Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

Gibson Basses vs. Fender Basses


AJ B.

Recommended Posts

  • 4 months later...
  • Replies 64
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Like the others have said..

Scale length means a lot to the action & feel of a bass..

Both my basses are 34" BTW, There are also 36" long scales basses too..

I learned on a SG bass with a 30" scale back in 1982 but later on went longer as it will..

Really do like a 32" mid scale bass, The best I ever played was an Alembic Spoiler BTW..

Best 34" scale was a Fender Jazz Bass & Best 30" scale was a Gibson SG Bass..

Only wish I could find a Les Paul Triumph Bass to add to my collection..

 

My 2 cents worth

 

214553ef-e540-41fb-a4a9-bb4d2e1c4eb8.jpg

Charvel 3B Neck Thru & Ibanez SR300

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like the others have said..

Scale length means a lot to the action & feel of a bass..

 

No question about it. I was weaned on Fenders and my first experience with a short scale was an old EB-0. Wow! I loved that this smaller bass had so much "bass" in it too! But it was many years until I acquired a mid 70's EB-3 that I kept for some years.

 

I still find 34" scale my base line, but I do enjoy forays into the shorter lengths. I have an Alembic Mark King that's a 32" and is a really comfortable fit. I like playing it a lot. I wouldn't mind having some other basses in 32" as well. Now that Warmoth makes them I'd look here first for something well suited.

 

Other than a Turser Beatle bass (for those brief forays into 30") my last shorty was a Triumph. Great bass, but once the novelty of it wore off I didn't play it much, so it had to go. Quite amazing though. The passive low-impedance pickups were very impressive.

 

Going the other way, my hands find 35" problematic in first position. It's just enough of an extra stretch to exceed my years of muscle memory. I find 5 stringers too wide for comfort as well so I stick with my 4's.

 

Hey, whatever works best, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After 45 years of playing, I've owned many basses - quite a few Fenders, Yamahas, Aria Pro IIs, Rics, Ibanez and, not until 12 years ago - Gibsons (that's when I realized what I'd been missing) . All I can say is that I keep the Gibsons. I'll buy a Fender, like it for about a month, and then sell it. I just keep going back to the Gibbies. for me, nothing plays, feels or sounds like a Gibson. I like set or neck-through designs with angled headstocks; not bolt-on necks with huge honking head-stocks that require string trees angry.gif. Most of all I love the way the Gibsons feel in my hands - I really can't explain it, but I just play better with a Gibson. Fenders are fine basses and are kind of a blank canvas that you can easily modify, and they are plentiful, but IMHO they don't compare to a Gibson. I truly believe that if Gibson basses were more available for people to try - they'd be king. Some of you have to know what I'm trying to say here, or you wouldn't be on this forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the biggest bass configurations I miss in the Gibson line, is the Fretless. So Fender Am. Std.'s are a better feel for me over the years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After 45 years of playing, I've owned many basses - quite a few Fenders, Yamahas, Aria Pro IIs, Rics, Ibanez and, not until 12 years ago - Gibsons (that's when I realized what I'd been missing) . All I can say is that I keep the Gibsons. I'll buy a Fender, like it for about a month, and then sell it. I just keep going back to the Gibbies. for me, nothing plays, feels or sounds like a Gibson. I like set or neck-through designs with angled headstocks; not bolt-on necks with huge honking head-stocks that require string trees angry.gif. Most of all I love the way the Gibsons feel in my hands - I really can't explain it, but I just play better with a Gibson. Fenders are fine basses and are kind of a blank canvas that you can easily modify, and they are plentiful, but IMHO they don't compare to a Gibson. I truly believe that if Gibson basses were more available for people to try - they'd be king. Some of you have to know what I'm trying to say here, or you wouldn't be on this forum.

 

 

I was amazed when I took my new Es-Les Paul bass to group bass lessons the other night, many people in Guitar Center had never heard of the ES-Les Paul. I got so many comments like, "I didn't know Gibson made those." Anyway, my bass caught many by surprise and there was serious drooling going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I played a 1983 Ibanez Musician for over 20 years. I recently decided to treat myself to something nice. I played a ton of basses, lots of p's and j's as well. I couldnt get my hands on a Gibby T-bird any where to try. I finally found one to try in Toronto. I now own a Gibby Thunderbird. I love it. I will admit that Fender makes some killer basses, but they weren't the one for me.

 

i just recently purchased a 2015 Thunderbird. Without doubt a fine almost incomparable bass; i can barely find words to describe it's beauty and how it feels in my hands and the sound, the sound!.

