New EB2

[vates]

dark cherry whizz ze binding.

I definitely can see this bass in my future. However, if these will come with ceramic TB-pickups the latter will be swapped for Fralin AlNiCo 'buckers.
And also it may somehow darken the future of my DC

[Granny Gremlin]

So again, like with the Midtown (why do they need both models splitting the vote target market for hollowbody ES style basses, dooming both to probable commercial failure and therefore discontinument?), they have taken what I liked about the original, and thrown 80% of it in the trash.

In a way I am glad, because I can't be buying any more instruments right now (even though I always felt a hole in my stable that could only be fille3d with a hollowbody; eventually I will fiond a decent Starfire/EB2/Rivoli body is project shape and make the bass I have been dreaming of - Lo Z LP pup in the bridge and mudbucker in the mid/sweet spot).

Also, as always, nothing wrong with the 3 point.  Fine stable bridge that.

[drbassman]

I don't know about this one.  It's nice looking, but the Midtown is a nice bass for the money and the few cosmetic differences and the TB pups aren't enough to push me over the edge at this point.  34" scale isn't a plus either.

[dadagoboi]

Don't need it and don't want it.  This one now looks, plays and sounds exactly the way I want an EB-2...shoot me, I'm old. 






Yeah, I know it's a Rivoli.

[drbassman]

I agree with you Carlo.  I'll play my EB-2 when I want an authentic hollowbody Gibson.  I don't see the changes on the 335 as all that positively.

[uwe]

So again, like with the Midtown (why do they need both models splitting the vote target market for hollowbody ES style basses, dooming both to probable commercial failure and therefore discontinument?), they have taken what I liked about the original, and thrown 80% of it in the trash.

In a way I am glad, because I can't be buying any more instruments right now (even though I always felt a hole in my stable that could only be fille3d with a hollowbody; eventually I will find a decent Starfire/EB2/Rivoli body is project shape and make the bass I have been dreaming of - Lo Z LP pup in the bridge and mudbucker in the mid/sweet spot).

Also, as always, nothing wrong with the 3 point.  Fine stable bridge that.

And I thought you would find at least the binding-less version commendable, Jake. How you disappoint.  


Your assumptions, guys, are all wrong. You criticize Gibson for taking a position it hasn't claimed. It hasn't said it would reissue the EB-2. It said it would bring out the Midnight and the ES-335 bass, both unprecedented models. Just because one looks like and one is a semi-hollow, you guys assume it is an "EB-2", a bass that was never offered in long scale and suffered for it as short scale went out of fashion at the end of the sixties and people started looking for a brighter bass sound. The salesman in the session music (= large German retailer) vid I posted says, towards the end 35:00, something interesting along the lines that Gibson does faithful reissues on one hand ("you have to pay homage and you learn from the best of history ... but you got to grow" - a sentiment not very popular in this forum of forums I dare say!) , but on the other hand also brings out new stuff that cites somse aspects of historic models, without really wishing to copy them completely, and hoping that these will be viewed as iconic in their own right "in fifty years time". There is nothing wrong with that. Or go to 30:37 were he says that a model "embodies a lot of things we have done in the past, but it is not a reissue of anything, it's new".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apj1ZaD67Dc&feature=player_embedded

So take that bass for what it is: A vintage looking modern hollowbody with a long scale neck, upmarket for those who don't want a chambered solidbody (Midnight) or a Korean-made bass (Epi JC Sig). Sales of the Allen Woody "hollowbody" (in actual fact chambered too) with its short scale neck were not such since its release that Gibson should assume a huge market for short scale hollow bodies. With a mudbucker!  

It's fine for you guys to like your EB-2s, I like mine too, all four of them, but it's probably one of the most limited, one trick pony'ish basses on earth, let it rest and let Gibson try something different rather than repeating - albeit collectible and beloved - mistakes from the past.

[dadagoboi]

I couldn't give a crap why Gibson wants to release ANYTHING.  I just know what I like and it ain't that, a mashed up combo of whatever is in the parts bin.

[Dave W]

I understand what Gibson is trying to do here, a modern 335-shaped bass, not an EB-2 reissue, for better or for worse.

The Midtown is a different animal and is an adjunct of the Midtown guitar line. It's much smaller and built more like a Rick 330 than a Gibson semihollow. Still, agree with GG that the 335 Bass market is diluted because of the Midtown.

I couldn't give a crap why Gibson wants to release ANYTHING.  I just know what I like and it ain't that, a mashed up combo of whatever is in the parts bin.

It's a little more than just a spare parts bass, but you're essentially right. They finally have new pickups and circuit with the EB Bass (and a good bridge, though it wouldn't work with a 335) yet with the 335 Bass they're still using the same parts from other basses.

It's not supposed to be a faithful reissue, so go the extra mile and make it worth buying.

[uwe]

As if it was ever different!!! Gibson bought alder for the Ripper bodies and then starts producing SG shape alder bodies as well - the budget SB series. They bought korina because it was cheaper than maho and - voilà - a few years later it's a cult wood. Making apparently new product from stuff you already have - components - is nothing new or despicable, but sensible industry production. And Gibson are industry, not a boutique luthier. Why should they be any different than the people who make my Volvo?

