Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

From yesterdays Beaster (9 bands starting at noon) show at Winters Tavern Pacifica - we rocked our set. Kirstin's doing jazz-hands...

 

[Engle]

It looks much like mine, shallow pitch. The first 12-15 years of re-issue Thunderbirds have a very shallow pitch back to the neck, they're almost flat and you can get nice, low action with the stock 3 point. After a certain point, may be '07 or so Gibson started angling the neck quite a bit more.

I’m confused, but maybe I’m missing something.
If the neck is angled more, the bridge needs to be higher. Wouldn’t more neck pitch make it easier to get low action because there would be more room to bring the bridge down?

 

[Gnermo]

Anyone here mind help identifying this Thunderbird-esque bass?
Got it for cheap at a store, and i'm fairly certain it's been refinished.

Neither I nor the store owner knows what brand it could be.
It's got two volume pots, quite bad ones, and two humbuckers which are 5 string sized.
Anyone here have a clue?

 

[D.M.N.]

Anyone here mind help identifying this Thunderbird-esque bass?
Got it for cheap at a store, and i'm fairly certain it's been refinished.

Neither I nor the store owner knows what brand it could be.
It's got two volume pots, quite bad ones, and two humbuckers which are 5 string sized.
Anyone here have a clue?

Some sort of knock off an a Gibson RD Standard, not a Thunderbird so much. No idea as to brand though. First Act did some, but they look different to this.

 

[GBassNorth]

I’m confused, but maybe I’m missing something.
If the neck is angled more, the bridge needs to be higher. Wouldn’t more neck pitch make it easier to get low action because there would be more room to bring the bridge down?

Actually, with more neck pitch your bridge saddles will end up sitting higher off the body than with less neck pitch. The heel of the neck sitting high limits how far down you can take your three point before it starts fretting out on the last few frets. I believe a Hipshot will allow you to drop the saddles a bit lower than a three point. The Babicz may go low as well but then you start getting into string break angle issues.

Just for reference, my BlingBird build utilized a Fender spec neck pocket and neck, so pretty much zero pitch. The problem I ran into with the Tbird two piece bridge was that even bottomed out My action was sky high (I don’t think it would have been a problem for a Hipshot three point replacement bridge). I ended up having to shim the bridge end of the neck pocket quite a bit to create something near a Gibson spec pitch so my action was at a reasonable point with the bridge nearly all the way down. A lot of trial and error with temporary shims (layers of masking tape) and neck adjustments and bridge tweaking to get the pitch just right for a decent action. Because tape is compressible I’ll give it a couple more months of use before I replace the temporary shim with a permanent full pocket wood tapered shim.

 

[Gnermo]

Gibson RD is right, now that you mention it

 

[TBird1958]

heck yeah! love 70’s Birds and white to boot!…

But it's an '80s child - it just looks old!

 

[JIO]

Some sort of knock off an a Gibson RD Standard, not a Thunderbird so much. No idea as to brand though. First Act did some, but they look different to this.

Yah, totally generic whatever it is.

 

[GBassNorth]

Anyone here mind help identifying this Thunderbird-esque bass?
Got it for cheap at a store, and i'm fairly certain it's been refinished.

Neither I nor the store owner knows what brand it could be.
It's got two volume pots, quite bad ones, and two humbuckers which are 5 string sized.
Anyone here have a clue?

Looks like a set neck, so that typically rules out a home build parts bass. As noted by DMN, looks a bit more like an RD Standard body style. Very unique headstock, offset inlays and thunderbolt at 12th, and unique control cavity design. I’d look for similar headstocks even if the body doesn’t match since that’s frequently the trademark of a given bass manufacturer.

Bottom line - if it plays nice and you got it at what you consider to be a good price - Rock it!

 

[TBird1958]

Anyone here mind help identifying this Thunderbird-esque bass?
Got it for cheap at a store, and i'm fairly certain it's been refinished.

Neither I nor the store owner knows what brand it could be.
It's got two volume pots, quite bad ones, and two humbuckers which are 5 string sized.
Anyone here have a clue?

That's Thicc too!

It could possibly weigh more than a real RD!

 

[JIO]

Looks like a set neck, so that typically rules out a home build parts bass. As noted by DMN, looks a bit more like an RD Standard body style. Very unique headstock, offset inlays and thunderbolt at 12th, and unique control cavity design. I’d look for similar headstocks even if the body doesn’t match since that’s frequently the trademark of a given bass manufacturer.

Bottom line - if it plays nice and you got it at what you consider to be a good price - Rock it!

No body bevels (slab body) that looks heavy and has some funky glue residue at the nut. I can imagine it being a very cheap no-name MIC instrument - no identifiable characteristics other than looking 'like' an RD.

 

[TBird1958]

I’m confused, but maybe I’m missing something.
If the neck is angled more, the bridge needs to be higher. Wouldn’t more neck pitch make it easier to get low action because there would be more room to bring the bridge down?

Basically what George said.........

Not much pitch to the neck and the 3 point is close to the body.

Cat Tax!

Note that the middle screw is down lower - this contradicts what lots of folks do.

 

[GBassNorth]

That's Thicc too!

It could possibly weigh more than a real RD!

I was thinking the same thing, very thick looking body, possibly a semi hollow (like my BlingBird). If not semi hollow it better be made out of something light like Basswood. A solid body that thick in mahogany or maple would easily make for a 10+ pound bass.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

But it's an '80s child - it just looks old!

I’ll claim it…

 

[GBassNorth]

Asking prices on many used Thunderbirds continues to amuse me. Here’s a Goth on eBay listed as “Junk” with no guarantees that it even works for nearly $600…
Epiphone Goth Thunderbird IV Bass Pitch Black JUNK | eBay

SMH - I think I paid just under $200 for the last used Goth I bought a couple of years ago, it was a great deal but the going rates were around $300 at the time. BTW - I’m in the market for a used Goth for my next project in fair to good shape if anyone has a lead on one at a reasonable price.

 

[JIO]

Asking prices on many used Thunderbirds continues to amuse me. Here’s a Goth on eBay listed as “Junk” with no guarantees that it even works for nearly $600…
Epiphone Goth Thunderbird IV Bass Pitch Black JUNK | eBay

SMH - I think I paid just under $200 for the last used Goth I bought a couple of years ago, it was a great deal but the going rates were around $300 at the time. BTW - I’m in the market for a used Goth for my next project in fair to good shape if anyone has a lead on one at a reasonable price.

Yes, I bought one maybe 5 years ago for about the same price. (around $200) This one has what looks like a decent gig-bag, but ATC it's overpriced. You can buy a non-"junk" Goth for that same price, there's one below the listing.

 

[JJR58]

It can make the trip to Santa Cruz if you want me to bring it.

Yes, please bring.

 

[JJR58]

Yes, I bought one maybe 5 years ago for about the same price. (around $200) This one has what looks like a decent gig-bag, but ATC it's overpriced. You can buy a non-"junk" Goth for that same price, there's one below the listing.

I got my Epi CP for 150, with a trade in.
In excellent condition.

And after that, Lollars and a HipShot were dropped in.

 

[JIO]

I got my Epi CP for 150, with a trade in.

I always look for deals like that to use as parts - mostly for the neck. I've got a box of the black 3-point bridges and generic Y-tuners.

 

[JJR58]

I always look for deals like that to use as parts - mostly for the neck. I've got a box of the black 3-point bridges and generic Y-tuners.

Everything is great about the bass. Could use new tuners though.
Even the TB+ pups were great.
I just wanted something different for the end game of said bass.