Gene Simmons G2 Thunderbird

[ilan]

The G2 seems to have the bridge saddles right above the middle knob, all the other models in the pic have them about halfway between the vol and tone. The neck is pushed out by one fret. The other Birds have the deepest point of the cutaway under the 17th fret, the G2 has it under the 18th fret. So a bit more neck dive, I guess, better access and slightly treblier pickups.

[Rob]

The G2 seems to have the bridge saddles right above the middle knob, all the other models in the pic have them about halfway between the vol and tone. The neck is pushed out by one fret. The other Birds have the deepest point of the cutaway under 17th fret, the G2 has it under the 18th fret. So a bit more neck dive, I guess, better access and slightly treblier pickups.

Keen observations!

[ilan]

It should have a noticeable effect. Like 70s Fender J's when the bridge pickup was moved 0.4" towards the bridge, and it became significantly thinner sounding.

[godofthunder]

  I doubt this bass will neck dive the body being a slab will no raise center section must be about 1 1/2" thick. I only played it sitting down but it didn't have any dive to it at all, it felt quite balanced.

[Ken]

  I doubt this bass will neck dive the body being a slab will no raise center section must be about 1 1/2" thick. I only played it sitting down but it didn't have any dive to it at all, it felt quite balanced.

Scott, what was the neck profile like?

[godofthunder]

  I like the neck a lot! I.5" at the nut, a fair bit of meat on the back but not as much as the 2013 or 2021 NRs. Sort of a C profile. Come to think of it it feels a lot like my first NR that I bought in '77.

[Ken]

  I like the neck a lot! I.5" at the nut, a fair bit of meat on the back but not as much as the 2013 or 2021 NRs. Sort of a C profile. Come to think of it it feels a lot like my first NR that I bought in '77.

Thanks! That's encouraging. We'll see what my contact at Gibson has to say about it. Communication is slow there.

[Ken]

  I like the neck a lot! I.5" at the nut, a fair bit of meat on the back but not as much as the 2013 or 2021 NRs. Sort of a C profile. Come to think of it it feels a lot like my first NR that I bought in '77.

This also reminds me that I still can't find any solid info on how deep the trussrod is on the 2013 NR.  I really like my left-hand conversion, but I very much prefer the neck thickness of my 2013 Reverse.  I was thinking of having it shaved down to about the same as the Reverse, but the concern was hitting the trussrod cavity and ruining it.

[Pilgrim]

This also reminds me that I still can't find any solid info on how deep the trussrod is on the 2013 NR.  I really like my left-hand conversion, but I very much prefer the neck thickness of my 2013 Reverse.  I was thinking of having it shaved down to about the same as the Reverse, but the concern was hitting the trussrod cavity and ruining it.

Got a friend with a X-ray machine?

[Ken]

Got a friend with a X-ray machine?

No one I can think of offhand, but that's a very interesting suggestion.

[uwe]

Very helpful Lowend and Ilan, I see it now. Which reminds me: The TBird Studios had better upper fretboard access, doodling in A between the 17th and 19th fret was no issue, with a real TBird you can't sensibly do that beyond G (15th and 17th fret). That was always one of the good things about the Studio (soundwise it was a Victory/TBird hybrid). Likewise, the set neck Studios did not neck-dive, but were stable and heavy with their thick body (the neck-thru TBird is in contrast to his unjustified image - due to his size - as a heavy bass not heavy at all).

"Pulling out the neck" is a small, nuanced change, but one that makes sense. Could well imagine that Gene had his hand paws in that because he likes to slide notes all the way up and down, he needs high register access with his playing style.

And if you move up the neck in its extrusion from the body, moving the pups makes sense too. Gene is not a
"treble pup squeezed to the bridge"-bony-sound fan, his own Punishers don't even have a bridge pup (in contrast to the ones you could buy) because he never uses one. If you look at the G2 pup positioning in relation to the pg, you can see that they have moved the treble pup a complete and the bass pup half a pup-width forward.

[godofthunder]

  Today is the official release date for Gene's Thunderbird, I can finally share my video review done for The House of Guitars.

[Ken]

  Today is the official release date for Gene's Thunderbird, I can finally share my video review done for The House of Guitars.

Super cool, Scott!  Does it sound or feel different than any of the modern Thunderbirds with TB+ pickups?

[Basvarken]

Again, I like the looks. And I love set neck too.
Not too keen on the distorted sound though. It’s a bit too much for my taste. Can’t really judge the tone of the bass this way…
Maybe you could add a video with a less distorted sound?

[Ken]

I love Gibson's video for it.