• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Doomed For Extinction: Is the Gibson Thunderbird's days numberd?

#61
Showdown said:
Fortunately for you no one is forcing you to buy one. Fortunately for the rest of us that leaves more for us. ;)

I'll never understand why some feel the need to come into a thread about a bass they don't like and make negative comments.

By the way, mine doesn't neck dive. Even with the slippery strap I use with it. I just relocated the strap button.
Click to expand...

I actually like the Tbird in spite of its obvious design flaws.
 
#62
Ric5 said:
I actually like the Tbird in spite of its obvious design flaws.
Click to expand...

I suppose every instrument has some kind of flaw or thing we rather see different.

I've been waiting 40 years for Rickenbacker to do something about that bridge. Most of mine have lifted off for the moon, except my '82, which has all those wonderful screws holding it down.

I guess what I'm saying is nothing is perfect.

Except a Gibson Thunderbird. ;)
 
#65
CHEWBACCA BASS said:
DON'T even consider buying from Gibson in the first place. If you want real Gibson material buy from the Heritage. The original founders of Gibson founded this company after Gibson was bought out. The company makes the classic Gibson guitars and basses. Great quality and good prices. Search 'em you'll see.
Click to expand...

It looks like they don't make basses anymore. From their web site:

Banjos, Mandolins, Flat Tops, and Basses, are no longer being produced because of the demand for the guitars mentioned in the above 3 categories.


[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#66
I'd love a T-bird (but have never played one). For the guys who have played both the Gibson and Epi versions, how do they compare?? I realize the Epi is a cheaper model, but I just wonder where it rates (as far as playability, tone, etc.). If the Gibson is 10/10 (for posterity's sake), where would you rank the Epi?? And what would you say is the major advantage of the Gibson?? Just curious...
 
#68
D.E.C. said:
I'd love a T-bird (but have never played one). For the guys who have played both the Gibson and Epi versions, how do they compare?? I realize the Epi is a cheaper model, but I just wonder where it rates (as far as playability, tone, etc.). If the Gibson is 10/10 (for posterity's sake), where would you rank the Epi?? And what would you say is the major advantage of the Gibson?? Just curious...
Click to expand...

I own a (90's era) Gibson Tbird and one of the new Epi pro's...

...Epi compares very favorably, considering the price (500, as opposed to 1500) but of course the Epi is Chinese produced, compared with USA produced. But the Gibson electronics are much better, even with the actives the Epi features.

...can't comment on the standard Epi, I've never really gotten into those...
 
#69
Human Bass said:
If Gibson puts a new more functional bridge, use lightweight tuners and low the price a bit I bet they would sell very well.
Click to expand...

The tuners on modern T-birds are standard shape/weight Grovers like many other basses. They aren't the big old "Clover style" that you still find on Fenders. When they went to the Grovers back in the late 80's it really helped with the headstock weight.
 
#73
GLEN18INCHSPICA said:
Yeah it seems like if they reversed the body again they might not neck dive so much. Prices seem high for what they are and what you can get from the competition at that price. Rickenbacker gets away with it because there is demand.
Click to expand...

Rickenbacker "gets away with it" because they have a decently high-quality product, yes there is demand, & they don't shoot themselves in the foot by selling Asian produced copies of their USA produced product for a fraction of the price, reducing the value of the real deal. Sounds like smart business sense to me. Not how to sell the most basses to the GC crowd, but definitely how to maintain the exclusivity of the USA product you do sell...

...Gibson (Fender also, maybe even worse) is trying to be all things to all people; definitely works for volume of instruments sold, but in doing so, lessens the demand for the USA product, the company's namesake.

Different ways of doing business, all 3 companies seem to be doing ok. As for myself, I tend to admire Rickenbacker's philosophy the most of the 3...
 
#74
stiles72 said:
tbirdstrapbuttons002.jpg
Click to expand...

To me, this looks like it would make the bass tip forward?
 
#75
bassplayer8953 said:
Rickenbacker "gets away with it" because they have a decently high-quality product, yes there is demand, & they don't shoot themselves in the foot by selling Asian produced copies of their USA produced product for a fraction of the price, reducing the value of the real deal. Sounds like smart business sense to me. Not how to sell the most basses to the GC crowd, but definitely how to maintain the exclusivity of the USA product you do sell...
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Gibson makes a lot more money selling those Asian made copies than they do the real Gibsons. Just like Fender sells more MIM than they do MIA. They are covering the entire market (just like Fender), with low priced Epis, mid priced Epi Pros and high priced Gibson. THAT is smart business.

Funny how no one criticizes Fender for selling cheap Indonesian and Chinese Squiers, mid priced MIM and MIJ and high priced MIA, yet when Gibson does it it is a bad thing....
 
#76
bassplayer8953 said:
Rickenbacker "gets away with it" because they have a decently high-quality product, yes there is demand, & they don't shoot themselves in the foot by selling Asian produced copies of their USA produced product for a fraction of the price, reducing the value of the real deal
Click to expand...

