Gibson Les Paul Special 5 String Bass

This bass was made at the Nashville plant in 1992. Ebony fretboard with pearl trapazoid inlays. Heritage cherry finish on nicely flamed flat maple top. Mahogany body and neck. Black hardware and Bartolini active electronics. Neck is relatively thin for a five string. Easy to play, beautiful tone, very versatile. My only gripe is that I wish it had the carved top like all the other high end Les Pauls. Came with nice Gibson "Cal Girl" case, tan on the outside, pink on the inside.

I love it ! The tone is what hooked me on this bass. Play classic rock in a working band. I use a G-K head, but also played it through Ampeg B-2 and SVT heads, outstanding versatility, from deep and dark to funk popin' snap. This I attribute to the excellent Bartolini pups.

Hey, this is a real Gibson Les Paul. It is a high quality well made guitar.

This thing was made for lots of steady use, and that's what I give it. The lacquer finish is thick and easilly repairable. I bought it used and it had serious buckle rash. I filled it in with new lacquer, sanded it down and buffed it out with polishing compound, good as new. The strap buttons I replaced with Dunlop strap locks. I carry extra stings and 9V batteries to a gig, but no back up. This baby is rock solid.

No experience here, but I've heard they are good to deal with.

Been playing guitar and bass since '65, hopefully I'm good for another 40 years ! Started with a Hofner Beatle bass through Fender, Guild, Carvin, Ibanez, but this is the best one yet. No regrets here. They don't make these anymore, just the 4 string model, standard humbuckers with the carved top is in current production. If you can find one on the used market, try it out, you might fall in love with it too !

This is a 1994 or 95 model, made in USA. 20 frets. 2 soapbar pickups, active electronics. Mahogany body and neck. Antique white finish. Traditional LP body style w/single cutaway.
One very minor gripe: back cover must be unscrewed to replace battery. (Even my Yamaha has a quick change battery compartment)

Good tones for hard rock or heavy blues. Electronics are fairly noisy though, but if you cut the volume back a notch to get a cleaner tone the noise level is acceptable. The active EQ gives a decent range of tones from a distorted P bass to a Thunderbird growl, but you won't quite get a Jazz tone. Would be a 9 but for noisy electronics. Good low B tone, not flabby at all.

As can be expected from Gibson, good finish and overall excellent quality. However, I bought this guitar used, and evidently the fingerboard had been removed and replaced--truss rod problems??? But the neck now seems stable with good action. The fit and finish would have been a 10 but the fingerboard replacement wasn't quite perfect, paint at fingerboard junction is rough and chipped.

Good and heavy, should last forever. Should be dependable enough to play without a backup--but personally, I always keep the old P bass around because sometimes I go blank and must fall back into a 4 string mode.

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I've played 20 years, this is a decent 5 string for my style of playing. While it's not intended for quiet Jazz tones, it can be melodic. The only two things that keeps it from a 10 are the aforementioned noisy electronics and the fingerboard finish due to possible truss rod replacement.
If only Gibson had a 5 string Thunderbird.......