Thunderbird Club Pt.7

[Seydlitz]

LAst week I went on a rant about getting a Gibson NR Thunderbird. Well here is the rest of the saga. 20 minutes after I had my little bitch and wine, I was serching for Canadain online stores with out much hope. If anything I'm persistance. I have have been serching for a few weeks then I site I never seen before, and there it was. I made a call and they have one and they would sell it to me. Fantastic. Best part it is a US Store and It is on its way. Yeah for me.

 

[pedrodelawasp]

Here is V2.0 of my Pedrobird design.

I've broadened the bass and moved the waist a little towards the neck as I feel this will make it a little more comfortable to play when seated. There is also a little more upper-fret access.

You can see the outline for my planned control cavity route - it is oversized to allow for experimentation in the future, as well as to make drilling the channels for the wiring easy.

Let me know what you think!

Invalid Link Removed

 

[J Gold]

Extend that lower horn a little, and give it a slight hook like the top of the body has..

 

[Grissle]

Not bad. Neck dive will be your biggest challenge though. So keep that in mind while designing.

 

[portaflexer]

Here is V2.0 of my Pedrobird design.
Let me know what you think!

Awesome! Cool design. Love it.

I do like HypersoulRocks' idea of incorporating the "hook" into the lower horn though. What if you did something like this (I'm a terrible artist, so please excuse my sketching)? Move the cutaway inward a bit and then throw a hook on the tip. I would definitely rock that design on stage.

 

[Liam McMonigle]

Member #376 here seeking advice

On the right is my Epi Blackbird, but here's the thing,
I wanna put some passive EMG pickups in but I don't want to add any tone or volume, I love the clean look, so is it possible I could get them hooked up straight to the Killswitch or would I have to add any tone/vol controls? Thanks!!

 

[Dadagoboi]

View attachment 391605

Member #376 here seeking advice

On the right is my Epi Blackbird, but here's the thing,
I wanna put some passive EMG pickups in but I don't want to add any tone or volume, I love the clean look, so is it possible I could get them hooked up straight to the Killswitch or would I have to add any tone/vol controls? Thanks!!

No problem straight to the killswitch. V/T not needed.

 

[Liam McMonigle]

No problem straight to the killswitch. V/T not needed.

Thanks very much!! Just need to get the cash to do so

 

[LAST_C]

I have a Gibson Blackbird and also wanted to get better sounding, noiseless pickups. I bought Seymour Duncan Basslines and just wired all straight to the killswitch. It worked perfectly fine.

 

[Liam McMonigle]

I have a Gibson Blackbird and also wanted to get better sounding, noiseless pickups. I bought Seymour Duncan Basslines and just wired all straight to the killswitch. It worked perfectly fine.

Thank you! Would love to see pictures of that gibby

 

[pedrodelawasp]

Extend that lower horn a little, and give it a slight hook like the top of the body has..

Not bad. Neck dive will be your biggest challenge though. So keep that in mind while designing.

Awesome! Cool design. Love it.

I do like HypersoulRocks' idea of incorporating the "hook" into the lower horn though. What if you did something like this (I'm a terrible artist, so please excuse my sketching)? Move the cutaway inward a bit and then throw a hook on the tip. I would definitely rock that design on stage.

Thanks all for the input.

I will try adding a bit of a hook to the lower horn - I expect it will start to resemble an Ibanez Iceman, but not quite as pointy!

Re: neck dive. I think I'll be okay. The neck is set fairly far in to the body like a P-bass, so there is not so much distance from body to nut as with a traditional 'bird. I don't actually have much of a problem with neck dive on my Tokai since moving the strap button to the heel and popping on a thick strap

 

[amimbari]

I still wanna know who owns this one?

.

 

[ThaCoast]

Are there any pickup manufacturers that have a replacement pickup for 1976-1979 thunderbirds? I'm looking to build a replica of my dad's first ever thunderbird back when he had it in 1981. It was a 1977-78 thunderbird he had repainted all white, including the headstock. The only original pickup was the bridge as the neck pickup was a cream colored eb-o style. So far, i do like thunderbucker's max pickups, they sound great. But any other info on other pickups would be cool too.

 

[Dadagoboi]

Are there any pickup manufacturers that have a replacement pickup for 1976-1979 thunderbirds? I'm looking to build a replica of my dad's first ever thunderbird back when he had it in 1981. It was a 1977-78 thunderbird he had repainted all white, including the headstock. The only original pickup was the bridge as the neck pickup was a cream colored eb-o style. So far, i do like thunderbucker's max pickups, they sound great. But any other info on other pickups would be cool too.

