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Thunderbird Club

#30,521
Off-Beat said:
After 3 long month it finally arrived today:

View attachment 1134035

Forgive me the Fender cable. When I leave the bass' tone on it hisses quite loud. Guess that's the tubes, right? No problem for me though as I use tone at 3 maximum.

Overall it sounds perfect for me.
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Beautiful Classic Pro! The Thunderbird lines best kept secret.
 
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#30,522
Count Bassie said:
I played lacrosse for two years in high school. Always a narrow bean of a guy, I once got full-on cross-checked by a dude considerably larger than me while near the edge of the field. My helmet, most of my gear, and my stick were launched hilariously into the air along with my 140 lb still-living carcass to the other side of the edge of the field.
Nonplussed, I was on my feet scrambling for my pads and stick, and oh yeah my helmet...
One of my team mates ran up and said don"t move, my dad's a doctor, etc... apparently it looked pretty horrible! Lol. I was fine. The mesh pattern of my uniform jersey had gotten transferred into my skin by the impact of the other player's stick, and remained there, for days, in blood red.

I enjoyed playing lacrosse...
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I was a 165 lb. nose tackle. I was often one of the smallest guys on the field. Size didn't matter so much as having no respect for human life, including your own. I have been sewn up once or twice. That's probably enough said.
 
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#30,526
GBassNorth said:
All this glue talk is crazy. The idea is not to glue the insert in place. The insert has ribs (not just for your pleasure;)) to catch wood and hold as long as the hole is a force fit. The idea is to glue fresh wood (toothpicks) into the holes where the inserts were so you can pound the inserts back into a slightly smaller and now force fit hole. Wood glue will create a sufficiently strong bond between the toothpicks and the body wood (the claim is the glue joint is actually stronger than the surrounding wood).

Epoxy - down right messy and can destroy the finish if not carefully done. Might seep into the bolt thread area and make it impossible to fully raise or lower the bridge.

Gorilla glue - even more of a mess than epoxy and just as harmful to the finish. This is an expanding glue and if not very very carefully applied will seep out above the insert and onto the finish.

Crazy glue - as noted, very quick drying and not great at joining dissimilar or porous materials like wood and metal.

Wood glue - cheap, easy to use, water based and wipes off the bass finish with no harm, bonds wood to wood very well.
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My concern now is that the Gibson inserts are not the same size of the Epi inserts (I think the Gibsons are smaller). IF that is the case I would do my best to go the dowel route to be sure that the inserts have solid footing to keep them in place. While this will likely require taking the bass to a pro, it should not cost that much and you would know it was done right. You have suffered enough headaches with the original inserts, so why not just get it done right and be done with it? That is how I would handle this but as always YMMV.
 
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#30,530
Nocturnal said:
My concern now is that the Gibson inserts are not the same size of the Epi inserts (I think the Gibsons are smaller). IF that is the case I would do my best to go the dowel route to be sure that the inserts have solid footing to keep them in place. While this will likely require taking the bass to a pro, it should not cost that much and you would know it was done right. You have suffered enough headaches with the original inserts, so why not just get it done right and be done with it? That is how I would handle this but as always YMMV.
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Drill out, dowels and wood glue, flush cut and re-drill... not real sophisticated, but a careful job and not for a dabbler- well not on your nice 'Bird, anyway!
A little bread, a nice job. Looking good.
 
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#30,531
kat888 said:
All your parts? Or did they mix them up? Hate it when that happens...

Oh and there's a reason Rugby Union is 'the game they play in heaven'.
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No replacement parts yet. A few they didn't bother to reattach. Nothing critical, fortunately. Or unfortunately, depending on your point of view. I even have all my own teeth. Nose? It is a little revised.

I miss playing union rules rugby. I don't miss the two or three or four days after playing. Especially after being dumb enough to play three or four matches on a Saturday.
 
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#30,534
PillO said:
Because Rugby League SUCKS!

I played Rugby Union, but have no strong feelings or attachments. I stopped playing after university; I was in the army and it is a very rough game in the army.
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It's always a rough game. That's part of what made it fun, and part of why I stopped playing at about 28. When you are fit and not even 30, but it takes a whole week to recover, it's a hint that maybe it's time to do something else.

I worked with a pair of young women who would always check to see what was sore every Monday. On the one hand, they were completely cute young women, and I enjoyed the attention as a young man would. On the other hand, I really was sore and didn't enjoy the pain all that much.
 
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#30,535
kat888 said:
Removed the electronics, installed a pair of 9k2 Chinabuckers wired V-V, replaced the black hardware with chrome (no-name high mass bridge and Hipshot lic tuners) ... and removed 'TBird PRO-IV' from the truss rod cover.
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Please post a foto. Love the trans black as is, but this sounds even nicer.

veebass said:
Conrats. I suspected it was about the amp.
Is it a brand new one? Is that why you had to wait? Are they in short supply?
You will be happy with the Fusion 550. I have had one for about four years and love it. I use it's little brother MB Fusion 500 sometimes too these days, but the Fusion 550 has a little more b@lls IMO.
Not sure about the hissing you mention- my Fusion 550 and MB Fusion 500 are pretty quite (except when they are meant to be loud- which they sure can be).
Might be worth getting it checked out?
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Yeah brand new. Ordered at a local store that pretty much has the same offerings as thomann minus the Harley Benton stuff, same supplier too. First it was 3 weeks then 2 months...oh well.

Pretty anxious about inquiring about the hissing, seems like it could take half a year to get a 'repair' within warranty.

What I read at a guitarists forum is that a faulty preamp tube most likely causes this hissing, but I don't why only with tone on. Plugged my basses into the return and no hissing on my passive ones, more of a white noise sounding hissing on my active one with the tone dialed in.

Wanted to buy used but only found one and it was on the other end of the country. By US and Aussie standards a small one, but still a 7 hour drive through the alps - one way.

BklynKen said:
Ah, sorry. Well as I said....
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Sorry, didn't mean to sound rude.

Count Bassie said:
Drill out, dowels and wood glue, flush cut and re-drill... not real sophisticated, but a careful job and not for a dabbler- well not on your nice 'Bird, anyway!
A little bread, a nice job. Looking good.
Click to expand...

Haha, wanted to ask if these are available in the US

A-3000260301-1-all-0.jpg


then I read your post and had to check what dowel means. Well that's exactly what I'd use.
 
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#30,537
Off-Beat said:
Yeah brand new. Ordered at a local store that pretty much has the same offerings as thomann minus the Harley Benton stuff, same supplier too. First it was 3 weeks then 2 months...oh well.

Pretty anxious about inquiring about the hissing, seems like it could take half a year to get a 'repair' within warranty.

What I read at a guitarists forum is that a faulty preamp tube most likely causes this hissing, but I don't why only with tone on. Plugged my basses into the return and no hissing on my passive ones, more of a white noise sounding hissing on my active one with the tone dialed in.

Wanted to buy used but only found one and it was on the other end of the country. By US and Aussie standards a small one, but still a 7 hour drive through the alps - one way.
Click to expand...

I am not amp technical at all, but I had a thought. Are you setting the little active/ passive switch on the front of the amp appropriately for an active or passive bass, whatever the case may be?
 
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#30,538
kat888 said:
@Off-Beat

Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise

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Perfect. drool

veebass said:
I am not amp technical at all, but I had a thought. Are you setting the little active/ passive switch on the front of the amp appropriately for an active or passive bass, whatever the case may be?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it actually disappears when I use 'active' on passive basses - at any volume. Wrote GK about it already.
 
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