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Thunderbird Club

UPDATE: As cool as the GruvGear GigBlade3 case is, it won't fit a Mike Lull T5, or an Epiphone T-Bird Pro V.

I bought directly from the GruvGear website. At least I got a 20% discount, so my all-in purchase was $287 shipped for a case that won't do what I hoped it would do. I was going to return it, but with shipping on me and a 20% restocking fee I'm paying almost $100 to return a $300 case. After some second thoughts, I decided I should probably keep it because it looks well made and will work fine with the FSO I have in the collection.

What really frosts me though... the Epiphone T-Bird Pro V came in a CrossRock gig bag. I tried the Mike Lull in that bag before I ordered the GigBlade, and it didn't fit. However yesterday I tried the Mike Lull in the CrossRock bag again, and it now it fits. I have no words for the aggravation of needless money I spent, nor how it wasn't fitting two weeks ago but it fits now. Arrgghhh!

I feel your pain. Sorry.
 
Well, I'll prolly open the front door and there it'll be.:smug:
Seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing how it's gonna fit. My hands and our group.
Good move Mike! The one I had was a solid player and voiced pretty much how you’ve said in the past you like your basses to sound. The sparkling burgundy color looks great on that bass. I think you’re gonna love it.
 
Lulls are very thin too - as are the real deal, when I put Lulls in my '89 I cut some mahogany blocks out and shaped them to fit the pickup routs, then glued them in and later screwed the pickups to them. I also used some springs (from ballpoint pens) on the underside of the pickups to help increase the tension.
But now yer pens won't work. :rolleyes:
 
Good move Mike! The one I had was a solid player and voiced pretty much how you’ve said in the past you like your basses to sound. The sparkling burgundy color looks great on that bass. I think you’re gonna love it.
I predict a lotta tinkering with that BLEND knob.
 
The lowest end Pinarello is still a nice bike!

Agree - I had a Pinarello ARCO (rainbow) like the one Alexi Grewal won the '84 Summer Olympics RR in LA.

not mine - but one like it -
upload_2022-12-19_23-19-37.jpeg
upload_2022-12-19_23-28-59.jpeg


Canadian Steve Bauer made the mistake leading-out Alexi in the closing kilometers and couldn't counter his well-timed sprint.
 
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I predict a lotta tinkering with that BLEND knob.
As superfluous as you’ve found the bridge pup to be on other basses, I’ll predict you’ll be more of a set it and forget it kinda guy on this one.

In the brief time that I had mine up and running, I found the blend knob (which I pretty much hate on any bass) to be cranked to full neck, the tone knob about half up and the volume knob at about 80%, from there I just used my right hand placement to fine tune the sound from thicker to thinner for different songs. Again, it was a very nice sounding bass albeit a tad darker and smoother than my VP on similar settings.

EBCF strings will sound fantastic with this bass, unlike many flats, they bring a hint of highs back into the mix.
 
This one.
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That is not a proof that he actually used it on stage or at all. Most of the early Cheap Trick live photos have him playing a T-Bird IV unril he got his first Hamer 10-string and subsequently the first 12-string.

And I thought the first Hamer bass was the Flying V built for Jol Dantzig himself. It had no serial number. The first bass with the number 0001 was the black Standard (Explorer) for Martin Turner.
 
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How do your Lollars fit? Mine are really loose when I bring them up closer to the strings. Since they are so much thinner than the stock ones in my ‘97 Gibson T-bird, I think the springs are too short. Any tips or tricks to make these feel more stable? Also, at the moment the setup isn’t great, so the strings are pretty far away and the relief is probably more than it should be. I’m not the best at setting up neck through basses like this and Rics.

A bit on the loose side here as well.
A spacer of some sort will raise the pick up, and keep it stable.
And thicker foam.
I haven't done either as of yet.
 
UPDATE: WT7. Ya only live once, so I pulled the trigger on the Sparkling Burgundy Epi Embassy. N(almost-demo)BD coming soon, maybe b4 Christmas. No rush, no gigs 'til 1/7(uhh, 23). Gives me time to woodshed it, put on some EBCFs, figure out how to EQ it/amp. The 67 will be staying home in the future. Safer.
BTW, in case anyone's interested, SW and others have brand new Wanderlust Green Epi Embassy's for $400 instead of $500. Apparently the green isn't too popular.
:thumbsup: Nice. Watch out. Burgundy not only sounds better. It's a chick magnet.
 
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As superfluous as you’ve found the bridge pup to be on other basses, I’ll predict you’ll be more of a set it and forget it kinda guy on this one.

In the brief time that I had mine up and running, I found the blend knob (which I pretty much hate on any bass) to be cranked to full neck, the tone knob about half up and the volume knob at about 80%, from there I just used my right hand placement to fine tune the sound from thicker to thinner for different songs. Again, it was a very nice sounding bass albeit a tad darker and smoother than my VP on similar settings.

EBCF strings will sound fantastic with this bass, unlike many flats, they bring a hint of highs back into the mix.
Yer prolly right. I'm thinking the BLEND will come in handy for occasional jazz-type solos, but I'll f---* with all 3 knobs here at mi casa for the next coupla weeks to find the tone(s) I'm looking for.
BTW, I'm fairly certain that the pot for the TBird's bridge pup is f---ed** up. Maybe I'll have that checked in its 'retirement'.

*ool
**oul
 
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