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Gibson Thunderbird IV

#41
This one belongs to an aquaintance of mine......it was the reason behind my special order for one :) It's the new Nikki Sixx signature model - you can see a little of it in the "Saints of L.A. video. I think mine is about 30-60 days out :bawl:

nikkibird.jpg
 
#42
Showdown said:
I'm not sure what you mean by neck joint. Gibson Tbirds are neck through, and don't have a neck joint. Are you referring to where the body wings connect?
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Yes, Sorry My mistake! :rolleyes: Where the Neck join WOULD be-so near the neck heel, where the neck meets the body & I s'pose where the 'wings' are stuck to it. In this part there were sorta 'folds' of paint-like -if it were a bolt on, it'd be where the neck join IS. But as it's a 'neck thru' it's where the wings are joined. :( Not having a good time trying to explain this ...... but it didn't look good & as I said in my 1st post in this thread- it didn't SOUND MUCH better than the Epi T-bird either. In fact the Epi was finished better IIRC. :ninja:
 
#43
TBird1958 said:
This one belongs to an aquaintance of mine......it was the reason behind my special order for one :) It's the new Nikki Sixx signature model - you can see a little of it in the "Saints of L.A. video. I think mine is about 30-60 days out :bawl:

nikkibird.jpg
Click to expand...

you have to special order it from gibson? I'm not fan of the signature on the picguard but is a nice bass.

is it tone, vol, killswitch?
 
#44
In my case yes, I did have to special order it. Seattle doesn't have a Gibson dealer that's worth a **** so I went thru on of Gibson's suggested online retailers for it. I doubt you'll see one hanging in a shop as very few people are aware of it, Gibson hasn't bothered to post it on their website.........
I'm not that wild about the sig on the pickguard either but I'll deal :)

Oh yeah, VT Killswitch.
 
#48
Well I ended up buying a Epi T-Bird, & dunno whether I was lucky ... or what. BUT this thing is a KILLER!!! Feels Far better than ones I tried a while back. Neck is smooth & P-bass feeling, & playability was good outta shop. Even better now after set up properly!!
All controls feel good too. The ones I tried last yr were a bit 'clunky' feeling/sounding, but this one feels & sounds great!! Will review it more after a gig or two.
Thanx to all who gave input here!! Appreciated.
 
#49
I am also a satisfied EPIBird owner. mine's from 1999. It's stock pup's have a unique tone, that is great for certain types of music. perfect out-of-box tone/playability/fit-finish. I do not use it as my main player, but have logged many many hours of jamtime on it, and just like a second string player on a football team, it is there with me if I need her assistance if my other bass gets injured ( hasn't happened yet ), but she sits on the stand as is ready to jump into the game if needed.

here's my BIRD-Family:

P1010060.jpg


I will say one thing about the Dillion on the right, the way they spaced the pup's out is GENIUS!!! Compared to the others, it allows a much wider range of tone between the 2 pups, when playing with the volumes between the 2.
 
#50
Wow - look at all those Birds!!!

Well, I hankered after two basses for a while now. Finally ,on a business trip to LA, I went ot Guitar Centre on Sunset Strip and tried both of them!!!

The basses were a Geddy Lee Fender Jazz and a Gibson T-bird.

I was very impressed with the Geddy Lee.......and now I own one!

I was a little disappointed in the T-bird......the one I tried didn't seem to have much tonal variation......but what it did I liked. I also simply adore he way they look!!

So why did I get the Geddy and not the T-bird.....simply value for money!! My cash flow ain't great at the moment ,and to maximise the bang for the buck in my mind the Fender won hands down.

However, I will one day add a T-bird to my collection, as I do really like them....just need to wait until I have the cahs and can justify it to my better half.....:bassist:
 
#51
i love my epiphone, although it weighs between 12 and 14 pounds and neckdives like hell. i've only played the gibson for a second, but it's pretty nice as well. $2000 nice? not sure.

don't let anybody tell you that it's only good for rock though, you can get a damn funky tone out of one if you know how to set it (you really can't slap on one though, so don't try!). and i've got flatwounds on mine and it almost sounds like maccartney's j-bass on abbey road...!
 
#52
envika said:
don't let anybody tell you that it's only good for rock though, you can get a damn funky tone out of one if you know how to set it (you really can't slap on one though, so don't try!). and i've got flatwounds on mine and it almost sounds like maccartney's j-bass on abbey road...!
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you know I wanna say your 100% right, BUT.....

I beat the hell out of the thing for hours, banging the strings "VERY" hard wishing they would break..so an EPI for slapping ---hell ya !!!

Many people who own them will say the same thing. :D
 
#53
Johnny BoomBoom said:
Wow - look at all those Birds!!!

