Thunderbird Club

[GonePlaid]

What the?

Blue is for you.

 

[brian579]

I bought it from a dealer in Indiana. All original with the case. Only change is the strap buttons. Came from the mother of the original owner from what I was told. I’ll post pics tomorrow. I know there were less than 10 Ebony ones made in 1979.

Honestly, I would never put a '79 in a gig bag of any kind. That headstock is big, and at the nut there is not a lot of material there, this is almost asking for a break - I have two '76s one's broken/repaired.

I’m with you man. I agree it’s definitely fragile. But the coffin case is totally unrealistic (at least for me). I’m not hard on my basses at all, so if I can find a good bag I think I’ll be fine. Thanks again and yes it is a beautiful bass, looking forward to showing it off here.

 

[brian579]

Here are some more quick shots of my 79 from the Reverb ad I bought it from. I’m primarily a P bass guy but I have to admit that although it’s a cumbersome bass it definitely plays and sounds and looks killer.

 

[brian579]

I’ll post better shots tomorrow. I was worried about how low I could get the action with the 3 point bridge but I was able to get it perfect. She plays amazing and the neck is almost dead straight

 

[brian579]

Anyone out there own a white Bi-Cen? I’d love to get one. I think they made less than 200 of the white ones

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Just got finished with the pickup swap (stock => EY) in the Epiphone Thunderbird IV (bolt-on) and playing it a bit. I’ll write things up later and post very basic comparison clips, but the short version is that the pickups are somewhere between a 2019 CP and a 2019 EP. Good low end like the originals, more mids and highs. More articulate with bass rolled off. This is with fatter EBCF strings strung BEAD.
I normally don’t mess with the tone control, jus set and forget. I’d forgotten how this bass has 90% of the range handled in the first 10% of the shaft rotation. Maybe 95% in 5%. It’s pretty extreme. At least one of the volume pots is a bit scratchy, too.
Also, there’s no wiring cutout under the pickguard. They ran the neck pickup wiring through the bridge pickup cavity. I’m impressed.

 

[MCF]

The headstock on a 2018 is quite different from a '79, it's smaller and thicker, much less prone to being broken.

Yep. I can’t imagine risking a break on a Thunderbird worth 4 to 5K. I have a gig bag for my MIM Mustang. It’s the only bass of my 20+ basses I carry in a bag. That thing is a tank. And if something were to happen, no biggie.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Yep. I can’t imagine risking a break on a Thunderbird worth 4 to 5K. I have a gig bag for my MIM Mustang. It’s the only bass of my 20+ basses I carry in a bag. That thing is a tank. And if something were to happen, no biggie.

5 basses, 4 HSC, 1 gig bag. If anything goes in the gig bag, it’s normally the bolt-on, but I can see taking a Greco in it under teh right circumstances. A gibson (if I ever get one)? Nope. A CP? Maaaybe. A VP? Probably not - lots of leverage on that HS!

 

[brian579]

I agree, I guess I’ll just take it out occasionally. It wasn’t cheap, I paid just over 4k for it. I have to say it was worth every Penny. Has tons of vintage feel and vibe.

 

[MCF]

Anyone out there own a white Bi-Cen? I’d love to get one. I think they made less than 200 of the white ones

White Gibsons are rare as it is. @dagrev has a white Bicentennial. If you get one, you will be a member of a very select group. Highly sought after and pretty much unobtainium. I wish you well on your quest.

 

[MCF]

I agree, I guess I’ll just take it out occasionally. It wasn’t cheap, I paid just over 4k for it. I have to say it was worth every Penny. Has tons of vintage feel and vibe.

Congratulations!

 

[MCF]

I bought it from a dealer in Indiana. All original with the case. Only change is the strap buttons. Came from the mother of the original owner from what I was told. I’ll post pics tomorrow. I know there were less than 10 Ebony ones made in 1979.

I’m with you man. I agree it’s definitely fragile. But the coffin case is totally unrealistic (at least for me). I’m not hard on my basses at all, so if I can find a good bag I think I’ll be fine. Thanks again and yes it is a beautiful bass, looking forward to showing it off here.

We thought there were seven. Obviously, there are a few more. That is an amazing find. Buy your lottery tickets today!

 

[GonePlaid]

I bought it from a dealer in Indiana. All original with the case. Only change is the strap buttons. Came from the mother of the original owner from what I was told. I’ll post pics tomorrow. I know there were less than 10 Ebony ones made in 1979.

I’m with you man. I agree it’s definitely fragile. But the coffin case is totally unrealistic (at least for me). I’m not hard on my basses at all, so if I can find a good bag I think I’ll be fine. Thanks again and yes it is a beautiful bass, looking forward to showing it off here.

