NEW! Epiphone Classic-IV PRO Thunderbirds!!

[1stnamebassist]

3/16 isn't horrible at the 12th fret, but you shouldn't have to max out the screws on the bridge to get that. How is the neck bow? Too much bow and the action may be be a little high.

[TBird1958]

I can't stress it enough, those mounting ferrules are the weak link, they can be removed, Gibson and I think Tone Pro will fit.
My Epi "Fenderbird" post conversion, no lip arond the ferrule, nice low action even from an Allparts 3 point knock off.

[wvbass]

Originally Posted by TBird1958

I can't stress it enough, those mounting ferrules are the weak link, they can be removed, Gibson and I think Tone Pro will fit.
My Epi "Fenderbird" post conversion, no lip arond the ferrule, nice low action even from an Allparts 3 point knock off.

Thanks for the tip. I will file this away in the memory banks, as I am sure it will come in handy someday.

[DethByDoom]

I wasn't completely happy with the finish on mine… had a few barely noticeable flaws. I've seen worse on Gibson tbirds. But the white finished basses look more consistent and less flawed.

The setup from the Nashville inspection center was spot on. I'll do another one when I grab my usual strings. Action is low and free of buzz( I'm pretty heavy handed too).

[Peepaleep]

Originally Posted by 1stnamebassist

3/16 isn't horrible at the 12th fret, but you shouldn't have to max out the screws on the bridge to get that. How is the neck bow? Too much bow and the action may be be a little high.

The neck relief is set well. I gave it a set-up (as well as I could) a couple of days after arrival.

3/16 is high for me. I have a light-ish touch and I like to take advantage of it by keeping the action low.

Originally Posted by TBird1958

I can't stress it enough, those mounting ferrules are the weak link, they can be removed, Gibson and I think Tone Pro will fit.

Veronica - do they just unscrew or do the sides of the ferrules have little teeth that grab into the wood?

[TBird1958]

Joe I think they do have some short theeth, Mike Lull changed mine out, he made it sound like it was very easy to do. Also I've read countless time here that guys setting three points up incorrectly have gotten the ferrules to pull out unintentionaly with little effort - Still, I'd be careful.
As a side note, I must be pretty heavy handed - I think mine plays like a dream!

[wvbass]

I'm one of the "incorrect" guys TBird1958 is talking about. I have my three point screwed all the way down at the front and the treble side. It is raised just a bit on the bass side. This makes the front a little higher than the back, but was necessary to get the action where I wanted it.

The ferrules on mine didn't have much in the way of teeth. In fact, there was some paper on the ferrule, presumably to make it fit a little tighter in the hole.

I think TBird1958 must indeed be a little heavy handed, partially because he sets his basses up to be played with a pick. I saw a picture of the bridge of his and was surprised at how high it was raised.

Regardless of personal preference about setup though, mine is a very good player.

[TBird1958]

Lull does my set ups, honestly it's the best money I can spend on a bass, the guy really knows how to dial an instrument in perfectly. All my basses go to him, he's better at it than I'll ever be. I do take pretty good care of my basses and try to not let them suffer any severe temperature or humidity changes (living in Seattle helps) which means once this work is done it rarely needs more work. Mike's setups last a long time.
Personally, I do prefer a resonably low action, live, I play very hard with a pick and have broken new E's and A's many times ( I use DR, Smith and D'Addario .45-.105) reason enough to carry two or three basses to a show.
Around the house, upstairs where my practice room is, I do keep up on my fingerstyle, and have a light touch when learning new songs......It just stays there tho

[wvbass]

I sure wish I had Mike Lull in MY backyard! I am envious. I'm sure your basses are set up wonderfully, and I meant no offense. I simply meant we probably have different preferences. I suspect we do; while I sometimes like the sound of a pick hitting the strings hard, it generally isn't a sound I am going to make. Happy Thanksgiving!

[rocknroll777]

Wouldn't it be cool if they had an option with chrome pups and hardware? Black looks too awkward on T-birds......

[Peepaleep]

I shipped the T-Bird back to Sweetwater so they could work on it. I love the bass so I did not want to return or exchange it, so I hope they just drill the front hold a little deeper so I can set the string height set as I like it.

[Wild Steve]

Originally Posted by Peepaleep

My only issue with it is a design flaw in the bridge

Get a Hipshot Supertone, it's awesome beyond description.
Steve

[Peepaleep]

Thanks for the tip, Steve. I am not swapping out the bridge just yet - I want to find out what Sweetwater has to say. If they can mod it a bit so the strings get lower, I'll keep the 3-point bridge.

[Wild Steve]

Can't Gibson pop over to Indonesia and borrow some of Epiphone's white paint? Why the hell is there not a white and a black Gibson T'Bird?
Steve

[bassmachine2112]

Here,s another one
Can,t they get the bridge from the pro4 and use that instead.
I think my option is to get a good s/h pro4 and convert it to passive.
Black of course.
Good basses though tried one out last week and it feels the same as a pro4.
Pro4 sounds different with preamp set flat but you can get the same sound by dialing back the bass a little bit .

[Ferdasyn]

Just bought a white one, can't wait for it to arrive!

[Peepaleep]

Got my T-bird back from Sweetwater a couple of weeks ago and they did a great job on the mods. They didn't have to countersink the hole at all, but they did some other tweaks to lower the string height. Great service.

[wvbass]

Originally Posted by Peepaleep

Got my T-bird back from Sweetwater a couple of weeks ago and they did a great job on the mods. They didn't have to countersink the hole at all, but they did some other tweaks to lower the string height. Great service.

What "tweaks" did they do?

[Peepaleep]

They glued the bridge ferrules, touched up the nut grooves and made the neck a little straighter than I did when I set it up after it first arrived.

[wvbass]

Maybe the ferrules weren't fully seated and the neck was bowed, making the action a bit high?