Thunderbird Club

[GBassNorth]

Anyone familiar with the Greco TB-70? Is the neck shape and scale similar to the TB-900? How would the mid-80's pickups compare to the TB-900's?

I have a 1990 white Greco TB70 and a Greco 1977 burst TB900.
The scale length is the same on both (33.5”)
The nut width is the same on both (1-3/4”)
The neck shape is the same on both.
Pickups are different manufacturers but look and sound identical (except my TB70 hardware and pups are all black metal)

 

[dagrev]

I'm looking at some options. Has anybody here tried Optima strings?

Electric Bass Strings | Optima Strings Canada

Developed and handmade in Germany from the finest materials and for highest tonal demands. This series reflects our 100-year tradition of string manufacture. The result is a string of unmatched premium quality. Their durability is, compared to normal strings, up to two times higher. OPTIMA...

www.optima-strings.ca

Also interested.

 

[MCF]

Hey all. First time posting in this club. Picked up a ‘76 Bicentennial model a while back which has been fun. The brass truss rod nut hex was worked and the wood around the area was heaved out. I made a new nut out of stainless steel and added a washer and a little backer plate to help distribute the pressure over a wider surface area within the truss rod cutout cavity. Smeared the threads with Never-seez to keep it from binding. Finally, I added a Babicz bridge. The adjustability is awesome on it.
Here are some photos:

View attachment 7142948View attachment 7142949

Hey Tone, congratulations and welcome! Thanks for the info about the TR nut repair.

I’m partial to the Babicz myself. I think it offers the most string height adjustment of any Tbird bridge. Although a lot of the time the three-point is fine.

 

[dagrev]

Hey all. First time posting in this club. Picked up a ‘76 Bicentennial model a while back which has been fun. The brass truss rod nut hex was worked and the wood around the area was heaved out. I made a new nut out of stainless steel and added a washer and a little backer plate to help distribute the pressure over a wider surface area within the truss rod cutout cavity. Smeared the threads with Never-seez to keep it from binding. Finally, I added a Babicz bridge. The adjustability is awesome on it.
Here are some photos:

View attachment 7142948View attachment 7142949

Welcome! Nice looking Thunderbird.

I have a '76 as well with the exact same problem. Mine is bulged out more. (No body needs to go there!) This was going to be my solution as well when the weather warms up and being in the garage isn't....cold. It could stand more adjusting but it would likely just bulge even more and I don't want the wood to crack/split. I hope this works for you and my situation as well.

 

[GonePlaid]

Marshall now has a strong revulsion to anything blue, and we all listed our Thunderbirds on consignment at Guitar Center for the best possible prices. Oh, and after one YT video lesson I can play like Chuck. Other than that, no.

Riiiight.

 

[GonePlaid]

FWIW, TB wasn't giving me Thunderbird Club notifications for some reason. I'm ~25 pages behind. Hope I didn't miss anything real significant.
EDIT: might try to skim through later...or not.

Pretty much decided on "or not". I actually do have other 'stuff' to do.

 

[MCF]

Welcome! Nice looking Thunderbird.

I have a '76 as well with the exact same problem. Mine is bulged out more. (No body needs to go there!) This was going to be my solution as well when the weather warms up and being in the garage isn't....cold. It could stand more adjusting but it would likely just bulge even more and I don't want the wood to crack/split. I hope this works for you and my situation as well.

It looks like a reasonable solution. Fortunately I haven’t encountered that issue. But I saved the pic to remind me of the fix should the time come.

 

[Bulltrout]

I have a 1990 white Greco TB70 and a Greco 1977 burst TB900.
The scale length is the same on both (33.5”)
The nut width is the same on both (1-3/4”)
The neck shape is the same on both.
Pickups are different manufacturers but look and sound identical (except my TB70 hardware and pups are all black metal)

Awesome, exactly the information I was looking for. Many thanks.

 

[TBird1958]

Ha! Read between the lines....think Ringhamner's trying to tell us something....

