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Thunderbird Club

#305,903
Ringhammer said:
I have an eye on an ‘88. I REALLY do not need to buy another bass (or anything really), but I recently had my hands on a Greco Flying V bass owned by an acquaintance and was surprised at how well built it felt. Not to concerned about the pickups as I don’t think the originals are in it, more interested in how solid it’s built and the potential for low action it may have. I have a ‘99 Gibson that no one can seem to setup with reasonable action without a significant buzz on the E, and now I’m gunshy about any set neck/neck through basses.
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I have a 1977 (single pickup) and a 1990 Greco (two pickup) Tbird. Both sound phenomenal. The overwhelming reason to buy a Greco bird is because of the sound, the pickups are magical. Other than that they are very run of the mill basses with a quality and hardware level that falls somewhere between Epiphone and Gibson. At a price point below $1200 they are a great buy, above that I’d start looking at other options. Set and neck through basses are always a risk, but I’ve been lucky to date.

If you want a nearly equally good sounding Tbird with a bolt on neck you might look at the Eppi Custom Shop/Limited Edition basses with the P90 style pickups (not the ones with the standard Eppi pickup) very sweet sounding bottom end and plenty of oomph behind every note.

There’s an interesting looking good priced used option out there right now. It has SD pickups and should be a very nice sounding bass if you can dig the vintage contemporary look…
https://reverb.com/item/85462244-cataldo-thunderbird-2010-2015-green
If interested, be sure to confirm there’s zero intonation issues first, looks like there’s very little adjustment left in the saddles.
 
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#305,904
Engle said:
Here's a mix of a DJB tune called Wahtitis:

VP with Cobalt Flats > D800+>Focusrite Saffire
I'm trying to decide if the bass part during the guitar solo is a keeper. I had it doubling the guitar in a few spots, but then Mike redid his solo....
Maybe I'm overthinking it:)
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Irv, I love it just as is!
The free wheeling bass line adds a lot of texture to the song (almost a song within a song) and really makes it sound richer and more complex. Likewise the way you pulled in behind the guitar and pretty much tracked his riffs towards the end tightened up the song nicely and let it finish with a sense of unity.
Very well done.
 
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#305,905
Something about living out in the country.....
Happy 7riday!.....
IMG_2136.jpeg
 
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#305,908
Ringhammer said:
I have an eye on an ‘88. I REALLY do not need to buy another bass (or anything really), but I recently had my hands on a Greco Flying V bass owned by an acquaintance and was surprised at how well built it felt. Not to concerned about the pickups as I don’t think the originals are in it, more interested in how solid it’s built and the potential for low action it may have. I have a ‘99 Gibson that no one can seem to setup with reasonable action without a significant buzz on the E, and now I’m gunshy about any set neck/neck through basses.
Click to expand...

They have very shallow pitch to the neck, good, low action shouldn't be an issue. I think pretty highly of them overall and feel as though they are much closer to the original Gibson than any other Thunderbird, I far prefer mine to any of the Epiphone versions.
 
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#305,910
GBassNorth said:
Irv, I love it just as is!
The free wheeling bass line adds a lot of texture to the song (almost a song within a song) and really makes it sound richer and more complex. Likewise the way you pulled in behind the guitar and pretty much tracked his riffs towards the end tightened up the song nicely and let it finish with a sense of unity.
Very well done.
Click to expand...
Thanks George! I'm pretty happy with the way it's sounding.
Producing it ourselves, we don't have anyone to tell us "That's good - stop messing with it!"
 
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#305,911
TBird1958 said:
They have very shallow pitch to the neck, good, low action shouldn't be an issue.
Click to expand...
With this being said, I have a question: I have three Gibson ‘birds from the ‘90’s, a ‘95, ‘97, and a ‘99, and I have three Gibson ‘birds from the 2000’s, two are 2001 and one is a 2003. The ones from the 2000’s set up great and all have low action with little or no E string buzz. The ones from the ‘90’s seem to be more difficult and all of them end up with higher action in order to mitigate E string buzz (the ‘99 is the worst offender). In the case of the ‘99, I feel like I have tried everything, it’s been in the hands of two different luthiers, it’s been PLEK’ed, I have tried the spacer for the Babicz bridge (the all have a Babicz bridge), I have EBCF 105-50 on it, which are petty stiff in standard tuning.

I have see here that the neck angle is different pre 2000 to post 2000. Are the earlier ones (‘90’s) the ones with the steeper angle or is it shallower?
 
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#305,912
Engle said:
Thanks Donny!
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Well deserved Irv. You're a far better player than I am in my dreams, but I think you may be overthinking it. In my thinking what we do as bass players:
1. Fits/serves the song well or not (stands out by overplaying over-clever in some way).
2. If it fits and serves, there begins a lot of subjectivity based on history, preference and influence. From here once a bass part fits, there could be a number of ways of adding fills and even general playing that all still fit/serve the song appropriately (I use that loosely).

