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Thunderbird Club

#230,641
GBassNorth said:
Completely agree!
In my book Gibby gets…
A+ for effort (love this whole let’s play “what if” concept)
A+ for thinking outside the box (unique finish, guard, knobs, logo, bridge)
B+ for pricing (one off custom shop)
C for pickup and tail piece locations (neck pup too far north, claw too far south)

Correct the pup and tail piece locations and it’ll be an outta the park home run. That’s a dirt cheap easy CNC programming change for the pup router and zero parts and labor cost for the claw, pup and pickguard. We need to call Gibby!
Click to expand...
I emailed months ago....... waiting........waiting.......

So true on reprogramming the CNC machine. Take 15 minutes entering the specs and save the program and your'e done. This is not 1962.

If they did a reasonably priced NR like this with correct pickup locations I would likely have to buy one. Love The Claw! Still might move my neck pickup back one day when I get the urge. There there's the whole new pickguard thing. But I hear there's this guy in Canada.....
 
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#230,642
TBird1958 said:
The guy I found to play drums is just the best, super nice guy and he can really play, knows how to take it down a little and toss in some fun funky stuff too. We're putting "What you need " by INXS together and I'm having a great time playing the bass line fingerstyle with him on the drums, it's a fun, easy groove to create.
Click to expand...


Yeah, that's a great one, always like that band and the bass player whoever it was. :laugh: I always liked his bass parts, simple and kind of funky in a way but he was an ensemble player which is what I am, always liked playing in the context of a band much better than playing by myself. In fact I usually play to SiriusXM or YouTube to practice.
 
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#230,643
dagrev said:
I emailed months ago....... waiting........waiting.......

So true on reprogramming the CNC machine. Take 15 minutes entering the specs and save the program and your'e done. This is not 1962.

If they did a reasonably priced NR like this with correct pickup locations I would likely have to buy one. Love The Claw! Still might move my neck pickup back one day when I get the urge. There there's the whole new pickguard thing. But I hear there's this guy in Canada.....
Click to expand...
IIRC our buddy Scott (you know, the guy who has a roadie named Geddy) did in fact move the neck pup to the correct position and installed an Eppi 760 ProBucker in its place along with a custom cut vintage correct pickguard. He claims it did make the new NR noticeably more aggressive and more true to the vintage vibe. Still has the three point or maybe his conversion for it though.

I don’t think I’d mod my NR to that level (maybe I would if I only paid $1000 for it originally). I just plan on getting the most out of it that I can with string changes. The NR seems so far to be very sensitive to different strings. That’s a good thing and allows some serious tone shaping at relatively little cost with zero negative impact on the value of the bass.
 
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#230,644
GBassNorth said:
Funny you should say that. I might have pulled the trigger if the claw was in the right position. But if I got it as is I’d feel compelled to move the claw and maybe even the neck pup. Those would be serious mods in the body, which most collectors frown upon. So at $2000 yep, at $3500 nope.
Click to expand...
Not sure if I was on drugs or just hallucinating naturally, but I could swear the price of the mod bird was about $3500.

Just took another look at it and it’s only $2300. That’s a much better deal. If I had that cash in hand right now it would be going to Gibson. And a claw and pup relocation would be in the works followed by a new pickguard from our Canadian friend and a little trip to Pat Wilkins to do his magic on hiding the original claw screw holes. That would be about $2700 all in, still a few hundred more than I’d like but getting very close.
 
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#230,645
GBassNorth said:
Not sure if I was on drugs or just hallucinating naturally, but I could swear the price of the mod bird was about $3500.

Just took another look at it and it’s only $2300. That’s a much better deal. If I had that cash in hand right now it would be going to Gibson. And a claw and pup relocation would be in the works followed by a new pickguard from our Canadian friend and a little trip to Pat Wilkins to do his magic on hiding the original claw screw holes. That would be about $2700 all in, still a few hundred more than I’d like but getting very close.
Click to expand...

That would certainly make it an even more a one of a kind.
 
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#230,647
GBassNorth said:
Can’t say I’ve seen one of these before…
Epiphone TB-90 1999【Made In Japan】［GSB019］ | Reverb
Epiphone thunderbird made in Japan pre 2000 with pups in cans (original or after market?) and a set neck or neck through with front jack. Not a Greco (no claw) an Orville maybe? Or did Eppi actually have something like a blend of the CP and VP back then??? Interesting.
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The wood around the imput jack is all cracked. Am I the only one who saw that?
 
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#230,648
bobyoung53 said:
Yeah, that's a great one, always like that band and the bass player whoever it was. :laugh: I always liked his bass parts, simple and kind of funky in a way but he was an ensemble player which is what I am, always liked playing in the context of a band much better than playing by myself. In fact I usually play to SiriusXM or YouTube to practice.
Click to expand...
Gary Garry Beers is on TB these days, and making his own basses. I think he is based around LA somewhere now.
 
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#230,651
bobyoung53 said:
Yeah, that's a great one, always like that band and the bass player whoever it was. :laugh: I always liked his bass parts, simple and kind of funky in a way but he was an ensemble player which is what I am, always liked playing in the context of a band much better than playing by myself. In fact I usually play to SiriusXM or YouTube to practice.
Click to expand...

I play along to Youtube almost all the time..........An hour goes by in a snap.
 
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#230,652
A new pedal day, a second one this week. Bought it on a whim as it was cheap and if it worked for bass too it would be a plus. A quick test and it seems there's plenty of low end available and of course plenty of distortion. The Bad Monkey will be my source for slight overdrive when needed but the Fender Hammertone will be turned on when a true crunch is needed. Whatever that situation will be.
Works with guitar too, of course.
I might do a clip with a T-bird tomorrow.
20221214_165943.jpg
 
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#230,656
TBird1958 said:
The guy I found to play drums is just the best, super nice guy and he can really play, knows how to take it down a little and toss in some fun funky stuff too. We're putting "What you need " by INXS together and I'm having a great time playing the bass line fingerstyle with him on the drums, it's a fun, easy groove to create.
Click to expand...
Locking with the bass while playing drums is bliss. Locking with the drums while playing bass is also bliss.
 
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