FWIW, this is my 67 Gibson non-reverse in its Coffin case. A little unwieldy, but it keeps the bass intact. The bass's overall length is 52".
<You have to remove the accessory compartment. Takes about 10 seconds.

 

[MCF]

I agree, I guess I’ll just take it out occasionally. It wasn’t cheap, I paid just over 4k for it. I have to say it was worth every Penny. Has tons of vintage feel and vibe.

Brian. Look into the basic Gator Thunderbird case. Much better than a bag. And reasonably priced. Just make sure the length is a match. Then rock it!

 

[brian579]

FWIW, this is my 67 Gibson non-reverse in its Coffin case. A little unwieldy, but it keeps the bass intact. The bass's overall length is 52".
View attachment 6998137 <You have to remove the accessory compartment. Takes about 10 seconds.

FWIW, this is my 67 Gibson non-reverse in its Coffin case. A little unwieldy, but it keeps the bass intact. The bass's overall length is 52".
View attachment 6998137 <You have to remove the accessory compartment. Takes about 10 seconds.

Awesome. Yeah that look’s perfect. What brand is it exactly? Thanks and nice bass

 

[RedVee]

Webbers sound good. The intake hiss of SUs is pretty good, too. More sound than fury, but you can't have everything. I has been more than 40 years, but I miss the visceral incompetence of my TR-2. It was the perfect car.

The Torana (aboriginal for “I fly”) XU-1s used triple SU’s or Strombergs on the Holden 6. Racer’s often went for triple Webers but I did hear of someone using Dell’orto carbs.
The Valiant Charger 6Packs used triple Webers even on the road cars. They sent a car to Italy for Weber to work on and get the settings right before production started. They had a memorable print ad showing the exhaust headers glowing at full noise. Hey Charger! Was the launch ad.
The Torana GTR and GTR XU-1 ran with “When you’re hot, you’re hot” and 70s bubble fonts. Often showing Peter Brock throwing one around a corner on 3 wheels, the inside front cocked in the air.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

The Torana (aboriginal for “I fly”) XU-1s used triple SU’s or Strombergs on the Holden 6. Racer’s often went for triple Webers but I did hear of someone using Dell’orto carbs.
The Valiant Charger 6Packs used triple Webers even on the road cars. They sent a car to Italy for Weber to work on and get the settings right before production started. They had a memorable print ad showing the exhaust headers glowing at full noise. Hey Charger! Was the launch ad.
The Torana GTR and GTR XU-1 ran with “When you’re hot, you’re hot” and 70s bubble fonts. Often showing Peter Brock throwing one around a corner on 3 wheels, the inside front cocked in the air.

what motor? this is an interesting twist to the AMC Rambler/SCRambler, IKA (Industrias Kaiser Argentina) Torino 380W. This one was styled by PininFarina and used the big Jeep Tornado OHC inline 6 with locally designed intake and exhaust manifolds breathing through 3 sidedraft Webers into a ZF tranny, sweet, sweet sounding… talk about a Franken car!……,holy grail status in Argentina, like owning a Ferrari…

 

[JIO]

5 basses, 4 HSC, 1 gig bag. If anything goes in the gig bag, it’s normally the bolt-on, but I can see taking a Greco in it under teh right circumstances. A gibson (if I ever get one)? Nope. A CP? Maaaybe. A VP? Probably not - lots of leverage on that HS!

Only bass that I've used live or recording that travels in a HSC is my extra long, big bodied Custon Kraft hollow-body. As it didn't come with its OHSC, I made one for it. Everything else in a gig bag. I wish I had one for the CK but no-one offers one long enough. I have a number of various gig bags, a MONO being the most protective and fitting most of my long-scale basses. For all T-bird shaped objects, I have a basic generic T-bird shaped gig bag that I've added extra foam-sheets within. Only gig-bag I would trust flying with is the MONO, but I haven't flown w/a bass for a very long time and basically wouldn't now anyway.

 

[JIO]

what motor? this is an interesting twist to the AMC Rambler/SCRambler, IKA (Industrias Kaiser Argentina) Torino 380W. This one was styled by PininFarina and used the big Jeep Tornado OHC inline 6 with locally designed intake and exhaust manifolds breathing through 3 sidedraft Webers into a ZF tranny, sweet, sweet sounding… talk about a Franken car!……,holy grail status in Argentina, like owning a Ferrari…
View attachment 6998216

Nice styling!

 

[GonePlaid]

Awesome. Yeah that look’s perfect. What brand is it exactly? Thanks and nice bass

Literally, Coffin(brand). I don't have the model number and I don't remember where I got it(online). I've had it for years.