New Bass from Gordon Smith

[clauster]

Apologies if this has been posted before, but I was looking at guitars on the Gordon Smith and came across this -

 

https://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/shop/guitars/gs-bass/

 

 

[TheGreek]

Does nothing for me despite the price. 

[BigRedX]

I thought it was fairly expensive for what is essentially someone else's design.

 

Also with my art-director's hat on, they should have removed the protective plastic from the scratch plate before taking the photos. With it on it makes the bass looks messy, and these photos are supposed to show it at its very best.

[Mykesbass]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Also with my art-director's hat on, they should have removed the protective plastic from the scratch plate before taking the photos. With it on it makes the bass looks messy, and these photos are supposed to show it at its very best.

You'd better not look at the close up of the headstock then.

[uncle psychosis]

I like the design of that a lot, but the guys are right about the photos. 

[itu]

It has a body of a short scale, and ergonomics of a long scale. First position looks like hard to reach.

[Jonesy]

I really like it. I'm a fan of double cut designs and it looks the business. It'd be cool if you could select different pup combos and chuck some humbuckers in there instead of the pj set.

[Ralf1e]

I love the Gordon Smith Graduate double cutaway stye which is what this really is.

The 32" scale is a question mark for me as is the use of a chipped headstock in the photos. Mr Gordon and Mr Smith made their reputation on selling the only guitars at that time that came into the music shops with a perfect set up out of the box.

They were also popular with session musicians.

When I gave one to my older brother after I hurt my hand. One of his band said "right that's it you don't need to bring a load of your other guitars to gigs anymore. That thing can sound like anything"

Coil tapped hot wound humbuckers. Made in house in those days.

I guess the new owners are not quite there anymore. Close but not quite.

I would have to sell or swap something to own one of them now? 

I am also close but not quite there 🤔

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Ralf1e
Typo

[three]

I was a fan of these years ago when the workshop was in Partington. A mate of mine has a gorgeous hand-built black P that was gifted to him some decades back and I owned a lovely semi acoustic bass.  Good to see use of the Gypsy design in a bass but these get very expensive very quickly if one adds in some of the options. I’d be interested to see/feel the quality of the new instruments given the price (the originals were very lovely)

[BigRedX]

I don't think the headstock is chipped - it's just badly photographed light reflections which should have been fixed by altering the studio lighting or at least Photoshopped out. It amazes me that these days photos like this are put out for public consumption, when they should have been spotted and fixed at the photo shoot. It says to me that the manufacturers don't care and makes me wonder what other things they haven't cared enough about in the actual construction.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

It looks wrong to me with the schaller bridge especially as it is set so far forward. It looks a guitar design made into a bass with seemingly little thought of its ergonomics as a bass.

[Mykesbass]

12 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I don't think the headstock is chipped - it's just badly photographed light reflections which should have been fixed by altering the studio lighting or at least Photoshopped out.

Precisely. Can't imagine it would be chipped, but why publish a photo that looks that way? Very poor editing.

[BassAgent]

I really like that but why oh why oh why PJ pickups? I think a design like this would greatly improve with nice looking single coils or humbuckers, like e.g. Duesenberg or Serek.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

3 hours ago, BassAgent said:

I really like that but why oh why oh why PJ pickups? I think a design like this would greatly improve with nice looking single coils or humbuckers, like e.g. Duesenberg or Serek.

My thoughts entirely. 

[Ralf1e]

4 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Precisely. Can't imagine it would be chipped, but why publish a photo that looks that way? Very poor editing.

 

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I don't think the headstock is chipped - it's just badly photographed light reflections which should have been fixed by altering the studio lighting or at least Photoshopped out. It amazes me that these days photos like this are put out for public consumption, when they should have been spotted and fixed at the photo shoot. It says to me that the manufacturers don't care and makes me wonder what other things they haven't cared enough about in the actual construction.

Reflected light in the same photo is white as expected the chips are timber coloured as they would be. The left hand top corner has lost it's point as it would do.

It appears to be photoed at a gig. Maybe it's a customers photoes used by permission. Who knows.

It doesn't look like reflected light.

[Jonesy]

Just looking again and I think the headstock marks are just reflections. That teal model (what a finish btw!) has tortoise shell binding around the body and it looks to have it around the headstock too. Those 'chips' are just reflections from the yellowy part of the tort. To my eyes anyway, I can't imagine a manufacturer would use a model with a chipped headstock in their promo photos.

 

Did I mention that teal finish? Phwoar!

[Cosmo Valdemar]

21 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

I can't imagine a manufacturer would use a model with a chipped headstock in their promo photos.

 

Gibson's now-legendary "Play Authentic" video featured a guitar with a misplaced headstock inlay and crooked pickup...

[Jonesy]

8 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Gibson's now-legendary "Play Authentic" video featured a guitar with a misplaced headstock inlay and crooked pickup...

 

Trust Gibson to be the exception not the rule. Do you know where in the video? Couldn't spot it myself.

[BigRedX]

9 hours ago, Jonesy said:

Just looking again and I think the headstock marks are just reflections. That teal model (what a finish btw!) has tortoise shell binding around the body and it looks to have it around the headstock too. Those 'chips' are just reflections from the yellowy part of the tort. To my eyes anyway, I can't imagine a manufacturer would use a model with a chipped headstock in their promo photos.

But as I said in my first post they left the protective plastic on the pick guard which makes it look messy.

 

9 hours ago, Jonesy said:

Did I mention that teal finish? Phwoar!

And which IMO looks horrible next to the plain wood of the sides and back. Yuck!

[Jonesy]

59 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

But as I said in my first post they left the protective plastic on the pick guard which makes it look messy.

 

And which IMO looks horrible next to the plain wood of the sides and back. Yuck!

 

Yup, I don't think anyone has said otherwise about the plastic cover. It should have been removed prior to shooting or in post.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

11 hours ago, Jonesy said:

 

Trust Gibson to be the exception not the rule. Do you know where in the video? Couldn't spot it myself.

 

[MichaelDean]

1 hour ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

 

The bridge pickup isn't crooked, the tune-o-matic bridge is intentionally angled so it can be intonated. It's a feature not an error. 

 

I think the new Gordon Smith looks great though! I'd love to try one of those out!

[AndyTravis]

I love the look - I think the body shape would be too small for me.

 

Not that I’m a big bloke, I just struggle with small shapes.

[Shaggy]

I hadn’t realised Gordon Smith were still making guitars & basses; I used to own a mid-‘80’s GS Galaxy semi, one of the very few basses that I’ve regretted moving on.   They had a reputation back then for making quite plain, unfussy instruments, the designs rather derivative of popular Fender & Gibson models, but hand-built to a very high standard.    Can’t say I’m that fussed on the bass in the OP, but glad to see they’re still around and hopefully the quality is still top notch.

[crazycloud]

On 07/05/2023 at 08:56, itu said:

It has a body of a short scale, and ergonomics of a long scale. First position looks like hard to reach.

I'd put money on the fact of the shape, strap locations and the large headstock mean it's gonna be a diver.