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

Contents 1 Background and Introduction 2 Design and Construction 2.1 Thunderbirds 3 1976-79 Reissue 4 Current Thunderbird models 5 Comparison with Fender basses 6 Gibson Blackbird 7 Notable Thunderbird players 8 External links

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.

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)

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.^{[citation 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

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.

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.

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 Gibson claims these to be indestructible. [Citation Needed]

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

Artists who use this bass guitar include:

• Mike Watt (Minutemen)
• Chris Squire (Yes)
• Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick)
• Allen Woody (Gov't Mule)
• Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe)
• Mige Amour (H.I.M.)
• Dazzle Rebel (Red Star Rebels)
• Horace Panter (The Specials)
• Krist Novoselic (Nirvana)
• Dolf de Borst (The Datsuns)
• Simon Gallup (The Cure)
• Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne)
• Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)
• Arthur "Killer" Kane (New York Dolls)
• Sam Yaffa (ex-Hanoi Rocks current - New York Dolls)
• Shavo Odadjian (System of a Down)
• John Entwistle (The Who) (Entwistle would frequently modify his Thunderbirds by replacing the stock neck with a Fender Precision neck, supposedly because he liked the narrower string spacing of the Fender neck. The hybrid basses were known as "Fenderbirds")
• Nicky Wire (Manic Street Preachers)
• Frankie Poullain (ex- The Darkness)
• Stefan Olsdal (Placebo)
• Jeordie White (Twiggy Ramirez) (ex-Marilyn Manson, A Perfect Circle, current Nine Inch Nails)
• William Carruthers (ex- Spaceman 3, Spiritualized)
• Tyson Ritter (The All-American Rejects)
• Michael Small (The Meligrove Band)
• Chris Cain (We Are Scientists)
• Keith Hoerig (Five Iron Frenzy)
• Adam Clayton (U2)
• Jarrod Sneed (The Theft)
• Glenn Cornick (Jethro Tull)
• Mikey Welsh (ex-Weezer)
• Cliff Williams (AC/DC)
• Jared Followill (Kings of Leon)
• Maya Ford (The Donnas)
• Mark Hamilton (Ash (band))
• Pete Way (UFO)
• Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash)
• Dean Bernardini (Chevelle)
• Pete Vuckovic (3 Colours Red, Basskniv3s)
• Leon Wilkeson (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• Chris Edwards (Kasabian)
• Tommy Stinson (Guns N' Roses)
• Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order)
• Nick Wiggins (Aiden)
• William Murderface (Dethklok)
• James Levesque (Agent Orange (band))
• Adam T. Siska (The Academy Is...)
• Jackie Fox (The Runaways)
• David L (Fire on High) (The current Fire on High bassist replaced the stock Thunderbird neck with a Fender Jazz Bass neck, in order to achieve faster speed.)
• Nikki Monninger (Silversun Pickups) She uses Thunderbirds almost exclusively.

• Gibson Thunderbird– Information, sound clips, catalogue appearance and pictures of the Gibson Thunderbird.
• Gibson Blackbird– Information, and pictures of the Gibson Blackbird.