One of a kind Thunderbird on reverb

[66Atlas]

Nothing extreme but outside of the optigrab I like the look of this, simple and clean.  Even with black hardware It looks good 

https://reverb.com/item/6906349-gibson-thunderbird-bass-2003-one-of-a-kind-must-read

[Highlander]

Refin... at a guess... that SNo looks pretty indistinct...?

[Dave W]

EMGs? Not many Thunderbird fans would want them. Even so, nothing special about EMGs and a preamp.

I like the look too, and it looks legit, but IMHO there's really nothing about it that would make me want to spend that kind of money.

[Bionic-Joe]

I'm told by several luthiers that Gibson has a straight slot for their truss rods now, instead of the curve. A few guys have had to remove the fingerboard in order to reinstall the truss rod correctly

[OldManC]

If it were priced normally I'd love to take a swing, but not for that money.

[doombass]

I've had offers back when I first got it for $10,000.

If I was the seller I'd try to track down someone out of that crazy bunch. 

[66Atlas]

I highly doubt he ever had a legit offer for 10K, if he did he's a complete fool for not taking it.  Its maybe worth a few hundred more than a stock one and appears to be in really pristine shape so would be on the high side for condidtion.  It loses points for thos EMG's though, no way that's original to the bass.  I'd pick it up at the right price and put TB+s back in.

Gibson made a few silver ones with no dots like that around the same time but the ones I saw both had small round covers over the pickguard route vs a full size pickguard. I think they were an abondoned signature model?   I'm not sure I buy he had an insider doing it for him vs it was just another test model that made it's way out to the public.

[gearHed289]

Pretty certain that belongs/belonged to the guy in Soil. Silly price. I want TB+, fingerboard inlays and a pickguard for that kinda money. 

[uwe]

My man! 

[planetgaffnet]

All said and done, I think it's quite pretty looking.  The lack of a scratchplate helps.

[Dave W]

I'm told by several luthiers that Gibson has a straight slot for their truss rods now, instead of the curve. A few guys have had to remove the fingerboard in order to reinstall the truss rod correctly

IIRC Taylors have a traditional design truss rod that's put in a straight slot, but the slot slopes downward. So the right straight slot will work. I suppose it's possible that Gibson is doing this. Or not.

[Blackbird]

At that price point I'd try a Lull Ament 'bird.

[Grog]

IIRC Taylors have a traditional design truss rod that's put in a straight slot, but the slot slopes downward. So the right straight slot will work. I suppose it's possible that Gibson is doing this. Or not.

Gibson changed the truss rod design a bit, at least on the Memphis models. A bit larger & Teflon coated..........

http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/Memphis/ES-335.aspx

[Dave W]

Gibson changed the truss rod design a bit, at least on the Memphis models. A bit larger & Teflon coated..........

http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/Memphis/ES-335.aspx

I wonder what kind of slot it's in. At any rate, I doubt Gibson would have intentionally installed rods wrong. The curved rods aren't pre-curved anyway. installing them in a curved slot and pressing down on them with the top piece is what curves them. And I also doubt that a few repairmen know what Gibson intended. My opinion comes from knowing a couple of horror stories where necks were ruined by supposedly qualified repair guys.