• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Show Me Your Thunderbird Bass

#301
ShazzamDood said:
That looks really awesome man.
How is it that you put Pbass pick ups on it though?
I really want to do that too because i love how Tbirds look but i prefer the Pbass sound. I also want a Jazz pick up on it to get the P/J set up. You have any idea on how to do that?:)
Click to expand...
my favorite company has had p/j tbirds for many years when they were popular.
JacksonbirdBody.jpg

.
 
#302
ShazzamDood said:
That looks really awesome man.
How is it that you put Pbass pick ups on it though?
I really want to do that too because i love how Tbirds look but i prefer the Pbass sound. I also want a Jazz pick up on it to get the P/J set up. You have any idea on how to do that?:)
Click to expand...

Well since it was an Epi I had to fill the holes where the old pickups went and then I routed out the P pickup cavity so they'd fit. Then I had to refinish it.

As you can see there are a few other bits and pieces that I changed here and there as well.

All the details are in this thread: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=568991
 
#303
i got this bass in a trade ...i traded a hohner 5 stringer professional bass that had emg selects for this ...epiphone ....i bought the truss rod cover and the pickguard cover from some guy on ebay for like 50 bucks or so the laser cuts had a little flaws in it but never the less looks decent i think i like the look without the pickguard cover..
 

Attachments

  • photobucket thunderbird gibson truss rod cover best pict.jpg
    photobucket thunderbird gibson truss rod cover best pict.jpg
    40.8 KB · Views: 242
  • epiphone thunderbird with pickguard cover.jpg
    epiphone thunderbird with pickguard cover.jpg
    51.5 KB · Views: 434
#304
Richard G said:
i got this bass in a trade ...i traded a hohner 5 stringer professional bass that had emg selects for this ...epiphone ....i bought the truss rod cover and the pickguard cover from some guy on ebay for like 50 bucks or so the laser cuts had a little flaws in it but never the less looks decent i think i like the look without the pickguard cover..
Click to expand...

Interesting guitar stand you have there.....:D
 
#306
Hiya,

Overend had a few thunderbirds, it’s hard to say which one this is. Martin turner of wishbone ash also has an old overend TB, but a two pick up TB4. The only photos I can find of overend with a TB4 are a sunburst one (in the early 70’s, Before this he used to play telecaster basses) he seems to have had them all sprayed white at some Point. You can read about martin turner’s TB at: http://www.flyguitars.com/interviews/martinturner2.php

The lady I got the TB from around 1990, I recently found out to be shanne Bradley of the nipple erectors and the men the couldn’t hang, she was also a girlfriend of Johnny rotten. http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nippleerectorsshanneinterview.htm

The flight case the TB came in has British lions logo on it, that you can just see under some black paint, which has been put on to, blot them out.

If you go to thunderbird club page 9. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375286&page=9 you can read the story of how I came to own it. I did talk to a guy once that had been to overend’s flat when he still lived in London (around 1986) and he said that overend had a pink TB on the wall of his living room.

A few photos for you, overend British lions era with my TB (black insert on headstock) and shanne with the same bass.

I know I’m very lucky to own this bass, as he one of my top 10 bassists. Other than the paint falling off every time I play it, it’s in very good condition. A vintage guitar dealer once asked if I wanted it re-finished, as much as I’d love to see it looking new again, with all it’s history-it seems like the wrong thing to do.

It also has it’s own myspace: Link Removed

Thanks for listening.

Mrkev


mc2ny said:
Is this not one of the coolest TBird photos ever?

Overend Watts' (Mott The Hoople's bassist with the coolest stage name) old Tbird from the 60s-70s videos....and that's NOT a Gibson Custom Shop "relic" job :)

Link Removed
Click to expand...
 
#307
swood_de said:
Here are my 'Birds. From L to R

'64 T-Bird IV (rare cherry finish, maybe the only one)
'64 T-Bird IV (featured in Bass Player Mag's "Great Basses" column)
'64 T-Bird IV
'09 Mike Lull T-Bird
'67 T-Bird IV
'76 T-Bird IV
'78 T-Bird IV (a mystery. serial # is '78, but stamped prototype)
'87 T-Bird IV
Click to expand...

I sure do like your T-bird family portrait!!! :hyper:
 
#308
Richard G said:
i got this bass in a trade ...i traded a hohner 5 stringer professional bass that had emg selects for this ...epiphone ....i bought the truss rod cover and the pickguard cover from some guy on ebay for like 50 bucks or so the laser cuts had a little flaws in it but never the less looks decent i think i like the look without the pickguard cover..
Click to expand...

I just updated my Goth Bird with a the same pickguard and truss rod cover (probably from the same guy)...i need to mow my lawn and dust off my bass....

IMG_1311.jpg


IMG_1314.jpg
 
#309
the one i ordered came with flaws in it, like stab cuts from the router cutter on the pickguard cover and the logo on the truss rod cover, but u cant really notice too much....yours looks good, better then mine..i stuck with the gibson logo ...now i gotta find one of the g-string bridge parts, i dont really like the way the bridge dissasembles....but i like the way it looks ...im as yet to try the bass with the band through my swr sm900 or my gk400...when i put the screws on the truss rod cover 2 screws heads broke off in the neck ...so i just glued the back of the truss rod cover and glued the screw heads on the truss rod to make it look like its really screwed so far one screw only screwed in completely only...i kinda dig the spectorbirds.
 
#310
mine was not a perfect fit (had to finagle a few of the screw holes) and does have a few small blems, but I like it. It cost the same for the two custom pieces as it would have to have an acrylic mirror guard made for the bass.

He says his template was from a Korean T-Bird and mine is Chinese so apparently there is a bit of a difference.
 
#316
some guy on ebay has the steel truss rod cover and the pickguard cover guess he bootleg makes them......mine had bad blemished in the bird on the pickguard cover ...but im digging the way mine looks with just the trust rod cover and with out the pickguard cover for now......:bassist:
 
#317
For some reason, these pics came out really cool. I was playing around with my cheap film (yes) camera, and snapped these of my Gibson. The white/black of my bed with the back/white of the Bird looks really cool. And the contrast in shapes and forms with the ruffles in the comforter vs the wood and metal of the bass.... I like that.

FH010017b.jpg





And this one needs no explanation... Partners in crime:

FH020004b.jpg



I have 5 more rolls of film to develop and hopefully somewhere in there is some more cool Bird pics.
 
#320
Hey Linds!
It's kinda beat...........Not really Alpine White anymore. Kinda yellow snow.

The Nikki should be home from Mike Lull's this weekend, just waiting for some parts from the chrome plating guys.........

thunderbirds009.jpg


thunderbirds011.jpg
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back