Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

All of my TSO’s neck dive a little. 4 of the Gibsons have Hipshot ultralights, one is still sporting the stock black ones and the 2 Epiphones still have the stock Wilkinson tuners. I have added a flush Dunlop strap lock pin (receptacle ?) at the lower strap pin, up closer to the top edge, which minimizes the neck dive. It goes along with needing to be extra aware of where the headstock is in time and space so you don’t bash it into something when you’re moving about. Neck dive is a minor nuisance but well worth it given the returns in them being lightweight, great sounding, great feeling, great playing and all around cool looking basses.

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Beauty!

 

[Roger W]

I followed about half the advice I got. 2012 G3 reissue.

 

[JJR58]

I followed about half the advice I got. 2012 G3 reissue.

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You followed the good enabling half I see.

 

[GBassNorth]

Given Thunderbird’s notorious neck dive, maybe more body wood is a good trade off for discomfort

Maybe I’m just lucky, but of my 14 thunderbirds (various brands and models) only three have neck dive and only one of those is remotely problematic regardless of what strap or pin location I use - it’s not constructed like any of my other traditional Tbirds (NR body that looks like poplar or alder with a solid maple bolt on neck, heavy tuners, light single coil pickups and a light fender type bent plate bridge).

 

[GBassNorth]

OMG! Those plugged holes(A-hem?)completely ruin it. Send it to me(I'm prolly the farthest from you in CONUS)so that it doesn't bother you any more.

LOL - good old Mike, always there to “take one for the team”

 

[Engle]

Like Geo, my background is in art and graphic design. When it came time to put food on the table for a wife and family I realized I wasn’t going to be where I needed to be financially unless I took a divergent path. For me that was mechanical design and industrial art.

That field of art is much more rigid, and all about conformity to industry norms. This was in the days before CAD systems were common, pretty much all technical drawings were still done by hand at a drafting table with a parallel straight edge and triangles or if you were lucky, a mechanical arm.

Object lines had to be three sizes wider than dimension lines, hand printed text was all caps and dead vertical, object drawings with multiple views and notes had to be laid out properly for the drawing size being used, vellum, mylar or other drawing paper had to be a match for the rapidagraph pen or mechanical pencil being used and even pencil lead types and eraser types were dictated.

To Geo’s point, my fist drafting boss drilled into my and everyone else’s head in the drafting pool - that the goal ISN’T perfection. His position was that you’ll never reach perfection, it’s relative, and trying to get there will cost the company unnecessary time and money. Besides, they hire drafting checkers that get paid to find something wrong with your drawing, and they always do.

His expectation that stuck with me throughout my career and still plays a major role in my creative endeavors was simple but powerful. All he wanted was for each of his drafter/designers to “Autograph their work with Excellence”. To this day, I still follow that advice.

I’m my own worst critic, if I create something that has a flaw that I spot, no matter how small or insignificant, I pretty much go all OCD over it until it’s corrected. I’m happy when it’s excellent. Is it perfect, that all depends on who you ask, and really doesn’t weigh in as heavily to me as just putting out excellent work.

When I was a tel and data cabling technician, I took the initiative to make my installations look great even when I was working by the piece, because it was satisfying to make them look good, not that they needed to be that nice.

 

[GBassNorth]

the neck dive is truly notorious among those with little to no Thunderbird experience.

LOL - right there with the infamous “one trick pony” and the ubiquitous “sounds like mud” pickups, not to mention the devastating “horrid quality control”

 

[GBassNorth]

When I was a tel and data cabling technician, I took the initiative to make my installations look great even when I was working by the piece, because it was satisfying to make them look good, not that they needed to be that nice.

I’ve seen pics of your wire management, and for an OCD guy like me with a pet peeve for sloppy wiring routing it’s pure heaven! Irv - I’ve noticed that everything you do is “Autographed in Excellence”. Such a keen eye for detail and the drive and desire to “do it right” vs just getting it done. Love ya man!

 

[GBassNorth]

I spent four hours shedding with the new to me Breedlove acoustic fiver today. I really like it. Played the Silversun Pickups songs that Nikki plays in drop D. It didn’t take long to adjust. And the wider neck isn’t an issue for me.

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My learning predated the five string revolution. But playing one is very intuitive. I don’t know why I waited so long.

I’m now on the hunt for a five string Studio Thunderbird. If anyone has one they’d like to sell, please PM me.

