12 (Twelve) String Thunderbird

[Larry V]

Thanks man! But dude, this bass is you taking it to 11! Like I said, thanks for letting me be a small part of it. I'm grateful and this bass should be showcased in a magazine for all bassists to drool over.

 

[L. L. Elwood]

Great stuff!
I don't think I'd have put the pups so close together (maybe more of a RIC spacing), but it is your show after all!
I'm sure there was good reason to do it, just haven't gone back and read if it was posted or not.

I remember the first few pages were all mostly people telling you it couldn't and shouldn't be done, yet here it is!

Funny, I'm finding myself playing mostly with the bridge pickup right now. it has a nice bite to it. The pickups both full open are a bit scooped sounding..

I'll post sound clips soon... !

 

[L. L. Elwood]

Hey everybody,

Here's a quick demo of some different sounds from this awesome bass... Attached! (slight buzz in the recording - I think there was a florescent on in the house or something.. )

 

[Haji]

Wow.

 

[PortlandBass77]

Next up: A 16 string (4 octave) Telecaster bass build!

But seriously that is the king of all Tbirds, just pure gold!

 

[L. L. Elwood]

LOL.

 

[Nocturnal]

Such an amazing bass!! I really love how it turned out.

 

[bassbenj]

Wow.

Wow doesn't even BEGIN to say it! Just freakin' amazing!

 

[kcole4001]

Hey everybody,

Here's a quick demo of some different sounds from this awesome bass... Attached! (slight buzz in the recording - I think there was a florescent on in the house or something.. )

Great sound.

"Gonna raise hellllll....."

 

[Larry V]

I had no idea it was going to sound like that. Wow, pretty amazing! [emoji41]

 

[L. L. Elwood]

yeah... The sound is really like nothing else.

 

[12bass]

Hey everybody,

Here's a quick demo of some different sounds from this awesome bass... Attached! (slight buzz in the recording - I think there was a florescent on in the house or something.. )

Nice. Sounds like a light flange on there....

 

[L. L. Elwood]

Yep, a light flange from the garage band effects bank.

 

[mistergoats]

I wanted to post some more pictures of the Thunderbird with its new acrylic mirror pickguard. Larry, or talk bass user LJVSK, made this awesome pickguard for me. He does really great work.
View attachment 501004 View attachment 501006

That looks RAD.

 

[mistergoats]

Hey everybody,

Here's a quick demo of some different sounds from this awesome bass... Attached! (slight buzz in the recording - I think there was a florescent on in the house or something.. )

Cool!

 

[L. L. Elwood]

Looks great, Larry. Enjoy.
-Dirk

Dirk? THE Denver Bassist Dirk! Awesome! SO good to hear from you!

 

[old spice]

Same to you.
Rock on. Nice axe.

 

[kcole4001]

This had me thinking, it should be feasible to make an 8 string from a current production 4003.
The headstock should have enough room to accommodate the extra 4 tuners, but likely no the extra 8 to make a 12.
The neck is good and strong, should be able to take the strain.

I spent Sunday morning thinking an 8 or 12 would be ideal for use with our youth choir, since it's just the keyboard and me accompanying....there are cheap 8 strings available, I can't really afford another new 4003.
Like I need more GAS...

 

[L. L. Elwood]

Man, I thoroughly considered doing an 8 string Ric Laredo conversion before i went on this venture. The headstock is plenty big on those basses and the 4003... I know they actually made an 8 string version of the 4003 a while back, but they're really hard to find! Another bass that makes a really nice 8 string is the 80s Ibanez RB850.I believe the years that the headstock is large enough is '84, and '85. They're dirt cheap, decent quality and look really cool (which is of course the most important factor). I did a couple of those conversions.. Found two basses online at CG in the used area. Here's a link if you're so inclined! http://www.talkbass.com/threads/tale-of-two-roadstars-twin-ibanez-rb850-8-string-beauties.1065545/

Lastly, One other bass that I think would make a KILLER 8 String is the Gibson "Money" bass. I believe it's actually called a double cut away Les Paul, but the street name is the Money bass. The headstock is perfect, and with the body shape, you'd actually have an 8 string that highly resembles one of the first Hamer 12 string designs.. I still might give one of those a try...

 

[kcole4001]

Thanks, that's cool!
The Ibanez turned out really nice also!
Actual 4003s8 basses are pretty rare, and sell for too much to be really feasible for me, if you can even find one for sale.