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Information about Gibson Thunderbird

The Gibson Thunderbird is an electric bass guitar made by Gibson.

Background and Introduction

The Gibson Thunderbird was introduced in 1963. At the time, Fender had been the leader in the electric bass market since their introduction of the Precision Bass twelve years earlier.

The Thunderbird was designed by U.S. auto designer Raymond H. Dietrich (Chrysler, Lincoln, Checker) along with the Firebird guitar, which it resembles in design, construction, and name.

Design and Construction

The Thunderbird bass, like the Rickenbacker 4000 series, and like the Firebird guitar it was designed concurrently with, had neck-through construction, where the neck wood went through the entire length of the body, with the rest of the body being glued into place.

While previous Gibson bass guitars had a short scale of 30½", the Thunderbird had a 34" scale equal to that of the 34" scale of Fender's bass guitars.

There were originally two Thunderbird models, the Thunderbird II (one pickup) and Thunderbird IV (two pickups)

Thunderbirds

In 1966, Gibson changed the Thunderbird's design and construction. The original Thunderbirds (and Firebirds) had a "reverse" body, with the treble horn extended and the bass horn recessed. Due to a lawsuit brought by Fender because of the resemblance to the Fender Jazzmaster, the body styles were flipped over, with the result being called the "non-reverse" body. (reference needed)

Further to this, the sturdy but expensive neck-through construction was replaced by traditional Gibson set-neck construction.

The non-reverse Thunderbird was continued until 1969, when the Thunderbird was discontinued. (reference needed)

In part because of their rarity, reverse Thunderbirds are highly sought after collector's items.

1976-79 Reissue

The Thunderbird IV was reissued in 1976 as a bicentennial edition. This reissue featured the original body shape and neck-through construction. After the bicentennial, the Thunderbird was continued as a regular production model until 1979, when it was discontinued again.

Current Thunderbird models

The Thunderbird IV was re-introduced to the Gibson line in 1987 and has been in production up to the present.

The current official Thunderbirds produced by Gibson Guitar Corporation are:
  • Gibson Thunderbird IV
  • Gibson Thunderbird Studio (4 String)
  • Gibson Thunderbird Studio (5 String)
  • Epiphone Thunderbird IV
  • Epiphone Goth Thunderbird
All five models have two pickups and reverse-style bodies.

The current Gibson Thunderbird IV is made with a nine-ply mahogany/walnut through-neck with mahogany wings attached to form the body.

The Gibson Thunderbird Studio models have mahogany necks set into mahogany bodies.

The Epiphone Thunderbird IV, a budget alternative to the Gibson models, has a maple neck bolted onto an alder body.

The Epiphone Goth Thunderbird is similar to the Epiphone Thunderbird IV, however, it has a mahogany body and comes with Gibson pickups stock, in addition to a 'flat black' finish and a Goth symbol on the pickguard.

Comparison with Fender basses

When compared to Fender basses, some players have found several disadvantages:
  • The irregular shape of the body and placement of the strap button, causing the weight to become disproportionate and lack balance, causing the neck to "dive" down if the fretting hand does not hold it. This makes it awkward for new bassists, and one has to get used to holding it constantly (unless sitting). The dive can be corrected by moving the strap buttons and using an appropriate strap.
  • The passive humbucker pickups give a deep, rich tone, which is very heavy on the mid range frequencies, and is suited to rock. This tone is not typically desired for slapping and popping the strings, and although slapping is not used by every bassist, this choice of design causes the bass to lack some versatility.
Due to the large amount of wood under the strings and pickups, this bass has a very high output volume, even more so than many active basses such as the Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass. Also, Gibson does not sell replacement pickups for the Thunderbird, as they claim that they are indestructible!

Gibson Blackbird

The Gibson Blackbird was a custom Thunderbird model made to specifications requested by Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx. Originally to be named the "Sixxbird", the Blackbird was manufactured from 2000 to 2003. It differed from the Thunderbird IV in the following details:
  • The fingerboard was made from ebony and had iron cross inlays.
  • An "opti grab" handle was added to the normal Thunderbird bridge,
  • The only electronic control was a single on/off switch for the two humbucker pickups.
  • The pickguard was designed specifically for the Blackbird
  • All hardware on the Blackbird were finished in black chrome.
  • The Blackbird had a flat-black finish.
Shavo Odadjian of System of a Down also used a Blackbird bass

Notable Thunderbird players

Artists who use this bass guitar include:

