Thunderbird Club

[Off-Beat]

Got a picture with the bag closed and the bass in it? Got a birdshaped rockbag for my Classic an it's fitting too snug.

 

[BklynKen]

Basically, the bridge ferrule design is stupid.

Which ferrules are you talking about here?

 

[TBird1958]

Why is that?

For one thing, it looks like it belongs on the bass, if, for some reason I couldn't use a Three Point I'd go Babciz.

Me, with Will's 'Bird, sweet bass!

 

[BklynKen]

The Hipshot is definitely chunky, but it does something interesting aesthetically on the Thunderbird. I always found it weird how if you look at the Thunderbird from the side the strings from bridge to but come down diagonally rather dramatically. The bridge pickup is higher than the neck's, and the Hipshot is a little higher than the bridge pickup. So it works with that line. And as someone else said, in matte black I think it works well. I probably wouldn't like it in chrome.

 

[hairypete1138]

I've been thinking about changing amps for a while as my trusty old Behringer BXL3000 has been feeling heavier in recent years and with an additional baby this year I've been looking for something that takes up a lot less room. Well yesterday I pulled the trigger and traded it in against a Markbass CMD 121P. So far I love it - the full deep sound of it is more than I ever would have expected from such a small amp, and I can't wait to gig with it.
Does anyone else use one of these? If so, does anyone have recommendations for a small extension cab other than the MB NY121 if I decide I want to go down that route?

 

[hillerup]

Cause the epiphone inserts don't go flush into the body like the gibson inserts do, so the “full contact“ bridge would float....

Is that really so???

 

[Korladis]

For all those "You can't slap with a Thunderbird, it's a one-trick pony" people, though I don't remember any in this thread...

Honestly, anyone who calls a bass one trick pony is probably a very limited player in their approach.

I can get a variety of tones from my Peavey, and that's a single pickup bass. A T-bird has two pickups, with the controls, you can get a lot of tones. I've had mine modded with a series toggle, so that's an additional tone.

The only bass I've ever encountered that was unsuitable for slapping (not that I employ that style much, if at all, in my music), was the EB-0, just due to the size and location of the neck pickup. But as I said, I have little use for slapping anyway.

Ive mentioned this here on TB and I will keep mentioning it everytime Im presented with the opportunity to do so and for good reason. My bass tech had one on a table at his shop when I took him my Squier P for some modding, My bass tech said to me "See that thing over there"?, (Thunderbird) "Well it is a piece of s**t and you will never need one so dont even think about one"!. That was the moment that got me thinking that I might have to find me one, dont know why but I just have to. Shortly after I got a brand new Epiphone Thunderbird in a trade and out of all 4 of my basses its the one I use the most. JUST BUY IT!, If you have an issue it will be settled quickly and painlessly in the Thunderbird Club.

Lol, his loss. My Epi T-bird is great. Also my bass tech likes it.

Why is that?

I like the look of it better, as it looks more like just a beefier version of the 3-point. I like how the Hipshot looks on the RD better.

 

[Korladis]

Is that really so???

Indeed, it is so.

 

[bylar13]

Hi peeps, Love the thunderbird and i think i want one, no, i know i want one, but in reading around it seems the bridge is generally regarded as just ok, as well as that the headstock is large and they're prone to damage because of the narrow width of the nut.

I'm eyeing off a 2012 black Gibson, the guy claims it's mint and by the pics it does look it, i have no concerns over the condition of it and as i'm in Australia the price is what it is.

My questions, to those who own them and know, are they as fragile as some claim? is the bridge that bad? i'd like to leave it original, any concerns with this particular year/series?
I've also seen a few with a "120th" inlay on the 12th, what's that all about?

any input is appreciated, not looking to be talked into it or out of it, i don't know much about them and my search found what i mentioned above and i'd like owners real world opinions.
Thanks

I have a 2014 T-Bird with the inlay and a Babzic replacement bridge (per the ongoing conversation)I can share my experience and get a chance to post a picture of my bass (again)!

I played a 7ender Jazz bass for the previous 22 years. I was flat out, anti Gibson basses because I had been taught that "Gibson Basses are muddy", "Thunderbird headstocks fall off if you look at them the wrong way" and "they are big, heavy are equivalent to strapping on an coffee table from the 1970's....."

About a year ago, I was asked to join a band again (all original material) and realized that the j-bass needed some serious work to get it gig worthy again. I had only been playing it in my home. It more than likely needs a re-fret and a neck reset, the neck pocket is too big, etc., etc. Also, its value has gone up quite a bit and when I did use it on a gig, someone offered me $1,800 for it. Needless to say, I figured I should use something else for gigging.

I looked at all kinds of basses but decided if I was going to get something else, I wanted it to be different from the jazz and not just get another fender type bass. I am not sure how but I stumbled upon a Gibson EB14 but the humbucking pickup really sounded interesting to me. That lead to Thunderbirds and then to Talk Bass. I did not know this place existed until this year.

