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Thunderbird Club

#246,441
dagrev said:
I haven't ridden one since a kid, when that was an option for travel here. Both Gr fathers, an uncle and oldest cousin used to work for L&N. My Gr fathers and families used to ride for free just before my time. Mom said it was great. With all the lunatics on planes these days and that they have devolved into Greyhound busses in the sky, trains are likely better for personal safety and sanity.
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The one downside of my job is a fair amount of time flying. The train takes too long for some of the things I do. Whenever I retire, air travel will be for doing things like going to foreign countries or the east coast. Ground travel for everything else.
 
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#246,444
GBassNorth said:
…and therein lies the dilemma…
There’s not a single B-15 for sale west of the Rockies, nearly every thing I find is local sale only and it’s been that way for years. If I were on the East coast I’d easily have a half dozen prime examples to choose from. But, California has one and only one. It’s in Santa Barbara and is a guitar amp not a bass amp. Guess I’ll just need to continue to keep my eyes peeled.

I did find a B-18 in CA for a decent price, but I suspect an 18” would be awfully boomy in my large high ceiling room.
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From my experience, 18's tend to be on the midrange side of things.
Not boomy or heavy on the low end at all.
At least the ones i've played through.

B-18's aren't boomy at all, I've played through em.
It's kinda like a bigger B-15, if you can try it....................
 
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#246,445
TBird1958 said:
I have 2021 Gibson NR pickups in my VP, traded them with Scott. We each felt that what we traded for was the best pickup. For me, through my rig the Gibsons sound much fuller especially in the bass/lo-mid/mids but they don't have as much top end zing as the 760s do. I don't think of them as being "dark" so much, rather that they are a bit more present.

Gibson are chrome, Epi are Nickel
AuQrEmu.jpg
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The one for sale claiming to be from a Gibson NR ‘bird is advertised as:

“Gibson USA Non Reverse Thunderbird Bass Guitar Pickup Nickel Bridge”

maybe it’s not a Gibson? Or are newer ones nickel?
 
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#246,446
Ringhammer said:
The one for sale claiming to be from a Gibson NR ‘bird is advertised as:

“Gibson USA Non Reverse Thunderbird Bass Guitar Pickup Nickel Bridge”

maybe it’s not a Gibson? Or are newer ones nickel?
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I haven’t seen the back side of the 2021 NR pickup yet, but the back side of the Epiphone VP pickup is stamped with the word Epiphone on it, so no mistaking it for anything else. The EY Chinabuckers don’t have anything stamped on the back.

I’ve been a little concerned about the inexpensive EY pickups being marketed as Gibson pickups if Gibson didn’t mark their pups like Epiphone does. Maybe @TBird1958 can chime in with a confirmation on what the back side of the new NR pups look like.
 
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#246,451
GBassNorth said:
…and therein lies the dilemma…
There’s not a single B-15 for sale west of the Rockies, nearly every thing I find is local sale only and it’s been that way for years. If I were on the East coast I’d easily have a half dozen prime examples to choose from. But, California has one and only one. It’s in Santa Barbara and is a guitar amp not a bass amp. Guess I’ll just need to continue to keep my eyes peeled.

I did find a B-18 in CA for a decent price, but I suspect an 18” would be awfully boomy in my large high ceiling room.
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IDK. I played through a guys B-18 many years ago with both my NR and my 66 EB-3. Fairly low ceiling, but didn't seem boomy, just very full. He was selling it, but(unfortunately)he knew what he had and what it was worth.:banghead:

BTW, according to Gibson my serial number indicates it coulda been built in 65, but The Gibson Bass Book says 66-69, so I s'pose I'll go back to calling it a 67 since that's what Rudy's said it was.
 
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#246,454
GBassNorth said:
This is good information. I’ve never played through an 18” cab of any type and just assumed it would be very boomy and not a good fit for studio or home use. If I’m all wrong on that it opens up some more purchase options I hadn’t considered.

Have you ever played through or heard an 18” Portaflex? I’d be interested in how it compares to the 15” and the 12”.
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The first Portoflex/Flip-Top I played through was an 18. My Heathkit amp was in the shop and I borrowed the B18 from a friend for a gig. But this was in my High School 'combo' (1969-70?) and so long ago I have no memory of how it sounded. Only thing I remember was how cool the lit Ampeg lucite badge looked, along with the glowing tubes in the cage. (first time I used a tube amp) By the '70s, this detail was gone.

The JBL D130R 15 in mine is rich and chocolaty - just the way I like it. :) Both the 15 and 18 are what I would consider 'slow' speakers - no speedy metal/prog/or flashy fret-fingering, just holy grail tone for miles. 12's are usually used by guitarists - especially Jazz guitarists.

upload_2023-5-11_16-31-45.jpeg
 
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#246,455
Chucky Stiletti said:
ok, confused now....thought we were talking Bond girls...
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Hah! It started out talking 'millions of years ago'* about Bond movie theme singers, then Bond movies, then favorite Bonds & Bond girls, then Miles mentioned Emma Peel and then Gaolee mentioned Peggy Fleming... :)

*recent media reference
 
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#246,458
GonePlaid said:
IDK. I played through a guys B-18 many years ago with both my NR and my 66 EB-3. Fairly low ceiling, but didn't seem boomy, just very full. He was selling it, but(unfortunately)he knew what he had and what it was worth.:banghead:

BTW, according to Gibson my serial number indicates it coulda been built in 65, but The Gibson Bass Book says 66-69, so I s'pose I'll go back to calling it a 67 since that's what Rudy's said it was.
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Gibson serial numbers are a mystery. My EB-2 serial says it could be anywhere from 1966 to 1971, depending on where you look and who you ask. I have decided it's probably a '68, based on some details and based on just deciding that's what it is. I was told it was a '65 when I got it. It certainly isn't a '65 unless somebody modified it to be like slightly later ones. But Gibson.
 
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