Thunderbird Club

[dagrev]

thx, didn’t realize the repair quality could vary that much…..would seem like a pretty straightforward job but then, I don’t know anything about this stuff.

I think a fair amount of it depends on the kind of break as well. That can make it a much more difficult repair. But a good Luthier can do it right. Finding the good luthier is the problem some times. Kind of like dudes that work on amps. All of them are not the same and the good one's can be hard to find. I know I great one that knows what he's talking about and why...but the sucker lives on the wrong blasted coast!

 

[dagrev]

Yes. The pedal requirement is the minimum you hook it up to.

Thanks for the confirmation, Miles.

 

[dagrev]

After I take them out (and half or more of the life remains), I use them as well. They will last a long time in an instrument as long as it's not left plugged in.

 

[MCF]

I’m aging a white VP guard on the windowsill.View attachment 5121514

Man Irv. That is some amazing work.

 

[MCF]

I did the left wrist back in 2020, got me some hardware to keep from the hospital too. I was fortunate that it was only the wrist. I was basically back to work after a week. If it had been a foot or leg thing I wouldn’t have been able to work and would have been in some trouble.

Hope you heal fast and life can get back to normal soon.

Mine was basically a memory within 2 months…

Everyone said “Do your PT” and I did. So, do your PT.

The therapist comes today for the initial assessment.

 

[Engle]

Everything is distracting me from my two geetar paint jobs…

Been playing bass for my son while he practices drums, and I dragged out my fretless DC with the 21 NR bridge pickup… sounds phenomenal……

so yesterday I get out my 7exploder, with the Duncan’s…… anyway I haven’t picked this base up in at least a year and a half….

the fingerboard developed a twist and bulge and was “boarding out” to about the 14th quarter tone on the treble side, maybe 10th quarter tone on the bass side.

Neck is goncalo alves with a neat striation on the back about where the twist is…. Zircote board has some burling on the treble side that is helping the bulge/twist…

I forget if warmoth base necks are 9.5 or 10” radius, and I also don’t bother to see if this is covered under any kind of warranty….

I use my 10” radius block and some 100grit and after 30 minnits or so have about half of the twist and bulge out…. Oiled it too… I’ll finish it this weekend…



So now I’m worried about my other warmoth necks… DC is fine goncalo/goncalo…. I get out my ja77bird and the wenge/rosewood is fine…

but I have those shaging EMG active jazz pickups in it, and it doesn’t like my wireless system, at least I think it doesn’t depending on how much charge the smoke detector battery still has… shaging emg’s…

I suspect my 51p with the purpleheart/purpleheart neck is fine because I have played it recently…


Can’t wait to finish the headless NR….


But I did finish the Boss board…

I think there is always a risk that a neck will warp. Fancy grain patterns carry a higher risk, and the more you seal the wood the better. I've only had one neck twist. It was a Fernandez that I had defretted and oiled. There wasn't enough material in the fingerboard to plane it out.

 

[Engle]

I put white pickup covers in the backyard to do that. Wouldn’t the window block UV?

I was thinking the same thing. I need to find a good spot in the yard for it.

 

[Engle]

Man Irv. That is some amazing work.

Thanks Marshall, here’s a pic without dirt on the guard

 

[PhR75]

ok so if your power is 250mA, your 70mA pedal will only take the 70mA that it needs, and you can daisy chain the power to distribute the other 180mA…

Better to use these:
https://voodoolab.com/product/output-splitter-adapter-ground-lifted/

 

[Engle]

thx, didn’t realize the repair quality could vary that much…..would seem like a pretty straightforward job but then, I don’t know anything about this stuff.

Some headstock breaks are nastier than others. It varies from a simple crack to decapitation with missing chunks of wood.
It could be a 20 minute job that almost anybody could do, or it could require multiple glue ups, splicing in pieces, carving, and blending finish. Search Gibson headstock repairs on youtube sometime.

 

[Engle]

The therapist comes today for the initial assessment.

I must have missed a few pages yesterday. Ouch! Take care bud!!

 

[MCF]

To thicken your tone try things in this order until you’re satisfied…
1) right hand placement closer to the neck
2) favor or solo the neck pickup
3) amp EQ adjustment
4) raise pickups closer to the strings
5) try different string types
6) install a higher value tone cap
7) install lower resistance pots
8) install different pickups
9) get a different bass

@RexxRokket, FWIW, the Epi Blackbird I have had a volume pot installed at some point. I think it sounds fuller, rounder, fatter, however you want to describe it, than my standard Goth with the same Dunlop Marcus Miller Stainless Steel Superbrights. I assume the pickups are the same even though the Blackbird pickups are stamped “Sixx.” My assumption is that the only difference is that the Blackbird pickups don’t run through a tone cap or pot.

Sorry for the poor pic. The Blackbird is at the other place and this is the only pic I have of the wiring.

IME, stainless steel strings really bring out the Tbird tone in the standard Epi IV pickups. The strings make an even bigger difference with the chrome pickups in the Silverburst Epi LE Custom Shop and TV Silver Thunderbirds.

I am a huge fan of the Epi IVs and think they are the best sub $500 bass on the planet.

 

[MCF]

I think a fair amount of it depends on the kind of break as well. That can make it a much more difficult repair. But a good Luthier can do it right. Finding the good luthier is the problem some times. Kind of like dudes that work on amps. All of them are not the same and the good one's can be hard to find. I know I great one that knows what he's talking about and why...but the sucker lives on the wrong blasted coast!

You can always go west young man.

 

[JJR58]

Just give it to Jeff for a day or two.

That’s about right on my turn around time.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

My '64 II has never had a hs break - but I altered it installing a bridge pu. Vintage 'worth'? ... personally.., I could care less.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Some headstock breaks are nastier than others. It varies from a simple crack to decapitation with missing chunks of wood.
It could be a 20 minute job that almost anybody could do, or it could require multiple glue ups, splicing in pieces, carving, and blending finish. Search Gibson headstock repairs on youtube sometime.

thx Irv.

 

[GonePlaid]

We were discussing the claw recently. This came up on my YT 'suggestions':

 

[Gaolee]

Ha! Clearly they are on steroids and have roid rage.

Is there anything in OZ that's not dangerous?

Nope. Everything in Oz really is trying to kill you.

 

[Gaolee]

I’m very glad that I haven’t broken any bones since my 20s. Heal fast and well!

My known broken part list: nose, cheekbone, thumb. There may have been others that weren't confirmed.

It explains a lot. Now hold my beer.

 

[dagrev]

The therapist comes today for the initial assessment.