Vintage Guitar and Bass forum

Three pickup thunderbird

mc2

Three pickup thunderbird
« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2018, 01:57:50 PM »
Quote from: marcnorth;12404
From what I've seen mc2 has probably the coolest collection of basses around and definitely knows his stuff.
And I'm sure I've only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks Marc ))

Yes....replying to ancient zombie thread. Want to correct info.

While I respect the info provided by the guy who says he owned a white TBird VII and "it was the only one" and that these were done BY MISTAKE, due to a worker routing bass bodies, thinking they were Firebird guitar bodies.......I believe somebody at Gibson was yanking your chain.

Allow me to qualify myself. Besides being a longtime bass player who has played with a number of notables....I also spent almost a decade as editor of one of the major U.S. musical instrument trade magazines. During that time I became on a first-name basis with pretty much every head of gear manufacturing companies and most major retailers in the U.S. and a large percentage of foreign companies. Besides the trade magazine, I also edited the annual "Music & Sound Buyers Guide," which was the standard reference for buying gear. I was also offered the editor gig at the major bass magazine at the time, as well as the top monthly magazine for musicians...both of which I turned down because I did not with to relocate. I was also the host/TV reporter for NAMM-TV for most of that period as well. I have written for many industry magazines, both features and gear reviews. My quotes have been on numerous retail packaging and press releases, I have done photography and written catalogs for major manufacturers and consulted on product development in U.S. and abroad. So....I know my shit. As Marc mentioned, I have also had a sizeable collection of rare basses/guitars/amps over the years.

That said......regarding these three-pickup Thunderbird VII Basses, they were built while I was the editor of the aforementioned trade magazine. I was HANDED the Gibson annual catalog, while I was visiting Gibson's HQ in Tennessee, BY a Gibson exec who I knew. When I saw the one month's photo that pictured one of the red 3-PUP Thunderbirds I asked about it and was told there was a run of six in red and in white. Later, I happened to acquire the BLACK PROTOTYPE to the run from a dealer in Japan....which I have since sold to a friend and fellow collector in Germany, who has the largest Gibson Bass collection in the world. THAT bass is stamped into the wood on the rear of the headstock with the standard '80s "Official Gibson Prototyoe" stamp. The SN# pre-dates the run of six. Logically.....if Gibson took the time to make and stamp a PROTOTYPE to the run of six...it would seem HIGHLY unlikely that that run of six "was the result of a MISTAKE" by some doofus worker who "accidentally" mis-routed Firebirds as Thunderbirds. Does that make ANY SENSE?!?! No. This was a planned run that was designed and PROTOTYPED.

The PROTOTYPE has a couple of minor differences from the run of six. Besides the rear official prototype stamp and the run having the '80s "Gibson Custom Shop" decals, the prototype pickguard was peal with a FIREBIRD hotstamp.  I was told that they didn't have a Thunderbird pickguard at the moment and the pearll looked more special. The pickups and hardware on the prototype are also black ones, not gold plated, as was used on the run. I did not pull the PUPs to look and see if they are the later '90s style Gibson TBird ones.....or the black ones used on the rare 1987 Gibson Custom Shop TBIrds, which are completely different animals that were custom made by PJ Marx. I will attach a pic of the black prototype here if I have it on this iPad.

I later OWNED one of the white 3-PUP ones and it was NOT the one pictured, so I am pretty sure there were more than one. Again, I was told by a Gibson exec that there were three white and three red. But I have not seen a group shot of the six, so I am going by what I was told. But I have seen what I believe to be three different red ones and two white ones, so far....in addition to the black prototype. Regarding their "sound" and the aforementioned negative comments by a former owner of the white one, they DO sound "different." They are wired a bit odd, which I believe is based off the Firebird VII, so they takes some tweaking as compared to a normal Thunderbird IV. Plus the PUPs may be PJ Marx ones, which would also make them different than normal.

Anyway.....hope this may answer a few questions. It also probably raises a few more as well.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3629367[/ATTACH]
« Last Edit: November 08, 2018, 02:11:55 PM by mc2 »

 

