Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

I’ll take Jeff’s….

fixed it...

it just comes down to what flavor [of Fender bass] you are after.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Scenic route?

Going to LA ... via Omaha.

 

[MCF]

It arrived!

The shop, J&M Guitar in Phoenix, dropped it at UPS at 4:00 Tuesday. Made it to my door in Bako today at 11:45. Not complaints at all.

It was nicely packed.

It’s in good shape. Better than what was disclosed in the description. More on all that this weekend.

The mystery pickup. Can anyone identify it? The label was removed.

It doesn’t look like it was Andy’s.

I haven’t been able plug it in. I’m sitting in a work meeting so it’ll have to wait until tonight.

 

[GBassNorth]

It arrived!

The shop, J&M Guitar in Phoenix, dropped it at UPS at 4:00 Monday. Made it to my door in Bako today at 11:45. Not complaints at all.

It was nicely packed.
View attachment 7022786View attachment 7022785
It’s in good shape. Better than what was disclosed in the description. More on all that this weekend.
View attachment 7022795

The mystery pickup. Can anyone identify it? The label was removed.
View attachment 7022796
It doesn’t look like it was Andy’s.
View attachment 7022797
I haven’t been able plug it in. I’m sitting in a work meeting so it’ll have to wait until tonight.

Looks like a guitar pickup inserted into a bass cover, which I think Andy mentioned something about IIRC.

 

[Count Bassie]

It arrived!

The shop, J&M Guitar in Phoenix, dropped it at UPS at 4:00 Monday. Made it to my door in Bako today at 11:45. Not complaints at all.

It was nicely packed.
View attachment 7022786View attachment 7022785
It’s in good shape. Better than what was disclosed in the description. More on all that this weekend.
View attachment 7022795

The mystery pickup. Can anyone identify it? The label was removed.
View attachment 7022796
It doesn’t look like it was Andy’s.
View attachment 7022797
I haven’t been able plug it in. I’m sitting in a work meeting so it’ll have to wait until tonight.

Ah, you must be in quiet, delicious torment.

 

[GBassNorth]

I really love the look of that Sweet 66! Amazing colour. Though if it had a dark woodgrain pickguard with a gold bird logo would be one of the best looking basses ever to me!

Tay, thanks, and good eye!
I’ve been searching for a nice thin plank of Wenge big enough to make a pickguard out of, it would match the neck/fretboard and cavity cover. Once I find it I’ll see if Irv wants to fab up a new guard with a chrome logo. Many woodworkers don’t like to use Wenge because it’s so difficult to work with (nasty splinters and irritating wood dust).

 

[Miles_ONeal]

of by high if can hope a

of course you do, you’re a class act..,

Kirche of Goodness…
View attachment 7022652

I love old PA amps.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

What’s really sick is I can’t decide which one of the “What If” birds I like best.

Is it the first “What If” that Gibson would never build, a semi hollow body Tbird VI in figured wood with full gold trim - The BlingBird…
View attachment 7022669
View attachment 7022670


Or is it the second “What If” that Epiphone hasn’t built yet, a 1966 NR Tribute using all Eppi parts - The Sweet 66
View attachment 7022671
View attachment 7022672


Or is it the third “What If” that Fender would never build, a full on Fender shot over Gibsons NR bow - The ThunderCaster
View attachment 7022668
View attachment 7022667

Love all three, but the BlingBird and ThunderCaster are really hitting it out of the park right now. I’ll need to do some fine tuning on the cap selection for the Sweet 66 to get it to the same level of performance as the other two.

And now that I’ve tasted the goodness of the Jack Casady pickups I’m getting this burning desire to do another semi hollow body reverse with F holes and a set of Electar (or maybe Alembic) pickups for the hollow body Jack should have had all along.

For me, you have them in order top to bottom, but that's mainly looks as I haven't had the chance to play 2 or 3.

 

[MCF]

Looks like a guitar pickup inserted into a bass cover, which I think Andy mentioned something about IIRC.

I was thinking the same thing. The rout has not been modified. Yet.

I will have to compare the control cavity with my other one.

 

[BklynKen]

I was thinking the same thing. The rout has not been modified. Yet.

I will have to compare the control cavity with my other one.

How does it sound?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

It arrived!

The shop, J&M Guitar in Phoenix, dropped it at UPS at 4:00 Tuesday. Made it to my door in Bako today at 11:45. Not complaints at all.

It was nicely packed.
View attachment 7022786View attachment 7022785
It’s in good shape. Better than what was disclosed in the description. More on all that this weekend.
View attachment 7022795

The mystery pickup. Can anyone identify it? The label was removed.
View attachment 7022796
It doesn’t look like it was Andy’s.
View attachment 7022797
I haven’t been able plug it in. I’m sitting in a work meeting so it’ll have to wait until tonight.

definitely not a Thunderbucker.....the cavity looks like the one from @Nocturnal Andy's pic....

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

talk about “cheaping out” on new promo stuff….

 

[JIO]

Tay, thanks, and good eye!
I’ve been searching for a nice thin plank of Wenge big enough to make a pickguard out of, it would match the neck/fretboard and cavity cover. Once I find it I’ll see if Irv wants to fab up a new guard with a chrome logo. Many woodworkers don’t like to use Wenge because it’s so difficult to work with (nasty splinters and irritating wood dust).

Ex-tb'r MrArose13 of Rosebud Guitars & Basses made this laminated pg for my SuperB 5'r. It is a made from a very thin laminate of wenge on top with bloodwood between and ebony below. It's anchored w/tiny rare-earth magnets so the pg can be easily removed to access a 9v battery under the pu. He used epoxy and pressure to laminate them.

 

[MCF]

definitely not a Thunderbucker.....the cavity looks like the one from @Nocturnal Andy's pic....

It definitely looks like a guitar pickup. But it looks to be a different cap in a different position. So who knows.

The tone knob was missing the silver insert. So I replaced the knobs with the remaining two silver ones I got from @Ringhammer (the other two I got are on my other BaCH).

Well, boring meeting ended. At least I had something to do (with cam off) while some VP droned on about nothing important.

 

[BklynKen]

talk about “cheaping out” on new promo stuff….
View attachment 7022833

I like how the Gibson guitar is most in focus.

 

[BklynKen]

Well, boring meeting ended. At least I had something to do (with cam off) while some VP droned on about nothing important.

"Could've been an email," am I right?

 

[godofthunder59]

Forgive me. For I have sinned. I used the new, greatly improved search function to see what BaCH threads I could find.

I came across this one. It looks like @godofthunder59 bought it.

https://www.talkbass.com/classifieds/fs-ft-bach-non-reverse-thunderbird-ii-copy-in-black.857879/

He said he was going to put a Thunderbucker in it and put one of his pickguards on it. So Scott. Did you do that? Did you subsequently sell it with the Thunderbucker in it? If so, do you recall where it went?

I have another ebony one that you owned at one time that passed through George to me.

Is it too much to hope that the incoming one has a Thunderbucker in it?

I still have the black one with a early Thunderbucker in it.

 

[MCF]

How does it sound?

I’ve been in meetings. Now I have to work. So I’ll plug it in tonight. The strings are crusty old rounds with red silks at the headstock end. Bare tail ends with gold ends. I’m thinking maybe nickel Boomers.

 

[JIO]

talk about “cheaping out” on new promo stuff….
View attachment 7022833

It's a bit funky, but not terrible... it's... artistic...

 

[MCF]

I still have the black one with a early Thunderbucker in it.

Yep. Appears to have a guitar pickup. It does have one of your stamped pickguards.