I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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Strango
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Strango » Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:15 am

The checking on that thing is crazy, it's like a flametop!

The Thunderbird up top is great, I've never fully gotten what the Firebird/Thunderbird is really trying to accomplish -- it seems like it's kinda the Gibson tele-equivalent? But maybe also offset? I've never really figured it out. Aesthetically they're cool but I honestly don't like the Firebird/Thunderbird logos on the pickguard (usually that's the sort of stuff that I'm all about, but it looks blah to me).

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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Larry Mal » Wed Jul 28, 2021 11:32 am

Strango wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:15 am


The Thunderbird up top is great, I've never fully gotten what the Firebird/Thunderbird is really trying to accomplish -- it seems like it's kinda the Gibson tele-equivalent?
I would say that the Firebird was absolutely one of Fender's early attempts to compete with Fender on Fender turf- and like almost all of their attempts, it was unsuccessful yet resulted in a great guitar. Firebirds do sound a bit like Telecasters, I'd say closer to a Tele than a Les Paul.

The Thunderbird is a little different. If memory serves, it was the first time Gibson had made a Fender scale bass at the 34". However, I have never heard anyone say that it has a sound that is at all like a Precision bass, it's usually described as being very fundamental, voiced low, without a lot of the overtones that can make Fenders sound exciting.

This is what I've read, I've never owned one, so take what I say lightly.

There is something about this latest model that made me feel it was going to be a lot better than the previous generation, and I forget what it is. I think it might be that this model has Alnico magnet pickups instead of the ceramic ones they had been using in Thunderbirds prior. I looked on the specs and didn't find it.

Regardless, if there was ever a candidate to buy on looks and later put in better pickups, I get the feeling that modern Thunderbirds might be it, except maybe not this one, I dunno.
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by tammyw » Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:46 pm

Why does it have a chrome bezel on the bridge pickup?
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Larry Mal » Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:17 pm

That is another question I've been wondering.
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Larry Mal » Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:29 pm

tammyw wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:46 pm
Why does it have a chrome bezel on the bridge pickup?
I guess in an interest to make this interesting, here's the 2010 era Thunderbird... you'll notice that it doesn't have that bezel, and I think you'll notice why I like the new ones better:

Image
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Larry Mal » Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:32 pm

And here we have a 1966 Thunderbird, it does have a bezel, but not the same one:

Image

And God knows what the thinking was on that bridge and tailpiece combination.
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Embenny » Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:39 pm

This new model looks pretty interesting. I'm done with long-scale basses, but wouldn't mind playing one if it found its way to me somehow.

It's nice to see them put actual colour on it. Firebirds and Thunderbirds are too pretty to always get the old black/sunburst/white/red treatment over and over.
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by fuzzjunkie » Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:57 pm

I have a friend that played a ‘64 Thunderbird all through the ‘90s. He was a big John Entwhistle fan. He ran it through an Ampeg SVT and it had some thump. I think only about 500 of those were made?

The guy who designed the Firebird and Thunderbird was an industrial designer named Ray Dietrich. He’s famous for designing the Airstream trailer and a number of big American cars. They were created to compete with Fender’s regular rolling out of new models, but I don’t think the intention was to offset telecaster sales (lol).

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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Lost In Autumn » Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:35 am

fuzzjunkie wrote:
Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:57 pm
I have a friend that played a ‘64 Thunderbird all through the ‘90s. He was a big John Entwhistle fan. He ran it through an Ampeg SVT and it had some thump. I think only about 500 of those were made?

The guy who designed the Firebird and Thunderbird was an industrial designer named Ray Dietrich. He’s famous for designing the Airstream trailer and a number of big American cars. They were created to compete with Fender’s regular rolling out of new models, but I don’t think the intention was to offset telecaster sales (lol).
IIRC, they were going after Fender's then flagship offsets and even got sued by Fender, who claimed that the Firebird was infringing on their offset design- they did the non-reverse Firebird in response, which to me, looks more like a Jazzmaster/Jaguar than the Firebird.

This bass looks gorgeous- I typically don't like Gibson basses, but this one... :?

