Thunderbird Club

[Count Bassie]

Me too! I have a live Vanilla Fudge LP "Near the Beginning" ('69) and during "Break Song" Tim Bogert plays a rippin' fuzz-bass solo and afterwards is introduced; "Tim Bogert, on the Fender bass" to which he relies "thank you!" TB was one of my earliest inspirations of full-on rock bass playing.

I got into some Cactus a couple years ago, really down, gritty jam. Love that stuff, Bogert is monstrous. Aggressive and adventurous, the first player I know of to have opened up the Fender bass and give it a good trouncing- nobody got out of it what he did up to then. If it were a motor he'd have seized it up. Cactus were sometimes referred to as "the American Led Zeppelin"... though I think that's a bit if of a short-sell for them.

Great player, great rhythm section.

 

[JIO]

I got into some Cactus a couple years ago, really down, gritty jam. Love that stuff, Bogert is monstrous. Aggressive and adventurous, the first player I know of to have opened up the Fender bass and give it a good trouncing- nobody got out of it what he did up to then. If it were a motor he'd have seized it up. Cactus were sometimes referred to as "the American Led Zeppelin"... though I think that's a bit if of a short-sell for them.

Great player, great rhythm section.

agree and well put - the Zep reference does has a relative point if only that Bonham credited Carmine Appice as an influence.

Ya know... I think that's why I never really got into them before. I knew they were commonly considered "Psychedelic Rock", and that was something I'd just never really got into. The album I just listened to, seemed more structured and musically complex than what I typically think of when I think of Psychedelic Rock. "Progedelic" perhaps?

Again, a label (psychedelic) of that era that was pretty slippery. They played into it (You Keep Me Hangin' On - a Supremes song) because it was the fashionable thing to do, but they were a fierce rock band flavored by the black R&B and soul music they loved. Pink Floyd they weren't.

 

[RikiP]

are there any differences between Blackbird and Thunderbird!? (aside from the look)

 

[Larry V]

are there any differences between Blackbird and Thunderbird!? (aside from the look)

Yes.

 

[JJR58]

This looks nice.
Considering the mods.

Gibson Thunderbird IV 2006 White (Aged) | Myke Shuberg

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

This looks nice.
Considering the mods.

Gibson Thunderbird IV 2006 White (Aged) | Myke Shuberg

Looks like someone REALLY wanted to be like Nikki Sixx, single knob, the "i" hook in the upper bout, and painted.

 

[TBird1958]

Let me see if this works,

Here's some great video and audio of our Thunderbird Brother Scott Dasson (GodofThunder59) and his Who tribute band.

Non Reverse Thunderbird and Hiwatts!

 

[godofthunder59]

Let me see if this works,

Here's some great video and audio of our Thunderbird Brother Scott Dasson (GodofThunder59) and his Who tribute band.

Non Reverse Thunderbird and Hiwatts!

Thanks Mark!

 

[theFixer]

While I appreciate the appeal to Occam, I will add more. It is quite probable that customer service reps just don't have any information and just work form the assumption that the near future will look just like the present. If you put yourself in the CSR chair, you see that to get you a good answer, requires a lot of work for unlikely success. The alternative is to answer quickly and move onto the next query. The latter makes your work stats look better.

From the management side, there is no reason to tell CSRs about next years plans and reasons to not disclose those plans.

valid... but IMHO... they are Customer SERVICE Representatives. The "service" they should provide, is to be a conduit of information from the customer to the manufacturer and back. The way that should work, is by ensuring that the CSR has a good working knowledge of the company, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge beyond what they themselves have retained. Beyond that... the CSR should be able to kick a text or an e-mail to someone in the company that does have the answers the customer seeks (i.e. - "Bill, I gotta customer here that want's to know what, if any, basses that Gibson will be manufacturing in 2018"). There are a million & one ways to respond to a question like that, that don't involve insulting their customers with poorly copied & pasted form e-mails that barely make sense, and dodge the question all together.

