Gibson CS NR Thunderbird

[drbassman]

I could live with the LP 2 piece ala Warwick.  They retail for about $100.  I still prefer Scott's bridge.  I really don't want a 3 point.

[uwe]

You guys: I'm the only one here that actually has an LP with the two point and tailpiece you are fantasizung about. Let me tell you: It's machined in a cheap way, the metal isn't great and it does not have the range to accomodate full intonation even when put slanted (which would look weird on a bird). It reminds me of the bridges of my Dean Flying V basses and those are not great bridges. Screws break off etc - that has never happened on any of my three points.

One day I will run a course here "adjusting ze three point to perfection". That can be done, I do it all the time and I haven't encountered one that I did not get to how I wanted it - at worst you need to file down a saddle slot a little deeper or switch saddles around.

An esthetic remark: To my eyes the trad two point with the stringholder looks a lot more crowded on a TBird than the three-point which - George is right - has been part of the TBrd visual for 35 years now.

I don't believe that Gibson would today use Warwick product anymore -too much of a competitor by now and with its guitar brand Framus and the budget line Rockbass which must have eaten heavily into Epi bass sales.

[godofthunder]

I don't know exactly what Gibson is going to give us. The project has moved from the custom shop to a limited run. I can almost guarentee that the bass will have a TB plus pickup and a three point. I can't help but thinking those of us that own Bachs may be  greatly disappointed in Gibson's offering.

[uwe]

The prevalent and epidemic  B&CHysteria of this forum at work again, sigh. The B&CHs are great basses - even more for the price -and have rejuvenated what many here believe to be an iconic shape, granted. But it's a bass with a non-hi-grade maho body (not even all of them have that) and a maple neck. And that is supposed to be better than a Gibson full hi-grade-maho model? If you believe that hardware finish, the era it pretends to come from and a non-plastic pup are all more important than the wood construction and composition of a bass, then you are probably right about that.

I wish I had a time machine. I'd draw a rank and file modern TBird off the rack at any guitar store, travel to a sixties Jethro Tull gig and ask Glenn Cornick whether he would play it. And after the gig ask him whether he would like to keep it in exchange for his sixties bird. I know what his answer would be. And since I would have betted against all of you prior to my time travel, I would come away stinking filthy rich.

Mount Rushmore is a place in the States, not in the Czech Republic. And whatever Gibson will put out, will be a Gibson, even if you chuck the TRC away.  

[dadagoboi]

Mount Rushmore is a place in the States, not in the Czech Republic. And whatever Gibson will put out, will be a Gibson, even if you chuck the TRC away. 

In my Geezer opinion Gibson hasn't really been Gibson since they were sold to Norlin Industries I don't know how many owners ago.  And real mahogany comes from the New World, not Africa, not Asia.  You can call it anything you want but you can't change what it is.

aahh... Sunday morning rant with another Ferrari F1 fiasco.  Nothing goes better with a double espresso.

[Basvarken]

The prevalent and epidemic  B&CHysteria of this forum at work again, sigh. The B&CHs are great basses - even more for the price -and have rejuvenated what many here believe to be an iconic shape, granted. But it's a bass with a non-hi-grade maho body (not even all of them have that) and a maple neck.

The new series of the BaCHbird (Transparent Red and Dark Honeyburst) are full Mahogany (or Sipo?). No maple necks anymore Uwe.
Maybe you need another BaCHbird now you know it's not just the finish that's different? 

[Dave W]

I would be amazed if the Bachs were genuine mahogany from Central or South America. I'm not even sure Gibson uses it.

[dadagoboi]

I would be amazed if the Bachs were genuine mahogany from Central or South America. I'm not even sure Gibson uses it.

Basvarken is very upfront that it's sipo, not honduras on the Bachs.  As to Gibson, I would hope so on CS and over $2K stuff at least.  Lull, yes.

I believe the only new honduras available now is supposedly from fallen trees.

[uwe]

We will run a contest once the Gibson Non Revs have arrived!

My B&CH plays beautifully and is nicely resonant. What is doesn't have is quite the fundamentals of my two sixties Non Revs, the B&CH is airier than the Gibsons which is a nice quality as well. I would expect a new Gibson Non Rev to sound deeper still, much like the new generation Rev Birds sound deeper than the sixties Birds and Bicentennials.

[uwe]

"Maybe you need another BaCHbird now you know it's not just the finish that's different? "

You fiendish Holländer!!! 

I'll buy the B&CH fretless five string/fretted 8-string that you are working on as your next project, ok? Even if it has maple necks (the eight string actually should!).

[uwe]

"I believe the only new honduras available now is supposedly from fallen trees."

Once they're chopped they all fall! 

[stiles72]

I had one of the red Bach TH-2's, and it definitely did not have a maho/sipo body. The neck was for sure - the grain pattern matched and the reddish / brownish color of the wood was clearly visible in the TRC screw holes. The body however, was different. All of the pickguard screw holes revealed a very yellowish/whitish wood. Same with the exposed areas inside of the control cavity. I even drilled an "exploratory" hole with a long and very small diameter bit in through the tail strap lock hole - and same result. My guess would be that it was basswood - as the dust removed matched most closely what I've seen in my Ibanez SR-800's.   Beautiful bass - but the body wasn't Mahogany.  If Gibson could put out an NR to match the build & quality of the Studio Birds - I'm in!

[Basvarken]

I'll buy the B&CH fretless

Something like this?

[uwe]

That is what the Non Rev Birds would most likely sound a lot like: The meanwhile deleted Rev Studio Birds. Those were fine basses - bit more thud than a neck-thru TBird - and aggressively priced (for Gibson), but much to my surprise tanked in the market.

People tend to forget that the Non Revs so worshipped here today were in fact a cost-saving measure by Gibson trying to get away from the more-expensive-to-craft and wood-wasteful neck-thru concept of the original Ray Dietrich concept.

[uwe]

Something like this?

Purdy.