Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

you are absolutely right…almost better than a 7ender, roommate had one years ago and I was blown away with what a fine instrument it was…. his was all black with just one P pup…

Like many basses flying under-the-radar, I'm sure it will make sufficient bass sounds... but aesthetically (hockey-stick hs with Fender style body) .... I'll pass regardless of price.

 

[GBassNorth]

As promised, a full review of the 1995 Epiphone NR Tbird.

General observation - it's as much a Fender as it is a Gibson.

Just running down the specs you'd easily confuse it with a Fender brand product…
-1-5/8" wide neck (right between a Jazz and P bass)
-Solid single piece maple neck with a rosewood board and mother of toilet seat fret markers
-Bolt on neck with 4 bolt neck plate
-Four in line tuners
-Pearloid pickguard
-P/J pickup layout in traditional Fender locations
-Bent plate bridge with grub screws and barrel saddles
-3/4" string spacing at the bridge
-V/V/T control layout
-Side Jack
-Strap pin on the upper horn
-3 piece Alder or Ash body
-weighs in at 8#15oz

But does it sound like a Fender? Yep, very much so, maybe better in some ways.
Warm and punchy split P pickup, except reversed the way Leo should have done it. Burpy bridge Jazz pickup, except it actually has useable volume levels for blending with the neck pickup. Both pickups are very useable throughout the tone knob range. Solo the neck and turn the tone knob to zero and you still have plenty of definition and punch. Solo the bridge and max the tone knob and you still have nice warmth with no annoying harsh top end. My favorite setting on this bass is neck on max, bridge on 8 and tone on max - gives an incredibly punchy deep rich and articulate sound that fits very nicely in a mix. Dime both pups and you get a nice mid scoop. And most importantly for me, no typical nasal Jazz tone at all!

I bought this bass as a cheap NR option with the intent of replacing the pickups with something more unique (Lipsticks, DarkStars, B90's…) but at this point I'm not so sure I want to go that route. I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date, but the Epiphone P/J pickups are actually quite good. The P is certainly as good as any Fender P I've played. @Nocturnal warned me ahead of time that these basses actually sound pretty good stock, and I agree. If I do a swap I might consider a Geezer or Rio Grande P/J set just to add even more balls to the sound, but that's a big if.

At this point there are two attributes that I'm not fond of on this bass…
- the slight tendency for neck droop to 3:00 (but that's solved with the proper strap)
- the butt ugly pickguard. Pearoid (yuck), red Tbird logo (yuck) and the massive gap left by using a guard designed to surround a bridge humbucker but installing a Jazz single coil instead (yuck). I'll have to design a new guard that looks like it was made for this pickup layout if I'm going to keep the P/J pups.

Neck thickness (front to back) comparison with Gibson 2021 NR Tbird…
Eppi NR - at the first fret .79", at the 12th fret .870", at the body 1.3"
Gibby NR - at the first fret .89", at the 12th fret 1.10", at the body 1.3"
Eppi NR is the same nut width as Gibby NR, but is thinner (front to back) than the Gibby most the length of the neck.

An interesting comparison of body thickness - left to right - '95 Eppi NR, Gibby Anniversary bird, Dingwall DBird
Weights of the three - 8 pounds 15 ounces, 7 pounds 13 ounces, 7 pounds 10 ounces.

 

[KB5]

Does that exist? I've already got the jumbo size, micro might be cool.

Hmmmm. Short scale bird? Any out there?

Only one that I know of.

 

[GBassNorth]

Almost missed pink ptuesday…











I think I have the jazz sold tomorrow as long as I don't get flaked on, already sold almost 20 peddles…

I can do pink PTuesday…

 

[Stealth57]

Posted this in the wrong thread

Back on the farm with our new cowpoke. Mug, the Kelpie herding dog.

 

[RedVee]

Posted this in the wrong thread

Back on the farm with our new cowpoke. Mug, the Kelpie herding dog.

View attachment 5178906

For the kelpie. Needs a lot of exercise / activity / work though.

 

[Stealth57]

For the kelpie. Needs a lot of exercise / activity / work though.

His charges are 3 mini Jerseys. He'll be herd master. Definitely a bundle of energy.

 

[semiprohooker]

So what are my options for Black or Black chrome pickups?

 

[Ringhammer]

So what are my options for Black or Black chrome pickups?

Lollar and Seymour Duncan offer black nickel finish.

 

[Nocturnal]

As promised, a full review of the 1995 Epiphone NR Tbird.
View attachment 5178896

General observation - it's as much a Fender as it is a Gibson.

