Jean-Luc Pickguard

Down The Dustpipe — Status Quo

Innocence Decayed — The Residents

Can't Stand The Pain — The Pretty Things

Bankrobber — The Clash

Gibson really do seem to offer basses as a bit of an afterthought. They did a short scale thunderbird about a dozen years ago but only made 400 — all in black. If I had a spare £800 back then I'd have snapped one up. Surely there's a market for a run of short scale gibson basses now that aren't SGs.

The UK Gibson demo shop on reverb has one listed for £1,274.15 https://reverb.com/uk/item/70514505-gibson-non-reverse-thunderbird-faded-pelham-blue-demo

I just went looking for an image of the bass to use in the track header in logic (I do this for all of my guitars/basses/ukes) and found a source image at gear4music on this page: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/DISC-Gibson-Non-Reverse-Thunderbird-Faded-Pelham-Blue/40R7 If I am reading it right it looks like the bass might now be discontinued.

I don't have anything handy to weigh it on at the moment, but it's lighter than it looks.

The pickups are available as a spare part: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PUTBRCC2--gibson-accessories-thunderbird-bass-reissue-pickup-chrome I wouldn’t put one in any of my mustangs though.

Doin' It (Far) Right — Daft Punk

Build Me Up Buttock Up — The Foundations

Fry Me A Liver — Julie London

Bury My Bone — The Residents

The colour is called faded pelham blue so has probably had yellow added to simulate aging.

Rock n Roll Dalmatian — AC/DC

I don't know how many basses I have. It is probably around umpteen, but could be more than that.

Christ Hammer — Melvins

Silk screening the logo onto the headstock rather than the TRC is a weird choice, but I'm getting used to it. Maybe I'll put an epiphone logo on the TRC ;o) I'm happy with the control layout. Swapping the tone pot & the output socket will possibly set off my OCD as the middle control won't be dead centre between the other two. It seems strange that there are a few Epiphone guitars available that cost more than I paid for this Gibson bass.

Crash Landing — Jimi Hendrix

Dancing On My Own — Robyn

This actually arrived on Friday, but I thought I'd wait until I'd fitted a Babicz 3-point bridge and set it up with Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats before posting a NBD. I finished setting it up today and now it really feels like it is mine. This was secondhand but in mint condition — the previous owner hadn't even taken the plastic film off the pickguard and truss rod cover. It still had the stock strings. which I guess were nickel rounds and sounded new and zingy. I have replaced the stock bridge which to be honest is only a pain in the rear when you remove strings and the saddle falls out. I decided to go for a babicz after initially favouring a hipshot. This decision was based mostly on how well it fitted in visually and I don't think it has changed the tone much if at all. The faded Pelham Blue finish looks really good and there isn't a single chip, scratch or dent anywhere on the bass. The tone seems brighter than my Epiphone vintage Pros, but that could be due to the strings being new. With the neck pickup soloed it sounds huge. I particularly like the hipshot tuners which are really smooth in use and I think the mini clover shape and the chrome hardware look considerably better than the Y tuners and black hardware on Gibson's current reverse thunderbird model.

We Can Work It Out — The Beatles

Ooh Poo Pah Doo — Jessie Hill

Bogie Wonderland — Earth Wind & Fire

I was a bit concerned that my choice of the lightest set of cobalt flatwounds were too light to pull any relief into the fairly chunky neck of the bass, but I've just given the truss rod a further tweak and managed to get more relief than needed, so I dialled it back a little and it looks like that has done the job. Now when I press down on the first & fourteenth fret the gap between the string & top of the fret nearest the midpoint is about the thickness of a business card which is what I was looking for. I'll let it settle overnight and check again tomorrow, then I should be able to finesse the action and intonation at the bridge. The method of adjusting the string height on the babicz is a great piece of engineering that works really well. setting the intonation is a bit of a faff as you need to loosen the lock bolt in front of the saddle, and if you don't slacken off the string, the ball end gets in the way preventing the screwdriver from making the adjustment. Given the choice of the Hipshot Supertone or Babicz, I don't think there's a wrong answer and I'd probably have been just as happy had I gone for the Hipshot.