Jack Hack

[uwe]

Of course that initial TBird bridge had issues too or Dasson Technologies Inc would be out of business today.   

[Stjofön Big]

That bass is my wet dream! It so balanced in the looks. Love everything about it. Pic guard. Colour. All of it. And with that T-bird bridge/tailpiece it looks like a walking dream. Let's start, walk in A: Du-duh-duh-duh-duh-du-duh-duh...

[dadagoboi]

He didn't really say whether or not he knew the provenance of this bass.

It seems to me he's implying it's a Gibson prototype with no evidence to back it up.  What were the development dates on the TBird?  I guess it is possible they might have used an EBO as a mule but I'd like to see some more info.

[uwe]

Timewise it could have been, the Junior was 60/61 and Ray Dietrich was approached by Ted McCarty around that time for design of the Firebird:

"In the early 1960s, Ted McCarty - Gibson's president - asked Ray Dietrich to try his hand at designing a guitar. Dietrich reversed conventional design, putting the longest body horn on the treble side and all the tuners on the treble side, and he made the neck and body a single piece. His design was called the Firebird, and it debuted in 1963 but met with only moderate success before the body shape was revamped into a "non-reverse" style in 1965. Gibson periodically re-releases the Firebird, so I imagine that one of Dietrich's guitars can be purchased for substantially less money than one of his cars.  

Dietrich remained in his adopted home of Kalamazoo until a 1969 heart attack prompted a change in climate. As luck would have it, his wife Marion - whom he met and married while working for Chrysler – had once been the manager of the Kalamazoo Symphony and was offered a similar job by the Albuquerque, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, so they moved to Albuquerque later that year.  

Raymond H. Dietrich passed away in 1980 at the age of 86. In 1995, his wife Marion donated his collection of letters, drawings and drawing instruments to the Classic Car Club of America's Library at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan."

Considering how the TBird remains to be the most popular Gibson bass even in this forum, I always find that Herr Dietrich gets comparatively little recognition here. He's hardly ever mentioned, yet he's responsible for one of the most iconic and unmistakeable guitar/bass shapes. 

[Dave W]

It seems to me he's implying it's a Gibson prototype with no evidence to back it up.  What were the development dates on the TBird?  I guess it is possible they might have used an EBO as a mule but I'd like to see some more info.

He's definitely implying it's a prototype. Keep in mind that this is an old magazine article, probably edited heavily to fit in the little space they allotted him. Just because the article doesn't say more doesn't mean that there isn't more to the story. He's not the kind of guy who would try to put one over on his readers and he certainly would be able to tell a later mod from an original.

[dadagoboi]

It's the use of 'evidently' without listing a shred of 'evidence' to back it up that bothered me.  I concede the article may have been edited.