[stizz]

I bought this bass about 15 years ago from a local vintage guitar store. It was in non-working condition, and they sold it "as-is" for about $300. After I soldered one wire back on to the jack, it was brilliant, and has been my baby ever since.
I have never heard of another fretless Triumph, except for one studio I spoke with, but they had theirs modified, and I believe that this is original from the factory. A gibson rep told me at a NAMM show that she thinks they did make 1 or 2 prototypes...

I will now attempt to get the pictures up.







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[donnervogel]

Really nice, never seen one like that, though back in the day you could get a fretless version of most Gibson basses if your dealer politely asked for it. I've seen "from the factory" fretless TBirds, long scale Les Pauls, RD Artists and Victories, grabbers and G-3s, not just the fretless Ripper they actually did offer officially. And now your "hobbit".

Uwe

[jules]

A very nice bass, and an absolute steal at that price. Great condition too.
It just shows that you can get some real bargains from time to time.
I assume the fingerboard is ebony? How does it sound?

The gap between nut an truss rod cover surprises me a little (see my fretted Triumph below for comparison), as do the side dots. Have some of those been added later?

Does anyone else here have a fretless Triumph?

[stizz]

Originally Posted by jules

I assume the fingerboard is ebony? How does it sound?

The gap between nut an truss rod cover surprises me a little (see my fretted Triumph below for comparison), as do the side dots. Have some of those been added later?

yes, the fingerboard is ebony, and the nut is actually part of the fingerboard(this is not true, sorry, just a very tight seam) - I had not realized that until I read your question and took a closer look. The sound is strong and deep, but with a very nice clarity - the short scale makes the vibrato speak very easily, and throwing the out-of-phase switch instantly provides a remarkable tone. I imagine the ebony gives a little more punch and focus to the sound, as well as helping emphasise the special fretless tone.

As far as the side dots, after looking closely (I am certainly no expert), they all apear to be original - But I agree, it is unusual to see both the fret positions as well as the markers at 3, 5, 7, etc.

[Thijs]

Interesting....! didn't know they were there. And such a good shape.

However, I just see some differences on the controlplate. It's not that large at the egdes as frettet-ones. It also does not 'stick' underneath the bridge pickup. And the pot-knobs differ from the normal-ones.
Doesn't it have drillholes for the handrestcap beside the bridge? Isn't normally a two-piece bridge installed?

Have fun with it!

[stizz]

wow - you guys know your Gibson basses! I'm glad I finally found some people who can appreciate this rare bird!

I have not replaced the knobs, but I cannot say if they are original or not - they are quite different. Also the bridge is totally different than the pics of the 72 triumph that Jules has on the Triumph web page. I also can't say if this is original; but there are NO drill holes for a bridge cover or handrest by the bridge, so I imagine this was a custom order.

And I corrected my previous post about the nut being the same piece of wood as the fingerboard - I guess I needed more light. But I do love this "hobbit" (thanks Uwe) and am glad to share it with you!

[jules]

That bridge is stock. They came with the two point (like my Triumph) until '73 when they changed to the 3 point. Same time as the EB basses changed over.


Now i've looked a bit longer at the pics, I think this bass has been refinished at some point. A very good job though - almost undetectable..... The reason being you have several screw holes that have been filled and finished over. See the two picks below. You have two indentations where the bridge cover holes would have been , and as Thijs pointed out the pickguard shap is a little different - this is because the tip has snapped off, but you can see the filled hole where the original hole would have been.



Note the filled bridge-cover holes, and below, compare the control plate shapes, with the missing tip at the bottom. Red arrows indicate filled holes

[Thijs]

Hi Jules,

I thought that the 3-P bridges where introduced at the same time the volute appeared at the back of the headstock. This LP has no volute... or does it?
So what is your opinion?

[stizz]

you guys are awesome!

1) My pictures stink - unbelievable that Jules saw the filled-in holes , I will look at the bass again this evening.

2) what is a volute?

3) I will get some pics on the appropriate forums of my Vox Delta IV and '60 PBass.

[Thijs]

A volute is made to prevent the headstock from cracking too easy... See the pic of my white Triumph ('73/'74).

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