Thunderbird Club

[PillO]

I put a Supertone on mine as well and it did help. I can live with the amount of dive it has now but tuners may be on the horizon.

That is why I waffle on super-lite tuners. It sinks a bit but it isn't terrible. Maybe at some point, but not as a matter of necessity.

 

[GBassNorth]

Shiny new Thunderbird parts......
View attachment 4723847

I had a real problem finding 500K CTS pots with adequately long shafts for a through body application (control plate, no problem). I ended up going with the small Alpha pots which aren’t my favorite but work. The option would have been to forsner drill out half of the body thickness, but I felt that would weaken the pot area too much.
If you’ve found a source for long shaft 500K CTS pots that work with Tbird bodies I’d be very interested in a link.

Greco?

The Greco is nearly a full scale (just shy of 34”). Not Greco pups. Maybe an Orville or some other Japanese copy.

 

[GBassNorth]

That's what it has currently (my Classic Pro).
Both of the new ones are no-load.
I want to try the 500k, but I'm afraid it may be too short, so I got the 250k as well, which has a longer post & shaft. Apparently, these are the only options for no-load tone pots....

Figures, I just replied to your other post with basically the same issue. I haven’t had the time yet, but I have given some thought to buying 250K pots which have the long shaft and replacing the guts with 500K pot innards. I’d think it’s all interchangeable but will probably require a bit of finesse because of press fits and crimping methods used in construction.

 

[WillyW]

I had a real problem finding 500K CTS pots with adequately long shafts for a through body application (control plate, no problem). I ended up going with the small Alpha pots which aren’t my favorite but work. The option would have been to forsner drill out half of the body thickness, but I felt that would weaken the pot area too much.
If you’ve found a source for long shaft 500K CTS pots that work with Tbird bodies I’d be very interested in a link.


The Greco is nearly a full scale (just shy of 34”). Not Greco pups. Maybe an Orville or some other Japanese copy.

CTS 500K Linear Taper Pro Guitar Pot w/ Long Brass Shaft

 

[stlrocker]

was just playing my white VP. no neck dive at all with this one. using a 2" wide leather strap with the natural/suede back. i do route the strap over the top bout at the back of the bass. seems to help with dive and with it tilting forward towards the floor.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Everyone knows I'm a VP fanboy...but it's for good reason. This side of several thousands of pesos (dollars are questionable at this point), VPs are as close to a '60s Thunderbird as you can get. The weakness in my opinion is that they can lack some of the bigness or bottom of the '60s. But amps have knobs and strings with a lot of lows do the trick for me. Boomers are great, Rotos, Dean Markley Blue Steels, EB Cobalt flats also sound really good for my purposes of big, fat and punchy with some clarity but not clank.

If I could not have my '64 and could have only one bass, it would be a VP.
View attachment 4724013

BaCHs for NR guys which btw, have the largest beefiest headstock of any Bird i ever encountered…. no biggie…I like neckdive for somethings…..

 

[Engle]

M

Weird. My Jack Cassady and my Hagstrom Swede Bass have more. I was expecting it to be bad but it's negligible.

My Casady with stock tuners is worse than my VP. I’m going to put Hipshot ultralights (or other lightweight tuners)on both.

 

[TBird1958]

All right Guys.. it’s official..
Sat, July 2nd, 2:00PM @

jardinesrestaurant

We can do a mezcal tasting and play TBirds afterwards….be there!..

Just bringing this forward - we are just two weeks away!

 

[GBassNorth]

CTS 500K Linear Taper Pro Guitar Pot w/ Long Brass Shaft

My bad, I was thinking stacked or concentric 500K audio taper pots.

 

[KaraQ]

I had a real problem finding 500K CTS pots with adequately long shafts for a through body application (control plate, no problem). I ended up going with the small Alpha pots which aren’t my favorite but work. The option would have been to forsner drill out half of the body thickness, but I felt that would weaken the pot area too much.
If you’ve found a source for long shaft 500K CTS pots that work with Tbird bodies I’d be very interested in a link.


......

Figures, I just replied to your other post with basically the same issue. I haven’t had the time yet, but I have given some thought to buying 250K pots which have the long shaft and replacing the guts with 500K pot innards. I’d think it’s all interchangeable but will probably require a bit of finesse because of press fits and crimping methods used in construction.

Only long ones I found are the ones WillyW posted:

CTS 500K Linear Taper Pro Guitar Pot w/ Long Brass Shaft

... they're huge though, 3/4" shaft; I was concerned about getting the electronics cover back on.

But, I'm hoping the short one will work; I modified the spot where it goes when I was first putting in the electrics a couple of years ago.

