Gibson Firebird or Ibanez Iceman?

[95thfoot]

Originally posted by LanEvo Thunderbird:

 

Where do you think Nikki Sixx got the idea for playing a T-Bird?

 

From this guy, Overend Watts of Mott the Hoople.

 

 

[82Daion]

I'd go T-Bird.

[L-1329]

The perfect answer to this question, is of course Warmoth!

 

Seriously though, you could assemble the most kick-ass T-bird or Iceman, have unbeatable workmanship and finish quality, any combination of woods, pickups, electronics and hardware, and completely blow anything that Gibson or Ibanez makes out of the water. And forget about any neck dive. If my Explorer can balance great with it's 5 string steel reinforced neck, either of these shapes will hang without an ounce of neck dive. Why settle for crappy build quality? Make something special!

[95thfoot]

Originally posted by L-1329 The perfect answer to this question, is of course Warmoth! Seriously though, you could assemble the most kick-ass T-bird or Iceman, have unbeatable workmanship and finish quality, any combination of woods, pickups, electronics and hardware, and completely blow anything that Gibson or Ibanez makes out of the water. And forget about any neck dive. If my Explorer can balance great with it's 5 string steel reinforced neck, either of these shapes will hang without an ounce of neck dive. Why settle for crappy build quality? Make something special!

 

You make some very cogent points.

 

On the Bicentennial T-Bird I had, the blue and red paint on the Bicentennial eagle logo was a little off-register, the fretboard/body joint had glue beads coming out, and the nut was misaligned up top. the mahogany body's grain was off, definitely not book-matched, despite the large $$ those sold for, and still do....

 

The only changes I ever did were to reset/reglue the bone nut and remove the dorkola pickup covers. And, reset the top strap button to behind the neck/body. Other than that the bass, played and sounded great. A very midrangy sound that cut through, but not as full bodied as a good P-Bass.

 

Why did I buy it like this? I was 19 at the time and didn't know any better. It was also a "quality" top-name brand (Gibson) and let's face it- Fender wasn't much better in the 1970s- CBS instruments, esp. basses, were considered overpriced junk in 1977. Quality control for USA basses back then was terrible. I saw better quality coming from Yamaha and a new company, Ibanez.

 

I see a lot of Warmoth basses, but have never played one. They look mighty interesting, but Tom Clement at www.clementbass.com will also build pretty much anything you want, much like Warmoths. I wonder if he's do a really good T-Bird?

 

I like custom made basses, and you're putting some interesting ideas in my head.....

[Thumper]

 

Originally posted by gnurph But, back to my question... is the Fire- I mean THUNDERbird all that neck heavy, as some say?

 

 

Yep---they're pretty neck-heavy, but not to the point of unplayability. I played Fenders for years before I got a T-bird. It took some getting used to, but it's worth the extra time in the woodshed.

 

I'd pick a Gibson over the Epi models, tho' the new Elitist T-bird has some fans. If you can score a '70s lawsuit 'bird, ala Greco, Ibanez, etc, DO IT. They're great basses.

 

As for the Iceman, I've never played one, but they look nice and sound good. I've heard the '90s Icemen are much better than the current lot.

 

My two cents: play as many 'birds and 'men as you can get yer mitts on, and buy one you like best (within your budget).