Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Anyone know of any places to get one that will fit a Thunderbird bass besides the Musicians Friend type places? Just dont wanna drop a ton of money on one. Thanks!

So, Steve, I seem to recall that you've mentioned wanting a T-Bird several times, have you taken the plunge? Or is this in hopeful anticipation?

If you've scored, please share your impressions; I have the bug in the worst way and would like to know more about them.

Thanks.

Hopefully Steve won't mind me chiming in before he does...
He & I have had some off forum conversations about T-birds, I have one & he asked for advice.
I believe that he just scored an Epi model off of eBay.
Here's a cut & paste job from one of my earlier forum raves about the Gibson Thunderbird:



"T-birds are fantastic (IMHO). They are really fat sounding - great low end, but still has enough of that 'punch' that most of us on this forum love. Those ceramic humbuckers scream. I am speaking strictly about the newer ones. Mine is a 2001 - I've never had the opportunity to play a vintage one. The necks are super thin & fast...neck through of course. Very fragile though, I've seen so many ads with the dreaded words "headstock repair".
It's not a Rick, don't get me wrong, but a fantastic bass with thunderous low end & clarity that many don't associate with Gibson basses.
It's the fave bass for all the guys I play with, they love it when I show up with that one.
Unique floating bridge design that takes a little getting used to when stringing it up.

2 things though: due to the cutaway, it's tough to get up high on the neck...especially if you play your bass slung low. Also - some of you have probably had "Rick Rash" at one time or another - the blister/chafing on the inside center of your wrist from the 4001/3 binding. Well, T-birds will give you the same thing, but about an inch to the left!

I got mine direct from the Gibson factory through this guy I knew for an even grand. I'm extremely happy with that bass. The last time we were in the studio I went straight in, dry & got a tremendous tone.

Plus I'm a big Pete Way fan & they look cool as hell - almost as good as a Rick!"




So Lindsay, if you have the itch I say SCRATCH IT. You won't be disappointed - I promise. Fantastic bass...

I have scored, and I love it! Great tone, a little heavier low end than a Rick, and once I got the truss rod tweaked, great action. It sounded awesome with my (2) 4x10 cabinets. I got so many compliments on the sound!! It came with a BC Rich gig bag that fits it great, but I always feel better with a hard shell case, for as much as we play out. Here's me trying to do my Chris Poteat / Pete Way pose

I echo many of Chris' sentiments. I have never really liked Gibson basses (having owned a Grabber in a previous life) and this one blew my mind. It IS hard to get way up high on the neck, I had to really make an effort to get down to the last dot during a certain Zeppelin song. But it worked out!

Back at ya Steve!

It's a flock of Thunderbirds! Now I need a case!

They ain't cheap - at least not new...
http://www.elderly.com/accessories/items/GCGI-TBIRD.htm

Thank you, gentlemen, for the information and for making my affliction that much worse! Time to start working on my letter to Santa.

And I dont suppose any other case will fit it, right? I'm not having a lot of luck finding one, even my Hamer 12 case wont work.

Lindsay,
I have tried a lot of other ones, and the guys in my band would say, "that one sucks, use the Rick." THIS time they said, "Leave the Rick at home." THAT should tell you something.

The problem is the L-E-N-G-T-H, (Heh, heh).
The big wings don't make it any easier either.

I'll tell you this though - one of my guitarists has an Gibson Explorer...that case is actually bigger than the T-bird's!!!

Yeah Lindsay,
I also second what Steve says. All the guys in my bands know my passion for Ricks & do prefer the T-bird. I'm a Rick man through & through, I own a '74 4001, '78 3001, '03 4003, '89 Fender Jazz & the '01 T-Bird. The only 2 basses that are stored in their cases as opposed to wall hangers are the 4003 & the T-Bird. I don't think I could part with either of those.

One of the bands I'm in tunes down to D flat - usually I play the Jazz with them, but took the T-Bird on a whim last week.
Oh - My - God...it sounded like tanks rolling through the rehearsal space. We burned that jam down to CD & it was the most monsterous low end ever.

Chris,
I used to play an Explorer (long story, yada yada yada, I broke the neck off of it). Will your T-bird fit in an Explorer case? Doesnt seem it is long enough. Maybe one of those Ibanez X-Series (Destroyer) bass cases would work. I should just shut up and fork it out, but I hate not having any other option.

I actually never tried the T-Bird/Explorer swap out. The cases were close to the same length, but (as you may remember) the Explorer sits in a pretty hard angle because of that huge top wing...

I'm trying to think of some generic no-cut out cases that would be long enough.
I've got an old Hurricane case that was given to me a long time ago just sitting in the attic - not sure if it would fit in there. Let me take a look...