THE GOOD: The Thunderbird looks hella cool, like something Tommy might have wielded against the Bloody Hun during the Battle of Britain. $1,499 is also relatively cheap for a Gibson.THE BAD: The headstock and body are so poorly balanced that the top end nosedives whenever you let go of the neck. It's also breakable, says John Entwistle (God rest his soul), but so are lots of other basses when you let a drunk Keith Moon (R.I.P.) knock them over. My biggest complaint about the Thunderbird is its sound, or lack thereof: remember the bass on Toxicity? 13th Step? Neither does anyone else. Basically, the T-bird's stock passive humbuckers sound flabby, muddy, and loose like wile bowels. I'd go as far as to suggest that you might get clearer low mids by standing pantless in front of a Shure SM57 and flossing your own ass with a length of brake cable.
THE BOTTOM LINE: You could probably save the T-Bird's dismal tone with a parametric EQ, but why bother? If you wanted to stand around twiddling your knob all day, you'd be a singer/guitarist, right?
RATING: 40%
(Image from www.zikinf.com.)
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