The Gibson Thunderbird
FlyGuitars Your early 1970s work is characterised by your Gibson Thunderbirds. Which was your first?
Glenn Cornick Late in 1970 after about a year of searching, I bought my original reverse T Bird single pickup. I loved everything about it but never got to record with it with Tull though I used it all the time on stage as soon as I got it. I used it at the Isle of Wight festival ( the entire Tull performance soon to be released on DVD ). Ian (Anderson) preferred the EB3 to the T Bird. It was stolen late in 1971 and I never had another Gibson reverse.
FlyGuitars You then moved on to the non-reverse bodied birds?
Glenn Cornick In 1971 (with Wild Tukey) I bought a white non reverse T Bird from Manny's in New York. They had a stack of them unsold in the basement and they were $100 each with soft case. The headstock got broken after a few months so I ordered another to be sent to England. It was metallic green and I used that for a year or two although it ended up much modified - I added a Guild bass humbucker and eventually a Gibson Vibrola which worked well except that the arms used to break and I had to have someone make one out of heavy duty steel! Like the white one, it ended up with a broken neck and a cracked body and eventually was broken up for parts. For your interest reverse and non-reverse Firebirds and Thunderbirds were always known as 'Upside Down Gibsons' and 'Right Way Up Gibsons' in Britain in those days.
FlyGuitars How was the move from short scale EB basses to long scale Thunderbirds?
Glenn Cornick I soon adjusted to the long scale of the T Bird which I found to be the best physically balanced design of bass I had ever played. The T Birds sounded great overdriven with lots of distortion. The 3 T Birds were my primary basses for the first couple of years of Wild Turkey. I don't remember what bass I used on the Battle Hymn album but it must have been one or more of the T Birds. I always wanted another original reverse Thunderbird but never got one. I was so attached to the one that got stolen that I swore I would never again get so attached to any one instrument or play anything that was so difficult to replace.
FlyGuitars The vibrola is an interesting addition. What sound were you going for with the Thunderbirds, and how did the vibrola help?
Glenn Cornick Tone and volume usually all the way up. For a short while I used a distortion box only for my bass solo with Wild Turkey to get feedback and other generally obnoxious effects! - especially funny with the Vibrola! There might be some vibrola stuff on the Live Wild Turkey stuff that came out recently but I've never listened to it!
Gibson bass guitars for sale
1964 Gibson Thunderbird II Bass the mintest 100% original Polaris White example.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 333**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$44995
2022 Gibson Non-Reverse Thunderbird Pelham Blue Electric Bass Guitar #47868
Burbank, California, 915**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$1799
eBay Template Design by OCDesignsOnline HomeAboutTestimonialsPoliciesContactSell your Gear 2022 Gibson Non-Reverse Thunderbird Pelham Blue Electric Bass Guitar #47868 ××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××× Item DescriptionWORKING CONDITION: Excellent - Plays great. All of the electronics and controls are working ... more
1976 Gibson Thunderbird Bicentennia Ebony
Antioch, Tennessee, 370**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$4145
... more
Gibson Thunderbird Bass Guitar
Easley, South Carolina, 296**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$2500
... more
Gibson Thunderbird 4-string Solidbody Electric Bass Guitar - Inverness Green
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 468**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$1500
Used Condition
4-string Electric Bass with Mahogany Body and Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, and 2 Humbucking Pickups - Inverness Green
8 6 lbs
In good condition. There is a finish chip under the bass edge of the truss rod cover; there are dents in the bass edge of the fretboard at the 2nd and 5th frets. The electronics have been tested as good. The stock bridge has been replaced with a black Hipshot Supertone bridge and it is included inside the case along with all the pictured ... more
GIBSON THUNDERBIRD NON-REVERSED BASS GUITAR
New Port Richey, Florida, 346**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$1600
Gibson Non-Reverse Thunderbird Bass Inverness Green
Middletown, New York, 109**, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
$2198
Gibson Victory Bass 1981 Vintage USA Kahler Tremolo Thunderbird Headstock
Southend-on-Sea, SS1***, UNITED KINGDOM
£1999
Gibson USA Thunderbird Reverse Bass Natural Tobacco With Original Hard Case
Launceston, PL15***, UNITED KINGDOM
£2000
The traditional 9-ply mahogany / walnut neck through body construction provides a thundering low end response and a piano like sustain.
The narrow nut width and rounded neck profile neck feels both fast and intuitive. The Thunderbird high output, ceramic magnet loaded humbucking pickups (neck and bridge) deliver the sonic and iconic ... more
60er EPIPHONE von GIBSON EMBASSY DELUXE BASS - hergestellt in USA - THUNDERBIRD SOUND
COLOGNE, GERMANY
£2998
+ mahogany body finished in wine red, has lots of weather checking and wear, several extra screw holes on back
+ mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, LONG SCALE, has 4 minor SURFACE stress cracks below tuners=check last 3 pics
* skinny neck profile on back around first 5 frets
+ new Fender Reissue tuners
+ 1 original THUNDERBIRD pickup & 1 newer Fender Jazz bass single coil
+ new pickguard
+ new pots and ... more
1987 Gibson Bass IV - hergestellt in den USA - THUNDERBIRD TONABNEHMER
COLOGNE, GERMANY
£1090
* the black painted part of the body was cut off before by some moron and replaced with 2 pieces of ash=
check pic 5
* pearl white finish is very worn
* Thunderbird pickups
* black Schaller hardware
* ebony fingerboard, frets are fine
... more
60's EPIPHONE by GIBSON EMBASSY BASS USA - THUNDERBIRD SOUND - LONG SCALE
COLOGNE, GERMANY
€3333
60's Epiphone by Gibson Embassy Deluxe Bass - made in USA:
+ mahogany body finished in wine red, has lots of weather checking and wear, several extra screw holes on back
+ mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, LONG SCALE, has 4 minor SURFACE stress cracks below tuners=check last 3 pics
* skinny neck profile on back around first 5 frets
+ new Fender Reissue tuners
+ 1 original THUNDERBIRD pickup & 1 newer Fender Jazz bass single coil
+ new pickguard
+ new pots and ... more
Gibson Thunderbird Bass - USA vom Feinsten - aus 1. Hand mi orig Koffer
Lenzkirch, 79***, GERMANY
€1699
Nix verbastelt. Keinen Dead Spot (Hals gerade, Bünde topp). Selten Live gespielt. Nur im rauchfreien Proberaum quartiert! Saiten sind auch noch in Ordnung !
Der Lack auf er Rückseite ist an der Kante an einer Stelle abgeplatzt (siehe Bild). Der Kopf hat mal leicht angedotzt (siehe Bild). Sonst hat der Bass oberflächliche Kratzer und ist in einem sehr gepflegten Zustand ... more
1989 Jackson Thunderbird Basshülle - Made in USA - passt GIBSON
COLOGNE, GERMANY
£250
+ fits also Gibson T-Bird models
+ black interior with formfit cut, some wear
+ tolex has a LOT of wear and larger rips on back and front
+ leather ends have rips
+ right latch is broken
+ worn but ROCK SOLID
... more