General Gibby T-bird question

[Denis]

I'm sure this will open a can of worms (which is what I'm hoping) but with so many T-bird fans here and so much information scattered around the many threads, I just wanted to ask: in general, which year(s) Thunderbirds are the all around best in terms of feel, sound, weight, reliability, etc?
I wouldn't mind to try one out but no one carries them in my area, even that Best Buy which has a musical instruments section.
Thanks!

[uwe]

There are fans of the sixties era, mainly because of the pups then used. There are fans of the seventies/Bicentennial era, which used different pups, but still had chrome and large headstocks and tuners which means something to vintage purists and there are fans of the modern post 87 Birds which don't - shock, gasp, horror - mind the black hardware and prefer the TB Plus pups for there more forceful and even sound. It really is a bit like asking whether a seventies Ric 4001 or a modern day 4003 is the better bass. Your wife wouldn't be able to tell (or hear) the difference, but we can fill whole threads with it.

In my humble opinion, modern TBirds are a faithful replica of the sixties and seventies Birds without aping all the inherent flaws of the older models such as a neck break prone too large headstock and neck heavy making large tuners. Among the modern post 87-Birds, the more recent ones underwent another souping up of the TB Plus pups making them even louder, perhaps at the expense of some clarity. Among the earlier runs of the modern TBirds, microphonic or buzzy pups could sometimes be an issue, but there is no such thing as good or bad years.

[Highlander]

This may come as a rather shocking revelation but I have never played one... (just worshiped from afar...)

The reason I ended up with my RD in '79 was that I could not find a new T'bird and couldn't get a loan for a s/h one - the Peter Cook may look like a mutant daughter, but she's not...

[TBird1958]

While I sense that they're the least loved, for me '76s are best. I love chrome, big headstocks, big clover tuners and even with my GK the growly vintage goodness you get. There is a great variation in tone between the 3 I have because of differences in pickup output. I'd also say I really like the contour of a '70s neck best too.

  Just my .02 

Purple, Green and Black Sexy, Chromey Goodness. 

[OldManC]

I don't think I could improve on Uwe's descriptions. I like every era of bird, though like Mark, I have a soft spot for the 70's models, which were my introduction to Thunderbirds. It might be heresy to some, but in the context of a live band I don't think anyone would hear that big a difference between any of the different birds there have been. Even the amp you use will make a bigger difference, I think. I love them all but would not hesitate to recommend getting a 2009 or 10 model over a 60's or 70's bird if money is an issue. I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend Greco, Ibanez, Orville, Epi Japan, or Epi Elitist birds if your budget demands. They're all worthy of the name in my opinion.

[uwe]

Two theories on the popularity of the Bicentennial (into whose production went perhaps the least love, they didn't even have gut bevelling!):

1. They came out when TBirds were - for the first time - regarded cool (unlike the sixties where they met indifference of the public). Name players such as Tom Hamilton, Steve Priest, Roger Glover, Jackie Fox, Phil Way played them from 1976/77 onwards (for a while at least) and you suddenly saw more TBs than ever before. Gibson quickly followed the trend by bringing out the RD basses which to all intents and purposes were TBird shapes sans neck thru (too expensive), long headstock (too frail and neck-heavy), but with a cutaway (better high register access).

2. As mentioned before, there is an inconsistency/variance between various specimen that makes them attractive to collectors - in contrast any two post 87 modern Birds will sound pretty much the same. Even when playing one Bicentennial specimen only, the bass very much reacts how hard you play, there is  a lot of compression and distortion going on with those Bicentennial pups and some people find that responsive and raunchy, others prefer the "no matter how hard I play, the bass' signal is consistent" approach of the TB Plus pups of the modern TBirds which also have more low frequency ooomph (while the Bicentennials and sixties models have more of an overdriven rrring to them).

Uwe

[EvilLordJuju]

I have just one word to say

non reverse

[Basvarken]

I have just one word to say

non reverse

ehhhm... that's two words  

[uwe]

I have just one word to say

non reverse

And I can add: In a strict sense, these are not even Thunderbirds: Not Ray Dietrich's grand auto-inspired design, no lavish neck thru construction.  

A reverse bird looks like no other bass, eternally stylish, timeless. A non rev is some weird-looking sixties instrument with a cult following.  
The TBird/Firebird myth was built on the rev design alone.  Preferring the looks of the non rev to the rev is like saying the Defiant looked better than the Spitfire.






Jules, why is it that you won't let me in on your honorable site of sites anymore? My old name and password doesn't work anymore and I tried to reregister as uwe, but the system is telling me my email address is already taken ...   Himmel, we're never gonna finish the 20/20 description that way!

[godofthunder]

I Love aircraft analogies ! I don't think the NR is quite as ugly as the Defiant, big and ugly maybe but very utilitarian. Though not as rugged I think it is more like The Hawker Typhoon, though come to think of it the Typhoon had a early history of shedding it's tail. In fact I find the analogy so fitting I have just this moment dubbed my '67 NR "Tiffie"  Another nice shot of a later Typhoon with the bubble canopy.

[uwe]

The wings were reasonably stable though ...



... and it had some grudging respect with other war nations too ...

[Denis]

Funny you post that pic, Uwe. I was reading about Zirkus Rosarius a few minutes ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zirkus_Rosarius

[Muzikman7]

I'm satisfied with the new generation Thunderbird although if I ever had big money again I'd buy a non-reverse.

[Highlander]

A thing of grace and beauty... truly happy to have seen one fly, too... even better - twin Merlins... 

[Denis]

Twin Merlins built by Packard, that is.