Where did all the Gibson basses go?

Tannin

Probably a dumb question, but when I look at film clips from the late 60s and 70s, every man and his dog was playing  short scale humbucker Gibson basses, typically SG shaped ones. Now you practically never see one.

Did everyone get better? 

ICBM

A friend of mine has a couple - they're actually great, but I can see why they fell out of favour with 'modern' bass players - especially once amps got more powerful and 'less bassy' basses could produce bigger sounds. But I am slightly surprised they haven't come back a bit now amps can properly handle what they do.

I once heard him playing his EB-3 at a gig through a big modern Peavey rig and it sounded absolutely awesome, the kind of low-end you don't just hear or even feel, it's like you're in a space-time distortion or something . I was walking to the bar after the band had already started playing, and I could hear the bass from literally halfway up the next street... although once inside, it actually wasn't too loud - it just had immense long-distance projection.

Funkfingers

Gibson (and Epiphone USA) bass guitars never sold in the quantities of Fender, Musicman, Warwick, Ibanez or, even, Rickenbacker. They have a small but devoted following. Owners tend to hang onto them.

I have tried (and failed) to get on with the narrow string spacing on Thunderbird basses. I actually did better on a Tokai lookalike with an alder body and a screw-on neck.

I found a vintage Epiphone USA Rivoli Bass cumbersome to wear and the wrong sound for the band I was in at the time.

The only Gibson bass guitar I took seriously was the RD Artist. The Victory series might have been of interest but not for long. I'm too lazy to do the weight training necessary to wear these instruments on a strap.

stickyfiddle

I don’t know the answer to the question, but I’ve really enjoyed the Gibson basses I’ve played. I genuinely considered buying the 60s EB-2 (2 pickup) I played on holiday in Seattle. 

I wouldn’t pick one over a P bass but as a second great-but-different option they’re brilliant. 

Creed_Clicks

Can’t recall the models Krist Nov. in Nirvana played but they sounded fantastic on the live stuff.

ICBM

Creed_Clicks said:

Can’t recall the models Krist Nov. in Nirvana played but they sounded fantastic on the live stuff.

Gibson Ripper - head ripper, in his case - and RD.

Penn

My brother has a couple of Gibson basses. He’s got a Gibson Thunderbird which is sort of normal I guess, the other one he has is a bright red 80s Gibson Explorer Bass. Neither are subtle. 

WezV

Recently Gibson said:

"The new Gene Simmons EB-0 Bass is the first 30.5” scale bass from the Gibson Custom Shop and the first bass the Custom Shop has produced in quantity"

I have hopes this may lead to them doing more.  

OilCityPickups

I did the odd bass gig with a Gibson Grabber back in the early eighties - really nice to play

Secret_Sam

I've tried a couple, but never owned one.  The necks and scale lengths never felt right to me, and as instruments they just felt 'dead'.   

But then I might have found duff ones.

And a lot of you actually like those clunky old planks that Fender churn out,, so Your Milage May indeed Vary  :- )

ICBM

I do like Thunderbirds, but they're pretty ungainly for someone my size - although surprisingly, less so than Firebirds... I think because the bridge is so much further back that the playing position is then quite natural instead of miles over to the left, despite the extra neck length.

EB-2s are just too long for me, the bridge is far too far forward even though the scale length is only 30.5". They do sound absolutely huge though.

JezWynd

The Ripper and Grabber models seem to be coming into vogue if YouTube is to be believed.  One of my first basses was an EB0, it was very easy to play but somewhat limited tonally. I tried an SG bass a couple of years ago but it didn't have the same easy feel of the EB0. I'm occasionally tempted to try the 70's EB-0 with the pickup moved away from the neck but common sense always kicks in and I realise that nothing is going to replace my Hofner 185 in my affections.