Question about Thunderbird basses

[waidonchasaisew]

So, I was wondering what bassists used the Thunderbird professionally? Gibson or Epiphone.

 

[darkstorm]

Main one who first got me interested in thunderbird bass was Wishbone Ash back in the early 70's.

 

[Simo98]

John Entwistle of The Who, Simon Gallup from The Cure, bloke from Kings of Leon.

There are plenty more, but those are the first three that I thought of.

Oh, I assume Nikki Sixx as he has a signiature edition..

 

[spaz21387]

shavo of system of a down. i personally dont like tbirds. i love the tone but they are heavy and the neck shape is huge and doesnt taper down in size at the neck. i like the shape of a fender j bass neck more.

 

[waidonchasaisew]

shavo of system of a down. i personally dont like tbirds. i love the tone but they are heavy and the neck shape is huge and doesnt taper down in size at the neck. i like the shape of a fender j bass neck more.

ahh really? I'm surprised. It doesn't seem that..."hardcore"

I don't like the neck because it is freakin long and heavy (I'm a 5'4, no armstrangth 17 yr old asian kid)! My bass has neckdive =P gotta prop it up when I play standing up. I love the j neck, but I can't afford a jbass right now. Saving for college and a trip to japan.

 

[TBird1958]

You might look here, as this was posted a short time back, many famous bassists play Thunderbirds. And BTW the neck on a Gibson is much smaller than an Epiphone or a Jazz......Nor do they have any of the Epi's balance issues.


http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=648413

 

[johnk_10]

i always loved Overend Watts' tone in Mott the Hoople on a TBird.

 

[bassmachine2112]

the epi thunderbird pro 4 has a very slim neck and appears to have a lot less neck dive.

 

[spaz21387]

I might have to give the gibson a chance i loved the tone of the epiphone tbird but hated the neck and neck dive.

 

[bassmachine2112]

pete way of ufo used to use a gibson but now uses an epiphone live.

 

[squirefan]

Leon Wikeson (Lynyrd Skynyrd). Chris Squire (at least on 'Release,Release' off of the Tormato album. John Entwhistle.

 

[waidonchasaisew]

the epi thunderbird pro 4 has a very slim neck and appears to have a lot less neck dive.

I own a T-bird IV pro. the neck dive is amazing -_-
it might be slightly less than the non-pro version, but nonetheless, it has neckdive.

 

[Morson93]

I own a Thunderbird, i've got used to the neck dive, and if you eliminate the neckdive problem it's an awesome guitar, the old bassist of 30 seconds to mars (now new angels and airwaves bassist) used to use a tbird

Apparently you can eliminate the neckdive on the epi model if you put the strap pin on the edge of the neck pocket, havent tried this yet though

 

[slaps76]

Nikki Sixx, Kings of Leon bassist, the bassist in Silversun pickups...

 

[TedhHernstrom]

Jared Followill from Kings of Leon have used 3 T-birds since 2005, a Vintage White, a Alpine White and a Ebony.

 

[EdHunter]

Sean Yseult of White Zombie pops up with a 'Bird now and then.
Algy Ward of Tank uses T-Birds almsot exclusively.
As someone said earlier, Pete Way of UFO prefers Epis nowadays (for the fatter tone).
There's a lot more that have been covered in this thread so far.

 

[Din Of Win]

Nikki Monninger of The Silversun Pickups. Love the band, and her tone is amazing.

 

[petch]

Main one who first got me interested in thunderbird bass was Wishbone Ash back in the early 70's.

Martin Turner... I totally agree! A stylish, melodic player with a great sound coming out of that T-Bird.