Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

Yeah, be careful about blinding uploading and posting contents. There could be "movies" on there--and back in the 80s Mike could have played some interesting places. It was the 80s after all.

Won’t have to worry about me posting from the DVD, not equipped to.

 

[MCF]

In the gated lot at Bruce Johnsons laboratory - the 'Hamburglers' getaway car.

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...and a very nice late '50s Nash Rambler (not to mention cool Chevy milk-wagon)
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Can’t see the pic. My grandma drove a couple Nashes until ‘65. The one I remember was a two tone. Blue and white.

 

[GBassNorth]

To begin with, George was a very gracious host to Andrew and I - we were treated like royalty, but mostly we felt like welcomed friends. We were at his casa North for two full days and there was never a dull moment. (thank you again George) I didn't play every one of his basses - but I played a lot of them and they were all excellent. My road-trip friend Andrew (guitarist) even played one and looked like he was enjoying doing so.

And finally meeting Pat Wilkins in person after dealing with him finishing Gildaxe projects for over 10yrs was a real treat. He was everything I imagined - which was a genuinely nice person who is supremely skilled at what he does. His work-digs are humble but the result of what he does there is special. Then there was Bruce Johnson, another behind-the-scenes legend in the guitar-biz, specifically related to basses. If you don't know who he is - I highly recommend checking him out. Johnson's Extremely Strange Musical Instrument Company Home Page He's a generous mentor/teacher on the Luthiers Corner here on tb and is a truly iconic mind as far as bass engineering goes. People like Bruce are few and far between and he is also a very nice person. I felt honored to finally meet him after years of interface here on tb.

I had a great time hanging with Geo and Andrew. Very pleasant guests and fun company. Geo, you left your jacket here, I can mail it to Mark and Franks house if you want or to your address. PM me with your preference.

So in an earlier post I mentioned about purchasing this Thunderbird, I picked it up for $400 AUS which is about half that in english currency. It came with a nice solid case so I figure it was still worth the money. It's been modded with a preamp and active pick ups, going off the serial number can I date the manufacture somewhere and would anyone know where my best bet would be to buy the pick ups and pots to restore it to original?

Sometimes you find gems among the stones. At around $200 US you probably got a solid player with some interesting mods that you may or may not like. The person who did the mods (pickups and preamp) likely spent as much or more than that on just the mods. The great news is it looks like he didn’t modify the pickup routing, so if you wanted to go back to stock pups or some other brand it’ll be an easy drop in. As for the preamp and knobs, there are a lot of good preamps out there and there’s nothing wrong with converting a passive bass to active, I have several Tbirds I’ve taken down that path.

Now that you have the bass, my recommendation would be to keep it as is for at least a few months and play the heck out of it in as many styles of music as you can. You might find it has some real strengths in some settings, and it might be a keeper just as is.

Would love to hear more about which pickups and what preamp was installed.

 

[dagrev]

3 setter at the Sportsman in Seaside…
LET’S GO!…..
View attachment 6972963

Do it!


By now, you done did it.

 

[dagrev]

I saw a Spyder for sale someplace and thought of you. Don't see those often. Or at least I don't.

 

[Engle]

My fun for the evening.
First off test driving this little tons of tone in a box.
Damn if it isn’t what I was looking for.

Then will start listening to a DVD that I just received from @GonePlaid.

Good times.

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Are you extracting the audio?

 

[JJR58]

Are you extracting the audio?

Not doing a darn thing.
Had to wait for a friend to give me a spare external player.
All I’m gonna do is sit back and enjoy what Mike sent me.

 

[GBassNorth]

@JIO
Here’s your chance buddy, don’t see these on the block very often (it’s a bit more than I paid for mine but still reasonable) and it’s a perfect match for your red converse chucks…

https://reverb.com/item/52123006-fret-king-silver-label-esprit-bass-gloss-red

 

[Miles_ONeal]

My fun for the evening.
First off test driving this little tons of tone in a box.
Damn if it isn’t what I was looking for.

Then will start listening to a DVD that I just received from @GonePlaid.

Good times.

View attachment 6972787

Since it’s an EQ pedal, what is the point of the pre/post EQ switch? Seems like that turns it into a pricey two knob preamp. Do people do that with Ashlys?

 

[SubHuman]

Any Orianthi fans here? I just saw this Video clip and the Bassist plays a Red Thunderbird! She rocks out too...

 

[Stealth57]

Just clicked on the email...

 

[Stealth57]

@MCF Just going through some old boxes. This ones for you.

 

[SubHuman]

Can’t see the pic. My grandma drove a couple Nashes until ‘65. The one I remember was a two tone. Blue and white.

This one is Blue and White too!

 

[GonePlaid]

Are you extracting the audio?

FYI, I can post the audio(I have cassettes and CDs of all the [stuff] on the DVDs), the most interesting things about the tunes need to be seen, even if fuzzily. As can be seen on the song list I sent Jeff, there's a lot of 'doubling': the keyboard man also plays guitar; the trumpet player also plays a string synth(sometimes while playing trumpet-2 different keys)and switches to keys for some songs; I play flute and alto sax in addition to bass, occasionally both sax and bass together; the drummer stays behind his set, and all four of us sing. Drummer could do leads but didn't. Lotta 4 part harmonies.

 

[Nocturnal]

So in an earlier post I mentioned about purchasing this Thunderbird, I picked it up for $400 AUS which is about half that in english currency. It came with a nice solid case so I figure it was still worth the money. It's been modded with a preamp and active pick ups, going off the serial number can I date the manufacture somewhere and would anyone know where my best bet would be to buy the pick ups and pots to restore it to original?

This place sells pickups built using the original Epi covers, but with Gibson internal construction. Plus they are priced at $65 US for a pair!! That is the direction I would go if I was in your position. They actually sell several different Tbird pickup options (Including the ChinaBuckers people mention in this club) for very reasonable prices.

Thunderbird Bass for Original Epiphone,With Gibson Thunderbi

www.eyguitarmusic.com

 

[JJR58]

Just giving anyone here at crack at this before it goes on the chopping block.

 

[Gaolee]

Any Orianthi fans here? I just saw this Video clip and the Bassist plays a Red Thunderbird! She rocks out too...

Interesting how the camera focused on the Thunderbird and chopped off the bass player's head most of the time. Proof of something. I don't know what.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Can’t see the pic. My grandma drove a couple Nashes until ‘65. The one I remember was a two tone. Blue and white.

they merged with Hudson to form AMC in 1953…

 

[_Tay_]

@JIO
Here’s your chance buddy, don’t see these on the block very often (it’s a bit more than I paid for mine but still reasonable) and it’s a perfect match for your red converse chucks…

https://reverb.com/item/52123006-fret-king-silver-label-esprit-bass-gloss-red

That's literally 10 miles away from me!!

 

[JJR58]

Since it’s an EQ pedal, what is the point of the pre/post EQ switch? Seems like that turns it into a pricey two knob preamp. Do people do that with Ashlys?

Your guess is as good as mine.
And a lot of amps have pre/post for their DI’s.
So not uncommon.
But I had no problem with the price.
And the S40 is, “my sound”.