Recent posts on vintage guitar and bass

1970 Rosetti Epiphone guitar catalogScan of 1970 Epiphone guitar catalogue produced by Rosetti for the UK market. Undated but most likely from mid-late 1970, this was the first UK catalogue to show the new range of Japanese (Matsumoku) Epiphone guitars. Interestingly, these pages show the Epiphone solid bodies with a single-sided Fender-style headstock layout - a feature quickly replaced with a typical two-sided Epiphone headstock almost immediately. Epiphone electric guitars: 9520, 9525; bass guitars: 9521, 9526; acoustic guitars: 6730, 6830, 6834
1971 A World of Guitars by Rosetti catalogueScan of 1971 Rosetti catalogue (UK) featuring guitars from from numerous manufacturers worldwide: guitars by Epiphone, Hagstrom, Levin, Hoyer, Egmond, Eros, Moridaira, Kiso-Suzuki, Schaller, and Tatra.
1971 Selmer guitar catalogueScan of 1971 Selmer guitar catalogue showing the range of electric and acoustic guitars distributed by the company: guitars by Gibson, Yamaha, Selmer, Hofner and Suzuki. 1960s Selmer had always placed Hofner at the front end of their catalogues, no doubt these were the better sellers - but into the 1970s Hofner were slipping somewhat and only appear at the tail end of this publication, pride of place going to Gibson, and to a lesser extent Yamaha. In fact this is the last Selmer catalogue to include the many Hofner hollow bodies (Committee, President, Senator etc) that had defined the companies output for so many years - to be replaced in the 1972 catalogue by generic solid body 'copies' of Gibson and Fender models. A number of new Gibson models are included for the first time: the SG-100 and SG-200 six string guitars and the SB-300 and SB-400 basses.
1968 Selmer guitar catalogueScan of 1968/1969 Selmer guitar catalogue (printed July 1968), showing the entire range of electric and acoustic guitars distributed by the company: guitars by Hofner, Gibson, Selmer and Giannini. Selmer were the exclusive United Kingdom distributors of Hofner and Gibson at the time, and this catalogue contains a total of 18 electric guitars, 7 bass guitars, 37 acoustics, and 2 Hawaiian guitars - all produced outside the UK and imported by Selmer, with UK prices included in guineas. This catalogue saw the (re-)introduction of the late sixties Gibson Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Standard (see page 69) and the short-lived Hofner Club 70. Other electric models include: HOFNER ELECTRICS: Committee, Verithin 66, Ambassador, President, Senator, Galaxie, HOFNER BASSES: Violin bass, Verithin bass, Senator bass, Professional bass GIBSON ELECTRICS: Barney Kessel, ES-330TD, ES-335TD, ES-345TD, ES-175D, ES-125CD, SG Standard, SG Junior, SG Special GIBSON BASSES: EB-0, EB-2, EB-3 - plus a LOT of acoustics branded Gibson, Hofner, Selmer and Giannini
1961 Hofner Colorama IHofner Colorama was the name UK distributor Selmer gave to a series of solid and semi-solid guitars built by Hofner for distribution in the UK. The construction and specifications of the guitars varied over the period of production, but by 1961 it was a totally solid, double cutaway instrument, with a set neck, translucent cherry finish, six-in-a-row headstock, and Hofner Diamond logo pickups. Available as a single or dual pickup guitar, this sngle pickup version would have been sold in mainland Europe as the Hofner 161.
1971 Commodore N25 (Matsumoku)Commodore was a brand applied to a series of guitars produced in Japan at the well-respected Matsumoku plant from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s - and sold primarily (perhaps exclusively?) in the United Kingdom. The models bearing the Commodore name were all guitars available from different distributors with different branding. Although there may have been some minor changes in appointments (specifically headstock branding) most had the same basic bodies, hardware and construction. Equivalent models to the Commodore N25 (and this is by no means an exhaustive list) include the Aria 5102T, Conrad 5102T(?), Electra 2221, Lyle 5102T, Ventura V-1001, Univox Coily - and most famously the Epiphone 5102T / Epiphone EA-250.
1960 Hofner Colorama IIThe Hofner Colorama was the name given by Selmer to a series of solid (and semi-solid) body Hofner guitars distributed in the United Kingdom between 1958 and 1965. The Colorama name actually applied to some quite different guitars over the period, but in 1960 it was a very light, semi-solid, set necked guitar with one (Colorama I) or two (Colorama II, as seen here) Toaster pickups. Although an entry-level guitar, it was very well-built, and a fine playing guitar; certainly a step up (at least in terms of craftsmanship) from many of the Colorama guitars that would follow, and a good deal of the guitars available in Britain circa 1960.
1971 Epiphone 1820 (ET-280) bassBy the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). The Matsumoku factory had been producing guitars for export for some time, but the 1820 bass (alongside a number of guitar models and the 5120 electric acoustic bass) were the first Epiphone models to be made there. These new Epiphones were based on existing Matsumoku guitars, sharing body shapes, and hardware, but the Epiphone line was somewhat upgraded, with inlaid logos and a 2x2 peghead configuration. Over the course of the 70s, the Japanese output improved dramatically, and in many ways these early 70s models are a low point for the brand. Having said this, there are a lot worse guitars out there, and as well as being historically important, the 1820 bass can certainly provide the goods when required.
1981 Gibson MarauderProduction of Bill Lawrence's Gibson Marauder began in 1974, with production peaking in 1978. But by 1980 the model was officially discontinued, though very small numbers slipped out as late as spring 1981. Over 7000 examples shipped between 1974 and 1979, and although no totals are available for 1980 and 1981, it is unlikely production reached three figures in either of these years. These final Marauders were all assembled at the Gibson Nashville plant, and had some nice features not available through the later years of production, such as a rosewood fretboard, and in this case, an opaque 'Devil Red' finish. It's a great looking and fine playing guitar!