Gibson teams up with Pantera's Rex Brown for new signature Thunderbird bass guitar
The metal bass titan's new signature four-string sports luxurious gold hardware, two "Rexbucker" Thunderbird pickups and a master tone knob with push/pull active/passive switching
Pantera and Down legend Rex Brown has joined forces with Gibson to create a new signature Thunderbird bass guitar.
The metal bass titan's first collaboration with Gibson, the Rex Brown Thunderbird was reportedly two-and-a-half years in the making, and features a mahogany body and mahogany neck with a slimmer-than-usual profile and a 34", 12" radius rosewood fretboard with 20 Medium Jumbo frets.
From there, though, things get a tad more interesting.
Sounds on the four-string, for instance, come by way of a pair of "Rexbucker" Thunderbird pickups, controlled by two volume knobs, and a master tone knob that's outfitted with push/pull active/passive switching.
Hardware, meanwhile, is all-gold (an elegant touch against the bass's ebony finish), and includes a Hipshot bass bridge, Graph Tech nut, and Hipshot Mini-Clover tuners with a metal-friendly Drop D Xtender.
The four-string packs plenty of other one-of-a-kind appointments, too, with Brown's signature adorning the bass's truss rod cover, a self-portrait sketch of Brown on the backplate, and 'R.B.'-stamped pickup covers.
“Before meeting up in Nashville for a tour of Gibson USA, I got to meet the whole team at Gibson,” Brown said in a press release. “Cesar Gueikian (Gibson's Brand President), and I forged a strong bond that day, that I can only describe as ‘long lost brothers.' He invited me to his home that night and we played music into the wee hours.
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"Gibson has come so far, in such a short amount of time," he continued, "and I’m beyond delighted to be in cahoots with this extraordinary bunch of music professionals. This new Thunderbird with Gibson is a life-long dream.”
The Gibson Rex Brown signature Thunderbird is available now – with a Modern Series hardshell case included – for $2,799.
Brown is the second hard-rock A-lister to be honored with a signature Thunderbird bass this year, following the unveiling of the Gibson Gene Simmons G² Thunderbird back in April.
For more info on the bass, visit Gibson.
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Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.