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Thunderbird Club

#2,822
larryelwood said:
Hey There T-Bird experts!

I'm currently in the middle of a fairly stretched out :) 12 string Tbird conversion, using an Epiphone Pro 5 bass as the "bones" of my project. The epiphone came with active circuitry, separate bass/treble controls etc... I'm going replace that with the standard set up with just 3 knobs and passive pickups. As I've spent most of my bass live in the fender camp, I'm just wondering what the ideal pot/capacitor set up is for this? Vol, Vol, Tone? What type of Pot is best 250k? 500K? Capacitor? Is it basically a Jazz bass wiring set up?

Thanks so much!

The Bass is currently being painted olympic white by Len at Axe Haven here in Denver... should be a couple more weeks to get it back and get the final assembly set up done!
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I think classic T-bird wiring is 500k for the volume pots and a 250 for the tone. Although a 500k tone pot might open up the super dark TB+ pickups Gibson uses nowadays.
 
#2,823
TBird1958 said:
Nicely said,


What I don't get:
- Why people buy a Gibson and wonder why it doesn't look or sound like a Fender, esp if that's the "tone" in your head.
- The notion that somehow a bass isn't a bass just because there's a guitar shaped like it - Seriously, a P bass is nothing more than a squished Strat with a half finish toilet seat for a PG, no thanks!
- "Leo got it right" For some sure, for me no. Proof is that there are many basses out there, what was a good choice 6 decades ago isn't true in 2014, plenty of better, more interesting options out there.
- Fender apologists/defenders, they come out of the woodwork here, enough to gag ya. Geez, one more clown with his J bass that thinks Jaco........ :vomit:

I could go on............ :roflmao:
Click to expand...


And oddly enough these are the same people that every time somebody asks about a short scale chime in with their wisdom.

You know any response that starts with "I've never played a (insert noun here) but here's what I know about them" isn't going to be good. You always get the same opinion time after time that whoever doesn't play what they play is just plain wrong.
Neck too thin, too thick, too narrow, too wide, too long, too short.
Pickups too muddy, too bright, too many, need to be passive/active.
You can't intonate a short scale, physically impossible.
And on and on and on and on and on to infinity.

I've seemingly found the perfect TBird for me, the short scale Gibson. And my next or one of next projects is converting one of the FBird kits to a sub scale TBird. Just waiting for them to get back in stock. Already picked up a set of SGD TBird pickups for it.
 
#2,824
mistergoats said:
That new T-bird is neat. They've looked basically the same for years now. As for pricing, ya, Gibson announced a 23% increase across the board last month for 2015. So, I got my 2012 for $1499 CAD, the 2013 was $1699, the 2014 was $2199. 2015 is $2599. It's getting out of hand. The used Gibson market is about to get cutthroat.
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What do you mean? Harder or easier to sell second hand?
 
#2,825
I'm sure you figured out I'm left handed I know Gibson did the run in 2012 and I was lucky enough to snag my TBird I haven't seen many, but while my band was in Memphis for the International Blues Challenge we stopped by the Gibson factory and they had a right handed and left handed TBirds on display. They were willing to come off price listed $1299.00 on the lefty so I'm sure they would discount the righty. People may get a good deal on the display models you can call the factory store they may do phone transactions. Me on the TBird my guitar player on the 335 and a random guy playing harp on some12 bar blues at the Gibson factory store.
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1411674237.891200.jpg
 
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#2,826
fjadams said:
And oddly enough these are the same people that every time somebody asks about a short scale chime in with their wisdom.

You know any response that starts with "I've never played a (insert noun here) but here's what I know about them" isn't going to be good. You always get the same opinion time after time that whoever doesn't play what they play is just plain wrong.
Neck too thin, too thick, too narrow, too wide, too long, too short.
Pickups too muddy, too bright, too many, need to be passive/active.
You can't intonate a short scale, physically impossible.
And on and on and on and on and on to infinity.

I've seemingly found the perfect TBird for me, the short scale Gibson. And my next or one of next projects is converting one of the FBird kits to a sub scale TBird. Just waiting for them to get back in stock. Already picked up a set of SGD TBird pickups for it.
Click to expand...

Plenty of that going on elsewhere on the forum.

I have a Fenderbird project on my list now I am retired. I had thought of using an epi body as the starting point but understand some work needs to be done at the neck pocket or alternately at the heal of the neck. Can you buy kits?
 
#2,827
Question for those of you that have refinished any of the Epi Birds. I want to strip and refinish the Goth Bird I got recently 1) because I already have one Goth Bird 2) Because the finished is already damaged on the newest one. what do you recommend for stripping the old finish off and then sealing the body before the refinish?
 
#2,828
veebass said:
What do you mean? Harder or easier to sell second hand?
Click to expand...

