You guys are right. I allowed myself to get goaded into an argument in another thread. This is the best place.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- club thunderbird
You’re so correct. I say repeatedly, the kids are all right. We saw Becca last week. And this young lady today.
Be wary Roger. Be very wary when venturing out in the GP.
Some phenomenal players in BG, and are hardly are known outside of that community. Most at festivals will never be famous but many are as great at their instrument as any. And the great vocal harmonies on top of that! No show--just play!I always feel a shower is needed after wading into the GP.
I just blast some Motorhead.
You gotta number those when you pull them!
*Disclaimer. The opinions expressed here are my own. They do not reflect those of other members of this club.
I finally got the new to me ‘05 Studio set up, cleaned and polished. It took freaking forever because the previous owner or owners had no clue.
This was a SF Bay Area Craigslist find that Dave noticed and offered to check out. My instructions were to buy it unless there was something obvious that couldn’t be corrected. It was a very good deal at $1K, with case. And with no tax or shipping charge.
I stared work on it on Friday. Removed completely dead rounds that were on it and tossed them. Cleaned and polished the frets, cleaned and oiled the fretboard and made sure frets were sound. They are. No high or loose frets. No noticeable wear. I can’t tell if they have ever been leveled or crowned. Fret end work is immaculate.
Opened the control cavity. I have no clues if this is how it came from Gibson or if it had been modified. Any thoughts?
I popped the TBird Plus pups. I assume this is how they came from Gibson. Does anyone know differently? Anyway, they sound AMAZING! Ken would love them.
Restrung with Dunlop MM Stainless Steel Superbrights. I was going to use 50-105 SIT Power Steels that I ordered but couldn’t find. They came when I was at the GTG. My wife put them somewhere, but couldn’t remember where. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After installing them, it was obvious how dead the old strings were. I was a bit concerned there may have been a tone pot issue, put new strings put that concern to rest.
Then the “fun” began. Look at how the saddles were placed on the. Bridge. And they were set at weird heights. Whoever messed with it was an idiot. And I’m trying to be nice. And the neck was nowhere near straight, but the TR works perfectly so that issue was easily rectified.
Notice that it’s a Badass II bridge. That is not what these basses came with. While the stock bridge was not a three point, it was a Gibson version of the 7ender 5 screw mount high mass style bridge. And this bass would have come with a chrome, not black, bridge. Putting the Badass on this Bird was a total fail. Whoever installed it on this Thunderbird is a complete moron. The Badass was originally designed for 7ender string through body applications. The holes in this bridge were not drilled wide enough for a common set of 45-105s with thick end windings at the ball ends to pass through easily. Again, what an idiot. The bass was “chorusy” before I started working on it. I’m not surprised given that the old strings were bound and twisted. Ugh.
So the obvious solution to me was to replace the stupid Badass bridge with a chrome Babicz 5 screw mount bridge. But wait. The idiot who installed it over tightened the screws. This thing won’t come off. And even if it did, the indentations made by the oversized Badass bridge would be visible.
So realizing that the bridge stays, I worked to file the old holes using the old strings. It was slow going. But I got enough paint and metal removed from the holes to make it work. It took about two hours to get this accomplished.
The bridge is a POS. I will never buy one. .050 hex key is required. Gibson multi-tool to the rescue for that fail. It took forever to get the height and intonation set. About two hours yesterday of back and forth adjustments and another half hour today.
At the end of the day, it’s a great Thunderbird. Beautiful in fact. And it sounds and now plays awesome. But man, it was a project getting it to fly right again.
I finally got the new to me ‘05 Studio set up, cleaned and polished. It took freaking forever because the previous owner or owners had no clue.
This was a SF Bay Area Craigslist find that Dave noticed and offered to check out. My instructions were to buy it unless there was something obvious that couldn’t be corrected. It was a very good deal at $1K, with case. And with no tax or shipping charge.
I stared work on it on Friday. Removed completely dead rounds that were on it and tossed them. Cleaned and polished the frets, cleaned and oiled the fretboard and made sure frets were sound. They are. No high or loose frets. No noticeable wear. I can’t tell if they have ever been leveled or crowned. Fret end work is immaculate.
Opened the control cavity. I have no clues if this is how it came from Gibson or if it had been modified. Any thoughts?
I popped the TBird Plus pups. I assume this is how they came from Gibson. Does anyone know differently? Anyway, they sound AMAZING! Ken would love them.
Restrung with Dunlop MM Stainless Steel Superbrights. I was going to use 50-105 SIT Power Steels that I ordered but couldn’t find. They came when I was at the GTG. My wife put them somewhere, but couldn’t remember where. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After installing them, it was obvious how dead the old strings were. I was a bit concerned there may have been a tone pot issue, put new strings put that concern to rest.
Then the “fun” began. Look at how the saddles were placed on the. Bridge. And they were set at weird heights. Whoever messed with it was an idiot. And I’m trying to be nice. And the neck was nowhere near straight, but the TR works perfectly so that issue was easily rectified.
Notice that it’s a Badass II bridge. That is not what these basses came with. While the stock bridge was not a three point, it was a Gibson version of the 7ender 5 screw mount high mass style bridge. And this bass would have come with a chrome, not black, bridge. Putting the Badass on this Bird was a total fail. Whoever installed it on this Thunderbird is a complete moron. The Badass was originally designed for 7ender string through body applications. The holes in this bridge were not drilled wide enough for a common set of 45-105s with thick end windings at the ball ends to pass through easily. Again, what an idiot. The bass was “chorusy” before I started working on it. I’m not surprised given that the old strings were bound and twisted. Ugh.
So the obvious solution to me was to replace the stupid Badass bridge with a chrome Babicz 5 screw mount bridge. But wait. The idiot who installed it over tightened the screws. This thing won’t come off. And even if it did, the indentations made by the oversized Badass bridge would be visible.
So realizing that the bridge stays, I worked to file the old holes using the old strings. It was slow going. But I got enough paint and metal removed from the holes to make it work. It took about two hours to get this accomplished.
The bridge is a POS. I will never buy one. .050 hex key is required. Gibson multi-tool to the rescue for that fail. It took forever to get the height and intonation set. About two hours yesterday of back and forth adjustments and another half hour today.
At the end of the day, it’s a great Thunderbird. Beautiful in fact. And it sounds and now plays awesome. But man, it was a project getting it to fly right again.
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that’s my main stand.
There was a lot of orange peel in that finish. What did you use for polish as it looks fantastic now! Great work. Hope you still feel it was a good purchase.
Pretty much, I have a mk II 90's 400RB, & i've played 800rbs in the past. Somehow, i prefer the 400rb over the 800rb (even when its bi-amped).
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Like a piano? Beats me what you do with it.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
That is an amazing image. It is kinda metal looking.
Wow on the BadA$$.
But I think it’s a perfectly fine bridge for that bass.
I thought it played great as it was.
But I also would get everything cleaned up on it.
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Your guess is a good as mine. I have adequately sized hands to take on a big P-bass neck, but there is little chance they would be adequate to do much with that thing. He should play slide on it with a length of sewer pipe.Right hand pedal tones on the bass side, hammer-on/pull-off notes from left hand on treble side?
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Where are you going this time?
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
No, they are not, but that photo has metal show energy.
