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Thunderbird Club

#201,103
KaraQ said:
Vintage Pro; aka 60s Thunderbird:

View attachment 4631450


Classic Pro, out of production, most similar to current Gibson Thunderbirds:
(normally has black hardware & pickups)

View attachment 4631458


Thunderbird Pro; this one's a five string, also made as a 4-string. Active electronics, which is why it has four controls; also out of production:

View attachment 4631461


All of the above are neck-through. The only bolt-on model, the Classic IV:

View attachment 4631462




There are some special editions of the Classic IV that have been made in the past, like the Blackbird:

View attachment 4631463







Hope that maybe helps a bit?


:)
Click to expand...
This is incredible. Exactly what I'm seeking. Many thanks and if I get one, you get 50% of the blame.

Miles_ONeal said:
  1. Classic Pro: three knobs (VVT), jack on side, three point bridge, belly cuts, neck through, 1.5" nut, small Y tuners, jack on end. Modern Thunderbird sound, somewhat dark (thunder for days). (discontinued)
  2. Vintage Pro: three knobs (VVT), jack on side, Tune-o-matic bridge with claw tailpiece, belly cuts, neck through, 1.5" nut, jack on end, large cloverleaf tuners, ginormous headstock, pickups close to 60s Gibson birds, does the angry piano perfectly, not *quite* as much thunder as the CP. (discontinued)
  3. 60s Thunderbird: essentially a rebranded VP with minor changes. (theoretically available)
Click to expand...
Also incredible and you would get the other 50% of the blame. :D

Based on the pix and notes, I feel like I'm seeking any of the ones listed in Miles' note above. Now, can one of you experts tell me about the bridge and tailpiece on the VP?

Thanks again, you guys have been great (@TBird1958 as well!).
 
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#201,104
WillyW said:
you may need to take a couple turns out of the truss rod.

peepholes that tell you to take 1/67th turn and wait 6 weeks for the next 1/67th turn, have their strings changed by the luthier at geetar center.
Click to expand...
I always enjoy reading the arguments over the three month process to bring a bass inside when it is hot or cold outside.
 
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#201,105
lildrgn said:
This is incredible. Exactly what I'm seeking. Many thanks and if I get one, you get 50% of the blame.


Also incredible and you would get the other 50% of the blame. :D

Based on the pix and notes, I feel like I'm seeking any of the ones listed in Miles' note above. Now, can one of you experts tell me about the bridge and tailpiece on the VP?

Thanks again, you guys have been great (@TBird1958 as well!).
Click to expand...

I got the Classic Pro before I met the degenerates here, but I think I may have voided the warranty.

B23730D6-3C64-4407-A265-50DD4A8F7596.jpg


335186-B7-70-CA-47-E2-8344-95-CE4-F91-F631.jpg
 
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#201,106
lildrgn said:
As much as I'd love to go through 10055 pages of Tbird Club, I just don't have it in me.

As I mentioned in a post that was made only 2-3 days ago but is now buried likely 10 pages back, I am trying to learn more about Tbirds after never having any interest in them before. I am gravitating towards the Epiphone Classic Pro, which seems to be the best bang for buck based on my minimal research. I specifically want to know the differences between the current 60s Tbird (as shown on www.epiphone.com) vs the Classic Pro. I seem to remember seeing that the CP is now called the 60s version?? And what is the Vintage Pro? Who has the spread sheet documenting the differences??

I'm seeing some basses with VVT knobs parallel to the strings. Then I'm seeing others with 4 knobs in a diamond/square pattern. Some basses have chrome pickups and hardware while others have black. Is there a difference beyond aesthetics and looks?

Would love to track down a white one, but that appears to be a unicorn, of sorts.

Thanks TBird Club!
Click to expand...
In short, the CP sounds like a modern Gibson, having the same PUs.
The Epi VP and 60s are basically the same, and sound really close to vintage Thunderbirds and unlike the modern Gibson or CP. I have a modern Gibson and it does not sound like my '64 Thunderbird (the gold standard). Same shape, but it starts being pretty different after that. Different PUs and in different locations. Not that it sounds bad, it just does it's own thing, so it depends on what sound you want.
 
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#201,109
KaraQ said:
Vintage Pro; aka 60s Thunderbird:

View attachment 4631450


Classic Pro, out of production, most similar to current Gibson Thunderbirds:
(normally has black hardware & pickups)

View attachment 4631458


Thunderbird Pro; this one's a five string, also made as a 4-string. Active electronics, which is why it has four controls; also out of production:

View attachment 4631461


All of the above are neck-through. The only bolt-on model, the Classic IV:

View attachment 4631462




There are some special editions of the Classic IV that have been made in the past, like the Blackbird:

View attachment 4631463


Hope that maybe helps a bit?


:)
Click to expand...
Just gotta do the Peavey thing in every pic.... :laugh:
 
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#201,113
Stealth57 said:
Thanks for the suggestions on the LaBella tapes. Adding the relief vs the back bow (per the instructions), got me in the ballpark. A bit of bridge adjustment and it is all playable again. It will need to sit for a few days to see where the TR settles out, but good for now.

