Gibson Les Paul Triumph

Early 70's gibson les paul triumph fretless bass. natural finish mahogany. I understand the newer ones came out in white finish. Shipping records are not very complete, showing only from the white year (74-75?) on. shipped maybe 200-300 those years? No info. on how many were fretless models. Not to many most likely. It seems to be a factory model. Short scale neck. Made in U.S. Appears to be a solid top, but there is a laminate line about 1/2 way through body. Twin pick-ups. covers say gibson, but Iv'e been told by several players they are humbuckers. Tuning pegs say gibson. All the electronic goodies. Hi-lo impedence switch, phase shift switch, 3 pos. tone,and pickup switches, plus tone, and vol. knobs. Serial # 674110

I'm a drummer, so what do I know! Been playing professionally off, and on since 1966. All styles of music. Funk, & jazz are my favorites, and that means, a very close relationship with some bad-*** bass players! Most of them really liked this bass. After reading about it being real "bassy", I asked a player about this, He plugged it in, and, got some really bright sounds out of it.Being fretless however, somewhat softens the attack.

One guy liked it better than his fender fretless jazz bass, so the setup can't be that far off from what's considered normal.
It's been played a lot. Groove worn above the thumb rest between the pick-ups. Some little finish flaws on the top. Buckle marks are very slight on back. Overall finish is very good, I'd say. Fingerboard doesn't have any deep grooves however, leading me to wonder if it really is a factory fretless.

Don't know if it's the original bridge, no cover.
From what I gather the thing's a tank. I know players who said, "wear this thing all night, and your shoulder will hurt. But if it falls off, just pick it up, and it might still be in tune! Of course being fretless,if you're good you'll play in tune anyway........."

I recieved the bass when my brother in law died. I Don't think he had it worked on by the gibson folks.......

I know my brother in law had very good tastes in music, and instruments. I unfortunately didn't recieve his old gibson "f holer" that was worth probably 10 grand to some jazz players 10 years ago. The value of the bass, is only a minor issue with me.It is a part of our family's musical history. I really enjoy seeing some bass player's face light up when I hand it to him, and say "wanna fiddle around with this a bit?"
It's not really for sale, but I sure would like to know the rest of It's story.

early 70's , maybe 71 u.s.a made 24 frets , medium scale 32' neck , all mahogany i believe , 2 low impedance pickups , 2 many controls to mention ! passive electronics , les paul shape .......i've owned this bass since 1982 , it was my first REAL bass and i still have it to this day , in my younger years i didn't take care of it well , now i baby it , very well made , has new tuners ( from late 80's ) and a brass nut , excellent bass , has served me well for many years and many gigs !

well , as long as your not looking for treble ! this bass is all wood , a woody tone , 100's of variations of wood deep thundering bassy tones , but NO treble ! that's not a bad thing .... hahaha , it's not a bass for a slapper ! it's a 70's bass for 70's style music , that's what it's meant for ! all the sounds are cool ! very original sounding !

plays beautiful , very comfortable , alittle heavy but a dream to play ,there is no downside to this bass , unless you want lots of treble ( hahaha , there i go again ! ) seriously , it really nice , like playing a nice les paul guitar but with bass strings on it

i beat the piss outta this thing ands it's still ticking !

awesome !!!!!

1971 Gibson Les Paul Triumph Bass. I don't understand the confusion over adjusting the controls. High/low Z impedance, In/out-of phase and any tone you can imagine. Simple. All original except missing the bridge cover and someone added a built-in MXR Phase 90.

I push this baby through a 70's Peavey Series 400 Bass head and out an 18" Sunn bottom. The Peavey peaks at 700 watts, 210 watts per channel. It has a Harmonics band with Fuzz and Distortion, a 6-band equilizer and a Normal band. With the endless tonal control of the Les Paul, I can get the Black Sabbath - Geezer Butler sound, the Led Zepplin - John Paul Jones sound and with the flip of a couple of switches the Les Paul Triumph Bass can Blues and Jazz all night.
Remember, flat wounds and round wounds are like night and day; try them both. You can run scales using 2 fingers or pick 16th notes until your amp catches fire. Sweet.
What's all this about "it's not loud enough"? Crap, I can drown out any Twin Reverb and rattle a Fender Precision out of tune!

I've owned this bass since 1980. Aside from a minor neck adjustment, the action and intonation is awesome. The low impedance Hummbucker pickups are great for recording. I love this "short-scale" bass. I mean, if you need more frets or more strings you don't know your scales!

