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Gibson Thunderbird - worth the price?
- Thread starter Kapettit67
- Start date
Not possible. The wire broke off almost flush with the potting material. I suppose I could have pulled it all apart and tried to do something more, but this was a favorite gigging bass and I didn't want to be without it. I had the Lollar pup in a couple days.
That’s cool. I have heard good things about lollars. Want to put some in my jazz but I always prefer stock.
I dont know about his Jazz pups, but I have a set in my Reverse Thunderbird. They were transformative. Very open and clear as compared to the OEM Gibsons in ny 2018.
Want to replace the bridge on mine with the hipshot bridge. Should I go black or chrome? Was leaning black because the pickups are already chrome and didn't want to go overboard plus it would sit close to the bridge pickup so double chrome but not sure if the black matches with the black body.
Well...I'm thinking about investing in a Gibson Thunderbird. I've played Epi Thunderbirds for two decades, but I'm thinking of biting the bullet for the real thing. I'm just wondering if anyone has any input on this. My Epi's generally cost less than $500 and Gibsons are at least $1500 used.
I don't really have a dog in this fight, to be honest. I'm extremely left handed, and to my knowledge? Epiphone has never made a lefty Thunderbird - of any description. Gibson never made one, either - until 2013. I have one of those; it's... well, build wise? It can give my Alembic Epic a run for it's money, any day. Gibson never made any more leftys, until 2018. I bought one of those, too. Sadly, it wasn't quite as nice as my '13 T-Bird. The Babicz bridge, and the solder-y mess in the control cavity just irritated me every time I looked at it - so I sold it. A member of the T-Bird Club owns it now; he seems happy with it...
Tokai made a few lefty TB-48 T-Birds in the '80s. I have one; an '88 model. Aside from having a bolt-on neck? It's very nice - once I got the bridge sorted out (a weird story). So...
Aside from the Tokai, and the 2 Gibsons? My experience with T-Birds is very limited. I love my '13 Gibson; The Tokai is... well, almost as nice. Once I got the bridge sorted, that is... And, TBH? I do sort of wish I had the '18 Gibson T-Bird back. As for the Epiphone T-Birds? From what I've read on the T-Bird Owner's Forum? Some of them are really worth having; some are... just OK; and some of them are basses to stay away from. But, since Epi doesn't make lefty basses - except for the Jack Casady model? I really can't say, one way or the other. I do like my lefty JCB, though...
My first and only Tbird, I'm glad I made the choice. This Epi is built incredibly well, and the pickups sound great.
It's lighter than I thought it would be, and I added a small amount of lead weights in the control cavity which eliminated neck dive.
It's lighter than I thought it would be, and I added a small amount of lead weights in the control cavity which eliminated neck dive.
