Les Paul Bass (1969-1971)

The Les Paul Bass is often termed the Les Paul Recording, or the Les Paul Professional however these were names of guitars; Gibson literature of the time only ever describes this model as a Les Paul Bass. It was a companion model to the Les Paul Personal and Les Paul Professional guitars. This is a very heavy bass; the weight was probably not seen as an issue, being designed primarily for recording use, but it was soon replaced by a very similar, lighter version - the Les Paul Triumph bass. This was not just for the studio, having a low/high impedence switch for use in live and studio situations.The Les Paul bass first shipped in 1969 (have a closer look at a 1969 Les Paul bass), but was first featured in the 1970 catalogue. It appeared in the 'Les Paul' booklet rather than the basses booklet and was listed at $495; more than the EB0 ($350), EB1 ($395), EB3 ($410), but still less than the EB2D ($510). The bass was described as follows.

Les Paul Bass Les Paul Bass The frequency response, range of harmonics and crips clear tones of the LP bass will exceed that of any electric bass on the market to date. This instrument is the only bass equipped with two low-impedance, humbucking pickups, and the slim single cutaway design is especially popular with todays groups. Les Paul Bass FEATURES: low impedance electronics and pickups. Clear grain British Honduras mahogany with center crossband body construction. Three piece laminated British Honduras mahogany neck construction. Buffed and polished clear walnut finish reveals all the fine grain-lined features of the basic wood. Brazillian rosewood fingerboard. Chrome-plated Schaller machine heads with sealed gears. Nickel-plated Tune-O-Matic bridge. 18¼" long, 14" wide, 2" deep; 30 1/2" scale, 24 frets

Epiphone Limited Edition Les Paul Special Bass wit

As this is a low impedance instrument, it requires a low impedance amplifier, such as the LP12 that was launched at the same time. The LP12 was an LP1 preamp, with an LP2 cabinet. Another option was to use a Gibson AD1 low-to-high impedance trasformer cord. The Shure A95U is a modern day equivalent. This bass was eventually replaced by the Les Paul Triumph bass in the early 1970s.
The production run of these basses was short, so few changes appeared within the model: Early models have the Gibson underbridge mute, and post 1970 models also have 'made in USA' stamped into the back of the headstock.
Famous users include Suzie Quatro.

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