 

[dagrev]

Sure, let's open a new front in the tone wars. Black tolex gives a darker tone. White tolex is the brightest (as long as you keep it clean). Red tolex is warm, blue tolex cold. Brown tolex is muddy and green tolex has an organic tone.

So you notice it too? Glad I'm not alone. For a minute I was wondering if something was wrong with me.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

from yesterday…..I know no Bird, reason being I kinda prefer an on-board preamp when not using an onstage amp…couple of folks commented positively on the tone….all in all good gig….Greco tonight for sure…

 

[dagrev]

Bummer. No sound.

I get the desire for a bass with a pre in that situation. Sure give you some control over tone. I use one of these as my DI only--doesn't color sound to the head, just the PA. Got it when I wasn't happy with amps/cabs I was using. Kept it because it will make any marginal amp sound much better and sounds way better than just a typical DI for the PA. I could use this as a pre with a power amp if need be. Also keep it in case the tube head dies while playing. Just add some signal to the monitors so I can hear and I'd be good to go.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Bummer. No sound.

I get the desire for a bass with a pre in that situation. Sure give you some control over tone. I use one of these as my DI only--doesn't color sound to the head, just the PA. Got it when I wasn't happy with amps/cabs I was using. Kept it because it will make any marginal amp sound much better and sounds way better than just a typical DI for the PA. I could use this as a pre with a power amp if need be. Also keep it in case the tube head dies while playing. Just add some signal to the monitors so I can hear and I'd be good to go.

View attachment 4724228

read about those…thx for the insight D..

 

[JJR58]

Just bringing this forward - we are just two weeks away!

I don't know about you guys, but I'm super excited about it.

 

[GonePlaid]

View attachment 4724168
I put a Supertone on mine as well and it did help. I can live with the amount of dive it has now but tuners may be on the horizon.

They'll prolly work better if you put them on the headstock.

 

[TBird1958]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm super excited about it.

Mr. Liver is all tingly.

 

[Gaolee]

any idea what this is? unidentified tbird shaped object that i was just outbid on. it is a medium scale, set neck. lots of the details dont match any of the known ones im familiar with.

looks like a 3 piece mohogany body. no routing around the headstock edge, different pickups, control cavity shape.

i really like medium scale basses, and it looked nice so i bid on it but was beat out at the last second.

I don't have an inkling what it is, but it sure looks the part.

 

[JIO]

any idea what this is? unidentified tbird shaped object that i was just outbid on. it is a medium scale, set neck. lots of the details dont match any of the known ones im familiar with.

looks like a 3 piece mohogany body. no routing around the headstock edge, different pickups, control cavity shape.

i really like medium scale basses, and it looked nice so i bid on it but was beat out at the last second.

Cool bass... not a Gibson however. And a ill-shaped white control cover... (easily remedied... the colour that is) That's happened to me more than a few times...

 

[Gaolee]

The '76 has "Sidewinders" where the coils are sideways instead of what we think of as vertical (apologies if you knew this). They are more tame than the '64 (or the '64 Epi Embassy). Not quite as big or punchy, but still sounds like a Thunderbird. Much more so than the modern Gibsons which are on any recent or current Gibson if you want the original sound. In part, this is due to having the pickups in the original (correct) locations. I've had TIs and Fender flats, which all sounded really good, but a few months ago I but some Roto 66s on it and that's the ticket for me. They at a little punch that is toned down a bit from the '64. Some do not like them at all because they are more polite sounding. If going for angry piano I can see that a little, but there's no reason at all why they can't do it. Maybe this would be the best way to say it: They sound like the 60s version but with the vol and tone set about 5 on each. That may give you the best idea.

As for the VPs: The VPs are brighter than either the '64 Thunderbird or the '64 Epi and the '76, all of those have a bigger sound to them. Whereas the VPs tend to lack a little on the bigness end and the '76 has more depth, but less natural aggressiveness. Meaning the VPs tend to be a little closer to the '60s than the '76 generally speaking. This is also due to the pickups being pretty close to being in the correct or original positions. Something Gibson seems to be unwilling to do to make the perfect modern Thunderbird (reverse or non-reverse).

Bigness: '60s have it. The 76 is kind of close, the VP lacks this a little.

Something special in the mids: 60s have it. The 76 toned down, the VPs have something pretty close to the original, but not exactly.

Highs: None of the above are crazy bright (using warm Ampeg tube heads), but the VPs are likely the brightest naturally, possibly because of the less present lows, maybe.

I hope that helps a little.

Your description is exactly why the VP doesn't thrill me. The Flamingo with Thunderbuckers does.