Gibson teams up with Pantera's Rex Brown for new signature Thunderbird bass guitar

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.

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“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.

"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.” 

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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.