Gibson Triumph Bass Guitar

Description: Gibson Les Paul Triumph Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1974), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 302569, natural mahogany finish, laminated mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case. I purchased this from Retrofret in Brooklyn, NYC. It sounds amazing and is such a classic instrument. Here are some additional details on this model.The Les Paul Triumph Bass was the Gibson's first attempt at a completely new 4-string since the original 1963 Thunderbirds, and took the company's low-end designs in in a whole new direction. Introduced in 1971, the Triumph Bass was a quick re-think of the original Les Paul Bass introduced in 1969-70. the defining feature of the instrument was Gibson's first use Les Paul's personally designed low-impedance pickups, mated to an elaborate control layout. A "personal" bass and guitar set were launched on the heels of the re-issues of the original Les Paul models in 1968, embodying Les' ideas for the 1970s.The electronics on this bass are quite advanced for the era, based on Les Paul's personal preferences. Unlike many subsequent 1970s designs they are passive but based around a pair of large low-impedance humbucking pickups. Each has two coils sealed together under the oblong plastic cover. The control panel offers three rotary knobs for volume, treble and bass. The pickup selector is a standard three-position Switchcraft; an additional three-position lever switch offers High, Normal and Bass tone settings. There are also two slider switches; one selects in/out of phase, effective only when both pickups are on. The other is the critical one, switching output between High and Low Impedance. This was a critical improvement; the earlier Les Paul bass only worked with a low-impedance amplifier or low-to-high impedance transformer cord which few players were familiar with at the time. The Triumph bass is built entirely of laminated Mahogany including the carved top. The three-piece laminated mahogany neck is very slim with a bound, block inlaid rosewood fingerboard. Like most earlier Gibson basses, the Les Paul Triumph bass is built with a short 30.5" scale neck. Unlike other Gibson basses the fingerboard extension over the body offers a full two octave 24 frets, though the highest are not easily accessible. The pearl block position markers, multiple layer top and neck binding and a split-diamond headstock inlay were high-end features, marking this as Gibson's first "Deluxe" bass instrument.A sturdier three-point bridge was added to the model in 1973, Schaller M4 tuning keys were the standard fitting through the run. The Triumph Bass was initially only available in natural mahogany finish, although white was added as an option later. The model was in production from 1971-79 but never sold in large quantities; 526 were shipped in 1974.As was often the case, Les Paul himself seemed somewhat disappointed in Gibson's execution of his concepts: "(originally) we made a special cable with a transformer on the other end, which you had to have; if you forgot your cable, you were out of luck so we added the switch to go from low to high impedance. I tried to talk them out the short scale, but they didn't want to change. One position on the Les Paul Bass was meant to sound just like the Precision, and all the other settings were extra choices. The Triumph sounded so good it was scary; it was the finest bass I knew how to come up with, but the kids of that time were not ready for so many options. If I could have done something different, I would have made a bass with one great sound. Simpler is better, like a water faucet".While somewhat forgotten today, the Les Paul Triumph is indeed an exceptionally versatile instrument. It is easily one of the best sounding short-scale basses ever designed, and a unique piece even 50 years on.Overall length is 43 1/2 in. (110.5 cm.), 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 11/16 in. (4.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 30 1/2 in. (775 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/2 in. (38 mm.)., 10.82 lbs. This is a relatively clean and nicely original bass overall, showing some typical play wear but no damage or major repair. The finish shows some light checking, dings, scuffs and dents overall, with one small spot of thumb wear into the wood above the E string between the pickups. There is some minor finish chipping around the neck heel and fingerboard extension, and some checking on the back of the heel. A extra strap button hole on the back has been filled, and there is an old music store sticker on the back of the headstock. There is a small repair to one of the back corners on the control panel, the switch tip on the 3-way tone lever is not original but the oft-removed bridge cover is still intact. The original frets are in excellent shape, the complex electronics work perfectly and this is a very easy playing bass with an amazing range of sounds. It is housed in the original purple-lined HSC, solid with some wear and a handle repair. Overall Excellent - Condition.

Price: 2995 USD

Location: Birmingham, Alabama

End Time: 2024-10-23T19:29:23.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD