2012 (13?) Non Reverse Thunderbird or, faith - restored

neepheid · May 01, 2014, 07:54:08 AM

Despite having less than the best of luck in recent years with new Gibson basses, I took delivery of a new Pelham Blue Non Reverse Thunderbird yesterday which was sold to me at a most agreeable price. I am pleased to report that everything is peachy - the fit, the finish, the electronics, the frets, everything in its right place. Had a blast of it at band practice last night and I was pleased with what I heard and felt. My faith in Gibson has been restored - not that it totally went away, just became a wee bit diminished.

Pics or it never happened, right?

I find the finish intriguing - you can see the mahogany grain in the Pelham Blue, but the top coat is filled and buffed flat. I find that odd but not objectionable:

The only issue that springs to mind is just how LONG from end to end this bass is. Sitting in the rack, it protrudes slightly higher than my RD Artist. I know I have been provided with a hard case, but I'm really a gig bag guy, I tend to take my own transport to and do my own loading/setting up at rehearsals/gigs and I find a gig bag much more convenient. The only gig bag I could fit this bass in was the rather oversized Dean one which I use for my Epi JC and my Fender Starcaster. Brainwave though - how about loading it in flipped round to my Ritter Thunderbird/RD bag? Might work, must try that.

Please, no comments about chrome, or swapping the jack socket with the tone pot, it's been done to death

I'm looking forward to being a timid mouse of a bassist playing a sexy beast of a bass at a gig soon

gearHed289 · May 01, 2014, 08:36:55 AM

I had a Bachbird for a few years, and yeah, they are LONG! Longer than any case I have in the collection. I'm not too big on gig bags (except maybe for rehearsal), so I had a custom flight case built. Sold it with the bass to a guy in Nashville.

chromium · May 01, 2014, 08:51:17 AM

Congrats! Looks great.

I didn't realize that the new NRs weren't grain filled before finishing. I saw the 50th anniv. Tbird up close, and kinda liked the look up close. The clear over top of the grain is dead flat... gives it a 3D effect

I know it's a labor-saving measure, but at the price point of the NRs it probably wouldn't bother me either.

I use my '76 Tbird case with the BaCH NR... swapping the foam insert at the bottom end of the case with a shallow strip of foam. That's the only case or gig bag I have that fits it...

66Atlas · May 01, 2014, 09:46:46 AM

Congrats! very nice, I love my Pelham Blue NR. Yeah, the lack of wood grain fill might be a cost saver but with the clearcoat over it I does give a really cool effect IMHO. Most of the complaints I heard about it were that it wasn't more like the original, treat it like a bass all it's own and it's great. Fit and finish on mine were 100%.

As primarily a "reverse" player the only mod I made was moving the strap button to the heel, it made the bass hang more to my liking. I used mine to record our last record and sounded great in the studio as well.

Enjoy!

TBird1958 · May 01, 2014, 11:08:59 AM

Leaving aesthetics aside, Gibson basses, when they're right, really are great instruments, cool that you gave it another shot and found a good one! Rock on!

4stringer77 · May 01, 2014, 12:34:02 PM

Grain and solid color together with a glossy top coat. What's not to love?

Nocturnal · May 01, 2014, 06:24:55 PM

I like the look of the blue NR's. I might need to buy one of those someday.
My 50th anniversary TBird has that same style of finish, and I really like the way it looks.

Dave W · May 02, 2014, 11:22:02 AM

I understand the need to keep the price within a certain target range, and there are open grain finishes I like a lot. But Gibson's solid color glossy finish over open grain definitely doesn't do it for me. Just doesn't look right.

I saw the Firebird version in a local store a few weeks ago (also Pelham Blue). In the sunlight coming through the front window you could see multiple facets on the surface, i.e. it wasn't sanded flat. I've seen that on other recent Gibsons. Yet there were a couple of vintage Firebirds on the same wall and they were flat with no facets.

There are a bunch of finish problem threads over at the mylespaul forum. That shouldn't surprise anyone who has bought a new Gibson in the past dozen years.

To anyone who is happy with their finish, fine with me. One bad experience was enough to convince me that they really don't care.

neepheid · May 03, 2014, 02:57:01 AM

Ha! Gibson, you never change. You know the Les Paul DC I bought recently? Played its first gig last weekend and found that I couldn't turn the volume all the way down. "An earth wire has gone squiffy" I thought to myself. Second hand bass, these things happen. Fast forward to yesterday, when I investigate the fault. Imagine my not surprise to find that it was stock wiring and the bent back terminal on the bridge pot HAD NEVER BEEN SOLDERED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Gibson, you scamps! I never noticed until now because my amp has a mute button and so do the amps in the rehearsal space so I used that. House back line at the gig had no such facility, that's when it became apparent.

One step forward, one pause to shake my head.

ramone57 · May 04, 2014, 02:16:05 PM

Quote from: neepheid on May 03, 2014, 02:57:01 AM
Ha! Gibson, you never change. You know the Les Paul DC I bought recently? Played its first gig last weekend and found that I couldn't turn the volume all the way down. "An earth wire has gone squiffy" I thought to myself. Second hand bass, these things happen. Fast forward to yesterday, when I investigate the fault. Imagine my not surprise to find that it was stock wiring and the bent back terminal on the bridge pot HAD NEVER BEEN SOLDERED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Gibson, you scamps! I never noticed until now because my amp has a mute button and so do the amps in the rehearsal space so I used that. House back line at the gig had no such facility, that's when it became apparent.

One step forward, one pause to shake my head.

scamps, indeed! at least it's an easy fix. I had a similar thing happen with my Ric. the neck pickup would drop out intermittently and I thought I needed a new switch. when I checked it out, the blades were making good contact. then I discovered a wire that hadn't been hooked through the hole in the lug before it was soldered. I also shook my head.

neepheid · May 04, 2014, 04:53:21 PM

Yup, 5 minute job to fix, and most of that was waiting for the soldering iron to heat up

In better news, my theory about the reverse Thunderbird gig bag is correct - I tested it with my Ritter T-bird bag which I use for my RD Artist and it does indeed fit if you load it in backwards

It's this one:

Dave W · May 04, 2014, 09:01:59 PM

In all fairness to Gibson, most of the complaints are about finish quality, not failure to solder or connect.

Still, you have to wonder when you look at a hang tag with all the QC items checked off and initialed when the checks obviously haven't been done well or at all.

clankenstein · May 05, 2014, 12:17:55 AM

must have been wired on friday afternoon...

neepheid · May 05, 2014, 04:20:10 AM

Quote from: Dave W on May 04, 2014, 09:01:59 PM
In all fairness to Gibson, most of the complaints are about finish quality, not failure to solder or connect.

Still, you have to wonder when you look at a hang tag with all the QC items checked off and initialed when the checks obviously haven't been done well or at all.

I've sent Gibson a message, alerting them to this (admittedly old) oversight. I'm guessing that zero will be the number of hoots given, but at least I tried.

Blackbird · May 06, 2014, 09:35:02 AM

Quote from: neepheid on May 05, 2014, 04:20:10 AM
I've sent Gibson a message, alerting them to this (admittedly old) oversight. I'm guessing that zero will be the number of hoots given, but at least I tried.

...it's the equivalent to peeing in a windstorm I should think.