2014 Bullion Gold EB bass

neepheid · February 14, 2014, 10:56:28 AM

My resistance was futile.

uwe · February 14, 2014, 11:54:22 AM

Succumbing to temptation is what makes us human!

TBird1958 · February 14, 2014, 12:37:20 PM

Quote from: uwe on February 14, 2014, 11:54:22 AM
Succumbing to temptation is what makes us human!

Words to live by!

uwe · February 14, 2014, 01:54:10 PM

Restraint is overrated - unless among consenting adults of course. True virtue can only be obtained via the path of sin and, eventually, regret (but let's not be silly about it, just a little regret, don't let it cloud your vision!).

Pilgrim · February 15, 2014, 09:24:59 AM

I want to face the temptation....er....peril!!!

Highlander · February 15, 2014, 09:48:55 AM

Al, you denied us the punch line, especially the final words... thankfully, we have the good Sir Lancelot to protect us...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtcSYPjJbgg

neepheid · February 19, 2014, 03:56:23 AM

Well, it arrived yesterday. Lovely case. The bass looks ... OK. I have ended up with a slightly more "feature-rich" bit of ash than I had hoped for (of course), but the gold is very luxurious - it does seem that the body simply had molten gold poured over it. The pickguard is a bit iffy - the hole for the pickup is about 2mm too big in two directions and you can see the body in the hole. If I had made that pickguard, I'd have started again in disgust. How is this possible when we live in an age of CNC and suchlike technologies?

Anyhoo, I had a band practice last night so I took it along anyway. What a lovely sounding bass! Everything's wired up right, the coil taps seem to make the genuine difference to the tone that was promised. It's loud, clear and has a certain "authority" (has bark AND bite?). I am pleased with how it sounds to the degree that the minor problems outlined in the previous paragraph melted away and to be honest I didn't think about them until I remembered just now. I didn't have time to play about with the setup so that was it straight out of the box, tuned up and away we go. Even in this state I found it easy to play, the satin finish on the back of the neck is sleek to move around on, frets are chunky and well finished. So I'm hoping that once I tweak it to my preferences, it'll be even better.

I think I'll make a new pickguard for it though

Will probably cost about the same for a blank sheet of 5 ply as it would to send it back (as I think it would be a stretch to call this one "faulty") and hope that the replacement is as good in the sound dept. so I think I'll stick. As far as the finish is concerned, I would have preferred smooth and glassy, but then would I have jumped on it if it was £1500 instead of £780? Probably not. Pragmatism, not idealism, for the right bass of course. I think the pickguard issue is a worrying indication of the Gibson lack of attention to detail that continues to be magnified x100 by the haters, but they seem to have provided me with a bass which works, is screwed together well (the pickguard is well screwed down), wired up properly and most importantly of all sounds GREAT. I do realise this may seem at first glance to be two faced when you remember my experience with the Grabber 3 70s Tribute, but recall that the two I briefly possessed had real, enjoyment sapping wiring issues which really bummed me out. There may have been a great sound in there, but it was hidden from me in hum and touch buzz. Don't want to dwell on that though. I had a lot of fun playing the EB last night. It stays in my keine kollektion for now. Light, easy to play, sounds great, with a personality that shines through and makes it highly likeable in spite of any minor "it wouldn't be like that if I made it" issues.

Will take pics later, but here's a crappy phone one from last night's practice (because all the above is hokum without pics, right?)

uwe · February 19, 2014, 04:26:36 AM

Happy to hear! And that you gave Gibson another chance after those previous experiences.

neepheid · February 21, 2014, 03:28:28 AM

So, pics as promised. If you don't like shiny gold things, you should press the back button now.

And for balance's sake, the squiffy pickguard (grr!):

neepheid · February 21, 2014, 03:34:05 AM

Also, because how it sounds is more important than how it looks (right?), here's a wee snippet from a recording I made of the rehearsal that night. EB was set to one up, one down (can't remember which one, sorry). Amp is a RedSub 250W 1x10 (Ibanez Promethean 5110 clone). Slight boost on low and high. Sad curve on graphic EQ favouring low mids. Contour set about middle, slightly favouring mids. Recorded with a Zoom H2N handy recorder. No tricks apart from normalisation and a touch of compression applied after.

dadagoboi · February 21, 2014, 04:48:07 AM

Sounds good! Like the color, shape is a little lumpy for me.

uwe · February 21, 2014, 09:06:20 AM

Not much of a gold fan, but I like how it looks here!

TBird1958 · February 21, 2014, 09:58:26 AM

That shape is growing on me ( not like a tumor!) I give Gibson a lot of Kudos for coming up with something new in terms of shape and the pickups, bridge etc. Just wish they'd bump up the QC, the PG on this bass is not excusable.

Highlander · February 21, 2014, 04:50:19 PM

Quote from: uwe on February 21, 2014, 09:06:20 AM
Not much of a gold fan, but I like how it looks here!

Fins, Uwe... fins...

... crying out for gold hardware, imho...

copacetic · February 21, 2014, 05:00:34 PM

Actually Imreally like the gold boullion finish Gibson is using on the non filled grain finishes. It looked really good on my TBIV, which was one of the deciding factors for me. Yes sound is important but feel comes in a close secound then looks &finish. I believe several here tried to convince Uwe to get the gold TBIV but alas he stood his ground ( barely) based on his principle of not collecting for fins. Our argument about it actually being an Official 50th anniversary Thunderbird with a pickguard 'engraved' stating so. I did not really care for the new EB shape, but after seeing one in the Hold here in San Francisco..i did like it.