Nicked, dented and loads of buckle rash; I wouldn't have it any other way. At almost 35 years old, this Les Paul Bass has been rode hard and put away wet - many times. Durable? I'd say so. One flip of that monsterous mahogony body will put a big man down. (Sorry man, I didn't know that was your girlfriend).

Gibson's customer service reps are very helpful. It's just that there policies have changed over the years. I've never needed to service this bass, but they gave me some leads to finding the missing bridge cover and pickguard.

My opinion is, anyone who doesn't like the Gibson Les Paul Triumph bass has never played one or doesn't know how to play one. I've played them all, I've sold them all, except the 'Paul.
It's ironic to review a guitar that's over 30 years old, but my thanks to Harmony-Central for the opportunity to do so. This is my 25th year with "Bassthoveen". Rock-on.

This bass performs well after you get the hang of all the electronics. I have run it through a pre-amp to get it to push the sound I need but other than that I love this bass. I have a 1996 Les Paul Special with a drop D and Bartolini pickups that I use for the brighter - higher range songs we play.

This bass has the Jazz smoothness and with a few knob turns and a switch flip growls like no 4 string bass I have ever played. This bass covers a lot of sound ground. I run this bass through a small sansamp tube pre amp into a Hartke 3500 and into 1-15 and a 4-10 GK Backline series. I haven't been able to run it straight through a board and get the oomph needed to cut through the other musicians so I run it only through this stand alone system. The preamp really boosted the signal but can get a little distorted if you push through over 50% power. It records great in the studio for the warmer type and crunchy type songs but it does not record well with the treble running high. Just doesn't seem sharp enough for the higher range - but I've always run flat wounds on her so.

Action on many of these is high but the shorter scale make it a breeze to play. This is an early 70's bass that has withstood the test of time. If I lost this one I would track another one down - once you own one you will see what I mean. This is the 2nd one I've owned. Built like a tank that will withstand punishment. Basic fret wear should be expected if you buy one sight unseen.

Once I got it set up I never worked on it again except to disassemble and clean. This is a players bass and I use it as my main bass. I use other Basses to cover the higher range songs and also use an acoustic strung with flat wounds for that tub sound. Prices are starting to go up so I only imagine people are buying more of them for a reason. I've really got no complaints.

You can still find parts but you have to look. Diagrams and parts are available on the net.

I'd rate it a 10 - If your looking for one I have seen quite a few with broken or cracked necks that the seller swares will never effect sound and they have played them like that for years. I'd pass - I've never seen a replacement neck anywhere for this exact model. It's a unique bass that will have everyone over 40 smiling and everyone under asking why you play a Gibson. You gotta love it.

Can't tell the date - early 70s USA is all I can say. But the amazing feature, is that mine is FRETLESS!! Combined with the short scale, the vibrato on this bass speaks like nothing I have ever heard before. It has the original pickups and electronics, Impedance switch, phase switch, 3 position tone etc. Mahogany with white bands around the front. When i first bought this bass, it was not working at all - but 5 minutes with a soldering iron reconnected the jack, and the rest is history.

I used to okay straight-ahead rock, now most Jazz, if at all... I started using it with a Sunn Concert Bass head, and Ampeg SVT 8x10 cabinet, now use the same head (1979) and a peavey 1x18" cabinet. Full rich sound, unless the phase switch is engaged, then it has the funky out of phase thing going on. I wish it were louder, but if that is my only complaint, then I should not be complaining.

Action can tend to be a bit high, but no real complaints - the short scale helps the playability for me.

It has lasted over 30 years, and the finish is still in great shape - a few dings here and there, and the pickguard has a slight crack around the jack.

Never had to deal with Gibson.

I also have a 62 P-Bass that I mostly play, but this is my little fretless baby! I have never seen another factory fretless Triumph bass, and the only person I have ever met who has heard of it was a long time Gibson rep at a NAMM show, who remembered they made 2 or 3 of them!@

American made, dated 1972-74 (does anyone know how to definitively date them? No luck so far from Gibson or London based guitar experts. Lovely golden orange (but slightly aged) wood finish. Loads of tonal controls but some seem unusable.

I play all styles from Rock to Funk to Pop and it has a sound or two for each style. It has a lovely phat, woody sound and none of that horrible modern trebley "click & pop". Sounds great with a plectrum or finger style. It has a lovely sexy "growl" when played really hard and this works great with funky finger style allowing an aggressive range of dynamics.