..consider that many people get into bass by playing cheap "starter bass" copies, and then when they get better they want the "real deal". I bet alot of gibson t-bird owners (myself included) had epiphones first. well i do admit the older MIK epi's are amazing and the chinese basses are hit or miss. I started on a '74 precision and then gravitated to t-birds because I liked the pro bands that used them, and plus my father fought with the "thunderbirds" combat infantry in korea during the 1950's. talk about ironic events !! anyway i have yet to hear a t-bird owner complain as much as the non-owners do. maybe they are not plug-and-play like most fenders, but when you dial it all in, they are money !!!

showdown... i put my first dent in my '76. dammm...i guess now i'm part of it's history... you and a few others on here know what it's like to have that kind of 4-string mojo going...
 
#78
Showdown said:
I'm pretty sure Gibson makes a lot more money selling those Asian made copies than they do the real Gibsons.
Click to expand...

Somehow I find it hard to believe Gibson would make more on a 299 Epi than a 1499 Gibson. Yes, there's more volume with 299 & 499 Epi's, but how many Gibson sales are lost to the Asian produced copies?

Just like Fender sells more MIM than they do MIA.
Click to expand...

With the cost of a MIM at 1/2 the cost of a MIA, I would guess so...if they aren't, they are definitely doing something wrong.

They are covering the entire market (just like Fender), with low priced Epis, mid priced Epi Pros and high priced Gibson. THAT is smart business.
Click to expand...

General Motors tried to be all things to all people. Ferrari doesn't. Want to check into how those 2 auto mfr's are doing, & get back to me about GM's "smart business"?


Funny how no one criticizes Fender for selling cheap Indonesian and Chinese Squiers, mid priced MIM and MIJ and high priced MIA, yet when Gibson does it it is a bad thing....
Click to expand...

Actually, I lumped both Gibson & Fender together. Their business philosophies seem to be quite similar, even if their guitars/basses aren't. Rickenbacker is the 1 company that didn't succumb to the whole outsourcing thing.
 
#79
gaffster787 said:
..consider that many people get into bass by playing cheap "starter bass" copies, and then when they get better they want the "real deal". I bet alot of gibson t-bird owners (myself included) had epiphones first. well i do admit the older MIK epi's are amazing and the chinese basses are hit or miss. I started on a '74 precision and then gravitated to t-birds because I liked the pro bands that used them, and plus my father fought with the "thunderbirds" combat infantry in korea during the 1950's. talk about ironic events !! anyway i have yet to hear a t-bird owner complain as much as the non-owners do. maybe they are not plug-and-play like most fenders, but when you dial it all in, they are money !!!

showdown... i put my first dent in my '76. dammm...i guess now i'm part of it's history... you and a few others on here know what it's like to have that kind of 4-string mojo going...
Click to expand...

Yeah, 1st time buyers/players tend to be kids, & kids have a tendency to bounce around, gear-wise. Depends on what Bassdewd from Deathcoresludgecookiemonster band is playing this week. Just because a kid starts on an Epi bird there's no guarantee he's going to graduate to a Gibson. Back to what I originally stated: Gibson & Fender want volume, and are willing to farm out/license production of their copyrighted products to achieve this. Rickenbacker makes no pretentions to be all things to all people (like Gibson, Fender, & others) they are strictly a mid-to-high end manufacturer, and you know if you pick up a Ric product, you're getting the real deal. No need to look around the headstock for the MIM or MIJ logo...you won't find it. THAT is manufacturing integrity, and THAT I respect... ...no, they are not overpriced.

BTW...I agree with you: get the tone on a Gibson T-bird dialed in and it's an awesome bass to play. Ditto for a Ric. So much more character than any Fender...and I say that as the owner of 3 Fenders.
 
#80
bassplayer8953 said:
Somehow I find it hard to believe Gibson would make more on a 299 Epi than a 1499 Gibson. Yes, there's more volume with 299 & 499 Epi's, but how many Gibson sales are lost to the Asian produced copies?



With the cost of a MIM at 1/2 the cost of a MIA, I would guess so...if they aren't, they are definitely doing something wrong.



General Motors tried to be all things to all people. Ferrari doesn't. Want to check into how those 2 auto mfr's are doing, & get back to me about GM's "smart business"?




Actually, I lumped both Gibson & Fender together. Their business philosophies seem to be quite similar, even if their guitars/basses aren't. Rickenbacker is the 1 company that didn't succumb to the whole outsourcing thing.
Click to expand...

Fender and Gibson make it possible for people without a lot of money to own basses and guitars similar to (though not as good as) their US made models. This is a good thing. Back when I started in the 70s they didn't do that. Cheap basses were essentially unplayable and caused a lot of aspiring bassists to give up. Today a young kid getting his first bass can get a P or a J or a Thunderbird that is playable, sounds decent, at a price they can afford. Those kids won't be playing a Ric, and Rickenbacker won't get any of their money. Rics are great basses, but they have a very small market share compared to Fender and Gibson.

I'm glad they make lower priced, decent copies of their US basses. That is good for them and great for the consumer.

By the way, the Epis and Squiers aren't just for kids. I see adults gigging with them all the time. Not everyone can afford an expensive US made instrument.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back