Gibson has revived the Thunderbird bass guitar with some key upgrades.
The original Thunderbird design was drawn by Ray Dietrich, who made his name in automotive design before he partnered with Gibson on both the bass and its six-string counterpart, the Firebird.
Both were introduced in 1963, with Chris Squire, Krist Novoselic, and Nikki Sixx among the four-string’s adoptees. Lemmy, meanwhile, prized the pickups out of a Thunderbird and put them into his Rickenbacker, and said it made it sound like a “fucking bulldozer.”
It was a design that modernized the instrument, and its extended scale length and car-inspired color scheme are commonplace in today’s designs. So how is this once-trailblazing instrument keeping up with the times?
Arriving in two finishes – understated Ebony and classic Tobacco Burst Perimeter – there’s a careful balance of then and now at play, as Gibson builds a low-end beast that looks like a vintage gem, but performs like a contemporary one.
The Thunderbird was Gibson’s first elongated bass, sidelining its usual 30.5” scale for a whopping 34” build, and that remains the case here. Mahogany is the tonewood choice for the neck and body, and it also retains its iconic raised center block and glued-in set neck.
But a closer look at its neck – which now gets a SlimTaper profile and Graph Tech nut for its 20-fret rosewood fingerboard – and there are contemporary flourishes aplenty. Whether it solves the neck dive issues of the 2024 model, though, remains to be seen.
The Non-Reverse headstock has also been put under the microscope, with a slightly more streamlined taper on the upper edge that promises more intuitive tuning. It's capped with Hipshot Ultralite Mini Clover tuners for good measure.
Hipshot is present again via a Supertone bridge, complete with adjustable action height, while high-output EB Bass humbuckers are voiced for thunderous impact. Accompanying controls – a Volume knob for each pickup and a Master Tone dial – are simple, but effective.
Naturally, it’s iced with a three-play white pickguard that features the Thunderbird logo and ships in a Gibson hardshell case.
“With its unmistakable style, modern enhancements, and legendary tone, the new Gibson Thunderbird Bass in Ebony and Tobacco Burst Perimeter is ready to take its place on stages and in studios around the world,” says Gibson.
The new Gibson Thunderbird Bass is available now for $2,499.
See Gibson for more.
The launch comes after something of a Thunderbird renaissance that was spurred on by Pantera’s Rex Brown and Gene Simmons both getting their own signature models.