Shaved legs are certainly a sign, just sayin'

 

[TBird1958]

Hey all. First time posting in this club. Picked up a ‘76 Bicentennial model a while back which has been fun. The brass truss rod nut hex was worked and the wood around the area was heaved out. I made a new nut out of stainless steel and added a washer and a little backer plate to help distribute the pressure over a wider surface area within the truss rod cutout cavity. Smeared the threads with Never-seez to keep it from binding. Finally, I added a Babicz bridge. The adjustability is awesome on it.
Here are some photos:

View attachment 7142948View attachment 7142949

Very nice, please do be welcome here with us, and let me know if you'd like a club number.
The Babicz looks pretty good on it too.

 

[Tonegasm]

Thanks! Does anyone make good reissue bridge and pickup covers for these?

 

[dagrev]

It looks like a reasonable solution. Fortunately I haven’t encountered that issue. But I saved the pic to remind me of the fix should the time come.

I've not seen that before on anything I've had. Normally a slight turn on anything and it's all good, but the '76 "needs more" than the wood might allow. I suspect it's '70s issue for some reason. But yes, keep that pic. You never know.

 

[dagrev]

Shaved legs are certainly a sign, just sayin'

 

[Nocturnal]

Hey all. First time posting in this club. Picked up a ‘76 Bicentennial model a while back which has been fun. The brass truss rod nut hex was worked and the wood around the area was heaved out. I made a new nut out of stainless steel and added a washer and a little backer plate to help distribute the pressure over a wider surface area within the truss rod cutout cavity. Smeared the threads with Never-seez to keep it from binding. Finally, I added a Babicz bridge. The adjustability is awesome on it.
Here are some photos:

View attachment 7142948View attachment 7142949

Congrats on the beautiful Bird!!

 

[MCF]

Shaved legs are certainly a sign, just sayin'

Not necessarily. Swimmers, triathletes, and other athletes shave their legs. Although I don’t know that Chuck fits into that category.

 

[MCF]

Welcome! Nice looking Thunderbird.

I have a '76 as well with the exact same problem. Mine is bulged out more. (No body needs to go there!) This was going to be my solution as well when the weather warms up and being in the garage isn't....cold. It could stand more adjusting but it would likely just bulge even more and I don't want the wood to crack/split. I hope this works for you and my situation as well.

Ok. I won’t go there. But IIRC, you’re the original owner?

 

[GBassNorth]

I'm looking at some options. Has anybody here tried Optima strings?

Electric Bass Strings | Optima Strings Canada

Developed and handmade in Germany from the finest materials and for highest tonal demands. This series reflects our 100-year tradition of string manufacture. The result is a string of unmatched premium quality. Their durability is, compared to normal strings, up to two times higher. OPTIMA...

www.optima-strings.ca

Yes, I use the Optima Gold plated studio strings and love them. Not cheap by any means, but they last about 3 or 4 times longer than my nickel strings, so it’s about a wash. Shop around on the price, it varies greatly.

I currently have them on the BlingBird, the Lull, and a Fender build I did. Been using them for about 15 years now (multiple sets).

Solid bottom, not flabby, punchy low mids, smooth high mids, tame but true top end, less sizzle and clank than most SS rounds. Not boomy, very well balanced across the set. Overall a tad warmer than most nickels. Tension feels a bit higher than average but shouldn’t require any major truss adjustment. They are gold plated and don’t chip or flake and are kind to frets and fretting fingers. Not sticky like Black Beauties or Dragon Skins.

Sometimes they leave a hint of oxidation on my fingers if I play for a long time or get real sweaty. Visually they are stunning, so I do use them to dress a bass up, but they do deliver in spades on sound as well. They look great on basses with gold hardware. When they go dead they go quick. If you go through a set of nickels in 3 months these will last you a year or two. I tried boiling a set that had gone dead and it was a total failure, don’t bother. I don’t slap or pic so no first hand knowledge there but I’d assume they would work great with a pic, might be a bit too warm for slappers.

 

[TBird1958]

Thanks! Does anyone make good reissue bridge and pickup covers for these?

I have in the past seen some Repro bridge and pickup covers on ebay, not recently. Originals are stupid expensive of course - which makes no sense
at all because most players will just remove them.
I love them....even if they do get in the way sometimes.

This is a Repro bridge cover, it also serves to keep my bass player maestro (Chuck) friend from palm muting when he plays my bass much better than I can.

 

[Tonegasm]

This is the look! Love it.

 

[dagrev]

Not necessarily. Swimmers, triathletes, and other athletes shave their legs. Although I don’t know that Chuck fits into that category.

Bass athlete.