I reckon if I ever go down the guitar road, unlikely!, an Epi Casino would do me.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
It's time for me to tie a bow on the tease I made a couple of weeks ago about, "having a cool story to share!" It didn't quite end the way I had hoped but I'm still holding out hope to see my WBW Bicentennial Pickguard on a famous bass.
So here's the timeline of events:
Oct. 12th - Bicentennial PG sells on eBay
Oct. 13th - I ship it out first thing in the morning.
Oct. 15th - I get an eBay message saying that the PG screws don't match the TBird that they are trying to install it on and a phone number is left for me to contact them.
Side note: In my description for the eBay item, I made it very clear that the PG was made to a 2013 Gibson Thunderbird template and that I wouldn't be able to help them to know if it would fit on any other year Gibson or Epiphone Thunderbird. I just didn't want to get involved with different screw patterns and subtle differences in PG shapes that work with all the variants.
Oct. 15th - I call the guy and during our conversation he says that he indeed did read the description but was "hoping" the screw holes would work but that they didn't line up. I asked him if the PG looked right on the wing and he said yes so I asked why he wouldn't just drill for the new screw locations and call it a day since you wouldn't see the original screw holes anyway.
This is where the story gets better!
He says he's a luthier and that it's not his bass and he wouldn't want to do that to this client's real Bicentennial Thunderbird. So I press him a bit on what the story was with the bass and he says he was contacted by Tom Petersson's ( Tom Petersson - Wikipedia ) guitar tech about restoring his beloved TBird and that it needed a new PG. He asks me if I'd make him another PG with holes that will match Tom's current PG and I agree and he tells me he'll mail the original PG out on Monday and he was hoping for a quick turn-around. I agree, and wait...
The following week I'm waiting and waiting to get this special delivery and nothing arrives. The following Saturday, I call the luthier's iPhone and he doesn't pick up but I leave a message to let him know that I haven't received the PG in the mail and that I just wanted to let him know. I also asked him if he decided to just screw down the Bicentennial PG he bought from me and I'd love to know the outcome and his decision. I never heard from him again so I can only speculate how this ended as I won't bother to call him again since he didn't respond the last time. I'm not that guy that'll bug you. I called, left a message... ball's in his court.
So in my mind, the luthier took my advice and just used the PG he bought from me and Tom Petersson now has one of my PG's on his beloved Bicentennial Thunderbird!
From the Wikipedia for Tom Petersson:
Petersson is a serious guitar collector, owning a wide variety of guitars and basses.[10] He prominently used a vintage Gibson Thunderbird bass as his main stage instrument for many years, until a girlfriend threw it out of a hotel window during an argument. He replaced the bass with a new one and the girlfriend with a new one.
______________________________________________________
My guess is that Petersson is having that TBird restored... total speculation but it would make sense.
So here's the timeline of events:
Oct. 12th - Bicentennial PG sells on eBay
Oct. 13th - I ship it out first thing in the morning.
Oct. 15th - I get an eBay message saying that the PG screws don't match the TBird that they are trying to install it on and a phone number is left for me to contact them.
Side note: In my description for the eBay item, I made it very clear that the PG was made to a 2013 Gibson Thunderbird template and that I wouldn't be able to help them to know if it would fit on any other year Gibson or Epiphone Thunderbird. I just didn't want to get involved with different screw patterns and subtle differences in PG shapes that work with all the variants.
Oct. 15th - I call the guy and during our conversation he says that he indeed did read the description but was "hoping" the screw holes would work but that they didn't line up. I asked him if the PG looked right on the wing and he said yes so I asked why he wouldn't just drill for the new screw locations and call it a day since you wouldn't see the original screw holes anyway.
This is where the story gets better!
He says he's a luthier and that it's not his bass and he wouldn't want to do that to this client's real Bicentennial Thunderbird. So I press him a bit on what the story was with the bass and he says he was contacted by Tom Petersson's ( Tom Petersson - Wikipedia ) guitar tech about restoring his beloved TBird and that it needed a new PG. He asks me if I'd make him another PG with holes that will match Tom's current PG and I agree and he tells me he'll mail the original PG out on Monday and he was hoping for a quick turn-around. I agree, and wait...
The following week I'm waiting and waiting to get this special delivery and nothing arrives. The following Saturday, I call the luthier's iPhone and he doesn't pick up but I leave a message to let him know that I haven't received the PG in the mail and that I just wanted to let him know. I also asked him if he decided to just screw down the Bicentennial PG he bought from me and I'd love to know the outcome and his decision. I never heard from him again so I can only speculate how this ended as I won't bother to call him again since he didn't respond the last time. I'm not that guy that'll bug you. I called, left a message... ball's in his court.
So in my mind, the luthier took my advice and just used the PG he bought from me and Tom Petersson now has one of my PG's on his beloved Bicentennial Thunderbird!
From the Wikipedia for Tom Petersson:
Petersson is a serious guitar collector, owning a wide variety of guitars and basses.[10] He prominently used a vintage Gibson Thunderbird bass as his main stage instrument for many years, until a girlfriend threw it out of a hotel window during an argument. He replaced the bass with a new one and the girlfriend with a new one.
______________________________________________________
My guess is that Petersson is having that TBird restored... total speculation but it would make sense.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
So, 'Birds can fly but don't land well? Hmmm... Throwing a beloved Thunderbird out of a hotel window is a pretty reasonable grounds for replacement. Of girlfriend or boyfriend, that is. I hope he's getting it restored.
