Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

Oooo. I can bring my Super 800 Plus (GK 800RB-based preamp) if anyone wants to check it out! Don't need a flight case for that.

Is it the same as Kens?
Regardless, definitely bring!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

His is certainly a more robust design - but never forget - Happens…
View attachment 5131512

very true, my squire strat I use to test amps suffered the same fate in the garage (all fixed now) but doesn't seem as common with 7ender basses even if J necks are really thin at the nut.....I know, short and thick does the trick and Ahem and all that....

 

[wango55]

Thunderbird Thursday! I’ve got band rehearsal later tonight and am bringing my slightly updated Franken VP. I was able to find bridge bolts that are lower profile and don’t stab me in the hand like the previous ones did. The two stickers I haven’t decided if I’m keeping or not. They’re amusing to me and are covering the holes from where the tailpiece would be mounted.

 

[davelowell2]

I’ve never been fond of surface mounted plates on the side of a guitar or bass, so I use a flush mount Fender ElectroSocket. Eliminates the potential for clothing snags on buggered up screw heads. Fits right in the Rosser side entry output jack hole.
Electrosocket Jack Mount - StewMac

Thanks!

 

[MCF]

very true, my squire strat I use to test amps suffered the same fate in the garage (all fixed now) but doesn't seem as common with 7ender basses even if J necks are really thin at the nut.....I know, short and thick does the

Thunderbird Thursday! I’ve got band rehearsal later tonight and am bringing my slightly updated Franken VP. I was able to find bridge bolts that are lower profile and don’t stab me in the hand like the previous ones did. The two stickers I haven’t decided if I’m keeping or not. They’re amusing to me and are covering the holes from where the tailpiece would be mounted.

I like it! The black pickguard looks great!

 

[GBassNorth]

If you have room, that needs to make it to the GTG.

The anniversary bird stays home. The replacement price on that thing is getting ridiculous and this one plays super sweet. By far my best sounding Gibson Tbird. Besides, most of the folks at the GTG have already played a modern plastic pup Tbird so it shouldn’t be a revelation to anyone there.
The plan right now is:
Greco II - not an uncommon or unaffordable bird, but most have never played one, how does it sound? Find out.
Dingwall DBird - fanned fret, which most haven’t tried but always begs the question - how hard is it to get used to? Find out.
FrankenGoth - what happens when you put a two band preamp and split coil Bart pickups in a bird? Find out.
BlingBird - so what do China buckers sound like, what does a 3 pup bird sound like, how does a semi hollow balance? Find out.

In addition to the four basses above, I’ll be bringing some gear to give away as door prizes, including a very unique and cool sounding travel size bass for one of our lucky fly ins that unfortunately couldn’t bring their own bass. A monstrous sounding dual channel tube driven overdrive pedal. A new Gator Gig Bag, several unique string sets, and even a special guitar related gift for Frank for putting up with all our bass antics (aren’t many guitarists that’ll do that for four days straight). That’ll all happen on Saturday morning sometime.

 

[dagrev]

That song never gets old.

Never, ever.

 

[wango55]

I like it! The black pickguard looks great!

Thanks! I wanted to go for the opposite of my black VP.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Someone’s gotta start this show, so how bout it, Thunderbird Thursday anyone?…
View attachment 5131539

yep….

 

[MCF]

Is it the same as Kens?
Regardless, definitely bring!

I so want.

From the website:

“This is the Super Eight Hundred Plus; our interpretation of the 1980s Gallien Krueger 800RB bass amplifier.

This pedal has the exact same tone as its baby brother, the Super Eight Hundred, but has a few extra features:

In addition to the 4-band active EQ that has Bass, Lo Mid, Hi Mid, Treble controls, Vol (gain), Master, and Boost. There are 3 toggle switches that control the player to sculpt their tone: Lo Cut, Mid Contour, and Hi Boost.

The boost function has been moved from a toggle switch in the Super Eight Hundred to a footswitch so you can engage it while playing.

The 4-band EQ is an active gyrator equalizer which has boost and cut capabilities. The Lo Cut, Mid Contour, and Hi Boost are tone shaping controls that allow you to shape your fundamental tone at the first gain stage before the equalizer.

Another feature that was added was the full sized XLR DI jack as found in the original amp. This will allow you to send a balanced DI signal direct to the board or your audio interface for painless live shows and recording.

The pedal uses a standard boss-style 9V power supply. The internal circuitry boosts the 9V input to a ±15V voltage for maximum headroom in the equalizer section, just like in the original amplifier.

The entire pedal is housed in 1590BB2 enclosure with top-mounted jacks.

Each pedal uses a professionally assembled PCB and is proudly assembled by hand in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Other features include:
- Soft touch relay true bypass
- Alpha potentiometers and rotary switch
- Lumberg/Neutrik/Rean/Amphenol top-mounted jacks
- Professional high quality FR4 PCB
- Black Sand texture powdercoated 1590BB2 enclosure
- UV Printed artwork

The end result is high quality pedals that sound amazing, are consistent from pedal-to-pedal.

Each pedal comes with a 1 year warranty on parts and labour. Note that the warranty does not cover damage due to using an improper power supply or other misuse.

The price is $269US + shipping.

Shipping within Canada and the US is $20US. Shipping to the UK, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan is $60US. For other regions, please inquire for shipping rates.

For US customers, note that you do not have to pay any import duties or tariffs.

