Thunderbird Club

[MCF]

IIRC the BaCH uses an Allen wrench. Unfortunately I don’t know off hand what size.

Turns out it’s 4mm.

 

[Count Bassie]

Local 'character' from the trailer park across US1. Came for the free beer/food.

Yep! Florida Man!

 

[Count Bassie]

I co-designed (with Chris) a short-scale 5'r with a Hipshot Drop D on the B-string. Chris Kuffner is a pro-touring musician who has played with 'Ingrid Michelson' and 'A Great Big World'.

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That's a cool looking bass. Low 'A'... Going all Geezer!...

 

[Count Bassie]

Thanks! 34" scale, very ergonomic/no neck-dive, John East 9v pre, Delano bucker, 24 fret ebony fb, rock-wood reinforced maple set-back neck, Sperzel locking tuners, 1 piece alder body, individual string-thru bridge units, and rock-wood/brass nut. (the gilded one) Wenge laminate pg is attached with tiny rare-earth magnets imbedded in the body & pg, and easily access the 9v battery underneath.

Jaysis. Sounds like someone needs a hobby...
I like the rare earth magnet fastening of the pg. I'm stealing that... I like the magnet idea for a lot of things, I've got an old gig rack for an amp my grandfather made me, I've got little rare earth mags set in to hold the covers on.
Magnets are cool.

 

[MCF]

That's a fair price. You need to determine why you'd want it. It won't go up in value dramatically so it's not much of an 'investment' potential. I only get interested these days if something is special. I have a few I'm on the lookout for - but they are ones that are more rare and pricey.

That was an $80 bass through Sears in 1970. According to inflation calculator, that is $570 in today’s money. At $450 it’s a bargain. Dave needs that bass.

 

[MCF]

I still love that song. I’ve been working on it off and on.

Me too.

 

[Count Bassie]

That was an $80 bass through Sears in 1970. According to inflation calculator, that is $570 in today’s money. At $450 it’s a bargain. Dave needs that bass.

All I can do is find a seat and shake my head.

 

[MCF]

Here is mine, Epiphone Vintage Pro, brought it used, had this a few days and love it so far, have owned loads of P basses but always really liked the tone of Thunderbird basses (whereas P basses I have always felt a bit lukewarm about tonewise)

Awesome! Congratulations.

 

[dagrev]

It just took a little while for a Thunderbird to choose you. That's all.

And bring cash. A fair amount of cash.

 

[dagrev]

I have one of the original Embassy basses with the poorly located bridge. If you’d like I can measure the distance on it vs my early run VP.

Thank you, but no need for me. PhR75 may be interested since he asked.

 

[MCF]

I co-designed (with Chris) a short-scale 5'r with a Hipshot Drop D on the B-string. Chris Kuffner is a pro-touring musician who has played with 'Ingrid Michelson' and 'A Great Big World'.

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Nice color!

 

[Stealth57]

Turns out it’s 4mm.

Epi parts

 

[Stealth57]

That was an $80 bass through Sears in 1970. According to inflation calculator, that is $570 in today’s money. At $450 it’s a bargain. Dave needs that bass.

I'll see if I can beat him up a bit on price. It's been in the case for years and not played. I'm a bit concerned about the truss rod not being adjusted in a long time and why the National script logo is missing off the headstock. The logo would tell me more about the date of production. Late 60s it was along the edge and in the 70s it was moved to under the strings.

 

[dagrev]

My newest learning curve.
Welcome to ME, O Hipshot Bass Extender...

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I've just never quite been comfortable with these, but it's my mission now. It really opens up some doors for new approaches to patterns and melodies, and ways to get them done.
Got one on the Classic Pro too- both of my regular players. Time to master it.

When you figure it out do a vid, please. I've got one on a bass and have yet to discover I need it or how best to use it.

 

[Engle]

Asking $450 and says not a single flaw anywhere on the finish.

IMO it’s not worth that. I like those MIJ basses, but wouldn’t pay 450 USD for one.

 

[PhR75]

I have one of the original Embassy basses with the poorly located bridge. If you’d like I can measure the distance on it vs my early run VP.

Thanks! With original you mean the first reissue Embassy?

Been a long time since I read that book. I’ll look that part up and reread it.

One of the best biographies ever.

 

[dagrev]

I don't have a five string, finally, for that reason. I like my two regular players, so they both got Hipshots. Low D is plenty of subterranean vibe for my taste.
Sometimes I'll hear a dude with low B and he gets stuck down there. It's like, "Hey look at me- dig my low-B string!..." and meanwhile I'm contracting a major case of Ear Fatigue (pronounced 'Annoyance').
Going that low, for me, has to be a novelty you might hear once a night. Ok twice.

That was a main reason why I got rid of my 5er. Just didn't "need" as much as another bass I would enjoy having. I used the B some every time I used it (not open), and it was cool once in a while, but it wasn't worth "once in a while" to keep it. And no one ever said, "Man, we sure miss the lows from that 5er." I'm not ragging them, just wasn't for me.

 

[MCF]

Home sweet home. Down at the house in the burbs.

I decided to go ahead and change strings on the BaCH. I parked my intended SIT order in the shopping cart, waiting for a discount offer, and forgot about it. So I ended up going to my local (which just became a Reverend dealer!) and picked up a set of stainless steel Superbrights in my customary 45-105 gauge. Put them on and uh oh, the nut slot for the G string is cut too deep and wide for a 45. So it’ll need a new nut. I ended up going to GC yesterday to see if by chance they had a black nut blank. Nope. So I bought a set of Power Slinky 55-110 suspension bridge cables. Problem solved until I can get a new nut. The nickel rounds are a huge improvement over the Chromes that were on the bass. I got the neck dialed in pretty well, it’s intonated, and the action is low. I had to lower the pickup some to eliminate a bit of chorus.

I don’t mind the Artec pickup as much now. It is a bit too clear and polite for my taste though and it will get swapped out eventually. Dreaming of a Lull. But I could be happy with a Gibson NR neck pickup if they make them available in their pickup shop. I was able to get the Mesa to add some grind to the tone. But the tone comes nowhere close to being as pleasing as what I get from the ‘21 NR pickups, tBird Plus or the Epi VP pickups.

I’m really liking the BaCH. The neck is wonderful. The headstock is huge though, so the standard long scale G string is barely long enough.

 

[TBird1958]

Here is mine, Epiphone Vintage Pro, brought it used, had this a few days and love it so far, have owned loads of P basses but always really liked the tone of Thunderbird basses (whereas P basses I have always felt a bit lukewarm about tonewise)

Great score there, congratulations on your new Thunderbird, let me know if you'd like to have a club number, please be welcome here too.

 

[TBird1958]

Monday morning pickgard follies.....

This is from my BaCH, the previous owner didn't do a smart job of trimming around the opening for the pickup....
I'd like to clean it up but as you can see, using an extra pickup bezel as a guide shows it's going to be dodgy at best.
Thoughts?