Oops! I did it again! I headed to my local GC to see if they would price match a Texas store that had dropped the price by $700 on a Non Reverse Thunderbird in Sparkling Burgundy. The web site showed they had one in stock at full price. When I got there, I noticed that it was on clearance for $100 less than I was trying to get them to price match. It had some wear from guitar hangers & a bit of paint blistering under the nuts of the Hipshot Tuners. The pickguard was bowing in a few places. Also, it ended up being a 2022. After running it through the paces, I told them that I would take it if they knocked another $100 off. After checking with the manager, he said they would. It isn't perfect, but I saved $900 off of the price of a new one & it has a full Gibson warranty. It cleaned up nice & I was able to straighten out the pickguard significantly. Looking forward to playing through my 2 15" bottom on Tuesday practice.
(https://i.imgur.com/r7MpLe1.jpg)
Great deal. Love the color. Congrats!
It can look nice also with a clear back-painted red guard
(https://images.ctfassets.net/m8onsx4mm13s/77QEf2x36v2gHECCZPWPHi/9dbd9fb6c659122e148e75df490c161b/RAM025724_227140177_9lbs1oz_1_Body.png)
Good deal! I haven't been in any of the local GCs in years, surprising that this was in stock.
Quote from: Dave W on June 09, 2025, 12:35:00 AMGood deal! I haven't been in any of the local GCs in years, surprising that this was in stock.
Maple Grove had the only one & surprisingly the color I wanted. I think it sat there for quite some time. Twin Town has one in stock also.
Quote from: ilan on June 08, 2025, 10:05:06 PMGreat deal. Love the color. Congrats!
It can look nice also with a clear back-painted red guard
(https://images.ctfassets.net/m8onsx4mm13s/77QEf2x36v2gHECCZPWPHi/9dbd9fb6c659122e148e75df490c161b/RAM025724_227140177_9lbs1oz_1_Body.png)
I may consider changing the pickguard, the original seems prone to buckling. Not a big fan of the reflector knobs they have been using, I like the shinier top inserts.
The bass was great at practice on Tuesday. I have a 2-12 rig at home but the 2-15 rig I use at practice tells the tail. Comparing it with the 2011 reverse TBird,I was surprised at the differences in the cases. The Reverse was shipped in a TKL Canadian made case, the bass fit like a glove with no movement. On the new one, the case was made in Costa Rica, The bass fit very sloppy in comparison. There are large gaps around the contour of the body & the neck slides around about six inches or more on the opposite end of the case. The neck end has a wide area that left an imprint in the padding from the neck movement just from shipping it to the store. I bought a 2019 Les Paul Standard about a month ago. The case for that one was made in China. That case seems much better than the Costa Rica case.
(https://i.imgur.com/gNrmxPn.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/wO991hK.jpg)
Wow, that's sloppy. Both my 2013 Reverse and Non-Reverse sit snugly in their cases. Those are black with white interior.
Quote from: Ken on June 12, 2025, 09:05:37 AMWow, that's sloppy. Both my 2013 Reverse and Non-Reverse sit snugly in their cases. Those are black with white interior.
My 2011 is black with a white interior also. I also have (2) brown with red interior Canadian made rectangular Gibson cases, for 2014 Gibson EB-4 & 5 string basses. They both fit perfectly.
I think these are really great sounding basses, really a nice job by Gibson - I like mine a lot!
On Reverb, there are two photos of examples of the same bass in their case. They look much better than mine so maybe most of them are fine. Mine is just sloppy.
(https://i.imgur.com/OtCcRaq.jpg)
I removed the body insert of the case & glued a 7/16th thick closed foam piece around about half of the contour of the body. This tightened up the case just as it should be. it is still somewhat of a mystery why mine seems to be the only one that has that much slop in it.
(https://i.imgur.com/iVTxqX7.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/sqDqKhE.jpg)
Nice job!
Yeah, nice work. That's weird that it was almost a 1/2'' loose.
Quote from: gearHed289 on June 16, 2025, 08:41:58 AMYeah, nice work. That's weird that it was almost a 1/2'' loose.
Maybe it was made for a lefty reverse Bird.
Score! What a great deal!
Quote from: gearHed289 on June 16, 2025, 08:41:58 AMYeah, nice work. That's weird that it was almost a 1/2'' loose.
I think it's weird also. Working in manufacturing myself, you'd have to be hungover pretty bad to be that far off, even on the first piece of the day.
Quote from: godofthunder on June 20, 2025, 06:18:36 AMScore! What a great deal!
It was a great deal! It must have sat at that store for over two years with little interest. Being one of the few Gibson Bass enthusiasts around here payed off. I'm enjoying it much more than I ever thought i would! Watching several of your videos was real helpful in deciding to buy it.