How many Thunderbird basses do you own?

[REMBO]

I Own 4…And, I Wish I Owned More! Lol

 

[godofthunder59]

I probably have 30+ Thunderbirds of various stripes.

 

[Eneade]

Officially zero.
But this bass has Thunderbird pickups which I like a lot.

 

[GBassNorth]

I used to have two Thunderbird style non-reverse knockoff 23" scale bass ukes that I had modified by Eric's Guitar and Pat Wilkins Finishes. The burst one, I made the pickguard decal Thunderlele. The mottled green, I had a vinyl sticker made and I added stick-on fret markers. I've let go of them a while back.

View attachment 7199195

I have one of the Savannah Uke Birds as well. Been looking for string options for it. What strings were you using on the brown burst uke?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I find it interesting that we have as many people with 21 or more as we do 6-10.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

Can't vote... No option for "between zero and one."

I have 0.38 Thunderbirds. In the process of building one.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Can't vote... No option for "between zero and one."

I have 0.38 Thunderbirds. In the process of building one.

The poll originated here in Texas. As my wife likes to remind me, “This is roundup country!” So feel free to vote 1!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The poll originated here in Texas. As my wife likes to remind me, "This is roundup country!" So feel free to vote 1!

And you do have one. “Some assembly required.”

 

[singlemalt]

Here's a rare bird. Dingwall Dbird. Voted best new bass at NAMM a few years back. Production started in China and a few made it out into the wild before the "cease and desist" came from Gibson's lawyers.

Esitimate maybe 150 of these birds out there. A true lawsuit bass.

Sheldon Dingwall does exquisite design work. The balance is perfect, no neck dive. Three pickups for a wide variety of tones. Excellent fit and finish. A cool, compact 2 and 2 headstock. Color shift blur to purple paint.

All this and a 36.25" E string to 34" G multiscale.

And it's light, about 8.5 lb.

I just added some Luminlay dots, because blur glowing dots are super cool. Fret illusion block stickers.

 

[BklynKen]

View attachment 7199978View attachment 7199979
Here's a rare bird. Dingwall Dbird. Voted best new bass at NAMM a few years back. Production started in China and a few made it out into the wild before the "cease and desist" came from Gibson's lawyers.

Esitimate maybe 150 of these birds out there. A true lawsuit bass.

Sheldon Dingwall does exquisite design work. The balance is perfect, no neck dive. Three pickups for a wide variety of tones. Excellent fit and finish. A cool, compact 2 and 2 headstock. Color shift blur to purple paint.

All this and a 36.25" E string to 34" G multiscale.

And it's light, about 8.5 lb.

I just added some Luminlay dots, because blur glowing dots are super cool. Fret illusion block stickers.

Sorry I mostly focused in on the headphones. DT770s? Love mine.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

View attachment 7199978View attachment 7199979
Here's a rare bird. Dingwall Dbird. Voted best new bass at NAMM a few years back. Production started in China and a few made it out into the wild before the "cease and desist" came from Gibson's lawyers.

Esitimate maybe 150 of these birds out there. A true lawsuit bass.

Sheldon Dingwall does exquisite design work. The balance is perfect, no neck dive. Three pickups for a wide variety of tones. Excellent fit and finish. A cool, compact 2 and 2 headstock. Color shift blur to purple paint.

All this and a 36.25" E string to 34" G multiscale.

And it's light, about 8.5 lb.

I just added some Luminlay dots, because blur glowing dots are super cool. Fret illusion block stickers.

Gorgeous. Stupid Gibson. No one would mistake one for the other.

 

[TBird1958]

Nothing like the real deal.........
8 lbs., Multi lam neck that is so fine a J bass would blush, and pickup that takes no prisoners.

 

[GIBrat51]

This is in reference to Gibson Thunderbirds and similar basses. This does not include Grestch Thunderbirds, which are different beasts entirely.

Well... I'm afraid that, much as I like them? I only own two - because I'm irredeemably left handed, and left handed Thunderbirds are... not exactly thick upon the ground. I used to own two Gibson T-Birds (Epiphone has only ever made one lefty bass, to my knowledge; the Jack Casady bass - and that, very recently). And, Gibson has only made a handful of leftys; some in 2013, and some in 2018. I had one of each, until a couple of years ago, when I had an attack of the dumbass, and sold the '18. However, I snagged a really nice - and surprisingly inexpensive - '88 Tokai TB48 T-Bird, about 18 months ago. Turned out that the reason it was so nice was that it had hardly ever been played; and the reason it was inexpensive, was because it would not intonate - and never had. Seems that Tokai made them with two different bridges; one with the mounting holes in the back, and one with the mounting holes in the front. They drilled mine for the front holes - and mounted the bridge with the holes in the back. And, apparently? For 34 years, nobody ever wondered why it was a 33-3/8" scale bass. Took me about 2 hours to fill the old holes; drill new ones; re-install the bridge; and tune it - and intonate it for the first time in it's life. And, unless you know where to look - and the light is just right? You can't tell the bridge was ever moved... It is a very, very nice bass...
So... would I like to have another T-Bird - or 3? Yeah, I suppose so. I'd definitely like to have my black '18 Gibson back; notwithstanding it's PITA Babicz bridge, and a control cavity that looked like drunken monkeys had a solder fight in it... But, sadly; all the 27 spots in my "Bass Herd" are filled, so I can't really justify one. TBH, I kind of dread coming across another lefty T-Bird; it would be a real test of my self control...

 

[KohanMike]

I have one of the Savannah Uke Birds as well. Been looking for string options for it. What strings were you using on the brown burst uke?

I used Kala/Galli flatwound nylon core 23" scale.

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[H K]

WAIT, Theres 8 people here who have MORE THAN 21 THUNDERBIRDS!?

 

[H K]

Thunderbirds are hands down the coolest and absolutely one of the best sounding basses, imo. That being said, I cant use em for jazz/fusion/funk, even if they do have a jazz neck..
For all things rock, country and similar, I love em, but yeah, a different tool for different jobs, right? I couldnt imagine NOT having one tho, thats for sure.

 

[mellowgerman]

I've owned several over the years, but now only one, which I assembled to my liking. Short scale, 5 string (EADGB), Alembic pickups and preamp. I'm pretty sure this one can do any genre - as long as a low B is not a hard requirement!

 

[Clark Westfield]

0 at this point, and it will most likely stay that way.

I never was a fan.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

WAIT, Theres 8 people here who have MORE THAN 21 THUNDERBIRDS!?

8 who have taken the poll. So at least 8.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Thunderbirds are hands down the coolest and absolutely one of the best sounding basses, imo. That being said, I cant use em for jazz/fusion/funk, even if they do have a jazz neck..
For all things rock, country and similar, I love em, but yeah, a different tool for different jobs, right? I couldnt imagine NOT having one tho, thats for sure.

Why not for those genres?
Have you visited the Thunderbird Club thread? Between the GTGs and just visiting (and mine) I bet I’ve played around 75 birds!