Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

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

Honestly, what wood is removed for a bevel is inconsequential. (an ounce? maybe?) Besides, T-birds neck-diving is a grossly exaggerated myth spread by T-bird owners so people shy away from them.

 

[Engle]

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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Those saddles look like the ones on the Aliexpress Chickenbacker bridges.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

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).

I love neckdive….

 

[JIO]

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

walk a mile in his shoes...

 

[JIO]

I love neckdive….

Exactly!

 

[Roger W]

Why is do much of this thread about general life and not about Thunderbirds‽

Because it’s the Thunderbird club meaning that the original organizing principle was an interest in Thunderbirds, but we like hanging out on line. Some of us even enjoy hanging out in person. We talk about things that interest us with people we find interesting.

 

[JIO]

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. The weight savings with the Hipshots is minor, but I have them on 4 of my Gibsons because I prefer nickel to black hardware, and in all cases I do not have the stock black TB+ pickups installed, but rather some aftermarket vintage style nickel cover pickups and rings, or chrome in the case of my black Gibson.

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.

View attachment 5227039

Perfect choice of Dunlop Strap-Lok interface (cup) in the perfect location.

 

[Roger W]

Every now and then I forget we have folks in here that don’t have a lot of the history and background of the other long standing club members.

Your point is legit and was probably at least sparked by my little story about “Autographing Your Work With Excellence”. As I was writing that post I was referencing in my mind my last Thunderbird build. My bad for not making the connection more obvious.

That build like my other builds IMHO came out excellent, not perfect, but excellent. You may not have seen any of the build shots or finished product, so here it is…

quick three pup layout comparison of the planned BlingBird build vs a VP pup layout…
View attachment 5226585

back from the finisher and all the pieces ready for assembly…
View attachment 5226586 View attachment 5226587

wiring it all up and shielding the cavities…
View attachment 5226588

my custom designed control circuit (three volume/tone stacks to retain the original Tbird three knob look but offer discrete tone shaping for each individual pickup) and the design goal of keeping the control cavity nice and tidy with room to spare for any future mods that might come down the pike (black electric tape was just there to keep the pots sealed during construction)…
View attachment 5226589

finished product, the BlingBird in all its gaudy glory…
View attachment 5226591 View attachment 5226592 View attachment 5226593 View attachment 5226594
Is it perfect? Nope!

I stripped a cheap ass trim ring screw (still drives me nutz, but would require drilling out to fix, not worth it), the neck was from a previously deceased Fender P bass so it still shows the plugged string tree screw hole on the front of the headstock and the plugged tuner screw holes on the back of the headstock. I could have had the finisher blend them in better (hand painting a faux tiger stripe over each hole to better hide the plug) but it would have almost doubled the cost of the finish job and not really eliminated the issue. And I used the lowest cost option Tbird humbuckers (ChinaBuckers from EY guitars) because I wasn’t really sure exactly how it was going to sound with the custom control circuit, VP pups or the new Gibson NR pups would most likely have been an even better option.

All in all, I think it came out excellent in looks, sound, playability, features and quality - it did garner quite a few fans at the recent Tbird GTG in Santa Cruz, with the very well stocked guitar store owner practically begging me to sell it to him or make him an identical one.

So there you have it, all the Tbird crap that was running around in my head as I was typing my original “Excellence” post. Hope all the photos and background info help quench your thirst for more Tbird content.

I’m really more from the “I like it ratty” school, but that is beautiful. I love it.

 

[Stealth57]

I love neckdive….

Ahem

 

[JIO]

Every now and then I forget we have folks in here that don’t have a lot of the history and background of the other long standing club members.

Your point is legit and was probably at least sparked by my little story about “Autographing Your Work With Excellence”. As I was writing that post I was referencing in my mind my last Thunderbird build. My bad for not making the connection more obvious.

That build like my other builds IMHO came out excellent, not perfect, but excellent. You may not have seen any of the build shots or finished product, so here it is…

quick three pup layout comparison of the planned BlingBird build vs a VP pup layout…
View attachment 5226585

back from the finisher and all the pieces ready for assembly…
View attachment 5226586 View attachment 5226587

wiring it all up and shielding the cavities…
View attachment 5226588

my custom designed control circuit (three volume/tone stacks to retain the original Tbird three knob look but offer discrete tone shaping for each individual pickup) and the design goal of keeping the control cavity nice and tidy with room to spare for any future mods that might come down the pike (black electric tape was just there to keep the pots sealed during construction)…
View attachment 5226589

finished product, the BlingBird in all its gaudy glory…
View attachment 5226591 View attachment 5226592 View attachment 5226593 View attachment 5226594
Is it perfect? Nope!

I stripped a cheap ass trim ring screw (still drives me nutz, but would require drilling out to fix, not worth it), the neck was from a previously deceased Fender P bass so it still shows the plugged string tree screw hole on the front of the headstock and the plugged tuner screw holes on the back of the headstock. I could have had the finisher blend them in better (hand painting a faux tiger stripe over each hole to better hide the plug) but it would have almost doubled the cost of the finish job and not really eliminated the issue. And I used the lowest cost option Tbird humbuckers (ChinaBuckers from EY guitars) because I wasn’t really sure exactly how it was going to sound with the custom control circuit, VP pups or the new Gibson NR pups would most likely have been an even better option.

All in all, I think it came out excellent in looks, sound, playability, features and quality - it did garner quite a few fans at the recent Tbird GTG in Santa Cruz, with the very well stocked guitar store owner practically begging me to sell it to him or make him an identical one.

So there you have it, all the Tbird crap that was running around in my head as I was typing my original “Excellence” post. Hope all the photos and background info help quench your thirst for more Tbird content.

Sounds pretty excellent also!

 

[Roger W]

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

It really is. The case is trashed and the tuners may be replaced with something more lightweight, but it sounds and plays great. A very comfortable body.

 

[JIO]

Why is do much of this thread about general life and not about Thunderbirds‽

I've always felt it was about general life loosely linked by the fact that we all play Thunderbirds.

 

[JJR58]

I've always felt it was about general life loosely linked by the fact that we all play Thunderbirds.

My CP is still in the shop.
Had a long convo yesterday with my tech on how he’ll do all what I want done. He’s been pretty stacked up with work, but I’m next in line.
He’ll be able to do all of it.
And there’ll be some interesting little cosmetic touches ala Jeff, done by my tech of course and a little help from someone here.

 

[GonePlaid]

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

I try to do my part.

 

[JIO]

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!
View attachment 5227088

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:
View attachment 5227090

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.
View attachment 5227091

And a shot I took while waiting for Will yesterday:
View attachment 5227092

I corrected the pu tilt with beveled spacers and custom-cut foam -

before

after - and since this pic I got them dialed even better

 

[BklynKen]

The cavity search is the best part of crossing the border!

Do you pay extra for that?

 

[GBassNorth]

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?
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I’m probably missing something (lol keep the jokes to yourself) but I’m not seeing any saddle height adjustment on that bridge. Has to be one, but darned if I see any screws for it.

 

[GBassNorth]

I love neckdive….

I used to date a…. Never mind.

 

[JJR58]

Do you pay extra for that?

I think it comes included in the price.

 

[Roger W]

Congratulations!! Nice score!!

I’ve never played the original G3, but this was about half the price of a 70s G3. It was a good score.