- Ships to:
- United States
This is a 2017 Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird bass that I completely redid. This was from the first year of production with the rosewood fretboard and chrome hardware. I swapped all the hardware I could to gold, installed brand new EMG J pickups and a LHZ Spector preamp to make it sound like a white & gold Spector NS-2 just in a Tbird form factor. And having owned a lot of Spectors it delivers on that 100%
As mentioned the pickups are a brand new set of EMG J active pickups. The bridge pickup is flipped upside down for better spacing when used with the neck. I had a 2009 Spector Euro with two humbuckers very similar to this and this same configuration worked great on that bass. I initially had a PJ set but the D string was not being sensed by the treble coil of the P pickup and I had to exchange it for a J.
The preamp is a LHZ 04 Spector Hazlabs preamp clone that I custom ordered with the stacked knobs, along with a new blend control, volume and output jack all from Lonnie's store. Shielded the cavity just because and everything fits barely in there.
Gold hardware I bought new and replaced:
-Gold Grover tuners, inserts wrapped with metal tape for a solid fit on each tuner
-Philadelphia luthier tools gold 1960s style Thunderbird bridge. I pulled the original inserts and widened the holes slightly to the imperial dimension- everything on this bass was metric.
-MIJ I believe Gotoh knobs
-New gold Schaller strap buttons and locks
-Gold screws throughout: pickup screws, truss rod cover, pickguard screws
-Was going to get a brass nut but this nut is large and a weird shape so I kept the original on for the time being
No real cosmetic issues I can find. I had gold pickup rings for this to cover those screws but the EMGs are slighly bigger than the stock pickups and you'd have to modify either of those parts for them to fit. There is some finish chipping around the bridge inserts from when I pulled them out. I was being very careful but some chipping was unavoidable. Truss rod works, the neck is actually in a backbow and the double action rod is inducing some relief into the neck.
Original Epiphone HSC is included, this is the best version of it too, not too big compared to a rectangular Tbird case.
All the original pickups and hardware is included. No I will not sell any of it separately. If you wanted to revert back the only thing you would need is a chrome bridge from Philadelphia Luther Tools as the metric inserts on the stock bridge are now too small without some major mods or gluing them in there.
This is a Spector in Tbird form, 100%. If you ever wanted that here you go. I have a real Gibson Tbird that I will die with and having two is redundant, should have realized before starting this project. I'm not pricing it to get my money back for the mods, just slightly more than what I paid for the bass itself.
Please message me with questions and thanks.
As mentioned the pickups are a brand new set of EMG J active pickups. The bridge pickup is flipped upside down for better spacing when used with the neck. I had a 2009 Spector Euro with two humbuckers very similar to this and this same configuration worked great on that bass. I initially had a PJ set but the D string was not being sensed by the treble coil of the P pickup and I had to exchange it for a J.
The preamp is a LHZ 04 Spector Hazlabs preamp clone that I custom ordered with the stacked knobs, along with a new blend control, volume and output jack all from Lonnie's store. Shielded the cavity just because and everything fits barely in there.
Gold hardware I bought new and replaced:
-Gold Grover tuners, inserts wrapped with metal tape for a solid fit on each tuner
-Philadelphia luthier tools gold 1960s style Thunderbird bridge. I pulled the original inserts and widened the holes slightly to the imperial dimension- everything on this bass was metric.
-MIJ I believe Gotoh knobs
-New gold Schaller strap buttons and locks
-Gold screws throughout: pickup screws, truss rod cover, pickguard screws
-Was going to get a brass nut but this nut is large and a weird shape so I kept the original on for the time being
No real cosmetic issues I can find. I had gold pickup rings for this to cover those screws but the EMGs are slighly bigger than the stock pickups and you'd have to modify either of those parts for them to fit. There is some finish chipping around the bridge inserts from when I pulled them out. I was being very careful but some chipping was unavoidable. Truss rod works, the neck is actually in a backbow and the double action rod is inducing some relief into the neck.
Original Epiphone HSC is included, this is the best version of it too, not too big compared to a rectangular Tbird case.
All the original pickups and hardware is included. No I will not sell any of it separately. If you wanted to revert back the only thing you would need is a chrome bridge from Philadelphia Luther Tools as the metric inserts on the stock bridge are now too small without some major mods or gluing them in there.
This is a Spector in Tbird form, 100%. If you ever wanted that here you go. I have a real Gibson Tbird that I will die with and having two is redundant, should have realized before starting this project. I'm not pricing it to get my money back for the mods, just slightly more than what I paid for the bass itself.
Please message me with questions and thanks.