Your view of Gibson past production - even pre-Norlin - is severely rose-tinted. I fail to see what is so much better on my sixties TBirds than on the new stuff I buy. At least these days they place the bridge right.  

And speaking of the here much derided TB Plus pup family: If you can't get a Gibson sound you like out of bass equipped with two TB Plus pups then you should possibly play more tennis as a pasttime. Or buy a Jazz Bass.    People would have killed for these pups in the sixties or seventies.  

[Granny Gremlin]

And I thought you would find at least the binding-less version commendable, Jake. How you disappoint.  


Your assumptions, guys, are all wrong. You criticize Gibson for taking a position it hasn't claimed. It hasn't said it would reissue the EB-2. It said it would bring out the Midnight and the ES-335 bass, both unprecedented models. Just because one looks like and one is a semi-hollow, you guys assume it is an "EB-2", a bass that was never offered in long scale and suffered for it as short scale went out of fashion at the end of the sixties and people started looking for a brighter bass sound. ...

On the contrary, I would think a lawyer would be able to spot the semantic differance between what you said there and someone saying that they're just not interested in the product (but would be interested in something that was more of an authentic reissue).

The all black  with no binding is appealing to the angsty teenager in me (as well as the hack modifier in me - easy to cut into that body as needed and touch up the finish), but looks kinda cheap as someone else mentioned to adult me.  They could have used black or patterned/multilayer binding and it'd be a lot sexier.... they better offer it at a discount (vs the bound burst and cherry) too because they're saving a load of labour on those ones.

[Dave W]

As if it was ever different!!! Gibson bought alder for the Ripper bodies and then starts producing SG shape alder bodies as well - the budget SB series. They bought korina because it was cheaper than maho and - voilà - a few years later it's a cult wood. Making apparently new product from stuff you already have - components - is nothing new or despicable, but sensible industry production. And Gibson are industry, not a boutique luthier. Why should they be any different than the people who make my Volvo?

Your view of Gibson past production - even pre-Norlin - is severely rose-tinted. I fail to see what is so much better on my sixties TBirds than on the new stuff I buy. At least these days they place the bridge right.  

And speaking of the here much derided TB Plus pup family: If you can't get a Gibson sound you like out of bass equipped with two TB Plus pups then you should possibly play more tennis as a pasttime. Or buy a Jazz Bass.    People would have killed for these pups in the sixties or seventies.  

You're right, Gibson did that, and so did Fender -- 50 to 60 years ago! If you buy an American Standard Fender today (not a vintage reissue) , you get a modern interpretation of the original, and as always there are some interchangeable parts, but you don't get leftover parts from other models just because they're on hand. Gibson hasn't learned that yet.

I've never cared for the tone of TB Plus, period. IMHO there are a lot better sounding pickups out there.

[uwe]

I find the TB Plus the best mass-produced non-Fender sounding passive pup in the world, honest.  They are modern growl monsters with just enough presence and low bass to not sound too vintage. At least for a pick player like me, I could understand that a finger player might find their treble and presence department a bit lacking. A lot of souped-up Fender P split coils can sound harsh (especially with a pick), a TB Plus is just as loud and assertive, but never grates with harshness.

One thing you can say "against" them though is that they color the sound of any bass heftily. Any Epi I have equipped with them, the dif is like night and day.

[uwe]

If you buy an American Standard Fender today (not a vintage reissue) , you get a modern interpretation of the original, and as always there are some interchangeable parts, but you don't get leftover parts from other models just because they're on hand.

Are we really talking about Fender, that brand which produces essentially two basses in umpteenth variations?  Standard, Faded, Highway, Classic, American Standard, American Vintage, Affinity, Deluxe, Pawn Shop ...   No, that is not barrel scraping at all and they never use the parts from one series in the other. Or simply rename a series in marketing mastication, that they would never do!

THIS MESSAGE WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE KIND SUPPORT OF THE FENDER MARKETING DEPARTMENT. We inventend two basses half a century ago - and stuck with it.

[drbassman]

I wasn't bemoaning the lack of resissue authenticity.  It's fairly clear what Gibson is doing.  I was just stating what I like and the 335 isn't it.  So sue me!  Opps, probably sholdn't give Uwe an opening like that!!!   

[Dave W]

Are we really talking about Fender, that brand which produces essentially two basses in umpteenth variations?  Standard, Faded, Highway, Classic, American Standard, American Vintage, Affinity, Deluxe, Pawn Shop ...   No, that is not barrel scraping at all and they never use the parts from one series in the other. Or simply rename a series in marketing mastication, that they would never do!

....

Yes, that same Fender. Yes, I've criticized them for all the different versions. But you're missing the point (deliberately, I'm sure): Fender doesn't put the same pickup and hardware in every bass, or even every bass of the same type. E.g., most of those different Ps have different pickups, some have different control circuits, etc. It's oversaturation, but it's not done to use up spare parts in the parts bin.

Gibson won't even use their own new pickups or the Babicz bridge. Same old tired TB Plus and three-point on almost everything.