Just running down the specs you'd easily confuse it with a Fender brand product…
-1-5/8" wide neck (right between a Jazz and P bass)
-Solid single piece maple neck with a rosewood board and mother of toilet seat fret markers
-Bolt on neck with 4 bolt neck plate
-Four in line tuners
-Pearloid pickguard
-P/J pickup layout in traditional Fender locations
-Bent plate bridge with grub screws and barrel saddles
-3/4" string spacing at the bridge
-V/V/T control layout
-Side Jack
-Strap pin on the upper horn
-3 piece Alder or Ash body
-weighs in at 8#15oz

But does it sound like a Fender? Yep, very much so, maybe better in some ways.
Warm and punchy split P pickup, except reversed the way Leo should have done it. Burpy bridge Jazz pickup, except it actually has useable volume levels for blending with the neck pickup. Both pickups are very useable throughout the tone knob range. Solo the neck and turn the tone knob to zero and you still have plenty of definition and punch. Solo the bridge and max the tone knob and you still have nice warmth with no annoying harsh top end. My favorite setting on this bass is neck on max, bridge on 8 and tone on max - gives an incredibly punchy deep rich and articulate sound that fits very nicely in a mix. Dime both pups and you get a nice mid scoop. And most importantly for me, no typical nasal Jazz tone at all!

I bought this bass as a cheap NR option with the intent of replacing the pickups with something more unique (Lipsticks, DarkStars, B90's…) but at this point I'm not so sure I want to go that route. I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date, but the Epiphone P/J pickups are actually quite good. The P is certainly as good as any Fender P I've played. @Nocturnal warned me ahead of time that these basses actually sound pretty good stock, and I agree. If I do a swap I might consider a Geezer or Rio Grande P/J set just to add even more balls to the sound, but that's a big if.

At this point there are two attributes that I'm not fond of on this bass…
- the slight tendency for neck droop to 3:00 (but that's solved with the proper strap)
- the butt ugly pickguard. Pearoid (yuck), red Tbird logo (yuck) and the massive gap left by using a guard designed to surround a bridge humbucker but installing a Jazz single coil instead (yuck). I'll have to design a new guard that looks like it was made for this pickup layout if I'm going to keep the P/J pups.

Neck thickness (front to back) comparison with Gibson 2021 NR Tbird…
Eppi NR - at the first fret .79", at the 12th fret .870", at the body 1.3"
Gibby NR - at the first fret .89", at the 12th fret 1.10", at the body 1.3"
Eppi NR is the same nut width as Gibby NR, but is thinner (front to back) than the Gibby most the length of the neck.

An interesting comparison of body thickness - left to right - '95 Eppi NR, Gibby Anniversary bird, Dingwall DBird
Weights of the three - 8 pounds 15 ounces, 7 pounds 13 ounces, 7 pounds 10 ounces.
View attachment 5178875

I am glad that you like the Epi NR! I like both of mine (modded and unmodded) and work them thru the playing rotation. If you prefer a more basic white guard, I will trade you the plain one from my green model. The white pearl would look better on the green than the burst IMO. I believe you can remove the red Bird from the guard as well.

Does yours have the Epi logo screened on the headstock or is is just on the TRC?

 

[semiprohooker]

Lollar and Seymour Duncan offer black nickel finish.

Duncan makes the Lulls I believe, right???

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

So, can I take that as you NOT being someone I can bring my SVT to when necessary? My current guy will no longer work on them (he's in his early seventies now). I've been considering selling it simply because I'm not sure I'll have anyone I trust to work on it in the future. My guy will still work on my Orange AD200B, for now.

oh you can bring it whenever you want, don't mind me, we Italians like to complain……what's wrong with it?…
PM me pls.

 

[GonePlaid]

oh you can bring it whenever you want, don't mind me, we Italians like to complain……what's wrong with it?…
PM me pls.

If it's any comfort to you, we Irish have been known to bit..., erm, complain occasionally.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

As promised, a full review of the 1995 Epiphone NR Tbird.
View attachment 5178896

General observation - it's as much a Fender as it is a Gibson.