No less harder or easier to sell. More I meant the used, older versions (like your 2009 and my 2012) will command a heftier price tag in the future, possibly even close to the original retail price, once buying a new one creeps further out of reach for the average player. The 2015 is MSRP $1,100 more than I paid for mine in 2012. More wiggle room to maintain the price should I ever decide to sell it.
 
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#2,829
mistergoats said:
No less harder or easier to sell. More I meant the used, older versions (like your 2009 and my 2012) will command a heftier price tag in the future, possibly even close to the original retail price, once buying a new one creeps further out of reach for the average player. The 2015 is MSRP $1,100 more than I paid for mine in 2012. More wiggle room to maintain the price should I ever decide to sell it.
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Thanks, mate, I thought that's what you meant.
Then the Australian price of them new will probably get closer to $AU3K (with the price increase and the falling $AU, currently about $2.3K locally.
I bought mine brand new and paid $2K in a package deal. They have always been pretty expensive in Australia.
I didn't set out to buy mine. I took my son (also our band's guitarist) to the Gibson importers shop in Brisbane to try out Les Paul Standards.
While he was playing his way through a mountain of LPs I was standing around doing nothing, so.... the rest is history.
I had played a few TBirds previously and had always liked them but hadn't really clicked with one.
Well, when I plugged this one in- I knew I was going to buy it. It was just a matter of the deal. Oh yes, my son bought a beautiful book matched flame top desert burst LP Standard, which with his Explorer are his gigging guitars.
Like everything else, at present the second hand market is pretty hard here. Often Greco Birds (which are great) go for almost as much as Gibson Birds second hand.
 
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#2,830
Pickups are matched to the pots the manufacturer specifies. Example: Fender and Seymour Duncan spec 250k for V&T. Vintage 60s TBirds used 500k V 250k T. If you're using the original pickups start with what they came with and go from there.
 
#2,832
Check out page 136 on this thread. I posted my project and the steps I took to refinished
Justice said:
Question for those of you that have refinished any of the Epi Birds. I want to strip and refinish the Goth Bird I got recently 1) because I already have one Goth Bird 2) Because the finished is already damaged on the newest one. what do you recommend for stripping the old finish off and then sealing the body before the refinish?
Click to expand...

Check out page 136. I posted the steps it took me to refinish my project..good luck.
 
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#2,834
Justice said:
Question for those of you that have refinished any of the Epi Birds. I want to strip and refinish the Goth Bird I got recently 1) because I already have one Goth Bird 2) Because the finished is already damaged on the newest one. what do you recommend for stripping the old finish off and then sealing the body before the refinish?
Click to expand...

I just sanded the original finish and used it as a base coat/primer. Saved time and money in the long run.
 
#2,836
Justice said:
Question for those of you that have refinished any of the Epi Birds. I want to strip and refinish the Goth Bird I got recently 1) because I already have one Goth Bird 2) Because the finished is already damaged on the newest one. what do you recommend for stripping the old finish off and then sealing the body before the refinish?
Click to expand...

I've found on Squiers at least that just sanding through the color coat to the sealer primer underneath works best. Then check for anyplace that needs filler. Fill and sand flat as many times as needed. Then I sand to 220 and shoot a couple coats sealer, then my primer, then the base color then the clear coat. I'm sure there are other and probably better ways but this works for me.
 
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#2,837
veebass said:
Plenty of that going on elsewhere on the forum.

I have a Fenderbird project on my list now I am retired. I had thought of using an epi body as the starting point but understand some work needs to be done at the neck pocket or alternately at the heal of the neck. Can you buy kits?
Click to expand...

There are lots of kits available. Not sure if what you're looking for is or not. Look on eBay or Google or Amazon for DIY bass or DIY guitar. It kinda amazing how many kits there actually are. Also if you find one Google reviews of it. Not all are created equal.

Good luck on the search and project.
 
#2,838
ptleftybass said:
I'm sure you figured out I'm left handed I know Gibson did the run in 2012 and I was lucky enough to snag my TBird I haven't seen many, but while my band was in Memphis for the International Blues Challenge we stopped by the Gibson factory and they had a right handed and left handed TBirds on display. They were willing to come off price listed $1299.00 on the lefty so I'm sure they would discount the righty. People may get a good deal on the display models you can call the factory store they may do phone transactions. Me on the TBird my guitar player on the 335 and a random guy playing harp on some12 bar blues at the Gibson factory store.View attachment 482927
Click to expand...
I'm a lefty as well. I got a 2013 for $1450 and couple months later they stopped production. I was offered $3000, couldn't pass. A few months ago I wanted another so the search was on. Turns out southpaw had 2 sunburst '13s for $1580. Im close to paying it off and I think there's one left. It won't happen again!
 
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