I believe that the 120th you've seen is on the 2014 model, to commentate Gibson anniversary.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- Tags
- club thunderbird
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,587
- 221,942
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,587
- 221,942
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
I have a Gator bag that looks more-or-less like that I use for a thin short-scale hollow-body I have. It's very light and the bag has no padding so its just to transport from point A to B and back and works in this limited situation. A T-bird... ah, no.
Thanks, he's pretty much the reason I play guitar and recently switched to bass. He's definitely the reason I bought My new to me Jackson KellyBird. Which brought to this club full of you delightful peoples. I'm sure I have some more cool old pics of him in action with his Thunderbird I'll be posting as I find em.
You should post those in the Bassists with on stage presence thread.
120th Ann of Gibson.
I'm far from an expert, but from reading TB I gather that the fragility thing is overstated, at least on the moderns.
The 3 point bridge seems to be polarising with fans, critics and those that are ok with it but not enthusiastic.
Nice to see another Aussie here, there are a few of us.
An ebony or vintage cherry 2012 (my 50th Ann) is on my Wishlist for a year or two down the track. So, please post your thoughts if (when) you get it.
cheers mate, the one i'm looking at is ebony, the guy has changed the strings and they're black with different coloured silks, other than that it's all standard and it looks sweet!
It has grover tuners and i see lots of owners swap the bridge and tuners for hipshot, the bridge i get but the std grovers look ok, why would they change them?
IMO issues with the stock 3-point bridge are a tad overstated. A solid surface mount bridge is what most of us are ever subjected to so we're most familiar with them but it's not like the 3-point is some alien concept. With a thin screwdriver I intoned mine in 10 minutes m/l, setting string height etc not an issue. I don't know...
Agreed. Overstated.
IMO it's either perception that they're inferior components (maybe slightly at best, but fully functional and actually pretty decent in quality especially considering the price), or some people just like to mod/customize just because. To my knowledge not required, stock works very well and I'm pretty darn certain no one in the audience could tell the difference anyway. If there's something you prefer (say, different pickups i.e.) and you don't mind the investment sure, go for it. But it's certainly not a necessity.
It says it fits a Schecter Sixx. So, I figured it might fit Thunderbird albeit with little protection.
I like keeping my basses and guitars in gig bags at home, as the hard cases eat up so much space. This deal is probably not that great a deal. This could be $26 down the drain (no returns), which could be applied towards a better bag.
I had him on here for the first time today. Checkin out my small tribute to him on my NBD thread and here in the Thunderbird Clubhouse. My idea goal would be to get him to join up. He'd be a wealth of information and stories. Even though he's not out there doing it anymore. I think he'd enjoy it here. then he can do the posting. I'll be working on that one, now that he's seen the place.
Is anybody ordering one of these? Seems like a killer deal, especially since my new one has nowhere to live except a stand at the moment.
I just did at $26 with delivery how can you loose. I can use It for my Dean Hollywood Z in zebra too. Cause I ain't got nothing for it either. Till I get a proper case for the KellyBird.
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Some people just like changing things.
Also, the other commonly held "truth" is that these 'neck dive' - which I think is also overstated, they just hang differently to a P; so my guess is that people change to lightweight tuning machines for that reason, which I think is also probably not necessary.
Nice video demo of the three Epiphone Thunderbird models.
I'd recommend the Gator ProGo. If you remove the extra pad on the bottom, the Thunderbird will fit in there. Great bag, too, and VERY protective. On par with the MONOs.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,587
- 221,942
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
The Grover tuners were quite popular in the 80's and so I think some players just felt they made their basses more 'up-to-date'/modern installing them.
Fragile? Nope.
TBirds are built robust enough to last a lifetime of playing. Now a lifetime of abuse is a different story. If you store your Bird in a Guitar stand or on a guitar hanger or in a hard case when not in use you'll have no headstock worries. However, if you choose to just lean it against the wall or throw it on the floor when not in use you're increasing the odds of a snapped off headstock. The headstock is angled (not flat like Fender designs) which is actually the norm in the guitar, bass and stringed instrument world (Fender and their clones are kind of the exception). Generally speaking, angled headstocks are less forgiving of abuse, but far from fragile.
Three point bridge is just OK?
Only if you're comparing it to massively over engineered after market bridges like the outstanding Babiczs (they need to come up with a spell friendly name). The three point bridge is easy to adjust for action and intonation and matches the fretboard curvature. It's not a flimsy bent metal plate with goofy little set screws that continually adjust on their own or saddles that span multiple strings. Sure it has quirks but it's a very functional bridge that is super easy to adjust and rock solid. I personally like it more than my Fender bridges.
Jump in the pool, the water is fine!
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,587
- 221,942
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Very entertaining - especially the last bit
(two young chaps having a toss) All three sounded good but the "pro" should have been a bit louder to compare as it had more depth/colour than the passive versions (which sounded the same) if at a similar level. As always, your opinion may vary.
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I wish I had purchased a Gibbs T-Bird Short Scale Bass when I had the chance.
If you're going to swap the bridge, I'd go for a Babicz over the Hipshot.
