Storm Guild Electric Guitar

Black Pickguard Assembly

Gibson Thunderbird is one among the different classic models of bass guitars that were introduced by Gibson. It was launched in the year 1963. One of the biggest challenges that Gibson had was the lead of Fender that was ruling the market with both their electric and bass guitars at the time the Thunderbird was launched.

The Gibson Thunderbird was designed by an engineer who was from Germany, Ray Dietrich, who also designed another masterpiece, the Gibson Firebird, which was just the mirror image of its name. The Gibson Thunderbird is a masterpiece. It had a neck-through design where the neck just followed the entire length of the body. The rest of the body was glued to give it the right curves.

The previous models of Gibson bass guitars had a scale of 30.5 inches, which was short, whereas the Gibson Thunderbird had a scale of about 34 inches, which was similar to the scale that the Fender's bass guitars had. Originally there were two Gibson Thunderbird models, one was Thunderbird II, which had one pickup and the other was Thunderbird IV, which had two pickups.

It was in the year 1966 that Gibson changed the design and structure of the Gibson Thunderbird. The design of the original Gibson Thunderbird had the treble horn extended and the bass horn recessed, which was also known as the reverse body. The change in the outlook was given by flipping it over so that it is more appealing for the clients and this version was known as the non-reverse body.

Another change that was brought in the design was the neck. The tough but costly neck-through construction was taken over by the more traditional Gibson set-neck construction. The non-reverse Gibson Thunderbird was in the assembly line till 1969 and then it was discontinued. Interestingly enough, the non-reverse Gibson Thunderbird is the gem of the eye among collectors and is categorized as rare.

Then a new version of Gibson Thunderbird came out in the market, which was named as Thunderbird IV. This model was introduced in the market in the year 1976 as a bicentennial edition. The Gibson Thunderbird IV had the original body and neck-through construction. This model stayed for about four years until its production stopped again in 1979.

The Gibson Corporation planned to bring the Thunderbird back and it was Gibson Thunderbird IV that was introduced again in the year 1987 and it has been in the production line till now. The current versions of the Gibson Thunderbird that are present in the market these days are the Gibson Thunderbird IV, Gibson Thunderbird Studio (4 string), Gibson Thunderbird Studio (5 string) and Epiphone Thunderbird IV. All of them are the reverse style with two pickups.

Another classic marvel introduced by Gibson was Gibson Blackbird, which was a custom built model of Gibson Thunderbird. This model was being designed on the specifications that were asked for by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. This model was in the production line from the year 2000 to 2003. The changes included moving the strap buttons up and an appropriate strap to give it an appropriate balance. A specifically designed pickguard and all the hardware were finished in black chrome.

The Gibson Thunderbird has been used by some of the great bassist that world has ever known including Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Simon Gallup of The Cure, Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, Adam Clayton of U2 and a long list to follow.

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