1965 Non-Reverse Gibson Thunderbird

[DavidBassista]

Well, I have the opportunity to buy this bass for what seems to me like a fair price. I got to play it for awhile yesterday. It has very old flat wounds on it and it has the string mutes under the bridge cover and the action was a little high, so the set up wasn't really at all close to how I play but despite all that it sounded awesome and was easy to play. This is a bit of a "first world" problem but under different circumstances I would buy this bass, but I am moving to NYC in two weeks and under no responsible reasoning can I justify the purchase of this bass at this point of my life, so I'll probably miss out on the opportunity. I just bought a 1963 P bass a little over 2 months ago. But I'm GAS'ing hard core for this thing.... I have till Wednesday to decide, but I've pretty much already made up my mind that I have to let this one go. At least I got the chance to play it which was really cool.

 

[dalkowski]

Someone spilled mojo all over that thang....

 

[wvbass]

That is a fine, fine example of an NR Bird. There are no pictures of the back of the headstock - has it been broken?

 

[Arizona Jones]

Oh, man. My dream bass.

 

[Tanner5382]

Replacement truss rod cover? The logo looks off to me.

 

[Feral Feline]

I was on my way to Europe for a 6-month trip when a '68 Gibson SG (geetar) came up for sale (my brother's boss was selling it).
Pros & Cons Weighed: The cost of the guitar vs having the money to spend while on the trip...

It was a great 5-month trip, and my '68 SG Special is exactly that, special. No regrets.

Get the Thunderbird if you can swing it somehow.

 

[DavidBassista]

Replacement truss rod cover? The logo looks off to me.

Good eye. This is the only non-original part. The neck has not been cracked like many Gibson have. It's in great condition and the pickups sound great. I played it through a Fender Bassman TV Ten.

 

[DavidBassista]

He might come down a little to be nice, but probably not a significant amount.

 

[TBird1958]

Nice Thunderbird! You need it - now!
'60s Non Reverse have killer pickups

 

[RickC]

I will never ever ever ever ever sell mine. It's the one bass I could never fathom giving up.

/rick

 

[godofthunder59]

Pretty much all I play are NRs, glad it's not a II! I don't like the IVs

 

[RandomBox]

That thing is oldschool. Sucks that you have to let it slide.

 

[DavidBassista]

Can someone with a 60s Gibson Thunderbird give me a little feedback? The bass as I played it has Flat-wounds and mutes on the strings and kinda high action. I really like to do two-handed tapping on the fret board. I'm thinking if I got the bass that I would remove the mutes, put on nickle/steel round-wounds and lower the action. I'm wondering if this would produce a really good "tapping" bass. It seems with the quality of the dual humbuckers that it would. In it's current set up it had killer tone, but it was more of an old school muted tone. The set up that I'm thinking is more closer to how Entwistle set up his bass and he got a lot of percussive sound out of it

 

[godofthunder59]

this bass will get you there in spades. Entwistle used these as well as the reverse Tbirds. I'm on my phone, I'll give you a more detailed response when I get home.

 

[DavidBassista]

this bass will get you there in spades. Entwistle used these as well as the reverse Tbirds. I'm on my phone, I'll give you a more detailed response when I get home.

Ok, thanks. Any experience or anecdotes you can tell me would be very helpful. This is kind of a big decision for me.

 

[godofthunder59]

still on my phone but here goes. These have great upper register access, much better than the reverse birds. The body is thin and rather big and the neck placement means you are going to need a fairly long reach. Neck heavy? A little never bothered me, much fuss over nothing. Pickups are hotter than 63-65 birds, my favorite pups by far. Btw the tug bar on the bass sides isn't stock

 

[mistergoats]

Well, I have the opportunity to buy this bass for what seems to me like a fair price. I got to play it for awhile yesterday. It has very old flat wounds on it and it has the string mutes under the bridge cover and the action was a little high, so the set up wasn't really at all close to how I play but despite all that it sounded awesome and was easy to play. This is a bit of a "first world" problem but under different circumstances I would buy this bass, but I am moving to NYC in two weeks and under no responsible reasoning can I justify the purchase of this bass at this point of my life, so I'll probably miss out on the opportunity. I just bought a 1963 P bass a little over 2 months ago. But I'm GAS'ing hard core for this thing.... I have till Wednesday to decide, but I've pretty much already made up my mind that I have to let this one go. At least I got the chance to play it which was really cool.

Holy, that is gorgeous.

 

[godofthunder59]

price seems a little high to me Id be more comfortable at 4,500-5,000. Having said that it is a very nice example and they get harder and harder to find.

 

[mistergoats]

price seems a little high to me Id be more comfortable at 4,500-5,000. Having said that it is a very nice example and they get harder and harder to find.

This duece has been on ebay for ages at a ridiculous high price. (OP, note the placement of the grab bar and that it's inverted on the bass you're looking at).

Invalid Link Removed

 

[DavidBassista]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah I knew that the second thumb rest was an add on. Looks like an original one at least though.

He has another buyer lined up who will get the bass if I don't, but I'm getting first dibs since I'm local, otherwise he has to ship it.


I haven't bought it yet but I think I'm going to. I've been agonizing over it and I wasn't going to get it until I talked to my mom about it today and she told me that I should get it. lol I figure if I get it and a few months from now am just not liking it I can sell it for about what I paid for it.