Greco Thunderbird, questions?

[MattZilla]

I thought Orville was exclusively student instruments after the 60s. Guess I have some reading to do.

are the Orville birds any good as players?

 

[MattZilla]

One thing about '76s, they used to get slagged a lot by purist types,

why?

 

[TBird1958]

I thought Orville was exclusively student instruments after the 60s. Guess I have some reading to do.

are the Orville birds any good as players?

Yes, it's Gibson Japan, very good quality, biggest difference is that they are set neck instead of multilam neck through, chrome covered Gibson US pickups.

why?

Because they were a "re-issue" but were different from the '60s, ones, especially the pickups. But the two point bridge went to the three point design and the body shape changed ever so slightly as well, the forward part of the upper bout is less "humped".
Anymore, '76-'79 seem to be going up in price, 3.5K and up.

 

[SteveAG]

Gibson wasn't making Thunderbirds in '75, production had stopped in '69. They reissued starting in '76 and continued until '79, these are casually referred to as '76s, the pickups are same through this span of time, but the pickgard changed slightly after about mid '77. The stylized '76 was removed and as production at Kalamazoo, MI picked up s/n's were stamped into the back of the headstock rather than decais.

Gibson headstock on the bottom, no s/n = a '76 refin. Orville on the top.

The tuner shaft orientation angle, relative to the headstock, is an interesting difference. Are those the original orientations on those two Birds?

 

[TBird1958]

Yes, that is how they supposed to be mounted, an easy spotting reference between the two, a stock Orville looks and feels a lot like a '76 Gibson. Pickups are another feature to look at '70s Gibson have three mounting screws, all others, older or newer use two screws.

 

[JIO]

I would say the mohagany construction, the big honken headstock on them, and way some of the "rockstar" owners throw them around have a big part in the problem.

-Joe P.

Also, the "thinness" contributes to the problem.

^^^
This

 

[JIO]

Zombie revival
How much does your single pickup Greco weigh? That’s awesome your’s doesn’t dive so badly!

I had an 80’s Orville that had the chunkier neck and it had the heaviest neck dive of any bass I’ve played. Do you know of a remedy for that? Looking at getting a Greco Thunderbird II… Thing is they are the coolest looking bass on the planet!

Easy fix - anchors it and pulls it against your body.

 

[JIO]

@TBird1958 what was special to ‘76 that wasn’t happening in ‘75 & ‘77?

...they weren't made those years.

 

[Gaolee]

Why do so many T-Birds suffer from the dreaded broken headstock?

I have a number of Thunderbirds. None have broken necks. I don't drop them, I guess. I also use an extra long strap and hang it so it sits pretty low. That lets the neck rotate up where I like it, and back down if I want it to for various reasons. My Thunderbirds are not vintage, unless you call a 1991 reissue vintage. I suppose it is these days for some people. The three Gibsons I have right now, the 1991, a 2001, and a 2015, are all well behaved and well balanced. They have smaller headstocks, as do all of the reissues. I'm very happy with them and currently the 1991 is the one I play pretty much all the time. The 2001 has some weird magic to it, though. Something went really right in the Gibson factory when it was built.