Gibson Guitar and Bass catalog, 1964. Page 13. This catalog was the first to show the Firebird series guitars (see page 9 and page 10) and the companion Thunderbird bass guitars. These were the first long scale basses produced by Gibson; 34 inch like the Fender Precision and Jazz models, yet with through neck construction like a Rickenbacker 4001. Despite these great design features, sales were quite disappointing for Gibson, and these basses were soon revamped to the 'non reverse' design shown in the 1966 catalog, before being deleted at the end of the decade. From 1987 the Thunderbird bass was relaunched and has been a mainstay of Gibson's line ever since.
There were two models; the Thunderbird II had one humbucking pickup with volume and tone control, the Thunderbird IV had two pickups. otherwise these basses were identical.
USA zone 1 prices for the Thunderbird bass in 1964 were: Thunderbird II $290, Thunderbird IV $370.
$13495
$2200
$2250
$400
$2499
$1665
$1665
£1400
£7900
£2336
£3185
€12500
€3333
£1090
£2850
£80