That said, I love what you did. Could you play a few more notes or less and at different times and places? Yes, but it still might fit the song great. You (and we), might have different preferences on several takes, but it's then getting in the more subjective area IMO. Heck, you might do one take and like it and 2 months from now like another take. (This opinion cost nothing is also worth nothing. :smug:)
 
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#305,914
Ringhammer said:
With this being said, I have a question: I have three Gibson ‘birds from the ‘90’s, a ‘95, ‘97, and a ‘99, and I have three Gibson ‘birds from the 2000’s, two are 2001 and one is a 2003. The ones from the 2000’s set up great and all have low action with little or no E string buzz. The ones from the ‘90’s seem to be more difficult and all of them end up with higher action in order to mitigate E string buzz (the ‘99 is the worst offender). In the case of the ‘99, I feel like I have tried everything, it’s been in the hands of two different luthiers, it’s been PLEK’ed, I have tried the spacer for the Babicz bridge (the all have a Babicz bridge), I have EBCF 105-50 on it, which are petty stiff in standard tuning.

I have see here that the neck angle is different pre 2000 to post 2000. Are the earlier ones (‘90’s) the ones with the steeper angle or is it shallower?
Click to expand...

I would be surprised if there were any differences in the neck pitch between all of those Birds, to my knowledge the change to (I think 17 degree) neck pitch happened around 2006 for the standard models. I do recall that the Nikki Sixx Mk.I and Mk II both had pitched necks, one reason I ended up selling mine.
I can't comment on the Babicz at all, none of my basses have either that or a Hipshot on them, your string choice OTOH may have something to do with it, I only use 45-105 and have no problems in getting good, low action on my Gibson Birds. The Greco may not have any issues with heavier strings, they're a pretty stout bass, esp. as Birds go.
 
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#305,915
Chucky Stiletti said:
What would we do without you Dave (other than live happy ever after... :smug:) ...sent it back for "crispying up" when first pic taken..... no compromises here......
Click to expand...

I think I gave you "limp" bacon for breakfast when you visited - Sorry! :woot:
 
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#305,916
Ringhammer said:
With this being said, I have a question: I have three Gibson ‘birds from the ‘90’s, a ‘95, ‘97, and a ‘99, and I have three Gibson ‘birds from the 2000’s, two are 2001 and one is a 2003. The ones from the 2000’s set up great and all have low action with little or no E string buzz. The ones from the ‘90’s seem to be more difficult and all of them end up with higher action in order to mitigate E string buzz (the ‘99 is the worst offender). In the case of the ‘99, I feel like I have tried everything, it’s been in the hands of two different luthiers, it’s been PLEK’ed, I have tried the spacer for the Babicz bridge (the all have a Babicz bridge), I have EBCF 105-50 on it, which are petty stiff in standard tuning.

I have see here that the neck angle is different pre 2000 to post 2000. Are the earlier ones (‘90’s) the ones with the steeper angle or is it shallower?
Click to expand...
You might have found a degree of commonality between your 1990’s basses - the Babicz bridge.

I have that bridge on one of my birds and found it very difficult to get the proper string angle break while the spacer plate was in place. I took the plate out and that forced the saddle cams to be turned up at a higher angle from the body thereby increasing the break angle. The worst offender was the E string, which was nearly a flat run from the ball end across the saddle, not good if you like a low action and no fret buzz.

It might be worth a try to remove the spacer plate from the least effected of the three basses to see if it’s enough to make a difference (note, you’ll need to do a full new set up if you do this). If it solves the problem on that bass then try it on the next best bass to see if it works there, and if so, do the same on the worst offender.

I would hazard a guess that there are very few luthiers out there that are truly familiar with how a Babicz bridge works, let alone a three point. So you might not be getting all the love out of your bridge that’s possible. It’s a very good bridge but I personally like the Hipshot a bit better.
 
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#305,918
TBird1958 said:
I would be surprised if there were any differences in the neck pitch between all of those Birds, to my knowledge the change to (I think 17 degree) neck pitch happened around 2006 for the standard models. I do recall that the Nikki Sixx Mk.I and Mk II both had pitched necks, one reason I ended up selling mine.
I can't comment on the Babicz at all, none of my basses have either that or a Hipshot on them, your string choice OTOH may have something to do with it, I only use 45-105 and have no problems in getting good, low action on my Gibson Birds. The Greco may not have any issues with heavier strings, they're a pretty stout bass, esp. as Birds go.
Click to expand...
Ok, good to know the angle change happened later than these years I have. I’ll note it. I was perplexed because they do not perceptibly any different. I wouldn’t normally use heavier gauge for standard tuning, and I started this oddesey with 105-45 GHS boomers. Still buzzy.
 
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#305,919
GBassNorth said:
You might have found a degree of commonality between your 1990’s basses - the Babicz bridge.

I have that bridge on one of my birds and found it very difficult to get the proper string angle break while the spacer plate was in place. I took the plate out and that forced the saddle cams to be turned up at a higher angle from the body thereby increasing the break angle. The worst offender was the E string, which was nearly a flat run from the ball end across the saddle, not good if you like a low action and no fret buzz.

It might be worth a try to remove the spacer plate from the least effected of the three basses to see if it’s enough to make a difference (note, you’ll need to do a full new set up if you do this). If it solves the problem on that bass then try it on the next best bass to see if it works there, and if so, do the same on the worst offender.

I would hazard a guess that there are very few luthiers out there that are truly familiar with how a Babicz bridge works, let alone a three point. So you might not be getting all the love out of your bridge that’s possible. It’s a very good bridge but I personally like the Hipshot a bit better.
Click to expand...
It’s actually ones without the spacer that are more difficult.

In the ‘99, I’m seriously considering going with a vintage style 2 point and claw. I know I’ll have three holes to deal with, but I do love the vintage look of the originals.
 
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