I own a '77 Thunderbird and consulted on the design of the ThunderBucker Max. The 76-79 pickups are a unique 'sidewinder' design. No one makes a replica. Soundwise, they are less powerful than 60s Tbirds and were wired in series. They have more of a single coil sound. When Steve and I did the original ThunderBucker pickup design we also analyzed a 77 pickup.

A closer match to a 77-79 bridge pickup is a ThunderBucker 63 neck. Steve can do a custom wind to get even closer.

 

[hillerup]

Are there any pickup manufacturers that have a replacement pickup for 1976-1979 thunderbirds? I'm looking to build a replica of my dad's first ever thunderbird back when he had it in 1981. It was a 1977-78 thunderbird he had repainted all white, including the headstock. The only original pickup was the bridge as the neck pickup was a cream colored eb-o style. So far, i do like thunderbucker's max pickups, they sound great. But any other info on other pickups would be cool too.

A T-bird with a EB-0 style mudbucker?

That's different... Do you have any pictures of your dad's old bird?

 

[ptleftybass]

Jamming on a left handed T-Bird just like mine at the Gibson factory in Memphis my band was down there for the International Blues Challenge got to play in the Hard Rock and BB Kings great time T-birds are not made in Memphis but were definitely represented in the Gibson store there!

 

[germanson13]

Hi people, this is Germanson reporting my epiphone thunderbird IV!!! I want my number in the club

to be honest, I have created this account after checking amazing pictures of your bass guitars!!!

My first bass was a Ibanez because I love that sound, but the gibson thunderbird is one of my fav bass guitars ever (here in Argentina is almost impossible to buy a gibson(expensive as hell), so I was looking in our local "ebay" for months and I was able to buy one epi in a veeeery good price (half of the normal price) because the bridge is not completed, you will see it in the picture.

now I´m looking for alternatives, again, here in my country the goverment has decided to block all the boxes from outside and it is not helping me in my plan to replace it with the original one, so I´m thinking to replace it with a similar bridge as the epi thunderbir V. my idea is replacing the 3 point bridge is to improve the sustain on it also.

Well, this is my story, if you can help me, that will be awesome.

I´m sorry because any typo or not "well written words"

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[TBird1958]

Hi people, this is Germanson reporting my epiphone thunderbird IV!!! I want my number in the club

to be honest, I have created this account after checking amazing pictures of your bass guitars!!!

My first bass was a Ibanez because I love that sound, but the gibson thunderbird is one of my fav bass guitars ever (here in Argentina is almost impossible to buy a gibson(expensive as hell), so I was looking in our local "ebay" for months and I was able to buy one epi in a veeeery good price (half of the normal price) because the bridge is not completed, you will see it in the picture.

now I´m looking for alternatives, again, here in my country the goverment has decided to block all the boxes from outside and it is not helping me in my plan to replace it with the original one, so I´m thinking to replace it with a similar bridge as the epi thunderbir V. my idea is replacing the 3 point bridge is to improve the sustain on it also.

Well, this is my story, if you can help me, that will be awesome.

I´m sorry because any typo or not "well written words"

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Great story!
A warm welcome to you from all of us Thunderbird folk!
You're club # is 428
We're here to help if we can, do you need some bridge parts fro your Epi?



TBird1958 #1
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__________________

 

[germanson13]

ey! many thanks for your reply!!!

this is what I´m looking for:

Link Removed

but anyway, I´m thinking in the idea to replace the entire bridge to gain more sustain, do you think that this idea will help in the sound?

I saw one bass that was modified with a metal base and over that base a new bridge was added, what do you think about that?

I saw your collection, it is just AMAZING!!!!

cheers!

 

[ptleftybass]

ey! many thanks for your reply!!!



this is what I´m looking for:



Link Removed



but anyway, I´m thinking in the idea to replace the entire bridge to gain more sustain, do you think that this idea will help in the sound?



I saw one bass that was modified with a metal base and over that base a new bridge was added, what do you think about that?



I saw your collection, it is just AMAZING!!!!



cheers!

Breathe new life into your Gibson bass with the new completely redesigned Hipshot SuperTone Bass Bridge. A direct replacement unit for your Gibson 3 point bass bridge that uses your existing hole pattern. Machined out of solid aircraft quantity aluminum, the Hipshot SuperTone features complete adjustability that is easy to use: precise intonation, independent string height,string thru or top load option, and even side- to- side string spacing adjustment. Most important of all, TONE, PUNCH and SUSTAIN that will knock your socks off! Unleash the tone that is trapped in your bass with the new Hipshot Supertone Bass Bridge! *To achieve maximum tonal transference, the SuperTone is solidly fastened to your instrument. A very slight shadow of the bridge footprint may result. The gold bridge is delivered with all black hardware.

I have one of these Hipshot bridges on my T-bird and SG Basses. I feel they hold intonation better I really didn't notice the sustain difference. Good Luck and Welcome!