Alembic Guitars Club

Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: govegan on January 20, 2010, 09:40:51 AM

Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: govegan on January 20, 2010, 09:40:51 AM
My band is being filmed for a reality show in conjunction with our local news station / internet site.  
 
Some nice shots of the Bass in there, and if nothing else it's good for a laugh now and then  
 
http://videos.syracuse.com/post-standard/2010/01/the_scarlet_ending_tapes_a_cal.html (http://videos.syracuse.com/post-standard/2010/01/the_scarlet_ending_tapes_a_cal.html)
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: rami on January 20, 2010, 01:27:04 PM
When I feel like having a good laugh, I usually look at a Gibson Bass.
 
P.S.  Just this weekend I traded a my much HATED Gibson Thunderbird for a Beloved Alembic Epic - my first Epic!
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: bigredbass on January 20, 2010, 01:55:32 PM
Actually Rami, I've come to consider 'Gibson bass' as big an oxymoron as 'government intelligence' and 'jumbo shrimp'.
 
Joey
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: govegan on January 20, 2010, 02:38:38 PM
I actually don't mind the ripper too much. It's nothing like my Essence but it has a cool tone.
 
But yes, the majority of Gibson Basses are garbage.
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: fmm on January 20, 2010, 03:00:45 PM
I regret selling my Ripper.
 
Of course, I think I've regretted getting rid of all the basses I've sold except maybe one.
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: poor_nigel on January 20, 2010, 06:34:32 PM
Uh oh. . .  People are making fun of the basses I learned to play bass on.  I must retaliate!  Oh ya, well, my dad can whip your dad anytime!  You know, since my father came out of the closet last summer, it gives that come-back a whole new meaning.  Might be best to just walk away this time, or run, if they rode in on Harleys.
 
(Message edited by poor_nigel on January 20, 2010)
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: 811952 on January 20, 2010, 06:59:56 PM
I bought a '76 Thunderbird solely because of this song:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL68VE-Qi7Y (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL68VE-Qi7Y)
 
John
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: ajdover on January 20, 2010, 07:06:42 PM
I like Gibsons.  I have:
 
A '76 Bicentennial Thunderbird.
An EB-3.
A '74 Ripper.
A '77 RD Artist
An '81 Victory Artist
An '87 Custom Shop Thunderbird
 
Are they Alembics?  Hell, are they Fenders?  No.
But I like them just the same.  My Ripper, for example, is a beast - and I love it.
 
And too many have played Gibsons, and happily so to term them garbage, as govegan asserts.
 
To wit -  
 
John Entwistle - Gibson Thunderbird
Jack Bruce - Gibson EB-3
Leon Wilkeson - Gibson Thunderbird
Jack Bruce - Gibson Les Paul Signature
Peter Cetera - Gibson Ripper
Gene Simmons (yeah, I know, not a great player and an endorsement deal) - Ripper, Grabber, G-3
Nikki Sixx - Gibson Thunderbird
 
Gibson hasn't had as good a reputation as, say, Fender for any number of reasons.  They have a tendency not to fix problems (e.g., neck dive on Thunderbirds, weak pickups on Rippers, weight on RDs).  This being said, they are unique and appeal to a certain clientele, I think.  This isn't unlike our beloved Alembics, which certainly aren't everyone's cup of tea (though they might be ours!).
 
All this aside, I like my Gibsons, and play them with joy.  
 
Alan
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: mike1762 on January 21, 2010, 03:15:40 AM
My first good bass was a Ripper... I wish I still had it.  I recall a 5-way(?) switch on it that gave it tons of different tones.  It was with this bass that I discovered you had to change strings every now and again!!!  It was sounding like crap (and the rust on the strings was probably irritating the skin on my fingers) so I decided to put fresh strings on it... Voila!!!  I also had a Les Paul Recording Bass (actually it may have been a guitar... man, I'm getting old).
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: govegan on January 21, 2010, 04:34:25 AM
AJDover
 
I am not downplaying that many people such as Entwistle have played and enjoyed the Thunderbird... however every Gibson I have had the chance to play on has been sub par with the exception of the Ripper I mentioned.
 
No offense of course, I use garbage in the broadest sense of the term possible and probably should have included the word new before Gibson.
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: lbpesq on January 21, 2010, 07:09:25 AM
Don't forget Rick Danko of The Band, another Gibson bass player.
 
Bill, tgo
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: rami on January 21, 2010, 08:04:18 AM
I also have a Gibson SG-Z which I like.  But the T-Bird is way over-rated.  It's the difficult upper register access and that HORRIBLE directional hum that makes it virtually unplayable.  They'd never let one of their guitars leave the factory with such a glaring flaw.  Shameful indeed.
 
Rami
 
(Message edited by rami on January 21, 2010)
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: bracheen on January 21, 2010, 09:08:20 AM
Alan, I've never seen Jack Bruce play a Les Paul but he has been playing an EB-0 recently.  Or is it an EB-1?  I get those confused.  It's the violin shaped one.
 
Sam
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: adriaan on January 21, 2010, 10:10:08 AM
Jack Casady, not Bruce. The Epiphone Jack Casady Signature is based on the Gibson Les Paul Signature
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: benson_murrensun on January 21, 2010, 10:43:28 AM
Jack Casady has played the Gibson Les Paul Signature as well as a standard-shape Les Paul Bass. Phil Lesh has played an SG-shaped Gibson, don't know the model.
I had a Gibson EB2 that played well but sounded like crap. I had a Gibson Grabber that wasn't too bad...  
Oh oh, the thread's been diverted!
Title: Alembic Essence in a Reality show!
Post by: cozmik_cowboy on January 21, 2010, 10:52:12 AM
Lesh's Gibson started as an EB-0, but he quickly modified it with 2 Guild/Hagstrom p/ups (or, more likely, Mssrs. Turner, Stanley, and/or Wickersham modded it for him).
 
Peter