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Thunderbird Club

#230,861
GBassNorth said:
Your assumption may be correct except for the 2022 NR. I’m not neck sensitive at all, but the first thing I noticed when picking up the new NR was the drastically different neck shape. While my 2015 Gibson Tbird appears to be C shaped (the profile curve starts at the fret board edge vs a D shape where the profile curve starts a short distance away from the fretboard edge), the new NR might actually be a U or C Chunky shape. It’s very different in profile from all my other birds, much more robust in design (but still no volute).
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Different from any bass I recall playing, Thunderbird or not. Which raises the question of, "why?" Lessen headstocks flying off? It's not a problem, but always seems to feel a bit odd (like Rics do to me), when I first pick it up. After that I don't think about it. It is likely the least comfortable neck I have, but is not uncomfortable. Doesn't even feel like and old Pbass. More like a bigger version of a Ric maybe. But I think you are likely correct on the chunky shape.
 
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#230,862
dagrev said:
Different from any bass I recall playing, Thunderbird or not. Which raises the question of, "why?" Lessen headstocks flying off? It's not a problem, but always seems to feel a bit odd (like Rics do to me), when I first pick it up. After that I don't think about it. It is likely the least comfortable neck I have, but is not uncomfortable. Doesn't even feel like and old Pbass. More like a bigger version of a Ric maybe. But I think you are likely correct on the chunky shape.
Click to expand...
Also easily fixed by a good luthier. Made my RNR much more playable for me.
 
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#230,864
GBassNorth said:
They are a bit different in measurement, but to be honest I feel almost zero difference in playing them back to back. But then again, I’m not very size sensitive since I bounce all around different basses, different brands, different scales and even 4 and 5 string necks.

When looking at these numbers I’d recommend rounding to two decimal places, with the fretboard radius it’s very difficult to be accurate down to the thousandths of an inch (heck, 10 seconds with a piece of 200 grit sand paper will remove more than that). Not to mentioned the 1990 Greco has white paint and clear coat vs the 1977 Greco with wood stain and clear coat.

Keeping that in mind the difference between the two isn’t too much…
1/100” at fret one
1/100” at fret three
5/100” at fret five
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Keeping in mind what you said above, and that I have a cheap Harbour Freight caliper, here they are favorite to least (and my ThunderP is at practice):

All-time favorite is the Fender Custom Shop, 1 piece NOS '59P neck, no pain ever
Nut 1.75 #1 .80 #3 .90 #5 .93

Hefner Maple/rosewood, pain after 5 months of heavy home practice
Nut 1.62 #1 .84 #3 .86 #5 .87

Warmoth wenge, never played enough to get pain
Nut 1.59 #1 .89 #3 .92 #5 .93

'66J maple/rosewood, cramping after 10-15 minutes
Nut 1.48 #1 .84 #3 .90 #5 .92

My ThunderP, which is at practice has a 1.65 nut and shallow C profile never causes an issue.

My conclusion is that maybe wide and shallow, nut 1.65-1.75, 7.25-9.5 radius is my sweetspot. The '66J is a narrow D, and the Warmoth is a narrow slightly flattened D. So I guess I am not a Gibson Thunderbird candidate as I suspected. Some Epi Ts? Maybe. Greco T? Maybe
 
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#230,865
Chucky Stiletti said:
no, belongs to a friend who likes these boutique type amps….won’t tell me what he paid for it lol….pretty sure he got rid of stuff to get it….very LOUD making it finally possible for the harpist to duel with blasting Marshalls…..
6 x 10” drivers….just 2 short of a fridge! for harp!…:eek:
their claim is you can crank all 100 Watts of usable power because of the voicing and feedback reduction circuitry..
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Aha! That sort of harp.
I was thinking it was a big amp for
69CC874A-3F53-4F3D-9DCB-4138514FECD6.jpeg
 
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#230,872
Thumper said:
Keeping in mind what you said above, and that I have a cheap Harbour Freight caliper, here they are favorite to least (and my ThunderP is at practice):

All-time favorite is the Fender Custom Shop, 1 piece NOS '59P neck, no pain ever
Nut 1.75 #1 .80 #3 .90 #5 .93

Hefner Maple/rosewood, pain after 5 months of heavy home practice
Nut 1.62 #1 .84 #3 .86 #5 .87

Warmoth wenge, never played enough to get pain
Nut 1.59 #1 .89 #3 .92 #5 .93

'66J maple/rosewood, cramping after 10-15 minutes
Nut 1.48 #1 .84 #3 .90 #5 .92

My ThunderP, which is at practice has a 1.65 nut and shallow C profile never causes an issue.

My conclusion is that maybe wide and shallow, nut 1.65-1.75, 7.25-9.5 radius is my sweetspot. The '66J is a narrow D, and the Warmoth is a narrow slightly flattened D. So I guess I am not a Gibson Thunderbird candidate as I suspected. Some Epi Ts? Maybe. Greco T? Maybe
Click to expand...


Most of the (older?) bolt-on Epi T-birds have 1.75 nut width - at least up through 2008, which is the newest I've owned.

But, at least the ones I've had, have the standard Thunderbird 12 in. fretboard radius.....
 
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#230,873
Chucky Stiletti said:
cool video……slick axes and amps (think I saw live clip of this with the bassist playing a J)…that Rick setup was like the standard back then…
the REAL retro….:hyper::bassist:
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OK, that was awesome. Cool axes, indeed. The band was having fun. Lead singer had his hands on the wheel the whole time. Drummer fired out of a cannon at the end. Doesn't get much more perfect.
 
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#230,875
KaraQ said:
Most of the (older?) bolt-on Epi T-birds have 1.75 nut width - at least up through 2008, which is the newest I've owned.

But, at least the ones I've had, have standard Thunderbird 12 in. fretboard radius.....
Click to expand...

(CORRECTED (originally said IV was 1.75")
My 2012 IV (bolt-on) is 1.5" , as are my CP and VP (through-neck).
 
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#230,876
Stealth57 said:
Both my 2018 IV and 2014 CP are 1.5”
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Miles_ONeal said:
My 2012 IV (bolt-on) is 1.75" , as well. The CP and VP (through-neck) are 1.5", IIRC.
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Miles, your 2012 has the s/n on the back of the headstock? I think that's the year they started doing that.....

I guess the nut width was changed later, I would have figured it would change at the same time :unsure:




......of course, it is Gibson, after all :rollno:
 
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#230,878
KaraQ said:
Miles, your 2012 has the s/n on the back of the headstock? I think that's the year they started doing that.....

I guess the nut width was changed later, I would have figured it would change at the same time :unsure:

......of course, it is Gibson, after all :rollno:
Click to expand...

Gah! I was misremembering. The 2012 IV is 1.5" (and headstock-stamped S/N). Corrected above.
 
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#230,879
KaraQ said:
Most of the (older?) bolt-on Epi T-birds have 1.75 nut width - at least up through 2008, which is the newest I've owned.

But, at least the ones I've had, have the standard Thunderbird 12 in. fretboard radius.....
Click to expand...

Ok, no Gibson Thunderbird for me :(. So if Greco is similar (12 radius), I'll stick with my ThunderThings).
 
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#230,880
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