Ibanez Thunderbird

[TBird1958]

I've long wanted one ( Thanks to George ) and now this one is on it's way to me!
A buddy on TB was looking at this but passed due to lack of funds, so it'll be here next week  

This is the seller's pic, obviously it needs the company of a Blue Subaru.

[Denis]

Nice! Now that I see how that sits in the case (like my Epi) I'm not so worried about it.
What kind of pups are in that?

[TBird1958]

Nice! Now that I see how that sits in the case (like my Epi) I'm not so worried about it.
What kind of pups are in that?

Their (Ibanez') design, I'm hoping George (Old Man C) will chime in later - I think he's got one. 

[OldManC]

The feel of these wonderful basses is more Greco than Gibson. The nut width is the same as the Greco, as well as where the neck meets the body. The pickups sound great. My Ibanez records really well. There's a slight compression that helps it cut through a mix, and the tone is pure bird but maybe not as blurry as some can get. The bridge is a two point, but it's the early 70's Gibson two point style (ever -tilt), and mine has plastic saddles. The tail piece takes care of anchoring the strings though, so there's no problem with any tilting. The bolt neck is the only thing that might cause these basses to get less respect than their Greco cousins, but if so, it's only in the eye of the beholder.

BTW, I've heard that there are set neck Ibanez Thunderbirds, and I saw an auction for one once (though it could have been a Greco with an Ibanez TRC), but I've never played nor seen one in person.

[Chris P.]

Very cool! Congratulations! Pick ups look like mini-humbuckers....

I hope to score a one pick up copy once...

[Hornisse]

Sweet bass Mark.  The guitar player in my band has 3 of the lawsuit Ibanez Destroyer guitars all from 1976.

[Highlander]

Who else has made Thunderbirds (quality stuff, not bargain bin) ...?




Edit: Kenny, I meant to reply to this but hit the wrong button and edited your post instead. Sorry!

[chromium]

Nice find- congrats, Mark!  You hardly ever see those for sale.

[OldManC]

Who else has made Thunderbirds (quality stuff, not bargain bin) ...?

Most of these are pretty rare to find (other than Greco, Epi, and Orville), as most weren't ever regular catalog items. The popularity if the body style led many brands to build them for their endorsing artists in the mid 80's to early 90's, so that's where most of these come from:

Epiphone
Epi Japan
Orville
Orville by Gibson
B.C. Rich
Jackson
Hamer
Spector
GMP
ESP

I'm sure there are more... What am I missing, guys?

[Hornisse]

I just posted some photo's of a Roscoe T-Bird on your other thread.

[Freuds_Cat]

I have played Dennis Kipridis from the Streamliners Ibanez. I admit to becoming enamoured by it. It sounds fantastic. Those pups are very sweet sounding. It has in my opoinion an almost perfect neck (for me).



http://www.myspace.com/thestreamliners

[Nocturnal]

Nice score Mark!!!

[Pilgrim]

That's a good-lookin' bass, Mark.  We'll look forward to the obligatory Subaru pix.

[Basshappi]

Awesome!

[Johnbob]

Wait, what is going on here? I know about the Greco's and Orville's but I never knew that Ibanez made a  Thunderbird. That's crazy. Of course I know that Ibanez and other big guitar manufacturers have made Jazz bass, P. Bass, Les Paul, Strat rip offs but I never knew Ibanez made a Thunderbird. I feel like other rip offs by major companies at least tried to change the headstock shape or something in an attempt to not get sued but that T-bird looks pretty much like an exact rip off. Did it actually come with the T-bird logo on the pickguard like that or did someone add that at some point? Crazy.