Just running down the specs you'd easily confuse it with a Fender brand product…
-1-5/8" wide neck (right between a Jazz and P bass)
-Solid single piece maple neck with a rosewood board and mother of toilet seat fret markers
-Bolt on neck with 4 bolt neck plate
-Four in line tuners
-Pearloid pickguard
-P/J pickup layout in traditional Fender locations
-Bent plate bridge with grub screws and barrel saddles
-3/4" string spacing at the bridge
-V/V/T control layout
-Side Jack
-Strap pin on the upper horn
-3 piece Alder or Ash body
-weighs in at 8#15oz

But does it sound like a Fender? Yep, very much so, maybe better in some ways.
Warm and punchy split P pickup, except reversed the way Leo should have done it. Burpy bridge Jazz pickup, except it actually has useable volume levels for blending with the neck pickup. Both pickups are very useable throughout the tone knob range. Solo the neck and turn the tone knob to zero and you still have plenty of definition and punch. Solo the bridge and max the tone knob and you still have nice warmth with no annoying harsh top end. My favorite setting on this bass is neck on max, bridge on 8 and tone on max - gives an incredibly punchy deep rich and articulate sound that fits very nicely in a mix. Dime both pups and you get a nice mid scoop. And most importantly for me, no typical nasal Jazz tone at all!

I bought this bass as a cheap NR option with the intent of replacing the pickups with something more unique (Lipsticks, DarkStars, B90's…) but at this point I'm not so sure I want to go that route. I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date, but the Epiphone P/J pickups are actually quite good. The P is certainly as good as any Fender P I've played. @Nocturnal warned me ahead of time that these basses actually sound pretty good stock, and I agree. If I do a swap I might consider a Geezer or Rio Grande P/J set just to add even more balls to the sound, but that's a big if.

At this point there are two attributes that I'm not fond of on this bass…
- the slight tendency for neck droop to 3:00 (but that's solved with the proper strap)
- the butt ugly pickguard. Pearoid (yuck), red Tbird logo (yuck) and the massive gap left by using a guard designed to surround a bridge humbucker but installing a Jazz single coil instead (yuck). I'll have to design a new guard that looks like it was made for this pickup layout if I'm going to keep the P/J pups.

Neck thickness (front to back) comparison with Gibson 2021 NR Tbird…
Eppi NR - at the first fret .79", at the 12th fret .870", at the body 1.3"
Gibby NR - at the first fret .89", at the 12th fret 1.10", at the body 1.3"
Eppi NR is the same nut width as Gibby NR, but is thinner (front to back) than the Gibby most the length of the neck.

An interesting comparison of body thickness - left to right - '95 Eppi NR, Gibby Anniversary bird, Dingwall DBird
Weights of the three - 8 pounds 15 ounces, 7 pounds 13 ounces, 7 pounds 10 ounces.
View attachment 5178875

missing sound clip….

 

[Stealth57]

Huevos cualquiera?

 

[Ringhammer]

oh you can bring it whenever you want, don't mind me, we Italians like to complain……what's wrong with it?…
PM me pls.

Nothing atm, it's a '73, and still running the original Sylvania power tubes, and all but one preamp tubes. Last time it was looked at it was all good, all the tubes were still in good shape. I had it recapped when I bought it around 5-6 years ago, just because. I also had the standby switch moved to the front where the now unnecessary (death cap out and 3-prong power cord installed) "polarity" switch was.

I basically do not use it live anymore, it's parked in one of my rehearsal spaces on top of a late '80's 810e and, when we rehearse on schedule, gets used twice a week for about 2-3 hours at a time.

I just want to know I have a place to take it if it does act up, since my longtime guy is no longer willing to work on them.

 

[GBassNorth]

I am glad that you like the Epi NR! I like both of mine (modded and unmodded) and work them thru the playing rotation. If you prefer a more basic white guard, I will trade you the plain one from my green model. The white pearl would look better on the green than the burst IMO. I believe you can remove the red Bird from the guard as well.
Does yours have the Epi logo screened on the headstock or is is just on the TRC?

Thanks for the offer, but I'll keep the stock guard in case I sell the bass at a later date. I'll redesign one that looks better with the Jazz bridge pup and have Irv fab it up.

missing sound clip….

Unfortunately no easy way to do that right now. I guess getting a YouTube channel is probably the way to go when it comes to posting video and sound here. I've tried other methods, RPITA!

 

[BklynKen]

I returned to playing bass ten or so years ago. I want to play out again in the worst way.

Back in the day, it was me and my guitarist buddy. We had several bands with different people rotating in and out on an ongoing basis, depending on work. Proms, Homecoming dances, after game dances, oldies "sock hops," grad parties, church dances, etc. We were busy. It drove our parents nuts.

When I was in college, I was good enough to get calls to play frat and sorority parties, dorm dances, etc. with different people. It was always fun and put beer money in my pocket.

I took it seriously, but always had fun. Is it really as hard as you all seem to say it is now?

Not if you find the right people.

 

[Ringhammer]

Not if you find the right people.

which can be the hardest part.

 

[BklynKen]

which can be the hardest part.

Yup. Needle in a haystack at times.