Epiphone Thunderbird Action?

[balton4]

Hey there.
So... I am im a bit of a pickle. I bought an Epiphone Thunderbird 4 string last year. Around march if i remember correctly. Anyways, the action is horribly high. Im only now getting around to it, as i was a fairly new bassist back then, so i had no clue about all of this "action" buisness.

Here i am now, though. So, i took it to my local music go round. I asked for a truss rod adjustment, and for the action to be lowered. They told me to pick it up the next day.

Well, they did not do a thing to the bass. The neck was still bowed as ever, action still horrible.

What is the best plan of action, taking it to a Schmidtt Music and pay about 20 bucks plus price of strings (im currently broke ) or could i do it myself? If myself, how do i do this?

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

IME, Epi T-bird has to have its string tension lowered a bit before taking that 1/8 - 1/4 of a turn tighter. Failing to do so may yield some results later on, but if You want it to respond quicker, just loosen the strings a bit, 1-2 full notes, and retune after turning the wrench.

Play/wait for a day or so, and repeat if necessary.

IME only again, any neck adjustments, especially with compressing TR's, require at least a day to be evaluated so one day turnover is a pipe-dream.

As for the string height, Aquateen has posted a great tutorial how to adjust the dreaded 3-point.

I do it a bit differently, but loosening the strings is again necessary.
Just keep the bottom plate level and You're halfway there.
If You're worried about the stud inserts pulling out, you can raise the front post slightly.

Regards
Sam

 

[balton4]

Hi.

IME, Epi T-bird has to have its string tension lowered a bit before taking that 1/8 - 1/4 of a turn tighter. Failing to do so may yield some results later on, but if You want it to respond quicker, just loosen the strings a bit, 1-2 full notes, and retune after turning the wrench.

Play/wait for a day or so, and repeat if necessary.

IME only again, any neck adjustments, especially with compressing TR's, require at least a day to be evaluated so one day turnover is a pipe-dream.

As for the string height, Aquateen has posted a great tutorial how to adjust the dreaded 3-point.

I do it a bit differently, but loosening the strings is again necessary.
Just keep the bottom plate level and You're halfway there.
If You're worried about the stud inserts pulling out, you can raise the front post slightly.

Regards
Sam

Wait, which direction should i turn the truss rod? I still havent done anything, but i want to make sure i do it all right. De-tune the strings (i was already going to do that if i had to adjust, its kind of a given), then turn the truss rod, wait a day, repeat as nessicary.

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

99.9% of the time it's righty-tighty & lefty-loosey, just like any regular thread in everyday appliances.

Your Epi falls into that category as well.

The direction is viewed from the nut (or bolt in rare cases) that You turn, IOW from the headstock in your case.

So, right/clockwise means less bow=straighter neck.

It's a good practice to first loosen the TR nut before doing any adjustments on a compressing TR, and if the nut feels harder than necessary to turn, taking the nut off completely and lubing the THREADS ONLY, is a good precaution for future seizing problems.
If the nut is being teken off, the strings have to be loosened completely. Obviously.

Regards
Sam

 

[Jaime Poole]

I just got one on trade, limited edition in ebony and the bridge is as low as it can go and it’s still a bit too high for my tastes. I’m thinking maybe a shim or a new bridge? Kinda wonder if I could change to a badassIII and do completely away with the 3 point? I understand someone has a good video adjusting them?

 

[Drredplate]

I just got one on trade, limited edition in ebony and the bridge is as low as it can go and it’s still a bit too high for my tastes. I’m thinking maybe a shim or a new bridge? Kinda wonder if I could change to a badassIII and do completely away with the 3 point? I understand someone has a good video adjusting them?

Fitting a badass bridge or a fender hi mass bridge will have the benefit of adding some weight where you need it to combat neck dive.
You will possibly need to drill with a feeler bit to get the ground wire up to the bridge.
If I remember correctly on an epi the ground wire comes in where the post fixing goes into the body. You will need to offer up the new bridge to check this and also see if any filling required.

 

[stlrocker]

If you have the Epiphone limited edition I'm thinking of, those are bolt on necks, correct?

I would shim the neck. one or two layers cut from a business card should tilt the neck back, lowering the strings. Much easier and more reversible if it needs to be.

Also I would make sure the neck has proper relief through truss rod adjustment before shimming.

If your shimming and neck relief are right, three points aren't really that hard to set up, just different. I try to shim it so that the strings are a little lower than I need, then raise the bridge to get proper string height. That leaves some adjustment both up and down in the future without messing with the shims again.

 

[Jaime Poole]

Fitting a badass bridge or a fender hi mass bridge will have the benefit of adding some weight where you need it to combat neck dive.
You will possibly need to drill with a feeler bit to get the ground wire up to the bridge.
If I remember correctly on an epi the ground wire comes in where the post fixing goes into the body. You will need to offer up the new bridge to check this and also see if any filling required.

It is a bolt on and the neck is thicker than the standard IV. Even more than my 60’s reissue set neck. It almost seems like it would benefit from a high mass bridge. I could put on my T-40 bridge I have an extra one lying around that would counteract neck dive lol! I plan on checking with a straightedge to see, certainly would be easier to get individual string height adjusted. Thanks for the info on the ground wire!

 

[Jaime Poole]

Fitting a badass bridge or a fender hi mass bridge will have the benefit of adding some weight where you need it to combat neck dive.
You will possibly need to drill with a feeler bit to get the ground wire up to the bridge.
If I remember correctly on an epi the ground wire comes in where the post fixing goes into the body. You will need to offer up the new bridge to check this and also see if any filling required.

 

[Jaime Poole]

It is a bolt on and the neck is thicker than the standard IV. Even more than my 60’s reissue set neck. It almost seems like it would benefit from a high mass bridge. I could put on my T-40 bridge I have an extra one lying around that would counteract neck dive lol! I plan on checking with a straightedge to see, certainly would be easier to get individual string height adjusted. Thanks for the info on the ground wire!