I did notice that finger placement on the frets is a bit different than my other basses. Something I didn't notice with the SS rounds that were on it before. To avoid buzz I need to be about the middle of the fret where my other basses want to be closer to the fret wire. Anyone else see this type of difference?
Click to expand...
So sorry, didn’t realize you were using low tension tapes. With normal strings a very slight back bow before tuning up will allow you to loosen the truss rod as necessary if the string tension doesn’t pull the headstock and neck up far enough to give you useable action. In your case, there wasn’t enough string tension to pull the neck forward, so the strings just sat on the frets. The good news is, it’s always better to relieve truss rod stress on a neck under string tension to get the action where you want it. Trying to add back bow on a neck that has string tension pulling it forward can be done but you have to be a lot more careful not to strip a truss nut or break a rod. In any case, if you follow the rest of the steps you should be able to get the action down nice and low. Most of mine are in the 4/64ths ballpark as measured at the 12th fret on the open E string.
 
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#201,115
Miles_ONeal said:
Welcome! I'll address some of this, which I agree, does need to be in a document somewhere. I'm hoping to do that soon (with assists from the incredible Thunderbird minds here).

Dealing only with the reverse birds (the original shape), here are the major Epiphone variants (someone else can address the Gibsons, Grecos, etc.):
  1. Thunderbird IV: three knobs (VVT), jack beside knobs, bolt-on neck, three-point bridge, no belly cut, 1.73" nut. Fairly dark sounding. (discontinued)
  2. Goth Thunderbird: similar to Thunderbird IV, but all black. Small Y tuners. Celtic cross on PG. XII inlay on 12th fret (no other markers). (discontinued)
  3. Nikki Sixx Blackbird: somewhat similar to Goth but no knobs, 1 on/off toggle, iron cross/Tbird logo on PG, iron cross fret markers, jack on end. (discontinued)
  4. Thunderbird Pro: 4 knobs in a diamond (Volume, blend, bass, treble), active electronics, flush-mount bridge, belly cuts, neck-through, 1.5" nut, jack on end. Also available as a 5 string. Not atypical active bass sound. (discontinued)
  5. Classic Pro: three knobs (VVT), jack on side, three point bridge, belly cuts, neck through, 1.5" nut, small Y tuners, jack on end. Modern Thunderbird sound, somewhat dark (thunder for days). (discontinued)
  6. Vintage Pro: three knobs (VVT), jack on side, Tune-o-matic bridge with claw tailpiece, belly cuts, neck through, 1.5" nut, jack on end, large cloverleaf tuners, ginormous headstock, pickups close to 60s Gibson birds, does the angry piano perfectly, not *quite* as much thunder as the CP. (discontinued)
  7. 60s Thunderbird: essentially a rebranded VP with minor changes. (theoretically available)
All of these except the Goth had a Thunderbird on the PG and dot markers at the usual frets. All are dual pickup.
There were a number of other models available as limited editions, such as the silverburst and TV silver models. Many of these were otherwise similar to the Thunderbird IV.

OK, wing-heads, what did I miss? (Edit: Kara's post reminded me that I had meant to include the Blackbird)
Click to expand...
The only thing I’d add…
8. The 2015 Gibson Tbird: a one year model run that is easily identified by the exposed pole pickups, a coil switch for each pickup, and a black Babicz bridge. Jack on the side. (discontinued).

Of course there’s also a boat load of other brand Tbirds out there (Greco, Orville, Jackson, Spector, Lull, Fernandez, BaCH …..) but that’s another story.
 
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#201,117
dagrev said:
Yes. Modern Gibsons PU positions are not in the original (correct!) positions. Possibly they were correct at one time, but I don't know. VPs are in the correct positions.
Click to expand...

All three of my neck-through 'birds (VP, CP, Pro5) appear to have identical spacing?
At least, when measured from the last fret....

20201017_053717.jpg


20201017_053415.jpg


20201017_053157.jpg






dagrev said:
Just gotta do the Peavey thing in every pic.... :laugh:
Click to expand...


I was thinking of you! I knew you'd love it! ;)


20211125_214418.jpg





:D
 
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#201,118
WillyW said:
features carried over to the 2017-18 EB…


View attachment 4631592
Click to expand...
Actually the 2015 bird has features that were originally on the 2013 and 2014 EB as well. The pups and Babicz were a carry over to the Tbird. The EB used push/pull pots for coil switching, the Tbird had to use toggles for the coil split because the wings were too thin to house a full sized stacked push/pull pots.
 
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#201,119
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#201,120
GBassNorth said:
Actually the 2015 bird has features that were originally on the 2013 and 2014 EB as well. The pups and Babicz were a carry over to the Tbird. The EB used push/pull pots for coil switching, the Tbird had to use toggles for the coil split because the wings were too thin to house a full sized stacked push/pull pots.
Click to expand...

^^^Yeah what he said^^^

I just didn’t like the tort pickguards on the 2013-14, otherwise they were quite nice.

friends don’t let friends, tort and sunburst
 
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