New Gordon Smith 'Gryphon' Bass

[BassBunny]

A couple of weeks ago I went to a get together at Manchester Bass Lounge where a couple of Gordon-Smith pre-production 'Gryphon' basses were available to look at and play.
Drew, who runs MBL, has managed to persuade Gordon Smith to start producing basses again. Anyone who has had the pleasure of playing GS guitars will have high hopes.
I picked Steve Robinson, Manchester Guitar Tech, up on the way over to see the prototype GS Gryphons, We had a good chat on the way over and as we both know GS guitars and the GS operation we concluded that the new bass would be, "basic, well constructed, safe design".
When we got to Manchester Bass Lounge the 2 proto's were on stands, "safe design" - NO. They looked absolutely fantastic. I know the shape of an instrument can be very personal, but these had a really modern look about them. Quite a small, sleek body with an elongated top-horn. The back is arched, like Spectors, and the finish was faultless. 2 GS Humbuckers with coil taps on each and passive with a 3-way pickup selector, Vol & Tone, with a "pull-boost" option on the volume control.
One had an Obeche body and was finished in Vintage white with a tortie scratch plate. The second was a Pine body in Pewter and had reverse wound pick-ups. Both had 1 piece Maple neck/fingerboard. Production models are likely to have Poplar or Tulipwood bodies.
There were a number of bass players there and the object of the get together was to provide some feedback to GS about what players want in a bass and particularly feedback on these prototypes. So ya got to play them, haven't you!!!!! Both felt great on a strap, no neck dive and nicely balanced but the neck was thick in the extreme, (a comment made by just about everyone) , but bearing in mind GS haven't made a bass in a number of years, this isn't surprising. Access above the 15th fret wasn't very good either and Steve Robinson got into a long conversation with the GS guy about how to sort it.
Sound wise it was clear, articulated every note and didn't half have some "balls". The individual coil switching gave an almost unlimited combination of sounds and it played really well. Build quality is excellent, especially as these are essentially pre-production prototypes. Nigel Clutterbuck, from Rotosound was there, (not a slap or pop in sight), and gave them both a thorough going over and came to the same conclusions as everyone else.
So if Drew, from MBL, can convince Gordon Smith to take the comments on board and make the changes, this could be a real winner. It has an individual look, it sounds fantastic and the build is second to non. GS guitars have always been keenly priced and if the basses are, then who knows. Here is some up to date info from MBL manchesterbasslounge.com/?p=2554. Left Hookers are planned but no thought to a 5 String at this stage.

Edited November 3, 2012 by BassBunny

[Muzz]

I can concur with the above - the pickups are absolutely standout on these basses (pretty much the only bridge pickup I've played which I'd seriously consider soloing), and I'm sure the niggles/design changes (mostly the neck profile and heel) identified by most of the bassists there will be easily rectified. Massive range of tones (at least a dozen coil selection combinations) and output from a passive bass, and there are some very very nice design touches (like the back contour) which point to a quality instrument.

Top marks to Nige for refusing to slap, even when asked to several times!

[BassBunny]

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1351866349' post='1856370']
Top marks to Nige for refusing to slap, even when asked to several times!
[/quote]

[grayn]

A follow on from this thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/210858-brand-new-production-gordon-smith-gryphon-bass/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/210858-brand-new-production-gordon-smith-gryphon-bass/[/url]

[monsterbassman]

my gordy bass ive had for 30 years
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