 

[PillO]

valid... but IMHO... they are Customer SERVICE Representatives. The "service" they should provide, is to be a conduit of information from the customer to the manufacturer and back. The way that should work, is by ensuring that the CSR has a good working knowledge of the company, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge beyond what they themselves have retained. Beyond that... the CSR should be able to kick a text or an e-mail to someone in the company that does have the answers the customer seeks (i.e. - "Bill, I gotta customer here that want's to know what, if any, basses that Gibson will be manufacturing in 2018"). There are a million & one ways to respond to a question like that, that don't involve insulting their customers with poorly copied & pasted form e-mails that barely make sense, and dodge the question all together.

Dear Mr. The Fixer,

We appreciate your recent call and hope that you were satisfied with your response. Please fill out the customer satisfaction survey below to help us continue to provide excellent service:

____ Excellent service
____ Very good service
____ Other (please specify - all text will be ignored)
​

Answers provided were:

____ Complete and accurate
____ Included more information than I desired but fully explained the situation
____ Other (please specify - all text will be ignored)
​

Please note that the results of this survey (designed by the customer service manager) will directly impact the pay, bonus, and promotion prospects for the customer service manager and the customer service representatives.


As much as I agree that CSRs should try to help out end consumers, the reality is quite different. So, helping out a customer (and Gibson's customers are music stores) that is looking to buy today is priority 1, helping out a customer that is looking to buy in the next week, month, quarter is priority 2, helping out a customer that may buy in the future and whom you want to keep from buying from a competitor is priority 3. You, the lowly consumer (and customer of the music store, not Gibson), is conspicuously absent from the priority listing. They might deal with you on warranty matters, but really they only want to take care of their customers - the music stores.

 

[hillerup]

Yes.

Short and to the bone... I like that!

 

[theFixer]

agree and well put - the Zep reference does has a relative point if only that Bonham credited Carmine Appice as an influence.



Again, a label (psychedelic) of that era that was pretty slippery. They played into it (You Keep Me Hangin' On - a Supremes song) because it was the fashionable thing to do, but they were a fierce rock band flavored by the black R&B and soul music they loved. Pink Floyd they weren't.

Oh no... I would never lump them in with a band like Pink Floyd. It's just that some of their musical wanderings on that live album, struck me as having early progressive tendencies. Again... I've never really gotten into Psychedelic rock before, so knowledge and exposure are limited. I'm sure it's just the fact that it's less "trippy" as you alluded to earlier, that made me think of that.

 

[EdO.]

"... so, 'F' the loyal customers! We're chasing the easy money!"
Yeah... I can hear Hank J. sayin' that

That's business, like it or not.

I had seriously consider that one.

$350 with case and free shipping is a fair deal IMO. If I were specifically looking for one like that one I'd be all over it. Wouldn't think it will last long at that price.

 

[theFixer]

Dear Mr. The Fixer,

We appreciate your recent call and hope that you were satisfied with your response. Please fill out the customer satisfaction survey below to help us continue to provide excellent service:

____ Excellent service
____ Very good service
____ Other (please specify - all text will be ignored)
​

Answers provided were:

____ Complete and accurate
____ Included more information than I desired but fully explained the situation
____ Other (please specify - all text will be ignored)
​

Please note that the results of this survey (designed by the customer service manager) will directly impact the pay, bonus, and promotion prospects for the customer service manager and the customer service representatives.


As much as I agree that CSRs should try to help out end consumers, the reality is quite different. So, helping out a customer (and Gibson's customers are music stores) that is looking to buy today is priority 1, helping out a customer that is looking to buy in the next week, month, quarter is priority 2, helping out a customer that may buy in the future and whom you want to keep from buying from a competitor is priority 3. You, the lowly consumer (and customer of the music store, not Gibson), is conspicuously absent from the priority listing. They might deal with you on warranty matters, but really they only want to take care of their customers - the music stores.