I found a listing here in the classifieds for a 2006 Sunburst Gibson T-Bird at a price where I figured, if I did not like it, I could re-sell locally and get my money back. When I got the bass it was quite a shock! It was lighter than my Jazz by almost a pound and the tone on both the low and high side of the spectrum was significantly better than my jazz bass! Whoa! 30 years of playing mythology debunked in one afternoon!

The neck felt a bit longer and the radius was different (flatter) but it felt comfortable to me right out of the box. With the help of folks here, I got the ergonomic differences figured out pretty quickly and myths like neck dive, super-low strap height etc. were never an issue.

The t-bird came with a Babzic bridge installed and the sustain was great. The adjust-ability was super easy and really straight forward.

I swapped out the stock pickups for a set of Lollar pickups after hearing them online. I really like them. To my ear they give a bit more clarity on the high end. It is a taste/preference thing.

The bass was playing and sounding great the only thing I did not like was the finish. I don't like sunburst. I looked into getting it re-finished and it would cost about as much as the bass itself. I stumbled on to a Heritage Cherry T-Bird on the Guitar Center Used Gear website ( I did not know that existed until I started hanging here...perhaps you are picking up a theme....) and I snagged it for the same price as the 2006. I sold the 2006 to pay for the 2014 and added a bunch of chrome hardware.

Looks like this:

The sound of the bass is fantastic and I love the way it plays. I have gotten compliments (When the hell does a non bass player, compliment the bass player,me, for their "tone"?...ummm..almost never!) on its sounds and looks. I love it and can't wait to get into a recording studio, hopefully in a couple of weeks and get some stuff done with it.

I found the Babzic bridge to be similar to the Lollar pick ups in that they both help to bring out "more"of what is already there. Are they required? No. I like the addition of both.

Sorry for the "War & Peace"style post but nobody else I live with wants to listen to me go on and on about this bass anymore.....so I do it here!

 

[TBird1958]

Just so you know, I changed my order for the new Epi to cherry finish because of that beauty of yours!

 

[Larry V]

Solely speaking to the aesthetics, the Hipshot Supertone looks way better to me than the Babzic. It's beefier and cleaner to my eye.

My .02

 

[kat888]

Solely speaking to the aesthetics, the Hipshot Supertone looks way better to me than the Babzic. It's beefier and cleaner to my eye.

My .02

^^^^^^^^^^ + .02 = .04!

 

[BadBassDrummer]

Just so you know, I changed my order for the new Epi to cherry finish because of that beauty of yours!

Wrong! Conan what is best? A white and a cherry finish Epi bird. The rule of N+1 applies here too.

 

[Gaolee]

For one thing, it looks like it belongs on the bass, if, for some reason I couldn't use a Three Point I'd go Babciz.

Me, with Will's 'Bird, sweet bass!

That's the '15, with a black Babicz from the factory. The '91 has a chrome Babicz that I put on.

 

[Korladis]

I just don't like the look of the Hipshot on a T-bird. Odd, because I do like how it looks on an RD, which is extremely similar to a T-bird.

That cherry finish looks amazing.

 

[TBird1958]

Wrong! Conan what is best? A white and a cherry finish Epi bird. The rule of N+1 applies here too.

But, but......I have two white 'Birds and no cherry one

 

[JIO]

Great looking bird and I dig the bridge - it looks really good in chrome w/the chrome pu's, tuners & knob-tops against the red & white. Very classy.

 

[Haji]

I just don't like the look of the Hipshot on a T-bird. Odd, because I do like how it looks on an RD, which is extremely similar to a T-bird.

That cherry finish looks amazing.

Well, the only solution to this question is that you're crazy. But it's a good crazy, so we'll just let it go.

I don't care a whole lot about what the bridge looks like so much as I care about performance. When the dang ferrules in my Goff wouldn't stay put I had it replaced with the Pro bridge. Does it look "correct"? It does to me. It's a bridge, not an ancient artifact of unspeakable value. Whatever gets the rock out.

 

[Stevis]

For one thing, it looks like it belongs on the bass, if, for some reason I couldn't use a Three Point I'd go Babciz.

Me, with Will's 'Bird, sweet bass!

I was looking at the pic and going, "when did you get a 2015"? Then, I read that it was Will's. Did you plug it in and take it for a test drive?

 

[vdub75]

Got it. As I recall, a Babicz comes with a shim plate for later Thunderbirds that have a neck angle that would require extra bridge height. I don't know if it would fit between the raised inserts or if it would work with Epiphone's neck angle. If you are replacing the inserts anyway, why wouldn't you put flush inserts back in and then epoxy them if you have the time and resources to get flush inserts or the time and ability to remove the protruding part of the Epi inserts?

Cause I failed to find gibson inserts