Gibson Thunderbirds?

[Gaolee]

What with the recent news about Chapter 11, does this mean we might start getting a whole lot more Gibson bass guitars? How about Thunderbirds? There have been a few, but mostly bass is left to Epiphone. Epiphones are extremely well made and some argue as good or better than Gibson. But sometimes a Gibson is what you want.

[brad1]

No

Why would you think that?

[Gaolee]

Hope, mostly. As a bass player who gravitates back to Gibson every time I stray away. I have had an EB-2 for 35 years and play a Thunderbird most of the time. I would be really happy if Gibson started acknowledging the low end a little more.

[brad1]

Ah yes. Hope springs eternal.

[dh2087]

What with the recent news about Chapter 11, does this mean we might start getting a whole lot more Gibson bass guitars? How about Thunderbirds? There have been a few, but mostly bass is left to Epiphone. Epiphones are extremely well made and some argue as good or better than Gibson. But sometimes a Gibson is what you want.

 

I think it all depends on what Gibson believes they can sell and make a profit from making. Just because Gibson will now 'focus on guitars', doesn't necessarily mean they will introduce 10 more bass models to compete with the Fender P/J basses. But if more orders came in for the Thundebird, I am sure Gibson would introduce variants in the following year. I grew up playing bass, and never really took to the Thunderbird, but I think the Gibson LP and SG guitars are the best out there. Which is fine, because you don't have to like everything a company offers.

 

The tough part is that Gibson has been around a long time, and have introduced models that guitarists love and want no drastic changes. As we have seen in recent years, any deviation from the standard formula has been ridiculed and players have asked for better quality control rather than improvements in design. If Gibson were to try to introduce a bass model that was a P-Bass copy, would anyone buy it or would they still prefer the Fender original? My guess is that people would still opt for the Fender P-Bass. Didn't Fender also try to introduce the Dimension basses a few years back? To me, those basses looks like Sting Rays, and I don't think they were offered for more than 1-2 years either.

[Pinch]

I think they look cool and sound great.

 

I don't know who thinks Epis not only rival but exceeds the quality of Gibsons, though. I think they're great guitars with a serious fretwire quality flaw.

[Gaolee]

I think they look cool and sound great.

 

I don't know who thinks Epis not only rival but exceeds the quality of Gibsons, though. I think they're great guitars with a serious fretwire quality flaw.

I had not heard of fretwire quality problems. Then again, my Thunderbirds are various ages of Gibsons except a bottom end bolt-on Epi and anther one that's now fretless.

 

I'm not expecting Gibson to come out with lots of new models. It would be good to see Gibson make Thunderbirds and other bass guitars in some large or small quantity in the future. I was surprised how fast they gave up on the EB model they came out with in 2013. Those were just beginning to find their market when they got yanked and then redesigned. Maybe they will leave well enough alone and let the more recent version gain a following. I suppose that zig and zag was a bit of Henry J. confusion. It doesn't matter now.

 

If Gibson made a copy of a Fender Precision or Jazz, it would make absolutely no sense, for reasons stated a few posts above.