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Thunderbird Club

#227,901
Bassmike62 said:
Was able to sell 2 basses this week and get parts for my 2nd Fenderbird built: got an Epi Goth body and a Fender Aerodyne Jazz neck.
Toying with the idea of refinishing the body in Epi Olympic white to offset the black neck and headstock. Planning to keep the black PG with goth logo, hopefully the goth community will not curse me and my descendants for all eternity for this. Could upgrade the pickups too. Maybe. Not.

Please don't laugh :), here's a very crude composite of what I have in mind.
Been searching the web, haven't seen one like this.


View attachment 4870512
Click to expand...
That would look awesome! Love the black neck and hardware with the white body and goth pickguard.
If you have the standard Epiphone goth pickups I’d suggest you try a .022 tone cap in place of the Goth tone cap. It really makes the bass a screamer and completely ended my desire to upgrade the pickups. I’d also highly suggest the Hipshot bridge in place of the stock Goth three point bridge. It will give you the ability to adjust your action to match the Aerodyne neck radius (the three point won’t do that). Final comment, the Epiphone Goth paint is THICK and a RPITA to remove. It might be worth it to have your finisher strip and repaint the body vs a DIY job.
 
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#227,904
GBassNorth said:
(...) If you have the standard Epiphone goth pickups I’d suggest you try a .022 tone cap in place of the Goth tone cap. It really makes the bass a screamer (...)

(...) I’d also highly suggest the Hipshot bridge in place of the stock Goth three point bridge. It will give you the ability to adjust your action to match the Aerodyne neck radius (the three point won’t do that)
Click to expand...

Thx !

I'll keep an eye out for a black Supertone (I'm assuming 3 point ?) on the used market, my parts won't be here for at least a week. Already have a Hipshot XTtender set aside for it.

As for the cap, that's a very interesting option, hadn't tunked 'bout dat ...what do you mean by make the bass a screamer ?
 
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#227,905
Bassmike62 said:
Thx !

I'll keep an eye out for a black Supertone (I'm assuming 3 point ?) on the used market, my parts won't be here for at least a week. Already have a Hipshot XTtender set aside for it.

As for the cap, that's a very interesting option, hadn't tunked 'bout dat ...what do you mean by make the bass a screamer ?
Click to expand...
Yes you need a 3 point replacement.
 
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#227,906
Bassmike62 said:
Thx !

I'll keep an eye out for a black Supertone (I'm assuming 3 point ?) on the used market, my parts won't be here for at least a week. Already have a Hipshot XTtender set aside for it.

As for the cap, that's a very interesting option, hadn't tunked 'bout dat ...what do you mean by make the bass a screamer ?
Click to expand...
The stock Eppi Goth pickups are highly overwound, and have a very strong output when unleashed. Unfortunately, the stock Goth tone cap completely chokes the output of the pickups, making them overly dark and somewhat muddy.

The .022 tone cap allows the True Tone of the pickups to come through. The unleashed tone is MUCH louder. Pre cap change, I ran my goth at around 7 or 8 on volume. Post cap it’s down around 2 or 3 on volume to get the same loudness as the pre cap change. As far as tone goes, I used to run it at about 5 to 8, now it’s set on about 2 to get the same tone. So basically the tone knob becomes much more useable without sacrificing any bottom end. In fact, because of the volume difference, it gives the impression of even more bottom end than before.

A cap job is gonna run about $5 if you do it yourself. Easiest and cheapest upgrade possible on a Goth. And if you don’t like it, just put the old cap back in, you’ll be out a whopping 5 bucks.
 
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#227,907
GBassNorth said:
The stock Eppi Goth pickups are highly overwound, and have a very strong output when unleashed. Unfortunately, the stock Goth tone cap completely chokes the output of the pickups, making them overly dark and somewhat muddy.

The .022 tone cap allows the True Tone of the pickups to come through. The unleashed tone is MUCH louder. Pre cap change, I ran my goth at around 7 or 8 on volume. Post cap it’s down around 2 or 3 on volume to get the same loudness as the pre cap change. As far as tone goes, I used to run it at about 5 to 8, now it’s set on about 2 to get the same tone. So basically the tone knob becomes much more useable without sacrificing any bottom end. In fact, because of the volume difference, it gives the impression of even more bottom end than before.

A cap job is gonna run about $5 if you do it yourself. Easiest and cheapest upgrade possible on a Goth. And if you don’t like it, just put the old cap back in, you’ll be out a whopping 5 bucks.
Click to expand...


Thx, I can see why it moots a pickup upgrade.


Engle said:
Yes you need a 3 point replacement.
Click to expand...

thx Irv
 
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#227,910
Bassmike62 said:
Was able to sell 2 basses this week and get parts for my 2nd Fenderbird built: got an Epi Goth body and a Fender Aerodyne Jazz neck.
Toying with the idea of refinishing the body in Epi Olympic white to offset the black neck and headstock. Planning to keep the black PG with goth logo, hopefully the goth community will not curse me and my descendants for all eternity for this. Could upgrade the pickups too. Maybe. Not.