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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by JSett » Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:01 am

Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:35 am
I typically don't like Gibson basses, but this one... :?
Agreed. Normally Gibson basses can get in the bin, but I'd play the shit out of this thing
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Larry Mal » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:22 am

I don't know if they were directly going after Telecaster sales, but they were certainly going after Fender sales. Regardless, the end result is a guitar that sounds pretty credibly like a Telecaster if you want it to.

I don't know if the non-reverse 'Bird was done in response to Fender's complaint, since the Firebird didn't sell as well as Gibson hoped, and the non-reverse is considerably cheaper to make with its glued in neck compared to the nine-ply neck through laminate. It could be that Gibson just didn't want to support the Firebird very much after a point anyway- I don't think it actually came to a lawsuit, although I can't say that the threat of lawsuit didn't factor in to Gibson changing what was already not as successful a design as they had imagined.
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Lost In Autumn » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:29 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:22 am
I don't know if they were directly going after Telecaster sales, but they were certainly going after Fender sales. Regardless, the end result is a guitar that sounds pretty credibly like a Telecaster if you want it to.

I don't know if the non-reverse 'Bird was done in response to Fender's complaint, since the Firebird didn't sell as well as Gibson hoped, and the non-reverse is considerably cheaper to make with its glued in neck compared to the nine-ply neck through laminate. It could be that Gibson just didn't want to support the Firebird very much after a point anyway- I don't think it actually came to a lawsuit, although I can't say that the threat of lawsuit didn't factor in to Gibson changing what was already not as successful a design as they had imagined.
I’ve owned several Gibsons over the years, Les Pauls, ES125 t, ES125 TCDB, Jr’s, Melody Makers, Explorer, ES335 etc and my Firebird is probably my favorite, but then my sonic tastes lean more towards Fenders and brighter tones. Oddly, the things that make the Firebird work so well for me personally- I’m 6’8” tall, are also likely contributing factors in why it didn’t take off. It’s a larger guitar than either of my 28” scale baritones and nearly as big as my Bass VI

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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Larry Mal » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:36 am

Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:29 am

I’ve owned several Gibsons over the years, Les Pauls, ES125 t, ES125 TCDB, Jr’s, Melody Makers, Explorer, ES335 etc and my Firebird is probably my favorite, but then my sonic tastes lean more towards Fenders and brighter tones. Oddly, the things that make the Firebird work so well for me personally- I’m 6’8” tall, are also likely contributing factors in why it didn’t take off. It’s a larger guitar than either of my 28” scale baritones and nearly as big as my Bass VI
I love my Firebirds also, for the same reason... it's a noise free guitar that does the Fender sound yet has its own power and character.

A lot of people talk about the ergonomics of it.. I can't dismiss that, but I can say that I never noticed it. It felt like home right away.

You're 6'8", I'm an even 6', but for anyone who might be wondering if the Firebird is too large for you I will just submit this for your consideration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A29BMj3v86w
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Re: I'm going to have a real struggle not buying this thing.

Post by Lost In Autumn » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:42 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:36 am
Lost In Autumn wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:29 am

I’ve owned several Gibsons over the years, Les Pauls, ES125 t, ES125 TCDB, Jr’s, Melody Makers, Explorer, ES335 etc and my Firebird is probably my favorite, but then my sonic tastes lean more towards Fenders and brighter tones. Oddly, the things that make the Firebird work so well for me personally- I’m 6’8” tall, are also likely contributing factors in why it didn’t take off. It’s a larger guitar than either of my 28” scale baritones and nearly as big as my Bass VI
I love my Firebirds also, for the same reason... it's a noise free guitar that does the Fender sound yet has its own power and character.

A lot of people talk about the ergonomics of it.. I can't dismiss that, but I can say that I never noticed it. It felt like home right away.

You're 6'8", I'm an even 6', but for anyone who might be wondering if the Firebird is too large for you I will just submit this for your consideration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A29BMj3v86w
Wow on PJ Harvey playing one. My current obsession was sparked by seeing Temples play before the pandemic began. The lead singer can’t be much bigger than Polly Jean.
The main ergonomic consideration that I noticed was where my right hand falls- I primarily pick over the neck pickup, but on the Firebird, my hand falls on the bridge, which further contributes to its brightness.
An aside, I recently put a pair of Filtertrons on an Epiphone WildKat- those pickups also have Fender-like tones, but their own sound as well.

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