1982 Gibson Victory Bass Custom Candy Apple Red, Very Good, Original Hard, $950.00

The 1980s were an interesting time for Gibson. With the onset of the L.A. pop metal scene pointy headstocks and oddly shaped guitars were in vogue. With this sea change in the guitar world happening Gibson began coming up with new and intriguing designs, one of which was the Victory guitars and basses. The Victory featured a bolt-on neck and a sharply curved double cutaway body. The sharp cut allows for easy access to the upper reaches of its 24 frets. It is a “Custom” model, meaning it sports two passive pickups (other versions included the “Standard” with one passive pickup and the Artist with two active pickups). The Customs were only made from 1982 to 1984; this one dates to 1982 (serial #82142569). The solid Eastern hard rock maple body features a Candy Apple Red finish and a 3-ply maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and a 34” scale. The neck has a wide, flat radius, great for the long-fingered bass pluckers among us. Dual VIIB humbucking pickups give this bass plenty of punch with a nice twang thanks to the bolt-on neck and brass nut. Additional tone and volume control can be accessed via the volume, bass, and treble controls as well as the pickup selector switch and series/parallel switch. The TRI-4 bridge system is great for intonation and gives the bass a nice springy playability. The Victory has quite a bit of weight to it (11 lbs 1 ounce) so make sure you’ve got yourself strong shoulders and a nice and wide padded strap (or pick one up from us, wink, wink)! It has been set-up by our in-house tech and plays beautifully. Cosmetically it has a few finish dings and general playwear but still looks great. The neck is in great shape and despite some light-to-average fret wear the bass still plays fantastically. Ironically, despite its ‘80s beginnings the Victory bass gained a small foothold in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s alternative music scene including Victory users Greg Norton of Husker DU and Krist Noveslic of Nirvana (who also was a fan of Gibson’s Moog-designed RD Artist basses). The Victory is a fantastic bass that works in a wide variety of styles and has a cool unique look. Don’t let this one slip away! Includes original hard shell case.