Marshall, so glad to see you’re bonding with it. I’ve played one with LaBella black tapes on it, and it really brings the acoustic qualities of the bass forward when amplified. I’d recommend going that route when you get a chance, it’ll make playing that bass even more fun and enjoyable. Just be sure to get the medium gauge set so you can feed the strings through the tail piece.

 

[Engle]

Another thing to consider about that bridge is that it is pretty thick, The lowest possible adjustment is still pretty high. Higher than a three-point adjusted all the way down.

I could make it work with the bolt on by shimming the neck. If it was on one of my neck throughs I think it may have been too high.

Overall, I don't hate the bridge. It does the job. But I will probably be replacing it one of these days. I used it because I had it and could make it work. Kind of a placeholder.

Planning on making one like the VP or the original '60s bridge and tailpiece. Sooner or later. Have another t-bird project in the works so I'll probably make a few when I get around to it.

I have the milling machine and aluminum stock here so it shouldn't be a really difficult project. Also set up for nickel plating, but aluminum is pretty difficult to plate, so I'll have to mess with it a little bit but should be able to get it right.

I'd say you may as well make a batch. I'd be happy to chip in.

 

[Engle]

Had an idea yesterday, as i was going back into RD basses. I feel they'd look better with a bird variant headstock shape.
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I would bring the neck further in the body to lessen any dive however xD

Brilliant! I always felt like there was a disconnect between the RD body and the Gibson standard headstock.

 

[MCF]

Marshall, so glad to see you’re bonding with it. I’ve played one with LaBella black tapes on it, and it really brings the acoustic qualities of the bass forward when amplified. I’d recommend going that route when you get a chance, it’ll make playing that bass even more fun and enjoyable. Just be sure to get the medium gauge set so you can feed the strings through the tail piece.

Ha! You read my mind George. I was going to ask you about string gauge.

 

[Stealth57]

This is the only place that accepts a melon-headed Thunderbird player...

Accept is a bit strong. Tolerates?

 

[MCF]

I followed about half the advice I got. 2012 G3 reissue.

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Good call. A rare one. And looks to be in great shape.

 

[Engle]

Given Thunderbird’s notorious neck dive, maybe more body wood is a good trade off for discomfort

The Thunderbird is all about notoriety

 

[Nocturnal]

I followed about half the advice I got. 2012 G3 reissue.

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Congratulations!! Nice score!!

 

[Nocturnal]

This 2-piece bridge has popped into my eBay feed a couple times. I used the "add to list" feature so I could review it later and a few hours later I had an offer for 15% off. Might work on a Thunderbird?
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[Engle]

I was expecting to see an Allen key truss rod nut, but the Orville is true to its Gibson heritage. I had to get out my “crack pipe”.
The nut slots are perfect, but the nut shaping is crude. I’ll be cleaning that up!

The truss rod works - always nice to confirm on a new-to-me instrument!
The truss rod cover is also very thin, but not warped:

This bass does angry piano very nicely, especially low down on the neck. It’s been played a lot:

I don’t mind a bit of pickup tilt, but this will need to be addressed. I’m told I need to research 3D printers before Christmas, so a pickup ring spacer will be a good first project.

And a shot I took while waiting for Will yesterday:

 

[JJR58]

This 2-piece bridge has popped into my eBay feed a couple times. I used the "add to list" feature so I could review it later and a few hours later I had an offer for 15% off. Might work on a Thunderbird?
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That's kinda cool, just wonder if the bridge will sit properly height wise depending on how it’s mounted and what’s used as far as lugs and such.

 

[Stealth57]

I was expecting to see an Allen key truss rod nut, but the Orville is true to its Gibson heritage. I had to get out my “crack pipe”.
The nut slots are perfect, but the nut shaping is crude. I’ll be cleaning that up!
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The truss rod works - always nice to confirm on a new-to-me instrument!
The truss rod cover is also very thin, but not warped:
View attachment 5227089

This bass does angry piano very nicely, especially low down on the neck. It’s been played a lot:
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I don’t mind a bit of pickup tilt, but this will need to be addressed. I’m told I need to research 3D printers before Christmas, so a pickup ring spacer will be a good first project.
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And a shot I took while waiting for Will yesterday:
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I'll put in a good word with Santa on the 3D printer. I'll need a pickup ring for a VP that is 9/16" wider at the neck and bridge sides...along with a secret PG and TRC project