[jules]

Hey, look at this Triumph on ebay

... if you read through, he has some quotes from Les Paul whom he discussed the Triumph with

“With a balanced low-impedance output, you could use long cables without all the problems inherent in unbalanced high-impedance lines,” says Les.

“Gibson was keen on having the low-impedance transformer close to the amp, so we made a special cable with a transformer on the other end, which you had to have in order to use it. But if you forgot your cable, you were out of luck—so we added the switch to go from low to high impedance. I tried to talk them out of staying with the short scale, but they didn’t want to change to a longer scale like on the Fender.”

Was it designed to compete directly with the Fender Precision?
“Leo Fender was a dear friend and deserves a pat on the back for coming up with a great design. One [switch] position on the Les Paul Bass was meant to sound just like the Precision, and all the other settings were extra choices for the player.

The Triumph sounded so good it was scary; it was the finest bass I knew how to come up with, but the kids of that time were not ready for so many options. If I could have done something different, I would have made a bass with one great sound. Simpler is better—like a water faucet.”

[chromium]

Here's the original article that he quoted in its entirety:

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/1972- ... c-06/24302

[jules]

ahhh... Yeah I emailed the seller, thinking he'd interviewed Les about it...

Thanks for posting that.

Les is 93 and still tinkering with guitars. On my recent visit to Kalamazoo I interviewed Chuck Burge, (part of the design team that came up with the RD Artist and Victory basses - ) who is winding pickups for him still - different wires, different magnets and so on

I wonder how he'd do a Les Paul bass differently 40 years on?

[Redbird]

When I met him in New York, he told me what a great bass it was, but he thought it had too many options that confused players. He also said it should have been long scale to compete better with Fender.

[RUMBLEKAT]

Despite the pitfalls that some people might see with the existing design, I think it's an awesome bass. I love that it has such a variance of useable tones. Sure a long scale option would have been nice.......

G

www.motherlodeonline.co.uk

[gsmithco]

Hey boys and girls,
I'm new to this but it seems like this is a very knowledgable and active forum on important guitars (the old ones) including the Les Paul Triumph bass. I just pulled my Triumph (#114091) out of a closet and want to know how much it is worth. Forgive me in that I have forgotten much more info than I have retained through the years. I ordered it from Gibson through a music store it in 1973 (I was just a little kid from Texas). I was a big fan of ZZ Top and loved the look of Billy Gibbons Les Paul so I ordered my Gibson bass in sunburst. The store forgot to charge me the extra $35 for custom colors so it came to me in the standard walnut finish which I really do like. I played in a garage band called the "Dry Heaves". Yeah, I know, you never heard of us. We had very few paying gigs and most of the fees went to pay our bar tabs. Our lead guitarist played an original Gibson Firebird and our rhythm guitarist, his brother, played an original Gibson SG. They were a couple of really great players. But brothers being brothers they were fairly volatile. Rock & Roll. Stones, Illinois Speed Press, Poco, Eagles, etc. I haven't played this bass or any other bass in a very long time. Don't have pictures yet but it is truly like new! No scratches, not a ding on it. Has the Gibson hard case and neither have been abused. This is the last of my old toys and I hate to part with it but someone else needs to carry the torch. I saw the one on ebay and it's seen some good times but this one is perfect. Met some old timers through music like Freddie King, Bugs Henderson, Mark Andes(Spirit, Heart), etc. none of which would remember me, so this baby holds some very fond memories for me but the saying goes that when you don't use something for a year you don't need it, much less 30+ years. Anyway, give me your advice, input, thoughts, etc. I do appreciate you and what you do.

[jules]

Hi and welcome

Triumphs in good, original condition go anywhere between $1000 and $2000 depending on how good, how complete, how many people want it, where you sell it and and so on.

On ebay you'd be very lucky to get 2k, (but I guess that is a typical shop price) - but how good your pics are, when you list, your feedback score etc will have some impact.

Come on, dig out an old photo of your band - thats what we all want to see!

[gsmithco]

Hi and welcome

Triumphs in good, original condition go anywhere between $1000 and $2000 depending on how good, how complete, how many people want it, where you sell it and and so on.

On ebay you'd be very lucky to get 2k, (but I guess that is a typical shop price) - but how good your pics are, when you list, your feedback score etc will have some impact.

Come on, dig out an old photo of your band - thats what we all want to see!

Jules,
The Witness Protection Program prohibits exhibition of old photos and we only had Kodak Brownie cameras back in the olden days anyway. Actually if I had a picture no one would including myself recognize me from it. Hey thanks for the help guys. I'll try to post some pics of the bass quickly.
Gene

[chromium]

Hi Gene,

I'm on the prowl for a Triumph - sent you a message with my contact info.

Cheers,
Joe

[gsmithco]

Hey boys & girls,
I'm trying to post pics of my bass on this site but I haven't figured it out yet but I can e-mail some if you know how to post them. It's worth seeing but I don't have pictures of the "Dry Heaves". We did a shot in front of a Campbell 66 Express freight truck with the camel logo and "Humpin' to Please" phrase on the side. We were going to add "by the Dry Heaves". That was for an album we never cut. That was back in the days of the LPs if anyone remembers them. Those were the days!
Gene[/url]