Gibson Thunderbird
| Gibson Thunderbird | |
|---|---|
 Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) with Gibson Thunderbird |
|
| General | |
| Type | Electric bass |
| Manufacturer | Gibson ; United States |
| production | since 1963 |
| Construction and materials | |
| Scale length | 34 in. (864 mm), long scale |
| Body | Solid body made of mahogany |
| neck | Full , neunstreifiger neck of mahogany and walnut |
| Fingerboard | Rosewood , 20 frets |
| saddle | Corian |
| Mechanics | 4 × left, encapsulated |
| Footbridge / bridge | Fixed, one-piece metal bridge with individual saddles |
| Pickups and Electronics | |
| Pickups |
2 × "TB +" humbuckers |
| Tone control | passive
|
| Unless otherwise stated, the data come from the manufacturer's website (as of June 8, 2014) | |
The Gibson Thunderbird is an electric bass model first introduced in 1963 by the American musical instrument manufacturer Gibson Guitar Corporation .
history
The Thunderbird was designed in 1963 together with the Gibson Firebird electric guitar model by the US car designer Raymond H. Dietrich for Gibson. Dietrich had previously worked for major car brands such as Chrysler and Lincoln . The lines and dimensions of the Thunderbird body as well as that of the Firebird electric guitar are vaguely reminiscent of the design of the American road cruisers of the 1950s with tail fins .
The first two models from 1963 were the Thunderbird II with one electromagnetic pickup and the Thunderbird IV with two pickups, which appeared in parallel with the Firebird . In both models, the body was shaped in what is known today as the " reverse body " (German: "side-inverted" body). Special features of the goods through the neck and the long scale length of 34 inches (English: Long Scale ). Gibson had previously only had electric basses with a short shortscale gauge of 30½ inches in its product range and thus could not hold its own against the then market leader, the US musical instrument manufacturer Fender . Due to poor sales figures, production of the first two Gibson Thunderbird models was discontinued in 1965.
In 1966, revised versions of the Thunderbird II and IV appeared under the same name. The most important differences were the “upside down” body, the shape of which is known as “ non-reverse ” (“right side”), and the glued-in neck . This model also did not achieve the hoped-for success and was discontinued in 1969.
In 1976, the third generation of the bass appeared, known as the Thunderbird '76 . For the most part, it was a remake of the original Thunderbird IV from 1963 with a different bridge design. The symbol printed on the pickguard was designed in the style of the American flag to mark the 200th anniversary of American independence . Only in 1976 was there a stylized 76 on the pickguard in addition to the specially designed bird , and in the following years no year was printed below it. In 1979, the model was discontinued as it again fell short of the company's commercial expectations.
In 1987, the Thunderbird was finally published in the form still available today, again under the name Thunderbird IV .
In the 2000s, Gibson briefly offered the Thunderbird in a studio version. Studio models at Gibson are traditionally cheaper versions of a popular model with reduced features. The Thunderbird Studio has a glued-in neck and was available as both a four-string and a five-string.
From 2011 a Thunderbird model with the "Gibson-classic" shortscale length of 30.5 "(775 mm) with a glued-in neck was offered for a short time.
Today the Thunderbird is considered the most successful bass model from Gibson and is an established electric bass classic.
Construction and technical data
As with the models available from 1963 to 1965 and 1976 to 1979, the body is made in the "reversed" shape. The continuous neck is laminated from strips of mahogany and walnut, the body wings are made of mahogany and the fingerboard is made of rosewood. The bass has two humbucking pickups , black machine heads and a black bridge. Widely used paint finishes are “Vintage Sunburst ”, “Ebony” (black) and “Classic White” (white).
The very characteristic sound is often referred to as "grumpy". The Gibson Thunderbird IV is only available as a four-string.
Epiphone Thunderbird
Gibson's subsidiary Epiphone offers a cheap replica of the Thunderbird IV . They are based on the model in terms of looks and sound. However, there are differences in the materials used. The body is made of alder, the neck of maple wood is screwed to the body. In addition, other pickups are installed. Epiphone has also been offering the Thunderbird Pro since 2009 , which is equipped with active electronics and is available with both four and five strings. The Pro series comes even closer to the model of the original. This is not only evident in the sound, but also in the thinner body and the continuous neck.
Famous Thunderbird players
The Thunderbird is played by many bass players. The best known include Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe , to whom various signature models from Gibson and Epiphone have already been dedicated, and Krist Novoselic from Nirvana . Other Thunderbird bassists are Roger Glover from Rainbow , Jeordie White (as "Twiggy Ramirez" with Marilyn Manson ) and Shavo Odadjian from System of a Down . John Entwistle of The Who also played Gibson Thunderbirds in the 1970s and later used parts of them for self-construction.
literature
- Jim Roberts: American Basses - an illustrated history and player's guide . Backbeat Books, San Francisco 2003, ISBN 0-87930-721-8 (English)
Web links
- The Thunderbird on the official Gibson website (accessed June 8, 2014)
- Page with lots of information about Thunderbird and its history (accessed March 8, 2011)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Jim Roberts: American Basses , p. 75
- ↑ Jim Roberts: American Basses , p. 73
- ↑ Bass Museum: Gibson Thunderbird 66/76 on bassprofessor.info
- ↑ Pictures of the 1976 bicentennial special edition; Pictures of the different pickguard designs
- ↑ Gibson website for the Shortscale Thunderbird