The Last Bass Outpost

"Hmm, "this could be an adventure" is what you're saying?"

TB Plus soapbars will definitely be long enough to put in a slanted position and still capture all strings in full. They are wide enough for even a 5 string. Both the original Vic Standard pup and the TB Plus soapbar are approx. 3 1/2". In contrast the TB Plus guitar size humbucker (as seen on LP Standards, the Epi Elitist TB, the EB-650, the Doublecut/Money bass and probably in the future the Grabber II) is only 2 3/4", which will make it difficult to slant and capture all strings in full. That Vic Prototype I saw with the slanted TB Plus pup didn't look bad. Did I mention that I should have bought it then and there? 

No, one of a kind for the Standard. Never showed up in any other Gibson bass, even the pups in the Artist and Custom Victories were slightly different.

Nuff said:


"BG1652 Gibson Thunderbird VI Prototype. In 1990 Phil built this "concept bass" as an extension of the Thunderbird Bass line, which had always been limited to the TB-II and TB-IV. Like the original Thunderbirds and Firebirds, this bass features 9-piece neck-thru-body construction, with walnut and korina neck and korina body wings. Pearl block inlays and gold-plated hardware complete the ultra-deluxe look. It is in Mint condition with its original hardshell case......$8500"
As usual, the culprit for this threat of unneccesary spending is kungfusheriff/Shawn aka The Alembickerer. This man embodies sinful waste.

A black guard's an idea, a clear one won't work because of the routing underneath.

I think what he did worked pretty well for the JHE, but a lot of people do tend to be critical of him for playing bass like a guitarist, playing root notes too much, etc.