Gibson IV: All Thunder, No Bird // GIBSON A GO GO

The Gibson IV bass was made from 1986-1988, had a mahgony body and neck, an ebony fingerboard, 2 Thunderbird pickups, black chrome hardware, a 34" scale length and was available in pearl white, natural, ferrari red or heather poly. There was also a Gibson V 5-string bass with the same specs made from 1986-1988.
#GibsonAGoGo
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Most of the basses we use in our videos are also available at zZounds:
Fender Player Precision Bass:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Fender Player Jazz Bass:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Sterling by Music Man StingRay:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Jackson X Concert Bass CBXNT DX IV:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
ESP LTD Surveyor 87:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Gibson SG Standard:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Squier Bronco:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Spector Pulse II 4:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Spector Pulse II 5:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Spector Pulse II 6:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Gibson Non Reverse Thunderbird:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Gibson Rex Brown Thunderbird:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/it...
Many of those basses feature EMG pickups and/or preamps:
www.zzounds.com/a--3970972/pr...
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[@leonardosilva-xu2lu]

thunderbird tone without thunderbird size and neck dive? all that at little over half the price of 'bird? sounds like a steal

[@ampthebassplayer]

This bass fixes all of the problems I have with T-Birds. Love the headstock!

[@NamelessOne27]

I managed to find one of these at my local guitar store and I picked it up just because I’ve never seen it before and once I played it I was sold. It’s a very solid bass in my opinion especially being a Gibson without the neck dive. Glad to finally see a video on it.

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

the keys and bridge are made by schaller. very good hardware.

[@VHToff0li]

This model is so obscure that it's the first time I hearing about it. Why does Gibson hate bass players!?

[@michaelblaney4461]

They hate bass players because they make all their money off Corporate guys, Doctors and Lawyers off the endless versions of Les Paul guitars ( and they've forgotten how to make basses)😅

[@Facu_Roldan]

Yes! I've been waiting for this video for a while. It's a cool bass, I think gibson should reissue it.

[@benthompson9349]

Penn Jillette used to play one of these at the start of The Unpleasant World of Penn and Teller. I could never figure out what it was when I was a kid

[@cacadordorio]

Finally a gibson bass without neck dive

[@smop]

Cool! I don’t think I’ve seen this model before

[@Loki_FPV666]

I dig it!

[@liamtahaney713]

Super cool bass. I would buy an epiphone reissue in a heartbeat.

[@Adam_Aiman]

That headstock though🔥

[@carlton1390]

Looks a bit like an early G&L L2000 or Musicman Sabre to me

[@carlton1390]

G&L used mahogany and ebony early on too

[@Barry101er]

Looks like they could put it out now!

[@gabrieljustus7409]

I have the cream one from 1987. Still has stock pickups that sound great but I have the same neck warp problem. Mine is mostly on the lowest string from about fourth fret down. I put a lot of money into trying to mitigate it and had to give up. Love the look and sound, though.

[@alexskibicki2262]

That’s a nice looking and sounding bass. 😎🎸 it looks rare and I think Gibson should reissue this bass along with the grabber.

[@Victimesty]

Or try again and eventually make a good and successful bass.

[@rickrolli7091]

Speaking of Grabbers @alexskibicki2262. I'm curious what the tone difference is between the vintage 70's grabber is vs the 2012 Grabber. I noticed the pickups are more spaced out on the 2012. I would think it would give it a deeper tone range. But it would be interesting to have a tone shootout. What do you think Chris?

[@phipschi4255]

​@@Victimestythis will never happen for Gibson in this universe

[@alexskibicki2262]

Truthfully I’m not a big fan of the thunderbird design, but tone wise, it’s not too bad. But truthfully, I would choose the explorer bass over the thunderbird only because of the design. And yes the explorer bass does sound a little different compared to the thunderbird. But still I would choose the explorer simply because I like that design better. Other than that, that’s just me on design. Still the thunderbird’s tone is really not that bad at all. I did try the thunderbird bass for the record. Tone wise, it’s pretty good, It’s just that I’m more of an explorer fan design wise.

