Background and introduction
The Gibson Thunderbird was introduced in 1963. At the time, Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, Fender had been the leader in the electric bass market since their introduction of the Fender Precision Bass, Precision Bass twelve years earlier. The Thunderbird was designed by U.S. auto designer Raymond H. Dietrich (Chrysler, Lincoln, Checker) along with the Gibson Firebird, Firebird guitar, which it resembles in design, construction, and name.Design and construction
The Thunderbird bass, like the Rickenbacker#Basses, Rickenbacker 4000 series and the Firebird guitar designed concurrently, has neck-through construction: the neck wood runs the entire length of the body, with the rest of the body glued into place. Some cheaper Epiphone models feature a more conventional bolt-on neck construction. The Thunderbird was Gibson's first model built in the 34-inch Scale length (string instruments), scale, which had been made popular by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Fender. Previous models use the short scale of 30½ inches. There were originally two Thunderbird models: the Thunderbird II, with only one pickup, and the Thunderbird IV, with two pickups. The Thunderbird usually features bass humbuckers, colloquially referred to as "soapbars" due to their appearance.Non-reverse Thunderbirds
In 1966, Gibson changed the Thunderbird's design and construction. The original Thunderbirds (and Firebirds) have a "reverse" body, with the treble horn extended and the bass horn recessed. Due to a lawsuit brought by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Fender because of the resemblance to the Fender Jazzmaster, the body styles were modified, with the result being called the "non-reverse" body. Also, the expensive neck-through construction was replaced by traditional Gibson set-neck construction. The non-reverse Thunderbird was continued until 1969. Though fewer non-reverse Thunderbirds were shipped, the original reverse-body instruments retain a higher collectors' value. Gibson started producing the non-reverse Thunderbirds again for the public in late 2012.1976–1979 reissue
The Thunderbird IV was reissued in 1976 as a bicentennial edition. This reissue featured the original body shape and neck-through construction but unlike the previous issues, the bicentennial edition included the new "three-point" bridge and a red, white, and blue Thunderbird logo. The bass was offered in tobacco burst, ebony, white, or natural finish. After the bicentennial, the Thunderbird was continued as a regular production model until 1979, when it was discontinued once again.Current and recent models
The Thunderbird IV was re-introduced to the Gibson line in 1987 and was in regular production until 2015. The most recent official Thunderbirds produced by Gibson Guitar Corporation: *Gibson USA Thunderbird IV *Gibson USA Nikki Sixx Thunderbird Bass *Epiphone Thunderbird IV *Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird *Epiphone Goth Thunderbird IV *Epiphone Special Run Thunderbird IV limited edition silverburst *Epiphone Thunderbird Pro IV *Epiphone Thunderbird Pro V *Epiphone Thunderbird Classic-IV Pro *Gibson Thunderbird non-reverse bass *Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage ProFeatures of current and recent models
The standard Gibson Thunderbird IV has a nine-ply mahogany-walnut neck-through with mahogany wings attached to form the body, and was offered in vintage sunburst or walnut finishes. The Nikki Sixx Thunderbird bass has a mahogany-walnut neck-through with flame maple wings attached to form the body, finished in transparent black cherry. The fretboard is inlaid with red acrylic ''X''s at the third, fifth, seventh and twelfth frets. The Gibson Thunderbird Studio models (which were also available as five-string versions) have mahogany necks set into mahogany bodies. This model was discontinued in 2007. The Gibson Thunderbird IV zebra wood bass, 2007, limited run of 400 (Gibson guitar of the week, week 11Fenderbird
The Who's John Entwistle used Thunderbird IVs from 1971 to 1974, but was dissatisfied with the necks. He bought several Thunderbird basses after the model was discontinued and gutted them. He then had several bodies cut to the original shape, attached Fender Precision Bass necks to them, and installed the salvaged hardware.Notable Thunderbird players
