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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- club thunderbird
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
Posted on that.
I've always thought the pickup is backwards, personally.
What's a rolled fretboard?
Looks awesome. Soundclips?I just completed this project bass and it sorta fits here. The body is from a mid 60's (MIJ) Teisco Del Rey, Silvertone, St George or any number of brand names used then for the exact same product made in the Matsumoku factory. It was a very long (as long as my '64 T-bird) short scale (30") bass and I converted it to a 34" scale using an Epi 'Goth' neck. It has a Guild RI Darkstar single & 500k V/T pots. It's thin (1-1/4" thick) light (8.3lbs) is well balanced and sounds pretty righteous.
If interested in the project from start to finish; Teiscobird project
Here's the 'Teiscobird' (pre addition of fret markers) with it's same year cousin - my '65 Teisco Del Rey. Even at the redefined 34" scale it's shorter than the Del Rey!
The frets would be in all the wrong positions. It wouldn't intonate.
Doesn't look like a P-bass to me.
Maybe.I do think you need another Thunderbird...
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
It's on the 'new years resolution' list.
It amazes me also the amount of upgrade parts that are available for the perfect bass, surely that must be akin to having a speed limiter on a Ferrari?
I bought a couple of the Ernie Ball polypro straps and finally have straps long enough to get the Bird into a comfortable playing position when standing. I'll be happier after I get some Loctite threadlocker and gum up the strap locks. You can't play rock&roll sitting on your arse (valid medical reasons excepted).
Like a knob I just read the whole thread, I don't think I'm going to comment the whole thing reminds me of this only not as normal
What are those straps like?
The strap button on my T-bird is on the neck heel, which balances well, but means it sits several inches higher than my Rickenbackers with the same length of strap. I'm kind of... large... so finding a strap long enough to lower the bass into a more natural position is difficult.
They're basically seatbelt webbing. Obviously slippier than leather, but actually very comfortable on the shoulder and much lighter. If the slippiness was too annoying, it wouldn't be difficult to fit some sort of shoulder pad. The buckle thingy is solid, so when it's adjusted to your preferred length it will stay there. They have a gold Ernie Ball logo but that's easy enough to cover/paint over. They're cheap enough that if you like 'em, you can have one per bass. I wouldn't trust them without a strap lock though.
When standing I play with my right arm at full stretch and there's still a bit of length left in the strap yet. With the old strap, it was let all the way out and I was still chafing my wrist and playing at an awkward angle and consequently sitting all the time.
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Kat - an interesting perspective from Pete Way on the proper wearing of a Thunderbird...They're basically seatbelt webbing. Obviously slippier than leather, but actually very comfortable on the shoulder and much lighter. If the slippiness was too annoying, it wouldn't be difficult to fit some sort of shoulder pad. The buckle thingy is solid, so when it's adjusted to your prefererred length it will stay there. They have a gold Ernie Ball logo but that's easy enough to cover/paint over. They're cheap enough that if you like 'em, you can have one per bass. I wouldn't trust them without a strap lock though.
When standing I play with my right arm at full stretch and there's still a bit of length left in the strap yet. With the old strap, it was let all the way out and I was still chafing my wrist and playing at an awkward angle and consequently sitting all the time.
Link Removed
Phil Mogg bought Pete his first Thunderbird. “I had an old Fender Precision at first. And then I saw someone playing a Thunderbird and I knew I had to have one. It just looked so shaging cool, you know? You couldn’t get them in the UK. Phil went to America to do some interviews and I said: ‘If you see one of those Thunderbirds, get me one’. And he did. He bought one in New York.”
That was it. It was a marriage made in rock heaven. For the next 20 years, that’s virtually all he played. Few bassists did more to elevate the profile of the Thunderbird than Pete Way. “I used to hear people saying, ‘Oh, the neck is too thin’. Man, I loved that thin neck. I never got neck dive either. If you get neck dive, it’s your bass telling you that you need a longer strap. You’ve got play it down there.”
Yes, that looks about the right height.
When I tried out the one I just bought, the strap in the case was about that long! I shortened it up about 2 feet and it fit me about right. Now, I might have to go back to that length because it does look rather rocking cool!
Gotta wonder why Pete was playing an Epi in that shot?
Maybe he just likes them.
It seems it might just be that simple.
From Wikipedia:
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Way now commonly uses Gibson Thunderbird basses which are renowned for the hard edged rock tone; however he recently commented that he has been using an Epiphone Thunderbird as he found it seemed to have a fatter tone. ______________________________________________________________________
Fatter tone is very subjective of course.
Of course! Can i get a special number? ;D
