I posted this over at Jules' forum before I migrated here, but my thunderbird purchase from Gibson last year has already proven interesting.
My case was warped and the bass just floated around in it. I returned it, Gibson speedily sent me a new case that fit great.
My pickups had the thing where they were effectively single coils. Both pickups were not humbucking; defective. Gibson is sending replacements.
Also, when I opened the cavity to shield it (thinking it would alleviate the hum from the pickups) the neck pickup wasn't even soldered to the pot! Its lead was just laying on top of the connector.. uh...
Physically my T-bird is flawless, but the electronics and the case have been wonky. So much for ducking the QC bullet.