Gibson's 2014 line up...

I have noticed lately that Gibson is turning out some pretty descent guitars for $1,000 or less. I have plucked several of them off the wall at GC and given them a test run.

Hi,
 
Interesting to see "Gibson", finally doing a few more Basses, and it probably shows that the Epi versions are not selling at all!
 
I have the Epi EB3 and I'm not enthused by it, and have not been able to get that thing to sing at all. I'm likely to spend on one of their other basses, the short scale one by Gibson to see if I can get going again.
 
However, I'm wanting to get a Fender a bit more than the Gibson. Have not made the decision either way, but I do miss DEARLY my original EB-0 that had the knobs the other way, which I still think is better for the strings and the vibrations, which made the instrument better.
 
 

bapu

Moshkiae
I have the Epi EB3 and I'm not enthused by it, and have not been able to get that thing to sing at all. 

It's a bass. It don't sing. It mostly booms.

Sounds fishy...

SteveStrummerUK
 
I've always fancied me one of them Thunderbird basses.

Never played on one. The look is not for me. Makes me feel like one of those metal'ists, and I'm not really one of those, although I would want to take a Brittany Spears song and rip it with the metal riffs, see? Bad boy thing is fun!

Rain
I've always wanted a Thunderbird too. Though in my mind, it's not associated w/ metal but w/ The Cure' Simon Gallup.
 
Closest to a metal bass player w/ a Thunderbird I can think of would probably be Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe.
 

Nibbs Carter of Saxon plays a Thunderbird as his main bass:
 

 
And it sounds totally metal in his hands!
 
 

Not to derail the thread, but if you get a Blues Jr you should check out Bill M audio. Bill's made a career out of providing great mods and parts for that amp.

spacealf
Seems more like the price is still going up though.
 
New colors and all. Still have 2013 models yet to sell.
Oh, well, such is the state of .....................being.
 

 
I'm not sure for the other models, but for the LPJ, it is the same as last year ($699) and for the SGJ, I can confirm that the price went down, as they now go for $499 - what I paid for mine after the end of year $100 price drop last month.
 
Upon further reading on Sweetwater's site, I see that they seem to have changed the finish from low gloss satin to nitrocellulose lacquer - which could potentially be better for the instrument. As of last  night, I'm already starting to see tiny bits of wood through the finish on mine, from normal wear. (I don't mind, it'll probably look awesome. Plus, some people pay to have relics...)
 
Julien - I wish! If only to finance the purchase of more guitars. ;)
 
 
 
 

jamesg1213
I wonder what I should do with my 1981 Gibson Sonex 180 Deluxe..haven't played it in 10 years.
 
Play it, probably...

*Sheesh!*  How unimaginative James!
 

Rain
...
 I never was familiar w/ other Gibson basses, besides those SG type. But I've recently discovered this beauty and I'd love to try one. 
 

Sorry ... Motley BS and like stuff is not on my agenda! I was there at the time, and most of it was about the loudness and the hit, not the music!
 
By that time I was already heavy duty into the European stuff that made a lot better sense than some of the other commercial noise!
 
But yeah ... that one looks rather neat and I'm already planning on visiting Apple Music here in Portland next week.
 
Came close to gettting the Special SG Bass from Sweetwater, because they were offering a hard case with it, and Musicians Friend were offering a lousy, cheap Gig bag! I would want a case to go with it. But if you have 2k to spare, I still would like one of those Stratus-Graphite headless basses and this time the 5 string!

what i have found, over the last 10 years, 
is that ANY gibson i've played, with the only exception being a VOS 58 gold top, and a very well setup Alex Lifeson Axcess, 
was ultimately slayed by my old Carvin.
 

The thing with this one in its 2013 incarnation is that it has the rounded 50s neck, which I personally prefer, but which many SG player don't like as much as slimmer necks. And Gibson seem to have gone back to slim neck for 2014.
 
And as much as I love the Les Paul model, and as I said before, even if I think they're the most gorgeous guitars, it's become hard to switch back from the SG to one of my Les Paul's. It's hard to explain, but playing that SG makes me feel like everything has been taken out of the way, all the stops have been removed - I'm just blasting my way on that thing like I never have.
 
So I may have painted myself in a corner there, in terms of future guitar purchase. Even if I wanted to buy another SG, the features which make this one so good to me just aren't standard, and hard to find, even if budget was not an issue. And it obviously is.
 
But who knows? Maybe now that I've made the transition it'll be easier for me to find SGs that I like.
 
BTW, one thing I notice is that the bridge parts seem to be made of a different alloy because, even if the chrome finish on the stud has vanished, the part did not change colour - it's still silver, unlike my Epiphones, which systematically end up looking like below.
 
I'm also including a (poor quality) close shot of the finish below the pick up where my hand is constantly rubbing against it, so that you see what I mean by seeing the wood through the finish. That's 2 weeks worth of playing - I can play the strings aggressively at time, but the aggression is restricted to the strings only. IOW, the guitar itself was treated very gently.
 

 
Bridges - Gibson vs Epi. See that copper coloured alloy which shows up once the shiny finish has gone on the Epi. I can't tell for the bridge itself because so far it's fine, but the stud on the SG seems to have no intention of turning copper.
 

 

At last, an actual explanation. :) Thanks, John!
 
I've always wondered why all those old guitars still looked awesome, the parts were simply not shinny anymore IMHO, they'd look gorgeous, nonetheless.
 
I couldn't imagine that a guitar that had been played for 30 years or more would not have eventually ended looking like mine did after a few weeks or months. On my black LP with the chrome pick up covers, it's even worst.