Guitar is too old for me to know about original set-up, but it has held it's current set-up really well under intensive live and studio work over the last 2 years, despite having a broken truss-rod! It has a lovely easy-to-play, narrow neck and a great weight-balance on the strap.

As above. Very hardy, seems to stay dead-in-tune and nothing has needed adjusting yet, although the truss-rod will need adjustment within the next year or two. Has gigged at least 3 times a week for the last 2 years and has been absolutely reliable and indestructible.

N/a

I absolutely love this bass and have forfeited all others. It has style, a unique sound, plays great, always gets admiring looks and comments and sounds like a "real" bass. Perhaps and aquired taste but I love playing it and cannot enjoy playing others in the same way...

Made in USA (impressed on back of headstock). Purchased new in 1974? in Melbourne, Australia. Standard instrument with 2 humbucker pickups and extra switches: phase switch, impedance, 3-position tone select plus volume and tone for each pickup and a pickup selector switch. This instrument is fretted. No active circuitry.

In the sixties I had a very bass sound (I played a Gibson EB-0) but in the seventies I needed a brighter sound. I was using an Eminar amplifier and I founf the macro tone switch useful as we played music from both sixties and seventies (covers). I did not use any pedals as the bass had features built in (this became more of a problem as the bass sound in popular music developed into that metallic pop sound. The instrument was not suited to that sound. It had a nice meaty sound with new Rotosound round-wound strings, but that would only last about 5 gigs.

I had the instrument serviced completely by Merv Cargill as soon as I got it. He did not mention any flaws.

I found the instrument very reliable and well balanced (I like to be able to let go when wearing the instrument and not have the neck droop or rise). The strap buttons were solid but too small (I used washers). The neck was OK, I had it serviced as needed (work was up and down).

I never dealt with Gibson, my technician looked after the instrument.

I've been playing since 1967. I chose Gibson because I though Fender basses were too big. I have played pretty much ever since (not always regularly) but I had a long break from 1995 to 1998. During this time I bough a fretless bass to see if I could play it. I can and the Triumph is now my backup. I would not de-fret the Triumph as it was a heavy guitar compared to the fretless. And I would not buy another one as they are too old technologically now. But Iwould not get rid of it, either.

Great features, with so many tonal sounds that is easily the most versatile instrument I have ever played.

I play anything from classical (if possible, old cello part maybe)to rock. My Gibson has the sound for each. The gibson boast also the funkiest sound possible, great in every aspect.

Possibly the humbuckers were a little lose and slanting t oone side but apart from that it is beautiful. Oh, one thing, it is really, really easy to dent. be careful!

It'll last, I guarentee it. Mines 30 from this year.

Never needed help.

If I lost this I would still swear by it and pay any amount for another one!

Tons of featues! Its a (1972?)USA Gibson les paul triumph bass. Which is of couse the brother to les pauls 'recording' guitar. It has four strings over twenty four (tripple octave) frets.A rosewood fretboard over what appears to be a mahogany neck. Massive amount of controls, volume, tone, bass, three way tone selector, three way pickup selector, a switch for high/low input and a switch for 'phase' in/out. The pickups (origional gibsons) are nuts and the control makes them even better. beutifully carved mahogany body (les paul shape), clear wood finish and set neck. But of course I must say the best feature on this bass is the head. Big, Bad and Bold.

I play rock, roll and everything from the Beatles and Floyd to Jeff Beck. This bass sounds good whatever im playing.It gives you so much control you can always find the right sond. I keep on trying but I just cant get any noise out of it.Rich,warm sound. Drive it and youll get a raw tone thatll knock you on your ass. A very versitile bass. Its heavy but very well balanced

Sadly I got this one used but its been good since i got it. a little wear on the back but otherwise okay. Plays like a dream. killer tone and sustain. Almost deserves a 10 but is thirty years old.

This isnt just a bass. this is an armored tand designed by the military. you could drop this thing off a three story roof right before a gig and it would still be ready to play. This thing is SOLID. All origional hardware(still in great condition). Had to replace top strap button cause the les paul is just too damn heavy for a small one. Whats a backup? I just dont know since i got this thing.

cant say

Overall for me this is a great bass. Yes i've compared it to countless old and new Fenders,Rickenbackers and many others but this bass simply dominates. No other can get the solid tone and diversity of the triumph. I know a guy with a '78 Ric and a guy with a '78 Precision and with all due respect to thier classic basses they still bow down to the Gibson when they hear it. If it were stolen I would seek revenge and never stop hunting. I would try as hard as I could to buy another one but it was hard enouph finding this one. I will NEVER sell this instrument. It is a work of art.