Well, I hankered after two basses for a while now. Finally ,on a business trip to LA, I went ot Guitar Centre on Sunset Strip and tried both of them!!!

The basses were a Geddy Lee Fender Jazz and a Gibson T-bird.

I was very impressed with the Geddy Lee.......and now I own one!

I was a little disappointed in the T-bird......the one I tried didn't seem to have much tonal variation......but what it did I liked. I also simply adore he way they look!!

So why did I get the Geddy and not the T-bird.....simply value for money!! My cash flow ain't great at the moment ,and to maximise the bang for the buck in my mind the Fender won hands down.

However, I will one day add a T-bird to my collection, as I do really like them....just need to wait until I have the cahs and can justify it to my better half.....:bassist:
Click to expand...
A Gibson T-Bird has to be set up right . If there not, they don't sound as good , but once there set up proper. They're a great playing & sounding instrument. My white Gibson T-Bird is my main bass , even over my Fender US 62 Jazz Reissue , which is also a really great bass, followed real closely, & coming up real fast, is my Gretsch Hollowbody Longscale bass. Anyway if you check out a Gibson-T-Bird in the future, make sure it's been set up properly. It makes a big difference with Gibson basses. Enjoy your new Geddy, it's also a really great bass, that you'll enjoy, & have a hard time putting down.
 
#54
my guitar player said that i had to try the Gibson t-bird out. i had seen it on-line and then saw the MSRP of $2800 (no one pays msrp anyway) and quickly threw it out.

i got a chance to try it our today and i must say "holy crap that is nice!!!" the tone was amazing and the speed of the neck was fantastic (satin finish would be nicer.) the next step is to try out a strap on it.

i then tried the Epi version hoping it would have the same should only in bolt-on version. WOW, did it SUCK (imo) the neck was much wider and the whole thing felt different... but not a good different. i played one note on it and unplugged it. the one note that i did get sounded similar to the gib but i did not play it enough to find out just how close.

if i had the $2000 (after tax and all) i would get the gib. t-bird over the rick i was looking at. i love the rick too but the t-bird has the sound i am looking for and looks better (imo)

all-in-all... i LOVE this instrument and would buy it if i had the cash, or if my wife would let me open a GC credit card.
 
#55
my buddy just got a Dillion tbird clone and it plays beautifully. Im a pretty big guy, so it didnt feel too huge on me, nor was neck dive a problem at all. it sounded gigaaaantic through a russian big muff into a Sunn concert lead into a Sunn 2x15 and also when i tried it through my earth soundsystems kt3000 (guitar amp) into an earth 4x12 with a proco rat in front of it (both of us switch off between guitar and bass) all that said, I dont think Id ever be able to play one live, as I think theyre a bit gawky and totally not into the shape, but man, what a sound.
 
#57
My Epi's T-bird still neck dives like a mother even though I moved the button to one of the neck bolts. It's better but still neck heavy.

My Gibson thunderbird doesn't dive at all. It's so nice to have on you, lighter/better balanced. And the neck is narrower and much easier to play.

It's just so beautiful.

I want to marry it.
 
#58
wildcard said:
A Gibson T-Bird has to be set up right . If there not, they don't sound as good , but once there set up proper. They're a great playing & sounding instrument. My white Gibson T-Bird is my main bass , even over my Fender US 62 Jazz Reissue , which is also a really great bass, followed real closely, & coming up real fast, is my Gretsch Hollowbody Longscale bass. Anyway if you check out a Gibson-T-Bird in the future, make sure it's been set up properly. It makes a big difference with Gibson basses. Enjoy your new Geddy, it's also a really great bass, that you'll enjoy, & have a hard time putting down.
Click to expand...


I think that good advice when trying out any bass in a store - and can make the difference between buying or not!!

To me the playability was great, the action was great for me.....and the tone was nice....I just found that the controls didn't really do much....can't remember, but maybe a new set of strings would have helped!!

one thing that amazed me was that even though it is exceptionally long, it wasn't that heavy....see I'm used to playing 5 string Spectors whihc are lumps of solid maple....so maybe that's why!!

When I have the cash, I do intend on adding a Gibson T-bird to my collection - which sadly cold be a little ways off!!

For now though, I'm just enjoying adding in the Geddy to my collection of Fender P, Musicman SUB and two 5 string Spectors (NS5CR and REX2000/5). Got just about all the tones covered that I reckon I'll ever need......'cept maybe a T-bird and a decent acoustic bass!!!:bassist:
 
#59
hey i owna gibson thunderbird studio from 2007 and i love the way it sounds but the action is too high. i hav adjusted the action on my jazz bass before and know how to do it, but wen i try to adjust my thunderbird, it doesnt work right...
any advice?:bassist:
 

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