NR T-bird make-over

[JIO]

Up next - a commissioned makeover of a Bach set-neck NR T-Bird. Adding a belly bevel, cutting a pg, and swapping the stock pu with a '70s Gibson sidewinder Thunderbird pu along with a re-fin. The goal is to approximate a '68 Gibson NR T-Bird. It will be refinished in aged Olympic white by Pat Wilkins, and I'll cut a wht/blk/wht pg for it.

Something along these lines. This a '66 NR with a white re-fin I found on the net. I will also cut a finger-rest for it using my '64 fr as a template.

Pat shot this aged Oly White hs face for me years ago to approximate how a vintage hs face amber'd due to Fender spraying lacquer over the decal, creating a slightly warmer hue than a new coat of Oly Wht for a more vintage look.

All parts stripped to start with - mahogany body/neck weighs in at 6lbs.3oz.

No belly-bevel on the back of the Bach - (Bach's back? Get Bach?)

Headstock face stays - not trying to pass it off as a Gibson -

First up - cut the body bevel - edges marked and sawed edge-to edge.

After the edge-to-edge cuts, material is chiseled away and rasped/filed -

I did a few cuts at a time before removing material -

A couple cuts went a bit deep - patched and sealed after sculpting with the rasp/files/samdpaper -

Once sculpted, filler to fill grain/keep the surface smooth -

Raw wood sealed with satin poly, and the gloss factory finish dulled -

I filled the set-neck gap and redundant pg screw-holes which won't be seen (under the pg) but might as well eliminate surface imperfections while I'm at it.

Removed the finish on the back of the hs to get it a bit thinner to align with a '68 NR hs thickness -

 

[Engle]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing this one come together!

 

[JIO]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing this one come together!

Thanks Irv - I found some authentic NR pg's on eBay that I'm hoping will work. They are the exact shape of a late '60s NR pg with screw-holes in the same places as an original, and the come in white and/or parchment. By the time I buy the pg stock and cut/rout one out - I would have to charge the same amount. It also comes with the T-bird sticker. I wrote to the seller asking for the top/neck heal to pu rout measurement and if it's close enough I'll order both (to place on the aged Oly Wht body) and return the one that I don't use.

3 Ply White Pickguard for 1965-1969 Gibson Non Reverse Thunderbird + Decal USA | eBay

3 Ply Parchment Pickguard for 1965-1969 Gibson Non Reverse Thunderbird + Decal | eBay

 

[davelowell2]

I bought a black/white/black from that seller, no pickup hole. Turned out great, good transaction.

 

[dagrev]

Thanks Irv - I found some authentic NR pg's on eBay that I'm hoping will work. They are the exact shape of a late '60s NR pg with screw-holes in the same places as an original, and the come in white and/or parchment. By the time I buy the pg stock and cut/rout one out - I would have to charge the same amount. It also comes with the T-bird sticker. I wrote to the seller asking for the top/neck heal to pu rout measurement and if it's close enough I'll order both (to place on the aged Oly Wht body) and return the one that I don't use.

3 Ply White Pickguard for 1965-1969 Gibson Non Reverse Thunderbird + Decal USA | eBay

3 Ply Parchment Pickguard for 1965-1969 Gibson Non Reverse Thunderbird + Decal | eBay

View attachment 5163211 View attachment 5163217

That's great on the correct PG. Interested in seeing which looks best. I would think the parchment, but the white might be a better contrast, good or bad.

 

[JIO]

That's great on the correct PG. Interested in seeing which looks best. I would think the parchment, but the white might be a better contrast, good or bad.

Yah, I've used parchment in the past and really like it. It'll all depend on how it looks on the Oly Wht. Oh, and I'm replacing the black knobs with gold ones. I've seen them with both (the '66 example above has black), but gold knobs are always classy. We'll see which looks best. Black may look better with the black hs face.

 

[JIO]

I bought a black/white/black from that seller, no pickup hole. Turned out great, good transaction.

That's good to know - I can rout my own pu cavity that way.

 

[dagrev]

Yah, I've used parchment in the past and really like it. It'll all depend on how it looks on the Oly Wht. Oh, and I'm replacing the black knobs with gold ones. I've seen them with both (the '66 example above has black), but gold knobs are always classy. We'll see which looks best. Black may look better with the black hs face.

Yes. The gold knobs will look much better I would think. I would have thought gold would have been original.

Also, thought it funny the tug bar in the example is upside down! Not that you would do that.

 

[JIO]

Yes. The gold knobs will look much better I would think. I would have thought gold would have been original.

Also, thought it funny the tug bar in the example is upside down! Not that you would do that.

Hah! Good eye! I didn't look that close! Ok, so the pu seller replied and the original late '60s pu position is 5/16" lower than the Bach. (Bach=2-15/16" / Gibson=3-1/4") So I sent another message asking if I could buy one w/o the pu rout. If so, I'll order one of each as long as he'll let me return one. Or... I can rout the body for the Gibson pu position and the plug will be unseen under the pg.

 

[SubHuman]

You rock some nice basses! Sweet project. Looking forward to seeing the final product!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

...Also, thought it funny the tug bar in the example is upside down! Not that you would do that.

That was almost the first thing I noticed!

 

[JIO]

That was almost the first thing I noticed!

Like having your shoes on the wrong foot!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Like having your shoes on the wrong foot!

also notice the jack and tone control have been swapped….

 

[JIO]

also notice the jack and tone control have been swapped….

so noted...

 

[JIO]

Finally nailed the baselines for this classic Mason Williams pop instrumental from 1968 - tricky in its simplicity - once my band The Sean Conneries breaks in our new drummer, it will be the first song to learn. Such a cool song.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Finally nailed the baselines for this classic Mason Williams pop instrumental from 1968 - tricky in its simplicity - once my band The Sean Conneries breaks in our new drummer, it will be the first song to learn. Such a cool song.

I spent a lot of time and energy not getting that song down on guitar. I toyed with it on bass a few years ago. I need to revisit.

 

[JIO]

I spent a lot of time and energy not getting that song down on guitar. I toyed with it on bass a few years ago. I need to revisit.

It's a very cool song - the bass-line alluded me because I thought it sounded more complex. It's actually very intuitive - which is why it is such a good composition. Once I got it - I can play it in my sleep! When I first approached it there was a bass-tutorial on YouTube of a guy playing it which has since been removed. It helped seeing his fingers moving on the fretboard, but listening is more important using the YouTube vid I posted.

 

[Dynacord]

Nice project!

On the pickguards, it might be worth checking with Scott Dasson @godofthunder59 as he had some with the bird embossed IIRC.

View attachment 5162769
Pat shot this aged Oly White hs face for me years ago to approximate how a vintage hs face amber'd due to Fender spraying lacquer over the decal, creating a slightly warmer hue than a new coat of Oly Wht for a more vintage look.

One detail, Fender didn't overspray the decals yet in '66. The headstocks did have clear nitro which did yellow but the decals went over them. Didn't start seeing oversprayed decals until after Fender went to poly starting roughly '68 (and would still do nitro on the headstock face for better compatibility with the decals).

 

[Fender_Bender]

I do belly cuts exactly the same way, with sawing and chiseling.

 

[JIO]

I do belly cuts exactly the same way, with sawing and chiseling.

I recall watching a Fender or G&L factory tour vid where they had a curved & angled jig set up on a big industrial band saw and they just sent the body through slicing the belly bevel in one shot.