gibson thunderbird

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Frankie Poullain during the Darkness perform live at the Estragon club in Bologna for their "Blast Of Our Kind" tour 2016.

“My Gibson is still the coolest looking bass guitar ever!” Frankie Poullain remains a committed Thunderbird player – just don’t ask him about beer-throwing fans

By Nick Wells published

The Darkness bassist on reinventing what it means to be a rock star in 2023: "You can't behave in that stereotypical rock star way..."

Gary Rossington and Leon Wilkeson

One of the strangest guitar mods of all time? How Leon Wilkeson adapted his Gibson Thunderbird following the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in ‘77

By Nick Wells published

The ’63 T-Bird had a metal extension added after Wilkeson injured his left arm in the crash

1964 Gibson Thunderbird II bass

The story of Gibson’s Thunderbird – the tricky, difficult but brilliant design that modernized bass guitar

By Rod Brakes published

This Thumpin' Thursday, let’s go way back to trace the history of an iconic bass with a body shape that remains radical to this day

Battle for the bass: the story of Fender and Gibson's fight for low-end supremacy

By Rod Brakes published

Gibson’s Mat Koehler and Fender historian Terry Foster on how two industry titans went head-to-head in search of the ultimate electric bass