![]() ![]() Thunderbirds produce a more resonant sound than short-scale Gibson basses of the era, but they weren’t without shortcomings. ![]() Notable players of original Thunderbirds included Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash, and the late Allen Woody of the Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule. Some black instruments were also manufactured, but were never catalogued as a color option. Other colors on the chart were Heather Poly, Pelham Blue Poly, Golden Mist Poly, Kerry Green, Silver Mist Poly, Inverness Green Poly, Ember Red, Frost Blue, and Polaris White. Ten colors were available, including the gorgeous Cardinal Red that drapes this 1965 example. The standard finish on early T-Birds was sunburst, but one of the most important marketing innovations for this series was the introduction of Gibson’s custom-color program (they trailed Fender in this concept, as well). ![]() Original Firebirds had rear-projecting banjo-style tuners Thunderbirds had conventional bass tuners, located exactly where they would be on a Fender instrument. The single-pickup II had a volume and tone control, and the double-pickup IV had two volume controls and a master tone knob. They featured new humbucking pickups without polepieces, and their Tune-O-Matic bridges and stop tailpieces were also new. There were cosmetic and electronic differences in the Firebird I, III, V, and VII guitars (neck inlay, tailpieces, number of pickups, etc.), but the Thunderbird II and IV were simply one- and two-pickup models with dot fretboard inlays. So for the T-Bird, it softened the profile of the Explorer to create what resembled flipped-over Fenders, with a protruding treble bout and no cutaway on the bass side near where the neck joined the body. Early examples had a two-piece full-length neck, but by the end of the first year, a nine-layer laminated neck was employed for better strength.įive years before the Thunderbird, Gibson had committed a cosmetic blunder with the too-futuristic Flying V and Explorer guitars (at least one Explorer bass was built). Companions to the Firebird guitars, Thunderbirds featured neck-through construction with body sides glued to the neck block. Gibson opted to get into the full-scale electric bass market in earnest with the introduction of the redoubtable Thunderbird model in 1963. The two were normally short-scale, but were available in full-scale variants for a few years starting in ’69. The next solidbody Gibson bass was the ’59 EB-0, which would go through several cosmetic and electronic changes as it and a two-pickup EB-3 became Gibson’s mainstay electric basses in the ’60s. Only 546 were shipped before the instrument was discontinued in 1958, supplanted by the EB-2. Gibson’s response came in 1953 with the Electric Bass (its actual moniker), which was a short-scale (301?2″) mahogany-bodied, violin-shaped instrument with a telescopic end pin that allowed it to be played upright. Sure, it built a couple of electric uprights in the late 1930s and the semi-hollow EB-2 in ’58, but all too often its solidbody basses played catch-up with Fender instruments.įender introduced its full-scale (34″) solidbody Precision Bass in 1951, and it quickly caught on. In spite of its laudable history, the Gibson company’s solidbody electric basses have never been much of a factor in the market. Similarly, please send any comments or critiques to the moderators.1965 Gibson Thunderbird bass, serial #263668. We encourage you to report spam posts or posts that violate the rules, but please send a message to the moderators at the same time. Please tag video or audio of you or your band with in the subject line of the post. Requests for tab should be made in /r/basstabs and will be removed from /r/bass Resist the urge to start "gig pic" "bass face" and "family photo" threads. Also, do not post links to giveaways where you personally benefit (getting more entries) by propagating (spamming) a link. Posts made outside of the thread will be removed and asked to be reposted.ĭon't use the sub to sell or advertise your gear (with very few exceptions, ask the mods). New Bass Day (NBD) and Gear posts go into the weekly threads. We have lots of common questions with lots of common answers. Previous AMAs FAQ and Wiki Bass Resources 2016 Official Pedals Thread Follow /r/bass on Twitter Related Communities Other InstrumentsĬheck the sidebar, the FAQ, and search for your answer before making a post. ![]()
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