2013 Gibson Thunderbird Non-Reverse.

[NancyJohnson]

Here's my newly arrived 2013 Gibson Thunderbird Non-Reverse.

I have done a couple of tweaks...I have no love of the Gibson three-point bridge, so that's a Hipshot Supertone bridge. I've installed Dunlop Straploks and swapped the output jack/tone control around so the controls are in one line.

Plays nicely enough. I'd say muddier and less aggressive than any of my regular Thunderbirds, but that may be down to the current setup (which I'll tweak during the upcoming days).

P

[AndyTravis]

I really, really wanted one of these when I first heard about it.

It had faded, but I've just trumped a bit due to excitment - What a lovely thing!

I'd do the same mods...

[cocco]

Love it.

[sirmuppet]

Nice bass. I too think the Hipshot is a vast improvement over the stock one.

I'd like to see your opinion once you've got it setup fully to your liking against your other T-Birds. I have thought about one but I on't think I'd use it anywhere near as much as my reverse.

[MacDaddy]

V nice, will be interested to hear how your first gig with it goes.

[EssentialTension]

Nice.

[NancyJohnson]

I used it last week...a four hour jam without a break. Two concerns. I need to find the correct sweet spot for the pickup height; I adjusted a couple of times during the rehearsal - I suppose once I'm there, I'll leave it set at that. Second, when my hands are dry and the back of the neck is dry, I get a slight static crackle when I got up and down the neck, but this disappears when I get a bit sweaty. I checked it out on some other forums and it seems quite common with mahogany and whatever formula Gibson use to nitro the guitar.

I'm not going to be doing much playing for the next week or so as I have to endure another hand operation (seconds out round three) on Thursday to correct another trigger finger problem. Boo.
P

[Ricksflynn]

Absolutely stunning set up!

[ChickenKiev]

It's beautiful! Thunderbirds are yummy, but there is something about the non-reverse versions. They're kinda ugly, but in a really cool way. Is anyone else getting a Jazz/Jaguar vibe from them?

I wonder if there will ever be an epiphone version..hm.

[neepheid]

[quote name='ChickenKiev' timestamp='1361485290' post='1986585']
I wonder if there will ever be an epiphone version..hm.
[/quote]

[ChickenKiev]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1361490398' post='1986656']



[/quote]

Yeah I saw that. I know old epiphone versions exist, but they are so rare that they're impossible to find. I was wondering if hey were going to reissue the epiphone version in 2013 alongside the Gibson

[bigsmokebass]

For a moment I thought you had the SWR Marcus Miller EQ Rack

Nice Gibson though. May look into one of these some day soon when I retire my TBird

BSB

[NancyJohnson]

Well, a minor update here. I'd been using the NR almost exclusively since it arrived and had set up my gear accordingly. You'll see that I used the term 'muddier' in my original post. Following my surgery, my band got back together for a low key jam earlier in the week and clearly something is awry.

I swapped basses mid-rehearsal, going back to my '04 TB. It was a shock realisation - all I'm getting from the NR is a horrible mid-low tone, no mids/highs. I spoke to the guy who does my soldering...he asked for a comparison. If the '04 had a tonal output of 1-100, where would the NR sit in this? I guessed at 20-40. I desoldered the tone control and that made little difference, so it's going over to the tech on Tuesday for a rewire. Hopefully this'll sort things out.

I'm obviously somewhat disappointed!
P

[MacDaddy]

interested to see how this pans out. Gibson's QC often receives poor press, hopefully it won't be anything too serious.

[NancyJohnson]

OK, what do you want to know? It's back from the tech...bad pots, bad wiring. Pots were 300K (which I'm assured elsewhere are what Gibson are currently using), so these have been upped to 500K units, and the wiring all new. Now it sounds fanblummingtastic; hotter than my others, so I'll do some adjusting in a live setting.

All good!
P

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1363203840' post='2009826']
OK, what do you want to know? It's back from the tech...bad pots, bad wiring. Pots were 300K (which I'm assured elsewhere are what Gibson are currently using), so these have been upped to 500K units, and the wiring all new. Now it sounds fanblummingtastic; hotter than my others, so I'll do some adjusting in a live setting.

All good!
P
[/quote]

Gibson's less than stellar QC then.

glad it's sorted!