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Thunderbird Club

#224,781
Chuck explaining the monster capabilities of a Greco.

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#224,782
GBassNorth said:
...I’m no wine snob, but watermelon wine is a bridge to far for even me. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on your NR vs your VP. I’ll be running mine back to back tomorrow along with a few other basses to see how it fits in the family. This one is brand new so it has the stock round wound strings on it (whatever those are).

...I think I’m hearing between this bass and my VP. I love the VP and it’s aggressive nature but didn’t really want a carbon copy duplicate of that if I could avoid it. I haven’t played them back to back yet, but I think this bass falls somewhere between a modern Gibson Tbird and the Eppi VP (possibly a tad closer to the Eppi than the Gibby)....
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Does kind of takes you back to Boone's Farm, doesn't it? :laugh: I was never fond of wine, so it actually looked pretty good to me!

Briefly, I think you are right in that the NR sounds somewhere in between the modern Gibson and a VP. From what I'm hearing, mine is most definitely closer to the modern gibby than the VP, and the VP closer to the '64, but not a big a full sounding.
 
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#224,785
Lee Edward said:
What pickup upgrades are people doing to their thunderbirds?

I have an Epiphone IV and looking to change them out
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I have a set of Lollar’s on the way. Going to play my ‘95 T a few more times in standard tuning with the (lighter than I like) rounds on it and the stock pickups, then I’ll put the Lollar’s in and (reluctantly) keep the same strings on for one more rehearsal just to see what the differences are. Then I think it will go through a setup and a heavier gauge of strings and get tuned Eb or D standard.

My current opinion of the stock bass is that I do love the growly sound and love the uniqueness of it’s tone (as opposed to any of my Fenders or Rics), but it sits a little too much in the mix with my guitarist (in the band I’m in E standard with) and lacks a kind of “push” that I get from my others. That could be the strings and may likely be that I need to spend more time with amp adjustments. But, as I always am swapping pickups and I’m just not a “stock” kinda guy, I felt compelled to get the Lollar’s and, I’ve said it before, I have never met a Lollar pickup I didn’t like!

I will definitely speak up when I have made the switch.
 
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#224,786
Ringhammer said:
I have a set of Lollar’s on the way. Going to play my ‘95 T a few more times in standard tuning with the (lighter than I like) rounds on it and the stock pickups, then I’ll put the Lollar’s in and (reluctantly) keep the same strings on for one more rehearsal just to see what the differences are. Then I think it will go through a setup and a heavier gauge of strings and get tuned Eb or D standard.

My current opinion of the stock bass is that I do love the growly sound and love the uniqueness of it’s tone (as opposed to any of my Fenders or Rics), but it sits a little too much in the mix with my guitarist (in the band I’m in E standard with) and lacks a kind of “push” that I get from my others. That could be the strings and may likely be that I need to spend more time with amp adjustments. But, as I always am swapping pickups and I’m just not a “stock” kinda guy, I felt compelled to get the Lollar’s and, I’ve said it before, I have never met a Lollar pickup I didn’t like!

I will definitely speak up when I have made the switch.
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Trust me, you'll dig em.
 
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#224,791
stlrocker said:
I'd probably remove fretboard and truss rod and make a scarf joint with a new piece of wood to make a new headstock and make sure to add a nice volute. Would gain a lot of strength that way.
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Yes, it should have been built with a scarf joint under the fingerboard so the the grain runs along the headstock, not across it.
What’s funny is the most of headstock was spliced on to end of the neck anyway.
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#224,795
GBassNorth said:
I’d have to double check, but my recollection is that any of the metal can Tbird pups will work as long as you use trim rings to cover the gaps. The Eppi pup is slightly longer than the can pups.
Can pup choices…
China Buckers - dirt cheap, sound good but not as good as VPs or Thunder Ranch options
Thunder Ranch - fair price, sound great
Lollar - fair price, sound great
Eppi VP - not sold separate but can be obtained at a fair price by buying a used embassy bass as a donor
Lull - very pricey but sound great
Click to expand...
Thunderbucker Ranch is no longer in business.
 
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#224,799
TT my two 2021 Nonreverse Thunderbirds side by side. The Inverness Green one has been modded quite a bit, neck pickup moved back to 60s position and replacedwithaEpiphoneProbucker760, 60s pickguard, 60s tailpiece, Badbird II bridge and gold knobs.
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