LeftyBassist.com

For anyone who has been wishing for a new Gibson Thunderbird:
- The good news. YES, Gibson is making a run of lefty T-Birds for 2018. They have a handful of Ebony and Cherry ones ready for shipment as I write this. I ordered an Ebony one this morning from the Local Sam Ash, in fact.. Should be here in 7-10 days, according to the Guitar Dept. manager...
- The bad news. They most definitely ain't cheap. the MSRP for a 2018 Lefty T-Bird is $3900 I paid only $2300 & change for mine.
Bottom line? They're available, but you better want one really, really bad...

Good god. That’s a lot to pay for mud & neck dive.

Jesus. Yeah, no.

Yeah, it would be - if that were true. While neck dive, IMO, is a subjective and personal thing, my '13 T-Bird is not high on my list of divers. And, I definitely own a few basses that are. On MY shoulder, it has a preference for hanging parallel with the floor - and won't go any further. But, if you wear it like lots of T-Bird players do; slung low, with the neck up at a steep angle? It's perfectly happy there...
And, mud? The original single pick up T-Birds may have been muddy-sounding - it was a Mudbucker pickup, after all; but the ones in my '13 are absolutely not muddy. They're just humbuckers. Very clean, loud humbuckers... I was amazed at how clean they sounded the first time I played it. Yeah, I was expecting mud, too - and didn't get it. It's so not muddy, in fact, that I am actually breaking my rule of "Only one of each bass", and am willing to pony up that much coin for another one...
My only worry is that the new one won't be as well made as this one is . Other than some fret sprout on 3-4 frets (and that's common for any bass/guitar that winds up out here in Vegas), my '13 is absolutely flawless. But, we'll see...

You sound like a real 'Bird Lover.... I Like That! Hope the new one turns you on as much as the '13 does....

Well in that case I’m glad to be wrong. Just going from my limited experience with Gibsons.

The one Tbird I've heard live (might have been an Epiphone - I don't recall) had a TON of zing on it.

My 13 has zero dive. Awesome bass. I don't think I'd pay over $2k...but I might for the red (cherry) one. I'm not seeing anything, anywhere on them far as info.

In the Netherlands, there is a man making his own Tbird inspired bass he calls the Lowlander.

Unfortunately no lefthanded option for this yet, but totally handmade, without neckdive and some other clever solutions, he might be interested to make a little lefty run. I informed for one, but that was (as of now) not yet within his possibilities.

Still a great way of turning his love for the Tbird into something like this.
https://www.degierguitars.com/lowlander/

Very cool! I’d love to see what would happen if our very own Blablas turned his hand to T-bird creation... BlaBird anyone?

Here's a great video demonstrating how nice, and versatile this bass sounds! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... qslYFrHoAE

Not going to happen, I don't like the T-Bird shape.

Fair enough It was worth a shot. I have a love/hate thing going on with the shape too, and I’m now clearly many dollars short for the party..

Talked to my Sweetwater rep, $2,000 4-6 weeks to get one. Cherry, ebony, vintage burst

Good thing I'm not into these...

Ordered the bright cherry Thunderbird today. $2k 6-8 weeks maybe less

Heck yeah! Way to be, guys! I can't wait to see them! I bet they look outstanding!

Southpaw has a brown one, but if it were me, I would rather order the Cherry and wait.

https://www.southpawguitars.com/gibson- ... ranty.html

I would agonize for weeks over whether to go with cherry or burst. I love them both for different reasons.

Please post pictures when she arrives

Easy, I have the vintage burst already, too many black basses and that cherry just jumps out! I'm thinking either red or black leather cover for pickguard.

Or you could just buy this 60s lefty:
https://reverb.com/item/6135176-gibson- ... -made-ohsc