages up for said beastie...

Continental V - oil fin...

and another one in Oz...

Here's another one...

and yet another...

Uwe... you need justice...
This one is a PDF on Gibson's own site!!!

[Dave W]

Those store pages have been up all these years. AFAIK none of them even received a single one.

Maybe the problem was the Curly Maple center block. They should have gone with Shemp Rosewood or Moe Mahogany.

[uwe]

Henry J is supposed to have been aghast when he saw it exclaiming "That's maybe a Tobias, but not a Gibson"! And sure enough, the product manager responsible for it was a former Tobias ececutive.

[ilan]

Well you must admit it's more of a Tobias than it is a Gibson.

If Gibson wanted a part of the boutique bass market, they could have designed something that is both Gibson and boutique. Think Rickenbacker 4004.