My first bass was a 63 Thunderbird II which i bought in 73 and had stolen in 77; since then i have had the pleasure of owning some very nice Fender basses and an Ovation magnum but none of

them comes near to my Thunderbird. Enjoy yours and i know you will never part with it, i won't....

bink

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

My fretless started life as an Epiphone Thunderbird Pro IV. It shed frets and the preamp, and it works really well for me. It also confuses people who see it and know much of anything about bass guitars, so that's fun, too. It would be great if Gibson would build one at the factory, but I won't hold my breath.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

i just recently purchased a 2015 Thunderbird. Without doubt a fine almost incomparable bass; i can barely find words to describe it's beauty and how it feels in my hands and the sound, the sound!.

My first bass was a 63 Thunderbird II which i bought in 73 and had stolen in 77; since then i have had the pleasure of owning some very nice Fender basses and an Ovation magnum but none of

them comes near to my Thunderbird. Enjoy yours and i know you will never part with it, i won't....

bink

 

I like the changes Gibson did with the 2015 Thunderbird, over the 2014. Some day I may get another 2015 Thunderbird.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love my Fender Am. Std J. I put a Warmoth birdseye maple neck on it with black binding and black blocks and changed the pups to Rio Grandes. So it really is not a full Fender anymore, just the body.

 

OH YEAH?,……… Cool! I'd really like to see that one. birdseye maple necks are fantastic looking. [thumbup]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

If Gibson would make a Fretless,..... Never mind, they're not even making basses in 2016.

Nice fretless gsg msp_thumbup.gif.

 

Man - I looked at the 2016 basses @ Gibson.com and saw only one bass for this year, the $3,500.00 Memphis!!!

 

It doesn't surprise me though; I've never seen a higher-end Gibson bass at a Gibson dealer music store; guitars yes, basses no. One would think that it would be a lot easier to sell a bass if someone could actually play it, look at it, and hear it. Duh! It's kinda like a car -if you've never seen or driven one, would you buy a new Corvette from a dealer who only had a Chevy Spark in stock? msp_crying.gif

 

The only reason I have a few Gibsons is that I always wanted a Les Paul bass even though I'd never played or heard one. Years ago I took a chance and got a screaming deal on a LP Std on eBay. Once I got to play it (and fell in love), I bought another, and another... I've owned several Gibsons over the years, and don't play anything else. I'm sure glad I kept some!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice fretless gsg msp_thumbup.gif.

 

Man - I looked at the 2016 basses @ Gibson.com and saw only one bass for this year, the $3,500.00 Memphis!!!

 

It doesn't surprise me though; I've never seen a higher-end Gibson bass at a Gibson dealer music store; guitars yes, basses no. One would think that it would be a lot easier to sell a bass if someone could actually play it, look at it, and hear it. Duh! It's kinda like a car -if you've never seen or driven one, would you buy a new Corvette from a dealer who only had a Chevy Spark in stock? msp_crying.gif

 

The only reason I have a few Gibsons is that I always wanted a Les Paul bass even though I'd never played or heard one. Years ago I took a chance and got a screaming deal on a LP Std on eBay. Once I got to play it (and fell in love), I bought another, and another... I've owned several Gibsons over the years, and don't play anything else. I'm sure glad I kept some!

 

I have no problems with owning Gibson Basses. But some over the years were not in the same quality of the 6 stringers. The $3,500.00 Memphis looks absolutely magnificent in the pics of them I've seen. My 2014 SG Spl. is pretty close to the quality of an SG Std. To my ears, it sounded better than the 2015 SG Std. I had at the same time I had the SG Spl. before selling it, so I went back for the 2014 SG Spl. I go way back to late 1969 with an EB0, so SG Basses aren't new to me. If this 2014 SG Spl. is my last Gibson Bass, then so be it. And they still keep turning out Fenders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I like the changes Gibson did with the 2015 Thunderbird, over the 2014. Some day I may get another 2015 Thunderbird.

I have one and plan to keep it. The current flock includes the fretless, a bolt-on Epiphone that's being converted into the thump monster, a 1991 with vintage wound pickups, ashtrays, and the rest of the chrome to make it look more or less vintage, a 2001, and a 2015. It's hard to say which one I like best because they are all so different. Right now, it's a toss-up between the 1991 Gibson and the 2001 Gibson. That's subject to change, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been thinning the herd over the past couple of years. I'm down to my '01 LP Std., '06 LP Double Cut, the "Swamp Rat" '72 EB3L, and a couple of 32" scale Aria Pro IIs from the early 80s. The EB3L and the LP Std. are my favorites; they play and sound great, but they're both very heavy! By the end of a 4 hour job my old shoulder is feeling it, but the sound is worth the pain. I'll never sell my remaining Gibsons. I still try other basses, but haven't played anything that even comes close to the EB3L or the LP. It's a wonderful thing to be totally satisfied with what you have, and that saves a lot of cash too!msp_biggrin.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm set with the three Fender Am. Std.'s. They just seem to be a better fit for me. One Precision, and the two Jazzes. The Fretless is kinda the Ace in the hole, of the three.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...