Gibson Victory Artist

Made in USA 1981, Lenght is exactly Fender Pbass-like, but has more frets. Active electronics by Moog, 2 Pickups. Schaller bridge and tuning pegs. 3 Pots and two switches.

This is the finest bass i ever owned. I bought it new in 1981 and sold it some years later. After getting back to music years later, i went through some Fenders and an Alembic, none of them even came close to the Vicky.

Fortunately i found a 1981 Victory Artist on ebay and bought it. It was in poor condition and i had her professionally re-frettet and set up.

This bass pushes everything out of the water: very versatile. huge low end, sustain until tomorrow. I??m playing different styles of music, from Rock to sixties songs and this baby is the perfect match for every style: take a plek and it will sound like a Rickenbacker with balls, fingerstyle from double-bass sound to Jaco, huge growl, You name it, the Vic does it. No need to add any effects or turn any knobs on your amp. I use it with a Traynor 200W all-tube amp. Would recommend all-tube in any case. The sound variations come from the bass guitar and the player. If you take your time to get in touch with the Victory Artist electronics, you will only use the on/off switch from your amp.
Neck is quite wide and beefy, like older P-Basses. I like the neck shape very much.
No problems in studio use as stated by another owner here.
The instrument is all-maple, so it??s HEAVY! This fits me fine, its like jumping in a solid classic car. Compared with the Alembic and P-Bass, the Victory is a 1957 Chrysler 300, the Alembic a new Lexus.
and P-Bass is Fred Flintstone??s car...

If you are into slapping, perhaps the Vic is not the best choice for you

Bought it used and in poor condition, had it re-worked by an excellent luthier, so playability is perfect. Otherwise it shows its age.

She??s build like a tank! No need for nothing, holds tuning for a lifetime. Never ever had she slightes problem.

People at Gibson does not seem to know the best bass they ever built...

I??m playing for 30+ years, always liked Fender P-Basses until i owned a MIM Preci. The Victory Artist for me is simply the best bass guitar ever made. I cannot imagine anything that could be improved on the Victory Artist.
If you find one, buy it. They are dirt cheap these days and will definitely raise in value.
Dont get fooled by the Victory Standard and Victory Custom: they are excellent instruments, too but do not have the great active electronics.

year unknown - I got it used in the early '80's. The action is great and always stays in tune. The angled maple neck and deep cutaway allow you access to 24 frets on the D&G strings. The fretboard is rosewood. Brass bridge.
The body is solid maple and weighs a ton. Probably the heaviest bass I've ever come across. Mine is cherry red (I recall them only being made in silver or red). Black pickguard (which looks very '80's & dated).
Active elctronics give you boost & cut for both bass & treble with endless combinations.

The sound is the best! I actually swapped a Rickenbacker for this bass (call me stupid). I've owned Precisions, Jazz basses, Thunderbirds, EB-0's, Yamaha's, etc, and yet I always go back to the Victory! The action is great and the sound is just incredible. The biggest drawback is in the studio, since the active electronics are not good for recording. The weight of this beast also takes some getting used to, but on the other hand it doesn't move when you take your hands off the neck.

The action is great. I had to chock up the bridge on one side a bit when I got it. Tuning pegs are like tanks and don't move. The pickguard is cheesy looking.

Reliability & durability are this bass' strengths. I only had to have thee truss rod adjusted once in 20 + years. I own 1/2 dozen other basses and my Victory is like ol' faithful.

I've been playing now for almost 30 years, from metal to blues.

Born in 1982, Nashville, TN. This bass has an angled neck heel which gives you 22 frets on the E & A string and 24 frets on the D & G.

Controls are Volume, Bass cut/boost, and treble cut/boost. Two switches are provided. One will blend/isolate bridge and neck pick-up while the other turns off the active pre-amp, turns on the active preamp, or turns on the active preamp with a teble boost. Needless to say, you get a lot of tonal variations with this bass.

Not sure of the body material, some say maple due to the weight of this thing. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard.

The neck and bridge pickup are identical. The neck pickup is angled to match the angled heel of the neck.

The finish on this bass could be nicer, but its hard to tell since I bought it used twenty some years after it was made. The finish looks as though it was never all that nice, compared to today's standards. This particular bass has what appears to be drag marks on the bottom edge, just below the controls. That or a very large dog used it as a chew toy before being shot by its owner.

The body style is sorta precisiony. Some say it looks space-age/futuristic. Whatever it is, its very well balanced, which is nice for such a hefty instrument. The strap buttons are huge and located such that straplocks may be unnecessary. The lower horn is a bit on the small/short side, which you might notice if playing while seated.

Tuners and bridge say "Gibson", but they look just like "Schaller". I'm 99% sure that gibson paid Schaller to make these for them. As expected, they work great. The bridge is completely adjustable and the tuners turn smoothly and hold a tune.

The neck is long, might even be 35 inch scale. Its definitely longer than a fender. The neck is similar, but by no means indentical, to a precision neck in regards to general feel/size. The neck is not as fast as a jazz or similar skinny necked instrument.

Overall, these are great features considering the instruments age. This bass could have been considered ahead of its time by some, as active eq's and such were just hitting the market. Whatever the case, it still holds its own against todays instruments.

I play rock, blues, pop, and r&b music. This bass has enough tonal features to suit virtually any style. I don't play metal or anything that ends in "core", but the bass could fit that role easily.

I don't think you'll ever achieve the coveted precision/b-15 warmth from this bass using any amp, but I doubt that was the point of building this instrument anyway. That said, the bass can produce a bevy of more modern tones from bright, weak and cheesy, to dark, powerful and cheesy. You can also eliminate the cheese entirely and achieve a tone suitable for any gig. Honestly.

I haven't had any luck with this in the studio. The treble boost/cut pot and/or active eq will sometimes pick up interference from nearby electronics. Florescent lights can cause a little buzz when boosting treble.

My very-accomplished guitar player/bassist says its the best sounding gibson bass he's ever heard. He's been playing for 40 plus years and likes rickenbacker basses.

Bought used. No comment on factory finish or set-up.

This bass, at 23+ years old, has proved its reliability. I gig with this bass frequently and don't carry a back up. I can depend on it 100%.

N/A

Been playing for a while. I own a '72 pbass which is my main bass. If it were stolen, I probably wouldn't buy another as they are hard to find, heavy, and although tonally diverse, have too many tonal variations for me to sort through. For the money, I'd probably just pick up a used jazz or something. I like to keep things simple. That said, I don't plan on selling it anytime soon because it is a great instrument to have around and keep as a back-up.