[@alexskibicki2262]

I’ve actually never tried out the grabber before, but I’ve heard how they sound and I do think they sound great. And I was surprised to learn that the grabber has a feature that you can pull the pickup to any place you want. And that to me is truly innovative. It’s a shame not other bass guitars has that feature.

[@greedygringoprospecting6941]

sounds good. should have use 3 concentric knob preamp. vol/vol bass/treb. mid/freq. !!

[@_Only_Zuul]

damn.. i want one.. 😍😍😍 headstock is a bit too pointy tho.. i'd trim the tip off with a saw, it would look nicer 🙂 i see more of an ibanez roadster vibe with this bass..

[@abouc]

Cool bass! It's nice to see Gibson decided to ditch tradition and equip this with a decent bridge. Given the neck & electronics issues, hopefully you didn't pay anywhere near Reverb's current going rate of $1,200 - $1,500 + shipping.

[@blitzguitarworks5398]

Hey guys, you ever heard of the Gibson Bass Book? Would be a great book for you. Btw, not affiliatad with it at all. I have one and it's the book on Gibson basses.

[@kevinsmith6237]

lol part of the vibe of the Tbird is the tone. While it may have the Humbucker style pups doesn’t sound like a Tbird or even close. Def got no Thunder.

[@Blakeadam52]

that mf playing hey jealousy out here!?

[@kevmac1230]

How about an Epiphone Embassy Pro? Unique styling , comfy bolt on neck and T-Bird pups.And it's $350.

[@michaelblaney4461]

My Embassy has a set neck and them same pickups as the Epiphone Thunderbird.

[@iamgribs]

Emg Dc is a good choice for this bass

[@TheBassChannel]

I thought so too. The TBJs weren’t quite cutting it.

[@iamgribs]

@@TheBassChannel I think when picking pickups, you need to consider what you are trying to correct. For example if you think a tbird sounds muddy or lacks cut, DC or PX are good choices because they are brighter and super clear. A darker, phatter pickup would be too much in a tbird, it could work in a brighter sounding bass, like a Jazz bass. I like EMG J but it doesn't hit hard enough. I am sure clarity was not an issue but if you want to retain that Thump then I'd look elsewhere. I am replacing one of them with EMG P for this reason.

[@jasondorsey7110]

"To compete with the p-bass"...by "p" do you mean peavey? It's more like a peavey than a fender

[@filipemoreira6581]

Kind looks like an Steinberger with head

[@viridian_calx]

"volume, volume, tone" - while pointing to a switch, one volume knob, and the output jack. i either misunderstand, or you are you reading from a script without looking at the actual instrument you have in hand.

[@TheBassChannel]

That is when Chris was talking about what the bass came with originally. That whole section, he said "before we get to the idiosyncracies of *this* particular one..."

[@viridian_calx]

@@TheBassChannel Thank you for the clarification. It seems I did misunderstand.

[@alfonspekala]

You sound like Joe Rogan haha

[@maliwilliams7262]

Both Fender, AND Gibson came out with Cool, NON-Jazz, NON-Thunderbirds a Few years ago, THEN stepped on their D'CKs and STOPPED Releasing them!! ARGGH!!

[@jasondorsey7110]

Fender dimension bass and gibson eb-13, I have both and something's telling me to hold on to them

[@davedixon2167]

While I agree, ya gotta admit it's gotta be a pretty big dick to be able to step on. LOL

[@rainbowslushy223]

12:36 is why bolt on necks are superior . if you can't adjust a bass well then its trash .

[@thegourmetchef30]

Hey, Jealousy….

[@AlexusDelphi]

Tone on an electric is in the speaker.

[@TSE_WOODY]

Absolutely brain dead reductive statement

[@devlintaylor9520]

For Guitars pretty much, but for bass its pickup type and position

[@armignac]

So every Bass will sound the same. Also every amp will sound the same through one speaker.. You have no clue about this mate.

[@CoolGuyAtlas]

​@@armignac Yeah speakers make a huge difference, but acting like all basses sound the same through the same speaker is equally as ignorant people who think speakers do nothing.

[@joeballs5669]

easy fix...pull frets , spot level board then re - fret....i do it all the time !