Complete disclosure... I've always loved the "T"bird. LLLOOOOONNNNGGG before I became a bass player, I was a Gibson lover and admirer of the 'bird. Selecting the "right" bass is a
really big deal for me right now.
(fast forward if ya don't give a crap about the personal s#!t)
Within a span of about a year & a half... my mother lost her 20 year battle with cancer... the dead, rotting, soulless shell of what used to be my wife of 22 years, finally put her cellphone down long enough to tell me, "YOU gotta GO" (verbatim), thus forcing me out of my home, fatherhood (I have 3 beautiful daughters I would eagerly sacrifice my life for), and every element of life as I knew it (BTW... this happened about 2 months after I lost my job). I landed flat on my ass at my father's house. THAT particular part of the tail was actually GOOD news, because I was able to spend about 4 months with my father before he was diagnosed with leukemia, & died 6 weeks later. To say I was "in a slump", would be the understatement of the 21st century. I have a far better friend than anyone deserves, who gave me this, in an effort to boost my drooping soul.
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It was given to me with only one condition. I can't sell it. "It dies with you" he said. I hadn't been active in music for like, 15 years at that point. I humbly and graciously accepted his gift, but had no drive to play. This gorgeous specimen sat in it's case, untouched for about a year. A friend of mine called me up & invited me to hang out at practice with his new band. Turns out... the singer/bass player really wanted to just be a singer. We all got along well... so I jumped at the chance. I immediately spent half of that months child support payment on an Ibanez TMB-100. Within about 2 weeks... I was hooked! I was ALIVE again! I spoke to my friend that gave me the Les Paul. He was thrilled to hear about my rebirth, and granted me permission to sell/trade it for a bass... but the same rule applies to whatever bass I get. It dies with me. I have a crushed vertebrae that keeps me from working... so opportunities to get a really nice piece, don't come along often. All of this, is why I'm being so cautious, tentative, and thorough about researching basses before pulling the trigger.
covers the P and the J territory, and USA for the same or less $ than used squiers. You don't even need to upgrade the pickups on most of them.