Please don't laugh :), here's a very crude composite of what I have in mind.
Been searching the web, haven't seen one like this.


View attachment 4870512
Click to expand...

looks good to me
 
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#227,912
I’m leaning toward the blue flower for the headless NR 7enderboid.

Flying V treble geetar OR Ric 4003 may get the pink flowers

3CA191F0-C92E-42AF-A829-5C2C7F2DAFAE.jpeg
9E7FC4DA-23E1-409A-96A6-B41B7E82A0A0.jpeg
 
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#227,914
Bassmike62 said:
Was able to sell 2 basses this week and get parts for my 2nd Fenderbird built: got an Epi Goth body and a Fender Aerodyne Jazz neck.
Toying with the idea of refinishing the body in Epi Olympic white to offset the black neck and headstock. Planning to keep the black PG with goth logo, hopefully the goth community will not curse me and my descendants for all eternity for this. Could upgrade the pickups too. Maybe. Not.

Please don't laugh :), here's a very crude composite of what I have in mind.
Been searching the web, haven't seen one like this.


View attachment 4870512
Click to expand...

I dig it - my first idea for what became my Saundersbird was something along these lines. I got a white Epi T-bird body and wanted a (black) carbon-fiber Fender-style neck for it but they are pricy. In the meantime I got the NOS early '90s Saunders neck (commissioned/made at the newly formed FCS) and it went a different route.

This was its original format. I installed a generic 4-band 9v preamp & Wilkinson buckers. It was ok.
upload_2022-11-11_13-1-29.jpeg

Later installed a FCS-Kubicki 9v pre (great pre) and custom control-plate/pg with chambering / lightening under the pg...
upload_2022-11-11_13-24-7.jpeg

'90 FCS-Kubicki 9v pre
upload_2022-11-11_13-16-10.jpeg

Not pretty - but it doesn't have to be -
upload_2022-11-11_13-10-40.jpeg

...more holes under the back cover + added upper body bevel and string-thru ferrules
upload_2022-11-11_13-11-47.jpeg

late '80s Fender small-plate contoured clover tuners & Hipshot drop-D machine.
upload_2022-11-11_13-27-57.jpeg
 
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#227,915
JIO said:
I dig it - my first idea for what became my Saundersbird was something along these lines. I got a white Epi T-bird body and wanted a (black) carbon-fiber Fender-style neck for it but they are pricy. In the meantime I got the NOS early '90s Saunders neck (commissioned/made at the newly formed FCS) and it went a different route.

This was its original format. I installed a generic 4-band 9v preamp & Wilkinson buckers. It was ok.
View attachment 4870654
Later installed a FCS-Kubicki 9v pre (great pre) and custom control-plate/pg with chambering / lightening under the pg...
View attachment 4870682
'90 FCS-Kubicki 9v pre
View attachment 4870668
Not pretty - but it doesn't have to be -
View attachment 4870664
...more holes under the back cover + added upper body bevel and string-thru ferrules
View attachment 4870665
late '80s Fender small-plate contoured clover tuners & Hipshot drop-D machine.
View attachment 4870687
Click to expand...

Looks very good, assuming its sounding the same ?
 
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#227,917
JIO said:
I dig it - my first idea for what became my Saundersbird was something along these lines. I got a white Epi T-bird body and wanted a (black) carbon-fiber Fender-style neck for it but they are pricy. In the meantime I got the NOS early '90s Saunders neck (commissioned/made at the newly formed FCS) and it went a different route.

This was its original format. I installed a generic 4-band 9v preamp & Wilkinson buckers. It was ok.
View attachment 4870654
Later installed a FCS-Kubicki 9v pre (great pre) and custom control-plate/pg with chambering / lightening under the pg...
View attachment 4870682
'90 FCS-Kubicki 9v pre
View attachment 4870668
Not pretty - but it doesn't have to be -
View attachment 4870664
...more holes under the back cover + added upper body bevel and string-thru ferrules
View attachment 4870665
late '80s Fender small-plate contoured clover tuners & Hipshot drop-D machine.
View attachment 4870687
Click to expand...


Are Epi Thunderbirds heavy?
 
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#227,920
bobyoung53 said:
Are Epi Thunderbirds heavy?
Click to expand...
I had an Eppi IV that I bought on line through Guitar Center at a great price, had it shipped to the local store. When it came in I went down to pick it up. Unboxed it at the store, took it out of the case, looked great, weighed a ton. I handed it back to them and got my money back. It had to be over 10 pounds. The good news is, I don’t think that’s typical. But it might be a good idea to ask the seller or store about the weight before buying.
 
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