Thunderbird Club

[Mosstone]

...and speaking of replacement parts - These coloured strap locks are new to me:

Strap Locks Buttons Schaller Style for Guitar Bass Parts Replacement | eBay

Now, if only they had matching metal dome knobs...

That's new to me too. They look like anodized aluminum, though. Not steel. Probably why they're so cheep (well, they're that cheep cuz they're made in China, but...) I don't know if I would trust them.

 

[hillerup]

That's new to me too. They look like anodized aluminum, though. Not steel. Probably why they're so cheep (well, they're that cheep cuz they're made in China, but...) I don't know if I would trust them.

It would be nice to just get the coloured strap pins, so you could match them with a red or pelham blue bird...

 

[kat888]

I would say a golden age. Look at all the parts and pickups and hardware that are available aftermarket as well. When I was a kid, you either liked the pickups in your bass or you bought a different bass. Even if I knew how crappy my pickups and bridge and tuners were, I had no idea I could do anything about it. I mean, I knew about Warmoth and Stew Mac, and the stuff you see in the back of guitar magazines, but all that seemed very remote to me. Like something exotic and beyond my reach.

Now, the quality of the pickups, etc., are the least of my concerns. Sometimes, I've already got the replacement parts before I even buy the instrument!

When I bought a pair of Celestion 12" guitar speakers, the process was scour to the adverts in a magazine which had taken 3 months to travel by ship from the UK to where I was, write a retailer a *letter* asking how much P&P etc, wait for a reply, raise a bank draft, send the order, wait 3 months until they arrived, wait longer until they cleared customs... it might as well have been the 19th Century still.

 

[Korladis]

I love the way Rics sound. I hate nearly everything else about them.

I love basically everything about them. The sound is good, but I mostly play them for how they feel.

 

[willsellout]

I love basically everything about them. The sound is good, but I mostly play them for how they feel.

Im the opposite. They sound great, but everything else really kind of makes it difficult for me to love them. And I never know whether a certain Ric will agree with me because of the inconsistent production from year to year. I definitely can't blame people for loving them. They look great and sound great. Their playability is generally awesome provided you agree with their necks.

 

[Christine]

I hated everything about my ric, I only got it because I was asked too because they were very popular with other punk bands at the time. Went back to my EB and jazz very quickly, they sounded better too was the consensus of opinion

 

[Mosstone]

It would be nice to just get the coloured strap pins, so you could match them with a red or pelham blue bird...

I used to want my strap locks to match the hardware, but now I just put black strap locks on all my guitars/basses. Black goes with everything and most of my straps are black, or dark brown anyway. I don't really think of it as a design element, but if you dig it, go for it, man!

 

[Mosstone]

When I bought a pair of Celestion 12" guitar speakers, the process was scour to the adverts in a magazine which had taken 3 months to travel by ship from the UK to where I was, write a retailer a *letter* asking how much P&P etc, wait for a reply, raise a bank draft, send the order, wait 3 months until they arrived, wait longer until they cleared customs... it might as well have been the 19th Century still.

Yikes... Yeah. Those were the days.

My heart always goes out to our musical brethren in Oz. You have it rough now when it comes to gear, I can't imagine what it was like back in the day.

Either jump through a bazillion hoops to get the guitar you want or.... Play a Maton.

 

[Mosstone]

Im the opposite. They sound great, but everything else really kind of makes it difficult for me to love them. And I never know whether a certain Ric will agree with me because of the inconsistent production from year to year. I definitely can't blame people for loving them. They look great and sound great. Their playability is generally awesome provided you agree with their necks.

I hated everything about my ric, I only got it because I was asked too because they were very popular with other punk bands at the time. Went back to my EB and jazz very quickly, they sounded better too was the consensus of opinion

I LOVED Rickenbackers... Until I bought one.

 

[Korladis]

I LOVED Rickenbackers... Until I bought one.

More for me.

 

[Dadagoboi]

My '60 EBO. Bought in '64 for $40 and much modded over the years, first with the pickup off my POS Kent, then a '67 Tele, currently a QP. Refinned clear in '74.

 

[Mosstone]

More for me.

Have at 'em!

 

[godofthunder59]

Since you guys know so much about so many different basses, perhaps somebody can tell me what the relationship between the Guild Pilot bass (still want one) and the DeArmond basses that look exactly like a Pilot is. Haven't seen the Guild around Nashvegas but I havw seen a couple DeArmands.

DeArmond are Guilds offshore line. Not bad basses but I would hold out for a Guild, they go cheap enough.

 

[godofthunder59]

I started playing in '71, still have my first bass! A Klira made in Bubenruth Germany same town Hofner is made is. I got lucky in a sea of crappie Japanese department store basses I ended up with a quality instrument. I love them so much I have four Kliras and two bodies awaiting parts.

 

[godofthunder59]

Grrrrrrrrr sometimes my phone doesn't post the picture just shows a attached file. Anyone know what's going on with this?

 

[marko57]

That makes three of us. I dont think of myself as being that old. 59 next week.

59 here, since last Nov. 30th.

 

[Drestakil]

Grrrrrrrrr sometimes my phone doesn't post the picture just shows a attached file. Anyone know what's going on with this?

Not sure what's going on with it but it downloaded and opened just fine. Nice looking bass!!!

 

[Count Bassie]

Party band gig last night in Riverside, E Providence. Brought the 810 and Crate BT-350, played the Epi Blackbird. Loved the sound- not so loud but stood up nicely in the mix. Worth the hauling up and down the old stone front steps in and out of the house (a 2'x6' sheet of 1/2" plywood makes it happen).

Yay for old iron.

Edit: Coulda blown the place out, but all those 10s mean you move lots of air at lower volume...

 

[ubernator]

Please please please tell me that the current (15 serial assume 2015) chinese epiphone Thunderbird IV bolt on vintage sunburst basses have single action truss rods and thus a removable adjustment nut (and if so it does not require cutting wood to get it out).

I may have gotten semi hosed on a bird I got last night (in above description). It is beautiful and I totally bonded with it, but when it was time for the .115 drop c setup I encountered some issues. I'm too tired to go into more detail now other than that the truss rod was not only hard to turn, but it is partially stripped. Luckily the bass already had high action due to a lot of neck relief, which is how I was going to set it anyway, but I was able to coax a bit more, which may have been too much, but when I tried to tighten to split the difference, it was clear if I did not stop there, I would strip the nut. I don't have good tools just hex keys. I think I will have to invest in a 4mm ball end long hex wrench, or a stew Mac gripper (which is better?)

I spent hours filing the nut with a nail clipper file (all I had, plus some old strings but they didn't file so well , nickels. The E and A slots could not handle the 115 and 090.

Other issues but too tired and have to be up in less than 6 hrs on only 2hrs sleep prior... Fun.

Otherwise this bass is a beauty, nbd soon.

And no, the pickguard was clearly not the same bolt pattern or even size as the goth, that plan was foiled. But thanks to you guys it was not a surprise.

 

[Rocker47]

...and speaking of replacement parts - These coloured strap locks are new to me:

Strap Locks Buttons Schaller Style for Guitar Bass Parts Replacement | eBay

Now, if only they had matching metal dome knobs...

I bought a set of these a while back. They are actually pretty decent. The only drawback is that they don't quite fit properly when mixing with a set of Schaller ones. I use one strap for the most part so now that strap is assigned to one bass. Other than that I've had zero issues.