Gibson Bass – The Les Paul Series
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Gibson debuted their first solid-body electric guitar in 1952 which was called the Les Paul Goldtop. It would take them 18 more years before they introduced a Les Paul Gibson Bass.
A Little Les History
Les Paul was a multi-talented man. He was a highly accomplished and innovative musician, a songwriter, singer and inventor. In fact, he independently created one of the first solid-body electric guitars.
Les brought his invention to Gibson who was not at all interested in the concept, at first. Then Fender came out with their Telecaster solid-body electric guitar in 1951 which sent Gibson scrambling for a way to compete.
They designed their own solid-body guitar and realized that getting a big artist to endorse it would mean better sales. They showed their design to Les who was so impressed with it that he agreed to an endorsement deal.
Bass Models
The “Les Paul Bass” was a single cutaway solid-body Gibson bass, with a 30 ½” scale length, and was introduced in 1970. It was meant to compliment the Les Paul Personal and Professional model electric guitars which were launched a year earlier.
It was a large and heavy bass which was meant to be primarily used in recording studios. It was a lo-impedance only bass and required an adapter, which was part of the cable, in order to use it with standard amplifiers. Heaven forbid you lose that cable.
Gibson redesigned this bass in late 1971 to be more versatile. The body was made a little smaller, it was also made much lighter and a lo/hi impedance switch was added. All these changes made the newly named “Les Paul Triumph Bass” suitable for live performances as well as for studio recordings.
In 1973 another Gibson bass, the “Les Paul Signature Bass”, made its debut. This was a big departure from the Triumph in that it had a hollow double cutaway body design with “f’ holes and a 34 ½” scale length. This was an entirely new look and appeared nothing like the original bass.
1970 Les Paul Bass
1972 Les Paul Triumph
1974 Les Paul Signature
The Les Paul model basses never achieved the popularity of their electric guitar namesakes and they were all discontinued in 1979.
Starting around 1991, Gibson tried to resurrect the Les Paul bass line with long scale basses with active electronics using Bartolini pickups. They even introduced a 5 string bass in 1993. None of these basses made it out of the 90s.
In 1997 the Epiphone arm of Gibson came out with the “Les Paul Special Bass”. Made of mahogany with a 34’ scale length it is still in production today.
1970 Les Paul Bass Specs
Here are the specifications for the 1970 original:
- Mahogany neck and body, rosewood fingerboard
- 30 ½ ” scale, 24 frets
- Single cutaway solid body, walnut finish
- Two, low impedance, humbucking pickups
- Center crossband body construction
Collectibility
Although they never achieved the popularity of Fender basses, the Les Paul models did have a reputation for wonderful sound and great quality.
If you’re lucky you can get an original 1970-1971 model for $2,000-$2,400 in excellent condition.
The Triumph from 1971-1979 will run you $1,400-$1,700 in the same condition with the rarer White color adding another hundred or so.
If you’re looking for a Les Paul Gibson Bass for less you can try the current Epiphone Special Bass version, in Pitch Black, which you can get for under $300.
I’ve never been a fan of Gibsons bass line. The Les Paul might be great for collectability, but I’m not sure how it weighs as a real bass, similar to the SG Bass