If that's the approach they wish to take... they need to provide their retailers with a truckload more information, so the customer can get the answers from them. My experience over the years has shown that, it you're asking a question about a Gibson product that's on their sales floor... the odds are better that they will know at least something about the product. If you ask them about a Gibson product that's not on the sales floor... they typically don't know any more than the customer. Under those circumstances... Gibson is not only letting their customers down... they're also letting their customer's customers down. At the end of the day... it's all about the manufacturer and the end user. Marketing 101... "Make it easy for your customer to buy your product". Of course "Know your customer" is right up there too... and we see how well they're doing with that...

 

[Gaolee]

The local shop I wander through off and on has been a Gibson/Epiphone dealer off and on forever. Gibson seems to be very hard to deal with. That shop carries Fender, of course, and a whole lot of other brands. They seem to have dropped Ibanez, although I don't know why. The picked up Rickenbacker recently, and have a number of other brands like Eastwood. I think they have Gretsch, too. I know I have seen Gretsch guitars there. But, for whatever reason, Gibson appears and then disappears. I guess the Gibson CSRs are just as opaque to them as they are to everyone else. Too bad. I really do prefer Gibson guitars and bass guitars. It's just Gibson the company I don't prefer so much, and that doesn't seem to be a unique opinion.

 

[BklynKen]

I know I've probably said this a million times, but although I share some of the same annoyances as the rest with Gibson, I have to give them some slack because of how fortunate I am to have a real left-handed Thunderbird. I don't think right-handed players can truly understand how much this means, even if it ends up to be a one-off situation. And they did it right, too. Rickenbacker makes their basses left-handed, but there are some really weird elements that they never really reversed for it, like the fretboard inlays. They're upside down. So even if it's decades too late, Gibson has my gratitude.

 

[Gaolee]

Considering that ten percent of the population is left handed, you would think that it would be worthwhile to make lefty guitars and bass guitars. Ten percent of business is a fair amount. And theoretically, lefties are more artistically inclined, so you would think there would be more than 10% of players who were left handed.

Of course, the lefties I know best are an engineer who would be happy living in a white styrofoam box and a lawyer whose aesthetic concern is mostly focused on her own appearance. So much for stereotypes.

 

[BklynKen]

Considering that ten percent of the population is left handed, you would think that it would be worthwhile to make lefty guitars and bass guitars. Ten percent of business is a fair amount. And theoretically, lefties are more artistically inclined, so you would think there would be more than 10% of players who were left handed.

Of course, the lefties I know best are an engineer who would be happy living in a white styrofoam box and a lawyer whose aesthetic concern is mostly focused on her own appearance. So much for stereotypes.

Though, what percentage of that 10% PLAYS left-handed?

 

[Basshappi]

I know I've probably said this a million times, but although I share some of the same annoyances as the rest with Gibson, I have to give them some slack because of how fortunate I am to have a real left-handed Thunderbird. I don't think right-handed players can truly understand how much this means, even if it ends up to be a one-off situation. And they did it right, too. Rickenbacker makes their basses left-handed, but there are some really weird elements that they never really reversed for it, like the fretboard inlays. They're upside down. So even if it's decades too late, Gibson has my gratitude.

Agreed. I was not fortunate enough to be able to get one of the 2013 lefty Thunderbirds and I really regret that. I did get an SG and since I've always had a soft spot for the EB-3 I'm very happy to have it. Now that there are lefty T'birds out there "in the wild" as it where I hold out hope that at some point I'll finally be able to get one. I would really love to have a Ripper, but there was supposedly only 2 ever made and I've only seen one of them.

Ricks are a real sore spot with me. I have always wanted one, probably more than any other bass but their use of right handed necks/fretboards completely turned me off to them. In recent years they have finally gone fully left handed and I have actually played two 4003s but the neck shape is such that I cannot play them comfortably no matter what I tried. The other problem is the price, last one I handled was priced at $2650.00!! If I could get a used one at a decent price I could modify the neck shape if necessary but that would be the only way it would work for me.

 

[Gaolee]

Not that many. But if there were more lefty guitars and bass guitars, maybe more would play lefty. I'm right handed, but when I first picked up a guitar, I started messing with it left handed because that's what seemed like it would work. So it may not just be lefties who would play left handed. If there were more left handed instruments out there. It's a big if.