* Justin Chancellor of Tool (band), Tool plays a Thunderbird, which he used during the early years of the band. * Les Claypool * Calum Hood of 5 Seconds of Summer uses a Thunderbird, primarily on the Meet You There tour in 2018. * Overend Watts of Mott The Hoople * Glenn Cornick of Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull played several Gibson Thunderbird and non-reverse Thunderbird basses. His non-reverse Thunderbird bass was stolen while on tour in 1970. * Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth used a sunburst 1976 Gibson Thunderbird Bass which she bought in 1988 and was also used frequently by her former husband and bandmate Thurston Moore. She stopped using it live in favour of her BC Rich during the Goo era, though it did show up at a few shows. It was used for the recording of "Dirty", however, and many 'Dirty' tour shows in '92. She also used it for the recording of "Sonic Nurse". Jim used it for the Nurse tour, and Kim revisited it for the entirety of the "Daydream Nation" shows they did, except for 'Eliminator' which she played on her EB bass. Still used on the Eternal tour. * Krist Novoselic of Nirvana (band), Nirvana uses a Gibson Ripper bass and a Gibson Thunderbird bass. * Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses * Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe * Peter Hook of New Order (band), New Order * Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead and Hawkwind used a Thunderbird fairly much, but stopped using it in favor of his signature model Rickenbacker basses. * Steve Harbin of Frech & Co uses a Thunderbird regularly. * George "Pops" Chambers of The Chambers Brothers * Michael Bradford * Kim Deal of Pixies (band), Pixies * Adam Clayton of U2 * Nikki Monninger of Silversun Pickups, exclusively plays Gibson Thunderbirds except when she needs an acoustic bass. * Héctor Mejía of Mr. Hectárea and Rigtus * Jared Followill of Kings Of Leon * Oscar Keating of Man-Eater Soup (band), Man-Eater Soup * Tyson Ritter of The All American Rejects plays a Gibson Thunderbird bass. Ritter has stated that it is one of his favorite basses to play. * Walter Becker of Steely Dan played a Gibson Thunderbird bass on the albums ''Can't Buy a Thrill'' and ''Countdown to Ecstasy''. * Jimmy Bain of Rainbow (rock band), Rainbow played a Gibson Thunderbird bass on the albums ''Rainbow Rising'' and ''Long Live Rock 'n' Roll''. * Pete Way used a Gibson Thunderbird bass during his tenures in Fastway (band), Fastway and UFO (band), UFO. * John Entwistle of The Who used various Gibson Thunderbird basses from 1971 to about 1976. His first bass was a non-reverse orange Thunderbird, and he also played at least 2 1964 Thunderbird basses, one of which was accidentally destroyed by Keith Moon at a concert in New York in 1971, and John subsequently damaged it. Bought at Sotheby's May 2003 auction for 28,800 GBP by David Swartz. It was display in October 2019 at the "Play It Loud" Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Entwistle was once quoted as saying: "Once you turn up the treble on a Precision, the bottom drops out." "In big arenas, I wasn't getting enough bottom end from the P-Basses when I had the treble all the way up." : Entwistle also played an instrument called a "Fenderbird", which used the maple neck of a CBS Fender Precision bass bolted onto a custom mahogany Thunderbird IV-clone body (slightly thicker than a standard Thunderbird IV body to accept the Fender bolt-on neck – possibly the same thickness as a Fender Precision; which improved the tone, according to Entwistle). It also used a Gibson Thunderbird bridge and electronics. The height-adjustment screws of the pickups were set slightly sunk into the pickup-covers by Peter Cook so that Entwistle would not tear his fingernails on them. Paxman designed cases specifically for the Fenderbirds. * Leon Wilkeson, bassist for Lynyrd Skynyrd, played several Thunderbirds and a Fenderbird during his musical career, as well as various Fender basses. * Allen Woody, bassist for The Allman Brothers Band, was an avid collector of Gibson Thunderbird and Epiphone Thunderbird basses. In 2011, Epiphone created a limited edition signature model Epiphone Allen Woody Thunderbird bass. * Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith was known to use a white Gibson Thunderbird bass from 1973 to early 1977, rotating between the Thunderbird, a Fender Jazz Bass and a Fender Precision Bass, before using a sunburst Music Man StingRay by the time ''Draw the Line (Aerosmith album), Draw the Line'' was released in 1977. * Roger Glover of Deep Purple and Rainbow (rock band), Rainbow used a Gibson Thunderbird bass, which was used on the album ''Come Taste the Band'' in 1975 as well as the Rainbow album ''Down to Earth (Rainbow album), Down to Earth''. The Thunderbird can also be seen in the video for the Rainbow single "Since You Been Gone". * Stefan Olsdal of Placebo (band), Placebo Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash played a reverse Thunderbird IV. * Margrét Rósa of Kælan Mikla has played several Thunderbird basses, including an Epiphone Goth and Vintage Pro.References
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