For customers outside of North America, please note that you will be responsible for any customs/import/VAT charges that your country levies on the pedal.

Thank you and stay safe!”

 

[Gaolee]

I have both and would agree with your assessment as well.
Just as a side note, for whatever reason, I rarely tap the coils on my 2015, but I tap the coils on my EB all the time. Also, my EB is a much louder bass because for whatever reason I didn’t need to lower the pickups in it as much as my Tbird (might be why I tap one more than the other).

Now that you mention it, the same thing goes on at my house. If you raise the pickups in the '15 Thunderbird, all hell breaks loose and it sounds awful and chorusy. For whatever reason, the EB doesn't do that. Maybe it has something to do with the 'Bird's mahogany body doing something or another.

 

[GBassNorth]

yep….
View attachment 5131614

Thx for showing us a close up of your bird! Nice bass too!

 

[Gaolee]

When I first got mine, that's pretty much how the B string was used except for an occasional Eb, D, Db, or C at the end of a tune. Drop tunings wouldn't work well for me 'cos I hafta read notation.

I get a huge kick out of flipping the x-tender lever to hit a low D to end some songs. It's the only time I use it, but I do it regularly enough that it's worth having on pretty much every bass I play much.

 

[Instagator]

I have one of those ‘13 EB Basses as well.
Long story short…It sat on my local Craig’s list for two weeks before I sent a message.
I really wasn’t interested at the time but l figured what the hell. The person had already reduced the price once.
It came from a affluent suburb near me..Dad bought his son the Bass of his choice..kid took lessons with his first instrument and couldn’t get over the learning hump.
A custom skateboard was calling his name.
Dad took my offer of $285 with the case.
To this day it still has all of the plastic on the pickguard.It has some dust on the headstock from hanging out on the rack.
I handed the cash to the kid at the meet up spot..Dad didn’t look to happy.

Cheers.

 

[Gaolee]

I have one of those ‘13 EB Basses as well.
Long story short…It sat on my local Craig’s list for two weeks before I sent a message.
I really wasn’t interested at the time but l figured what the hell. The person had already reduced the price once.
It came from a affluent suburb near me..Dad bought his son the Bass of his choice..kid took lessons with his first instrument and couldn’t get over the learning hump.
A custom skateboard was calling his name.
Dad took my offer of $285 with the case.
To this day it still has all of the plastic on the pickguard.It has some dust on the headstock from hanging out on the rack.
I handed the cash to the kid at the meet up spot..Dad didn’t look to happy.

Cheers.

View attachment 5131635

I thought I got a smoking deal at $500, delivered. You are downright duk'o'frock quality in your deal on that one. I put a black pickguard on mine because I just flat don't like the way tort looks on anything but an acoustic guitar.

 

[MCF]

@Miles_ONeal and I enabled each other today. He bought one of the B-stock Gator Thunderbird cases I found. I bought the Epi Alpine White ‘10 LE Custom Shop Thunderbird he found.

2010 Epiphone Thunderbird IV Limited Edition Custom Shop in Alpine White w/ Epiphone Case (Very Good) *Free Shipping* | Reverb

Hanging out here while I’m recovering from surgery is costing me money. Just when I said this morning no more new Thunderbirds for awhile.

The seller is https://www.gorhambrothersmusic.com in Syracuse. It looks like a cool shop.

We met in the middle re the price. $500 plus tax, including shipping to CA all the way from New York and a case. That’s a very fair deal IMO, especially with the shipping and the case.

The whole transaction took less than five minutes. It has already shipped so I’ll probably get it next Thursday or Friday.

It is my first white bass. And it will be the fifth in my Epi Limited Edition Custom Shop collection. An Ebony one is all that is left to find to complete the flock.

As I have stated many times, these are great Thunderbirds.

 

[MCF]

I have one of those ‘13 EB Basses as well.
Long story short…It sat on my local Craig’s list for two weeks before I sent a message.
I really wasn’t interested at the time but l figured what the hell. The person had already reduced the price once.
It came from a affluent suburb near me..Dad bought his son the Bass of his choice..kid took lessons with his first instrument and couldn’t get over the learning hump.
A custom skateboard was calling his name.
Dad took my offer of $285 with the case.
To this day it still has all of the plastic on the pickguard.It has some dust on the headstock from hanging out on the rack.
I handed the cash to the kid at the meet up spot..Dad didn’t look to happy.

Cheers.

View attachment 5131635

That is probably the best deal you’ll ever score on a bass. Congratulations!

 

[MCF]

I thought I got a smoking deal at $500, delivered. You are downright duk'o'frock quality in your deal on that one. I put a black pickguard on mine because I just flat don't like the way tort looks on anything but an acoustic guitar.

Agree re the tort. But Mr. Gator’s EB looks awesome. I’d make an exception for that.

 

[Instagator]

That is probably the best deal you’ll probably ever score on a bass. Congratulations!

I have my fingers crossed for tomorrow at 5 pm. Thunderbird/cash exchange.
Of course I'll provide details once I have it in hand.

 

[MCF]

I get a huge kick out of flipping the x-tender lever to hit a low D to end some songs. It's the only time I use it, but I do it regularly enough that it's worth having on pretty much every bass I play much.

I need to research extenders and get a few. One for one of the EPIs, one for the ‘15, and one for the ‘13 NR. And maybe one for ‘21 NR.