My new 1965 Gibson Thunderbird II

[godofthunder]

 Beautiful bass ! Good luck with the new gig !

[birdie]

GLAD YOU GOT SOMETHING YOU DIG! SORRY BOUT THE FALSE ALARM. AND THESE CAPS...

[Lightyear]

Cool bass - congrats!

Want to sell me that pickup?

[Bionic-Joe]

Thanks to all of my Gibson buddies on here!!! And "NO", I won't sell you that pickup!!!! But can anybody sell me a carter jack???

[Lightyear]

I have a Carter jack that I'll trade for the pickup...

Seriously, beautiful bass and, also congrats on your new job - here's hoping you first day was a good one.

[Chris P.]

Imho the best looking T-bird! Congrats!

[sniper]

Thanks to all of my Gibson buddies on here!!! And "NO", I won't sell you that pickup!!!! But can anybody sell me a carter jack???

i voted for Carter. i think?

[Hornisse]

I've got an Orville pickup I'll trade for the bass.

[Basshappi]

Awesome Birds you got there, congrats on the new bass and good luck with the new job.

[Bionic-Joe]

Orville, shmorville. Give me the pickup and I'll be your friend!!

[Hornisse]

Those Thunderbird II's are so great looking.  I remember being at Michael Steven's shop on E.12th back around 1982 and he had a '64 Thunderbird VI bass for sale.  I played it every chance I went to his shop!  Wish I'd had the $600 he wanted for it back then.....

[TBird1958]

I think it would be most interesting to compare a Gibson Thunderbird II vs. a Greco TBII, not for playability (because I'm pretty sure I'd like the Gibson better due to it's smaller neck) but tone. I'm told that Paul Chandler designed the Greco pup using the Gibson as a starting point......... 

[Bionic-Joe]

Well....You're kidding, right? I owned a Greco for a coupla weeks before I sold it to Dave Mustaine's tech, Willie Gee. I played it with the bridge pickup turned off. Sounded good. But trying to compare a Greco to a real vintage thunderbird??? LOL!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I just fell off of my chair laughing!!!!! Just kidding. But seriously...nothing compares to this bass. It's very weird...I compared it to my blue one...and it...it ..uh KILLS!!!!!!!!!!! It F@#$%ng KILLS!!!!!!! Never heard a bird like this...Ok, I have a Hiwatt DR@)! but...I never...never in my wildest dreams thought I could get my tone...And now i have it!!!!

[OldManC]

Tone is a subjective subject and I'd never argue that what I think is more valid than what anyone else thinks. That being said, the one bass I own that sounds closest to my late '65 II (even more than my '68 II) is my '77 Greco Thunderbird II. It really does sound that close. When I needed the money the reason I was able to sell the '65 without too much heartache was knowing that the Greco was essentially the same beast as far as tone goes. Not exact, but closer than anything else I've heard.

[TBird1958]

Thanks George! I'd forgotten that you had a TBII to make the comparison to the Greco. I don't think a two pup bass with one turned off is the comparison, a single pup bass just does sound different. At this point a '65 is a dream for me (and that's ok!), nice to know I can get close with my Greco.