What the heck is Gibson doing?

[Michael Jewels]

Well,

1) You either like Thunderbirds or you don't.

2) The price is the price of almost any decent bass. I have a Stingray I bought in December of 2001, it was $1,234.00; have you seen what they cost lately?

3) For years I have joked that I should be the CEO of Gibson, in that I believe I have some ideas to make them money.

Like what?

For starters, issue reissues of past popular models.

Which ones?

Like the RD Standard and Artist, the Victory bass and the Ripper, Grabber,G3 series.

Simply poll the buying public to see if they'd be interested, I bet they would.

Offer the reissues at Gibson's overpriced suggested retail price, and have those interested pre-pay for their instrument.

Gibson could then annually make, let's say 500 of this model or that, and everyone would be happy.

And I haven't mentioned their guitars.

Have you seen their new version of the Firebird?

It's called, The Platypus, and I'm thinking of buying one.

My ideas will succeed!

Who's on the phone?

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and they want my advice?

Gotta go! Talk later!

Mike

 

[primussucks9126]

Eh. If I wanted a Thunderbird I'd probably get the Epiphone.

This might have upgrades, but it feels kinda watered down.

If they're gonna go for a more player friendly/ergonomic take, Id rather see another stab at the Victory basses (less precious, so maybe certain changes would be better received) with T bird electronics. Kinda like the Epi Newport.

 

[sleddogn]

It always amazes me when mediocre musicians with extremely limited playing abilities have signature models...

if gene makes you mad, then sell more records than him and show him whats it's about....

 

[Jazzdogg]

if gene makes you mad, then sell more records than him and show him whats it's about....

Not interested - at all. He has nothing to show me except ego, misogyny, and formulaic drivel where there ought to be music.

 

[sleddogn]

ok, so you hate gene, we get it.... you're all bark...lol woof woof

 

[sleddogn]

whats the saying....living rent free.... lol

 

[gln1955]

It always amazes me when mediocre musicians with extremely limited playing abilities have signature models...

It won't be long before an AI "artist" has a signature model.

 

[dmt]

I like everything they’ve done except for the pickups. To me, those pickups give it a "heavy music" look, and I’ll admit that will probably be better for Thunderbird sales than a vintage look/sound would be, but yeah, unless vintage alnico t-bird pickup aftermarkets could be a direct drop-in replacement, I couldn’t go for this one. But hopefully others like it. I think they’ve made some logical practical improvements here, and I wish them success with it

 

[Octavio]

I have an Epiphone Thunderbird in sunburst. Sounds great, looks good, not ergonomic. I was briefly considering shaving down the headstock but I knew that I would screw up the project so I left it alone. I like this smaller version.

 

[J Wilson]

It's fascinating to me in that Gibson is selling brand new 1963 basses, when TBirds were originally introduced

63 years later, you're selling the same thing, more or less. Imagine Chevrolet still making 63 Impalas, or new Zenith TVs.

What a strange business.

 

[blacktocomm]

It's fascinating to me in that Gibson is selling brand new 1963 basses, when TBirds were originally introduced

63 years later, you're selling the same thing, more or less. Imagine Chevrolet still making 63 Impalas, or new Zenith TVs.

What a strange business.

Or Fender still making Precision and Jazz basses. Crazy.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

I can't wait for the next Fender Fanboi thread.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

It's fascinating to me in that Gibson is selling brand new 1963 basses, when TBirds were originally introduced

63 years later, you're selling the same thing, more or less. Imagine Chevrolet still making 63 Impalas, or new Zenith TVs.

What a strange business.

Fender is doing pretty well with the PBass whose current design is more or less the same design as the 1957 / soon to be 69 years old, and the Telecaster which turns 75 this year.

And by the way; every new offering of autos designed to look like an older version (3rd gen ‘08-‘23 Dodge Challenger / 1970 Dodge Challenger, 5th Gen 2010 -‘15 Camaro / ‘67, ’68, ‘69 Camaro, 5th Gen Mustang 2005-2014 / ‘67, ‘68 Mustang), all sold really well.

The Gibson electric instrument brand is mostly supported by the Gibson Les Paul, which was first released in 1952, / 74 years ago, and is essentially the same today.

Other examples; Martin D28s, (82 years old), Gibson F-style Mandolins (125 or so years old), Gibson Mastertone Banjos (103 years), all virtually unchanged from the original.

The difference being the original TBirds weren’t wildly popular and those built since did more to reinforce the negatives of the instrument than build on success. They have “the look” for a positive and a list of negatives the look can’t quite cover up…

 

[J Wilson]

Fender is doing pretty well with the PBass whose current design is more or less the same design as the 1957 / soon to be 69 years old, and the Telecaster which turns 75 this year.

And by the way; every new offering of autos designed to look like an older version (3rd gen ‘08-‘23 Dodge Challenger / 1970 Dodge Challenger, 5th Gen 2010 -‘15 Camaro / ‘67, ’68, ‘69 Camaro, 5th Gen Mustang 2005-2014 / ‘67, ‘68 Mustang), all sold really well.

The Gibson electric instrument brand is mostly supported by the Gibson Les Paul, which was first released in 1952, / 74 years ago, and is essentially the same today.

Other examples; Martin D28s, (82 years old), Gibson F-style Mandolins (125 or so years old), Gibson Mastertone Banjos (103 years), all virtually unchanged from the original.

The difference being the original TBirds weren’t wildly popular and those built since did more to reinforce the negatives of the instrument than build on success. They have “the look” for a positive and a list of negatives the look can’t quite cover up…

I always go back to my retail music store days thinking about this.

One cold, overcast, drizzly morning, my been-there-seen-everything manager squinted out at the gloom over his coffee and said, 'you know, no matter what comes along, and I've seen 50's rock and roll morph into the British Invasion, then the Summer of Love, then Disco, then punk, and now all this 80's synth pop, musicians who think they are the latest thing and way cooler than what came before them are always, always going to play the same LPs. Strats, Teles, PBasses and Jazz Basses even their grandfathers played.'

I've yet to see it disproved.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Since we’re talking about new Thunderbirds…


Not the best sound-wise, but as of now, it’s less than a day old.

Mike

 

[ajkula66]

I can't handle a Bird to save a life so I'm not in the market for one - unless they decide to re-visit the short scale version - but Hipshot hardware and De Cola pickups are worthy upgrades in my book. Too bad that they gave up on coil taps that these used to come with.

Generally speaking, Birds are classic designs whether one likes them or not and I can't see too many people being won over with the changes present in the ones discussed here. May I be proven wrong...

My $0.02 only...

 

[Water buffalo]

Since we’re talking about new Thunderbirds…


Not the best sound-wise, but as of now, it’s less than a day old.

Mike

If @godofthunder59 is good with it, so am I.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

I'm holding out for the Thunderbird-X models to show up!

 

[TDR1138]

I’ve always liked and wanted a Tbird. There is a lot that I like about this new one. Nice bridge and tuners, those are great pickups, though chrome covers would have been nice. I kind of like the idea of a set neck with not having the center raised on the back. But that headstock is just wrong.

 

[Water buffalo]

I bet the people who do neck fitting at Gibson USA ar happy about the set neck.