- Mar 13, 2008
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- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
It was a long weekend, the drive out to Sequim is about 100 miles, I went thru Tacoma and across at the Narrows and past all the mothballed aircraft carriers at Bremerton. The casino comps us each a room, which sounds really great at first but http://www.sequimbaylodge.com/ is at best a 2 star affair - at least there were no roaches!
We had to use a Sub drummer for this show, of all places I found a guy named Doug Davis on Craigslist a couple months back, he was fantastic, rehearsed hard with us 4-5 times and played a great show, he's also just an all around great guy. This was a very positive experience and as our regular drummer is now attending a trade school his availability is changing so we gained a great Sub for future shows. The show itself went without a hitch, we played 3 one hour sets, I used the white '89 for the first two, it was sounding so good at rehearsals that I just stuck with it ( I really like the first years of Gibson's Post '88 re issue Thunderbird a lot, the neck isn't pitched, they're lighter than '76s, really great players, and yes, mine has '63 spec Lull pups so it has great tone.) for two sets, besides it went nicely with my new skirt!
For the last set I used the Jackson and my 7enderbird ( detuned half step for two encores), which went nicely with a change to a wig that has some green dreads in it ( no good pics yet) all-in all a very good show, the band made $1500.00, plus the rooms and a nice comped meal at the casino, not a bad trip!
These are the best of what I have so far.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
That makes sense - I really like the '91 a lot. But, what's a pitched neck?
- Apr 3, 2003
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
+1 Of the dozen or so 'Birds I have played (old and new), I definitely prefer my '91 to all the rest.
I wonder if the poor little Guy made it?
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,895
- 142,214
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
I don't know what year Gibson changed this but there's quite a noticeable difference between my '89 and the '08 Nikki Sixx Mk. II, if I recall correctly Carlo mentioned that the newer Thunderbirds have a 17 degree back pitch to the neck.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Ah. I'll have to look and see what they look like. The 2001 is very similar to the 1991, at least as far as where the bridge needs to be. Before I put a Babicz on the 1991, it had the bridge right down on the body. Same with the 2001. We had a discussion about that a while ago, and maybe the neck angle changed and that's why the later bridges have to be farther up off the body. I know they also changed to rosewood fretboards sometime in the zeros, but I don't know when that happened, either. The 2001 seems to have an ebony board. The 2015 has rosewood. It's such a different animal from other 'Birds that it's not a good representative of much of anything. Maybe neck angle. With any luck, I'll have a couple minutes to take a look this evening.
- Jul 1, 2005
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- CataldoBasses: Designer/Builder ThunderBuckerPickups:Consultant
That wasn't me, I've never felt the need to play anything newer than a '77 let alone figure out the neck angle.
ThunderBucker made a bridge cover for a 2014 and had to make it substantially higher than my original BiCen cover he used for his master template. He said the bridge was way up in the air even with the action super low. Maybe it has something to do with the PLEK machine.
The neck angle on originals and BiCens is about 1 degree, headstock tilt maybe 9. 1 degree difference REALLY affects height at the bridge.
17 degrees is a huge slope, I don't know where that came from although I have seen that number thrown around. The headstock tilt I use on my twelvers is 8 degrees and that's plenty.
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,895
- 142,214
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Ah, sorry Carlo, didn't mean to misquote you 
Here's my '08 Nikki Sixx, the action at the fret board is fine, nice and low. Yes, that's a chrome plated opti-grab.
Here's the '89
Here's my '08 Nikki Sixx, the action at the fret board is fine, nice and low. Yes, that's a chrome plated opti-grab.
Here's the '89
Just another data point on neck angles and subsequent bridge height...Ah, sorry Carlo, didn't mean to misquote you
Here's my '08 Nikki Sixx, the action at the fret board is fine, nice and low. Yes, that's a chrome plated opti-grab.
My 2013 50th anniversary Thunderbird has roughly the same number of exposed threads (about 5) on the rear bridge screws as your 2008 Nikki Six...
- Jul 1, 2005
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- 21,932
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- CataldoBasses: Designer/Builder ThunderBuckerPickups:Consultant
Ah, sorry Carlo, didn't mean to misquote you
Here's my '08 Nikki Sixx, the action at the fret board is fine, nice and low. Yes, that's a chrome plated opti-grab.
No problem, Mark! That Sixx bridge height is just WRONG!
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,895
- 142,214
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Well, it does play nice, the action is fine, but there's obviously some difference between the '08 and the '89. I'll try to shoot some comparisons later this week.
Is that funny looking metal "bracket", by the bridge on the Sixx bass, the thing that he used to hook his finger into? I thought I read somewhere that he did something like that, to deal with neck dive or to prevent bass body from tilting. I thought that was his mod but did they actually do that on his signature bass? Sorry if I am being Captain Obvious or I am off on my T-bird history and lore.Ah, sorry Carlo, didn't mean to misquote you
Here's my '08 Nikki Sixx, the action at the fret board is fine, nice and low. Yes, that's a chrome plated opti-grab.
Here's the '89
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- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,895
- 142,214
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Pics not handy right now, but yes, he would hook his pinky into it. If you at that pic I posted of myself playing you'll see my pinkie laying across the bridge so I can understand it at least. It (the opti - grap) was stock on both versions of Nikki's 'Bird.
Thanks for answering that for me, your highness. I never really followed Crue and mostly knew more about Sixx because of his uncanny ability to avoid death, by a rocker lifestyle (than for his bass playing and rig). After getting my new bird this year and doing my requisite T-bird history homework, I always wondered how it was physically possible for him to use the metal "opti-grab" without seriously messing up his fingers (or wrist).
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