External links

  • Gibson Thunderbird– Information, sound clips, catalogue appearance and pictures of the Gibson Thunderbird.
  • Gibson Blackbird– Information, and pictures of the Gibson Blackbird.
The electric bass guitar (or "electric bass") is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping, popping or using a pick. The bass is typically similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and scale
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Gibson Guitar Corporation

Private
Founded 1902
Founder Orville Gibson
Headquarters Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Key people Orville Gibson, Les Paul
Area served Global
Industry Musical instruments (guitars)
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1960 1961 1962 - 1963 - 1964 1965 1966

Year 1963 (MCMLXIII
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Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Private
Founded 1946
Founder Clarence Leonidas Fender
Headquarters Scottsdale, Arizona, United States of America

Key people Chairman and CEO William (Bill) Mendello
President and COO Matthew Janopaul
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The Fender Precision Bass, known as "P-bass" for short, is the first model of the electric bass designed by Clarence Leonidas Fender and brought to market in 1951.
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The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body guitar marketed by Gibson from 1963 to the present.

History

The Gibson Guitar Corporation released several new types of guitars during the 1950s to combat Fender's successful and modern guitars, such as the Stratocaster and the
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1963 1964 1965 - 1966 - 1967 1968 1969

Year 1966 (MCMLXVI
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Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Private
Founded 1946
Founder Clarence Leonidas Fender
Headquarters Scottsdale, Arizona, United States of America

Key people Chairman and CEO William (Bill) Mendello
President and COO Matthew Janopaul
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The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the Fender Stratocaster, which was originally to replace the current Telecaster model.
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fingerboard, (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments), is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of wood that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run.
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D. ebenum

Binomial name
Diospyros ebenum
Koenig ex Retz.

Ebony (Diospyros ebenum), also known as India Ebony or Ceylon Ebony
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Iron Cross (German: (help info ) ), sometimes erroneously called the Maltese cross, is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was
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Inlays on guitar or similar fretted instrument are visual elements set into the exterior wood. Typically, inlays are located on the fretboard, headstock, around the soundhole and on the pickguard.
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bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air.
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A conventional humbucker (or Humbucking pickup) is a type of electric guitar pickup that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have high output since both coils are in series and because the magnetic circuit is low loss.
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pickup device acts as a transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, electric bass guitar or electric violin) and converts them to an electrical signal which can be amplified and recorded.
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pickguard (also known as scratchplate or golpeador in Flamenco music, and uncommonly, a finger rest) is a piece of plastic or other laminated material that is placed under the strings on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument.
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Shavo Odadjian (Armenian: Շավո Օդադջյան) (born April 22 1974, Yerevan, Armenia as Shavarsh Odadjian
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For the band's self-titled album, see .
System of a Down (also referred to as System or abbreviated as SOAD) is a four-piece American rock band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles, California.
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Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire (born March 4, 1948), is an English musician best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.
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Tom Petersson (born Thomas Peterson, 9 May 1950, Rockford, Illinois) is the bassist for the rock band, Cheap Trick.

Career

Petersson contributes heavily to the writing of music and is credited as the inventor of the 12-string bass guitar, although only in concept.
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Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, that gained popularity in the late 1970s. The band consists of Robin Zander (vocals, guitar), Rick Nielsen (guitar, vocals), Tom Petersson (bass guitar, vocals), and Bun E. Carlos (drums, percussion).
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Douglas Allen Woody (October 3, 1955 – August 26, 2000) was the bass player for rock groups The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule, The Artimus Pyle Band, The Peter Criss Band, Blue Floyd, and Montage.
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Dazzle Rebel aka Darren Loczy.

Dazzle Rebel has performed alongside many bands and artists including Red Star Rebels, Brides of Destruction, L.A. Guns, Vain, Gilby Clarke, Chad Smith and many others.
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Red Star Rebels are a rock band from the UK. They have toured with many big names such as, Gilby Clarke, Brides of Destruction, Slunt, L.A. Guns and Vain.

Their fanbase are known as the "Royal Rebellion" many having Red Star Rebels tattoos.
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Horace Panter (born Stephen Graham Panter, 30 August 1953, place of birth Croydon, raised in Kettering, Northants), also known as Sir Horace the Gentleman Panter, was the bassist for the Coventry ska band, The Specials.
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The Specials (known at certain points as The Special AKA) were an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry.

They had chart-topping hits in the United Kingdom, and their music was featured in soundtracks for the movies Sixteen Candles,
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Krist Anthony Novoselić II (born May 16, 1965) is an American rock musician best known as the bassist for Nirvana. Apart from his musical endeavors, Novoselic has been active politically, including the creation of the political action committee JAMPAC.
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