PRE GIBSON TOBIAS BASS SERIAL NUMBERS
Basses below the serial number 2044 were built in the California factory headed-up by Michael Tobias serial numbers after that were produced by Gibson with a transition period in which Tobias worked with Gibson and continued to produce basses. Michael Tobias left the company in 1992 to found Michael Tobias Design which produces a line of hand-made basses similar in spirit to the older Tobias basses. The first Tobias bass under Gibson ownership bore the serial number 1094. In 1990, Gibson Guitar Corporation purchased Tobias and moved production to Nashville.
The first serial number was 0178, instead of the usual 0001, as a reference to the month the first bass was completed, January 1978. Tobias basses also were among the first to feature an asymmetrical neck, a design where the neck is thinner on the lower side than the upper. However, once purchased by Gibson in 1990, a few bolt-on models were produced such as the Killer-B (with the "B" in the name standing for " bolt-on") as well as the Growler Basses. The vast majority of Tobias instruments are of neck-through construction, a style of neck-body assembly where the neck of the instrument is a single piece of wood that extends through the body and had the sides of the bass glued to it rather than being bolted on. Here are the best Basses as rated by us here at Guitars was established in Orlando, Florida in April 1977. It is matched with a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard without inlay markers or binding.įor more information, please visit This is a Press ReleaseĮpiphone Limited Edition Jack Casady Signature Bass The neck is constructed from pure maple with purple heart laminate for a creamy feel and comfortable playability. The neck and body function as a single unit, resulting in better tone and longer sustain. Gluing the 34”-scale length neck to the body of the bass ensures an exact “wood-to-wood” contact, leaving no air space in the neck cavity to ensure maximum contact between the neck and body. Still another key feature of the Tobias Growler is the change from using a bolt-on neck to gluing it in place. Every fret is accurately aligned, and the bass is properly intonated, leaving the instrument “Plek’d” and amazingly playable. The Plek is a German-made, computer-controlled machine that carefully measures each fret, along with the fingerboard height under each string, and then automatically dresses each fret, eliminating string buzz and improving overall playability. The new, fully adjustable “Quad Bass” truss rod allows players to adjust the Growler’s neck in both directions, a feature that integrates well with what is arguably its best overall enhancement - the revolutionary Plek system setup. First, Gibson improved the Growler’s truss rod by making it bi-directional. The new Tobias Growler features two key differences. Additional controls include the volume knob, and separate bass, mid and treble controls. A separate pickup-blend control lets you sweep between all four of its coils for unlimited tonal possibilities. The pickup is cast in epoxy to remove any unwanted feedback and microphonics. A quad-coil, 5-string bass pickup from Bartolini delivers an extended and more resonant frequency range, along with more air and definition at the top end without sacrificing its lows and low mids. The Tobias Growler gets its power from one of the best bass pickups in the business.
PRE GIBSON TOBIAS BASS SERIES
Each one comes with a black Gibson hardshell case and a special Limited Run Series certificate of authenticity. Like all the guitars from the Limited Run Series, only 350 will be produced and distributed. Swamp ash tonewood is characterized by huge, open pores and soft layers, which give each new Growler a deep reverberation and fullness of sound across the entire frequency spectrum. Starting with its solid, multi-piece swamp ash body, the Tobias Growler is one of the most resonant basses ever made by Gibson USA. It's listed as Pre-Gibson, but there is the notion that Pre-Gibson means Mike T's crew built it, and also the notion that Pre-Gibson means before Gibson got involved at all making this bass a post-Gibson, pre-Nashville. Thirty-plus years later, the quality and precision of a Tobias bass has reached new heights in the new 2009 Limited Run Series Tobias Growler from Gibson USA. I believe this is a 1992 Tobias Classic, serial 2033. Started by famed luthier Michael Tobias in the mid ’70s, Tobias basses have always found their way into the hands of world-renowned bassists like Bootsy Collins, Jimmy Haslip, Dave Pomeroy, Dave Baumberger, David Bonk, Dean Back, Mario Guini, Vernon Heard, Duane Propes, Kern Brantley, Del Atkins and Volley Craig.