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white gibson thunderbird??
- Thread starter orion89
- Start date
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,908
- 142,369
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,060
- 38,448
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,908
- 142,369
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
It's currently available in white, the QC is as good or better than Gibson, rivals it for tone and is several hundred dollars less.
Why not
I was at gibson's store 2 years ago in Nashville and they had a white one in stock but it had been on the wall forever. They were begging me to buy it.
Gibson basses sell terribly as a whole...... I would doubt you would see a new white TBird unless it is a Kings of Leon Followell sig or something.
I love Gibson basses and my 2nd Les Paul bass will be in my hands next week (I own 2 LP guitars as well), but man does Gibson's focus on basses suck. They likely sell more mandolins or banjos than basses, so I can't say I blame them....
Gibson basses sell terribly as a whole...... I would doubt you would see a new white TBird unless it is a Kings of Leon Followell sig or something.
I love Gibson basses and my 2nd Les Paul bass will be in my hands next week (I own 2 LP guitars as well), but man does Gibson's focus on basses suck. They likely sell more mandolins or banjos than basses, so I can't say I blame them....
Thanks guys and gals. I think you right baird6869 things are looking bleak for the thunderbird. To be honest it's purely a cosmetic thing for me, I want a white Gibson thunderbird not a QC or anything similar. I know how they sound and I'd never pick it for tone over my American deluxe precision in a million years but I think they're the best looking basses in the world. I've made the decision to have my vintage sunburst thunderbird refinished by spectrum finishes instead! Thank you all for you help anyway!!
I bought Gibson Thunderbird about 10 years ago. Sold it the first year I had it. It was beautiful to look at but the pickups were terrible! I actually sent it back to the factory because I thought it was somehow defective. But they sent it back saying nothing was wrong. The electronics were incredibly noisy, a constant buzz at high volume. I tried adding shielding but nothing helped. I ditched it on eBay for less than I paid. Gibson builds great guitars, mandolins, and banjos but suck at making basses.
- Jul 1, 2005
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- CataldoBasses: Designer/Builder ThunderBuckerPickups:Consultant
To quote Baz Cooper, "If you don't play a 60s Thunderbird you don't understand." They are very different from later versions in construction details, hardware, pickups and sound. This one is definitely NOT for sale. It's a refin.
Funny, I have a 1990 Gibson Tbird, which I bought new, and it's the quietest (from an extraneous noise pov) bass I own...
The pickups and electronics are the best of all my basses, IMO. And that includes Precisions, Jazzes, EMG equipped Spector, Bart equipped Tobias, etc, etc...
I disagree.
My new Les Paul oversized bass is killer (build quality, feel, tone, etc) and my 1992 Les Paul 5er is equally great.
IMO, Gibson just doesn't need to focus on this market as they sell so many more electric and acoustic guitars than likely most of the the entire bass market (in units). Why compete with Fender and other bass manufacturers when you can just release a new Les Paul colour, historic release, etc and sell thousands?
Gibson hasn't had even a tiny market share of the bass market since the EB series sold well in the early '70s.
