Thunderbird Club

[KaraQ]

Since it’s been declared Fenderbird Friday I’ll post a progress shot of one of my current builds, called the ThunderCaster.

Recall that I only have about one Fender bass left that I haven’t mothballed because I don’t have anything else that sounds remotely like it, a 2012/13 two year run of Fender Telecaster Modern Player basses….
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Well, in my quest to have a flock of Tbirds that can cover just about any sound I decided to meld the two brands together by installing virtually every Fender Tele component (except the pickguard) onto a NR Tbird body. It required routing templates I don’t have, so I took it to @Freekmagnet (Jeremy) in Fillmore for neck pocket and pup routes and had him put a forearm rest and belly cut on it as well. Came out great…
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I just did a preliminary fit test and will have Jeremy deepen the neck pickup pocket a bit more (my bad, I gave him the bridge pup depth not knowing the neck pickup was different). Anyway, it all looks great and will go to the finisher (Pat Wilkins) soon. Here’s the rough fit test (a final fit test will be done prior to finishing)…
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And next to its soon to be mothballed brother…
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I’m still on the fence when it comes to the finish I’ll ask Pat Wilkins to do - looking for something that screams Fender (Surf Green, Three Tone Sunburst, Antigua, Butterscotch Blonde, MaryKay white, Red or Pink Paisley…) open to ideas if anyone has any, but the neck will not be refinished, it will remain vintage tint maple. Pickguard shape is set but color could be coordinated with the finish chosen.

Red paisley is an option?

Do that!

 

[GonePlaid]

Been working on a new bass build.
A Thunderbird IV in the shape of a (long scale) EB-0

Almost ready for staining and finishing:

 

[GonePlaid]

Well, this is kinda interesting-for a 7ender. Invalid Link Removed
Not mahogany though, so...no.

 

[Stealth57]

5er FYI

 

[dagrev]

Hey guys, so I just got my first T-bird (an Epi 60s T-bird) and I'm surprised that I like it so much, while it is pretty unwieldy (especially the 60s headstock which will not fit in a gig bag :/), I actually like how it sits on a strap and it balanced much better than I though it would. It's currently got flats on it and sings with a nice throaty thump.

In terms of weight I feel like I got pretty lucky with one being 8.5-9lbs. Would it be unreasonable to expect a more recent Gibson thunderbird like a standard T-Bird or Rex Brown Model to weight around the same? I know weight has been one of the historical cons people have slapped over T-birds over the decades.

Congrats! Those Epi's are great and get you pretty close to the Real Deal 60s Gibsons, which are the gold standard. And yes, Thunderbirds can sound fantastic with flats. My White VP (same as your 60's Bass) has GHS flats and is killer. TI flats even sounded great on my '76 for a long while. I don't know this, but guess the Epi is going to be a little heavier than a Gibson, generally speaking. All mine are.

 

[dagrev]

All of my modern Birds weigh under 8.5 lbs. My 1977 is definitely heavier, but not sure what it weighs.

As does my '76. I'm not sure why many, if not most are pretty hefty.

 

[dagrev]

My 2011 Gibson is about smack on 4kgs with strap and strap locks. Google says that is 8.8 lbs approx

Thanks for not using "stones."

 

[dagrev]

There are a couple of gig bags that fit a VP. The one I have doesn’t have a brand on it. There’s a Gator or two that work as well - either Ken or Donnie has one, IIRC.

That would be Ken. I had a gig bag that the '06 Gibson also came with, but it's long gone. I have two different Epi HS cases.

 

[dagrev]

The VP definitely feels and sounds close. A Greco sounds even closer, but doesn’t feel quite the same (wider nut, shorter scale, etc.) The Greco has more low end. Both are great basses.

Which seems to be the thing "lacking" with the VPs. Had they nailed some thicker lows they would have recreated the Gold Standard. Maybe that will happen one day.

 

[dagrev]

Has anyone ever heard of or dealt with "UOTS INC?" There's something I'm interested in on their site, but so much is weird that I'm extremely hesitant to even attempt dealing with them. I emailed the address listed on their site and it bounced back that the domain name doesn't exist. And there's all sorts of mismatched info on their web site, which is under myshopify.

uotsinc.myshopify.com

Never heard of them, Ken. You are wise to be careful.

 

[JIO]

Been working on a new bass build.
A Thunderbird IV in the shape of a (long scale) EB-0

Almost ready for staining and finishing:

I like the control knobs angling away from the strings. On a standard T-bird, because my right hand is always near the bridge I've inadvertently turned the N pu volume down mid song.

 

[JIO]

Never heard of them, Ken. You are wise to be careful.

There are fake sites on the net where they grab pics from anywhere (Reverb, eBay, Pinterest) and create fake listings. Some are very obvious because the price is too good to be true, or they are listing an item that is discontinued. Another red-flag is a page of different items for nearly the same price. Run away.

 

[Stealth57]

There are fake sites on the net where they grab pics from anywhere (Reverb, eBay, Pinterest) and create fake listings. Some are very obvious because the price is too good to be true, or they are listing an item that is discontinued. Another red-flag is a page of different items for nearly the same price. Run away.

Or domains that are brand new.

 

[JIO]

Or domains that are brand new.

Either they are so random they get lucky, or they use some sort of sophisticated algorithm... but for example I was looking for an 8-string (octave) bass bridge. Schaller used to produce/sell them but hadn't for years. In a search, a site came up that offered one for $85 or something close. I thought, that's a decent price.., but then other musical instrument listings on the same page (saxophones, trumpets, etc) were marked for the same price.(!) I also saw items that I'd seen on Pinterest from Reverb that had sold. I can't recall the name of the site, but it was very generic and details were limited.

 

[ThaCoast]

Well, this is kinda interesting-for a 7ender. Invalid Link Removed
Not mahogany though, so...no.

Apparently, there have been lots of issues with this bass (in terms of pickup balancing/output). It's a cool concept, but the single coil bridge pickup with the big wide range humbucker seems like a sweet idea. But that close together, eh.

 

[TBird1958]

Something from last night, this is from the first set using the 64II, I haven't put new strings on it as it's sounded good at home, but I'm thinking it's time for a new set of Nickel Rounds.

 

[JIO]

Apparently, there have been lots of issues with this bass (in terms of pickup balancing/output). It's a cool concept, but the single coil bridge pickup with the big wide range humbucker seems like a sweet idea. But that close together, eh.

There's been a couple recent Fender basses that are very cool but have really obvious design & production flaws. Seems unconscionable considering what they are asking for them.

 

[JIO]

Something from last night, this is from the first set using the 64II, I haven't put new strings on it as it's sounded good at home, but I'm thinking it's time for a new set of Nickel Rounds.

Nice performance! Was the drummers costume "The Invisible Man"? (must be the smoke machine!) I did see his head right at the end!

Always my favorite Halloween costume...

 

[TBird1958]

Nice performance! Was the drummers costume "The Invisible Man"? (must be the smoke machine!) I did see his head right at the end!

Always my favorite Halloween costume...
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He was dressed as an Argentinian football ref last night.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Rock and Roll!View attachment 5234016

new avatar PIC!!!