NancyJohnson Posted March 18, 2018 Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Man alive. It's so ugly it's beautiful. Message ends. Edited August 26, 2018 by NancyJohnson
skankdelvar Posted March 18, 2018 Posted March 18, 2018 That Futura is as beautiful as a very beautiful thing* IMO, particularly when compared to its great-grand-nephew the 2014 Les Paul Futura. It's so bland it's bland. * apart from the obvious Y-headstock tuning issues
leftybassman392 Posted March 18, 2018 Posted March 18, 2018 I like it too, awkward headstock notwithstanding.
skankdelvar Posted March 18, 2018 Posted March 18, 2018 I think the slimmer waist and the sharper angle on the vestigial top cutaway makes for a more purposeful beast than the Explorer. Also, the whole thing looks more 1950's. As for an awkward headstock the mythical Moderne takes the biscuit, IMO. Look at those string paths... 1
leftybassman392 Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) Indeed; a solution to a problem that should never have existed. I do think that as an overall package the Explorer is the most resolved shape of the family though. YMMV of course. Edited March 19, 2018 by leftybassman392
NancyJohnson Posted March 19, 2018 Author Posted March 19, 2018 I think the Flying V, Explorer, Moderne and Futura were all designed in the 1950s, which says a lot for the design team working then, compared to the one working now. (TH I'm not certain whether Gibson have a design team anymore.) I've seen photos of Explorers with the split V headstock and it works on that model too. I'd seriously consider a Futura at some stage. I never go out live on guitar, so it would just be a vanity purchase. Lovely though. Really lovely.
leftybassman392 Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) ... and of course the bodies on early Firebirds weren't much more than a rounded-off variation on this basic shape: https://screenshots.firefox.com/IrNudbQizV1JVyG7/duckduckgo.com ETA: Apologies for the slightly iffy link. I'm in a bit of a rush so... Edited March 19, 2018 by leftybassman392
skankdelvar Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 The 2008 'Reverse Explorer' managed to combine a bastardised version of the Moderne headstock with a disastrous re-imagining of the body. You can just imagine someone at Gibson whose first name starts with the letter H thinking 'Oh, that looks really nice. We'll sell bucketloads.'
NancyJohnson Posted March 19, 2018 Author Posted March 19, 2018 2 hours ago, skankdelvar said: The 2008 'Reverse Explorer' managed to combine a bastardised version of the Moderne headstock with a disastrous re-imagining of the body. You can just imagine someone at Gibson whose first name starts with the letter H thinking 'Oh, that looks really nice. We'll sell bucketloads.' Lest we forget this monstrosity: 1
skankdelvar Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 50 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: Lest we forget this monstrosity: The so-called 'Lawn Dart' (real lawn darts now banned in USA; should have applied to this guitar. 49 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: Or this: You see, that's just silly. Back in the 80's I used to own an E2 Explorer like the one below. A sandwich of different 'exotic' woods, neck as wide as the M4 and someone had stuck an SD Jeff Beck in the bridge position. Totally woofy sound and weighed a ton. Flogged it on.
Woodinblack Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 On 18/03/2018 at 12:29, NancyJohnson said: Man alive. It's so ugly it's beautiful. Nah, it is just beautiful Makes me want to get one and play it in a function group.
dlloyd Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) Ehhhm.... Edit: No... they're lovely Edited March 23, 2018 by dlloyd
NancyJohnson Posted March 23, 2018 Author Posted March 23, 2018 1 hour ago, dlloyd said: Ehhhm.... Edit: No... they're lovely I recall seeing some V2s in Denmark Street early 80s...like the two on the extreme right in this photo. They were an abomination. A classic case of a company tweaking a design for 'betterment'. Nasty.
skankdelvar Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: I recall seeing some V2s in Denmark Street early 80s...like the two on the extreme right in this photo. They were an abomination. A classic case of a company tweaking a design for 'betterment'. Nasty. The V2 was the companion model to the E2 I used to own - Gibson released them as a matching set and I suppose someone must have bought a pair of them to throw on a bonfire put in a bank vault. I thought the v-shaped pick-ups were remarkably ugly. Funny thing: my E2 was like a boat anchor. Tried a V2 one time and it was feather-light by comparison. Anyhow: Bigsbys on Vees à la Lonnie Mack. I like them in part because most people think it's an abominable notion. Gibson put out a sig Lonnie Mack model in 1994. Yum:
leftybassman392 Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 I once played in a pub covers band whose second guitarist used to turn up to every gig with a different guitar. Most of them were Gibsons of one sort or another and he couldn't really play any of them, but the one time he produced a Flying V I seem to recall he spent most of the night playing several frets too high due to the unusual offset neck position. Had we been a jazz band we might have got away with it... Oh, and Bigsbys on Vees are an abominable notion.
KK Jale Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 Then of course there was the Gibson Thunderbolt... which was a brilliant TGM (The Guitar Magazine) April Fool's Day joke that became reality, in some people's minds at least, among them Billy Gibbons, Rick Nielsen, and the Hamer company. This link has (some of) the story... https://www.accordo.it/article/viewPub/72143 1
NancyJohnson Posted March 24, 2018 Author Posted March 24, 2018 3 hours ago, KK Jale said: Then of course there was the Gibson Thunderbolt... Holy mother of god. In their defence, Hamer did only make one and if you look at their old workshop blog, it seems more of a case of doing it because they can, rather than it ever becoming a production model. Horrific.
Woodinblack Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 10 hours ago, leftybassman392 said: Oh, and Bigsbys on Vees are an abominable notion. The weird bit about that is that the back bit of the bigbsby isn't really needed, it is just a decoration, and without that it would have actually looked quite good! Anyway, I will have a fireman soon, as soon as I can decide if I could genuinely build a bass
skankdelvar Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, Woodinblack said: The weird bit about that is that the back bit of the bigbsby isn't really needed, it is just a decoration, and without that it would have actually looked quite good! Like this: Dunno, still prefer the agricultural angle-iron approach involved in fitting a B70. On an Explorer? Perhaps the neatest wang-bar for a V is the short Maestro / Vibrola: On an Explorer not so nice: Edited March 24, 2018 by skankdelvar
Woodinblack Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 3 hours ago, skankdelvar said: Like this: Dunno, still prefer the agricultural angle-iron approach involved in fitting a B70. I like that. Even though I don't actually like using a bigsby, they do look good on somethings (I have one on a Peerless gigmaster).
NancyJohnson Posted August 26, 2018 Author Posted August 26, 2018 (edited) I'm getting all a quiver over these at the moment. The roasted neck on the non-stealth models is something to behold. Edited August 26, 2018 by NancyJohnson 1
skankdelvar Posted August 26, 2018 Posted August 26, 2018 3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: I'm getting all a quiver over these at the moment. Nice, though perhaps it needs an angular head-stock, maybe like the one on this yummy Airline Res-O
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