Let me tell you a little bit about my band. Not only are we the best cover band in the world, we’re also the best VALUE in cover bands. Our second set plows through 28 songs you love in 40 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly.

When playing a set like that, it goes without saying that one must have his effing head in the game. I’m singing, screaming, dancing, flailing, jumping, posing, and thinking 4 songs ahead all in addition to playing bass, so it’s important for me to have an instrument/rig I don’t have to think about too much. Shit's gotta WORK. My amp is loud as shit and reliable, I don’t use any pedals, and my #1 bass is as simple and utilitarian as they come – the original, the mighty, the Fender Precision Bass.

My P-Bass is super light, has one pickup, never goes out of tune, and is so damn ugly and beat up that I can (and do) thrash it around without any regard for it getting scratched, dented, dinged, broken, younameit - can't bust it. It's been the choice of, well almost everybody who ever picked up a bass. Ubiquitous, and therefore, not all that cool-looking anymore (it was total space-age in its heyday), but its the true workingman's foil.

How strange is it then that a bass like the Gibson Thunderbird has won my heart. It’s the antithesis of everything I require in a working instrument:

Too many pickups
So big it doesn’t fit into any normal gig bag
Notoriously delicate, with a particular predilection for losing its headstock
Ergonomically, the polar opposite to the "industry-standard" Fender P
Finicky, ineffective bridge
Looks COOL

I came upon this Japanese-made beauty at

30th Street Guitars. I had made a particularly poor, impulsive purchase there, and after begging for forgiveness a week later, they agreed to let me exchange it (BTW, 30th Street is my favorite Manhattan guitar store. They consistently have the coolest inventory, a great staff, and top-notch repair department).

I’ve owned many basses in my 13 years of playing – probably 50-60 – and basically one of everything. But never a T-Bird. So in spite of its well-documented shortcomings, I grabbed it. I mean, YOLO, right?

It sounds shallow, but when I’m buying an instrument, the look is the very first trait that must pass muster. I mean, not only do I have to look at the thing daily, but it’s gotta look cool! We’re putting on an intense rock n’ roll show out there, I’m dressing to the nines – why not have an instrument to match? The Thunderbird looks BAD-ASS. Check.

The sound? Well, that was an unexpected surprise! It sounds somewhat like my #1 Precision Bass, only…better. Slightly darker, warmer, fatter, rounder, however you wanna put it – whatever THUMP my Precision provides, the Thunderbird seems to provide more of. CHECK.

Okay, now the tough part – getting used to the odd feel and other shortcomings. How does one get used to something? 1: FORCE IT. 2: THROW MONEY AT IT.

So, I played it and played it and played

it and played it until it started to feel somewhat normal, and then I threw money at it. Lighter tuners for better balance. A better quality bridge for easier/better intonation adjustment. A gig bag that it actually fits in. And all this could be for naught! Maybe the sound wouldn’t work within my band, maybe I was too used to the familiar, friendly feel of a Fender, maybe looking like Nikki Sixx isn’t as cool as I think it is…

The band traveled up to Boston last weekend to play a couple of gigs, and not being sure what bass I wanted to bring as my backup, I decided to bring three – my #1 (Road Worn Precision), my #2 (Mark Jenny Precision), and the new Thunderbird, which of course I was still not quite used to. During soundcheck, I mostly messed with the T-Bird and it sounded pretty damn good, so I decided to go with it for the first set. I don’t feel like I play quite as naturally on it, but I had a blast with it, and it sure sounded good.

For set #2 – our most demanding dance set - I figured I’d better go with my #1. And much to my utter dismay, it didn’t sound even half as good as the ‘Bird. All of a sudden, even with dead-as-a-doornail flatwound strings (for maximum thump & low-end) on the Precision, my tone was suddenly lacking in balls and was more snarly (in a bad way) then it was last set, with the T-Bird. I went back to the ‘Bird for set #3.

The second night, I went with my Mark Jenny P for the 2nd set and stuck with the ‘Bird for the rest. The MJT sounded far worse than even the Road Worn had the night before. Furthermore, I was now putting in major time with the T-Bird, and – gasp – was starting to not only get used to the odd feel, but kinda digging it too.

Well, this is not the kind of bass revelation I have very often, nor do I take them lightly.

I won’t – I can’t – stop bringing my #1 bass to gigs, but it suddenly has some very stiff competition from a very unlikely source.

Notes:

Photos were taken prior to new bridge installation; what you're seeing is the stock Gibson 3-point bridge.
I occasionally refer to this bass as a Gibson, and the name on the headstock seems to confirm this, but this is actually an Orville, which was Gibson's line of instruments for the Japanese market from 1988-1998. These instruments are renowned for their fantastic quality and craftsmanship, often eclipsing that of even their USA ("real" Gibson) counterparts. This fine bass is no exception.