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Thunderbird Club

#234,401
Thumper said:
I received the Epiphone Goth last week. At first I was very disappointed, it was listed as Very Good condition. I initially judged it as poor to fair, it obviously had suffered a fall. I almost just put it into storage, but it is a good looking bass, so I played it and was not impressed, dull, flat tone and it bothered my fretting hand some. So I started half-heartedly looking for a new neck. Picked it up again and noticed the strings I put on the D-G sounded markedly better than those it came with on the E-A. It came without the D-G saddles, our friend JJR58 sent me a set of saddles on his own dime at no cost to me.

So I installed new strings on the E-A and played it for a few hours today, it's actually quite a nice bass, well constructed with some nice tones. I was also gonna change the pots and cap, but I'm happy enough, I'm not going to mess with it at this time. I will roll the fretboard, and do wish the fretboard radius wasn't 12, but my fretting hand hasn't experienced any pain yet, probably because the 1.625 neck helps keep my fretting hand more relaxed (as opposed to 1.5's, darn, guess I could have bought that Greco after all). Who knows, after I round the fretboard, it may just be a keeper as is. And I do find Thunderbirds comfortable for seated practice. Here's a terrible, but proof of life photo.
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Congratulations Thump!
 
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#234,402
Stealth57 said:
My best friend’s brother was manager of Laurel Liquors in Oakland at that time. We would run inventory between stores and our payment was 1 hour in the cold box to drink whatever we wanted. Still have some of those bottles.

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#234,403
Chucky Stiletti said:
yeah, played this one when last in Paris….they wanted 29000 Euros for it!
nice instrument but even at 2900, not for me….
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Is that the exterior storefront window? I guess they don't have smash & grab in Paris, or the UV from the sun.
(I was in Paris last summer but with my wife, so I didn't go bass hunting).
 
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#234,410
MCF said:
Congratulations Thump!
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Thanks, but it appears I might have been prematurely optimistic. Late last night I experienced some pain between my index and middle finger about 1/2" from the web/junction. And this morning I had soreness at the base of my pinky, both were new spots. I suspect it's the 12 degree fretboard radius. Oh well, I'll try it again, if the issues continue, I'll probably have to invest in a neck, tuners and neck shaving to fit. It'll end up being a bit less than a Greco, but that's ok, I do want a Thunderbird and this is apparently the only way my body can handle one. And I will have a spare neck if anyone is interested.
 
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#234,412
Thumper said:
Thanks, but it appears I might have been prematurely optimistic. Late last night I experienced some pain between my index and middle finger about 1/2" from the web/junction. And this morning I had soreness at the base of my pinky, both were new spots. I suspect it's the 12 degree fretboard radius. Oh well, I'll try it again, if the issues continue, I'll probably have to invest in a neck, tuners and neck shaving to fit. It'll end up being a bit less than a Greco, but that's ok, I do want a Thunderbird and this is apparently the only way my body can handle one. And I will have a spare neck if anyone is interested.
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Ugh. Sounds similar to how my left hand hated the Pro V neck. Pain in some fingerwebs, more in the palm and thumbweb.
 
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#234,415
Thumper said:
Thanks, but it appears I might have been prematurely optimistic. Late last night I experienced some pain between my index and middle finger about 1/2" from the web/junction. And this morning I had soreness at the base of my pinky, both were new spots. I suspect it's the 12 degree fretboard radius. Oh well, I'll try it again, if the issues continue, I'll probably have to invest in a neck, tuners and neck shaving to fit. It'll end up being a bit less than a Greco, but that's ok, I do want a Thunderbird and this is apparently the only way my body can handle one. And I will have a spare neck if anyone is interested.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear - I know what it's like to have (left) hand issues playing bass. Hope you can address it to help relieve your pain. Which (spare) neck would you be talking about? If it's the Epi Goth neck - I'd be interested in it.
 
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#234,420
bobyoung53 said:
Very nice stuff. Great bass sound and playing.
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Thanks man! used a Jazz Bass with flats and through Acoustic 301 cab (ok, an IR of it but it gives that character). I may have some preamp there too or a bit of an overdrive.
The bass "solo" section has two basses (or three if you count the slide) playing simultaneously. One has the neck pickup on and the other has the bridge. With that I managed to acquire a bit of that Roy Wood bass sound he had on The Move's last album and singles.
The bass guitar does not play a lot of normal bass things on it but I guess it's the Beefheart influence on it. And happy accidents.
 
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