Thunderbird Club

[Engle]

Chinabuckers?

View attachment 7152585

View attachment 7152586

Those are Chinabuckers.

 

[B-Mac]

Those are Chinabuckers.

So is the Ad on FleaBay False, because these look to be the same thing?

Epiphone Standard Bucker Vintage 760 Bass Humbucker Thunderbird Guitar Pickups | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Epiphone Standard Bucker Vintage 760 Bass Humbucker Thunderbird Guitar Pickups at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.ca

 

[Engle]

Initial autopsy findings.
SS# indicates 1966 (131 made that year)

Pics are worth a thousand words.

The ugly...
View attachment 7152573

View attachment 7152574

Seems stable. I put the BA I bridge back on and going to clean it. But tuners on and get some strings on it to see what that reveals.

I would finish that off with a mahogany back strap. Maybe further down the neck and not so far up the headstock as this:

 

[GBassNorth]

I actually ordered a purple sparkle tbird as a bday present to myself heh

I follow a lot of your reviews, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Purple Sparkle Tbird. I bought one last year and have found it to be one of the best sounding Tbirds and basses I own at any cost. It’s a tad heavier than my first model year Epiphone VP Tbird and the neck geometry is a bit different as well, but the sound right out of the box is to die for. If you’re in the market for a sweet sounding passive dual humbucker bass you’d be hard pressed to find a better buy in the sub $1000 bracket.
Happy B’Day BTW. Play your new bird in good health.
PS - if you figure out what the stock strings are let us know. I’d eventually like to replace mine when they wear out and the stock ones seem to be a perfect match for this bass.

 

[Bent77]

The beaver is friendly, it's the goose ya gotta watch for!

My wife is Canadian

I’ll just ahem myself out before this gets us both banned!

 

[Bent77]

I would finish that off with a mahogany back strap. Maybe further down the neck and not so far up the headstock as this:
View attachment 7152618

I would actually cover the entire back of the headstock.
Overall this is an attractive way to repair this

 

[Stealth57]

So is the Ad on FleaBay False, because these look to be the same thing?

Epiphone Standard Bucker Vintage 760 Bass Humbucker Thunderbird Guitar Pickups | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Epiphone Standard Bucker Vintage 760 Bass Humbucker Thunderbird Guitar Pickups at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.ca

View attachment 7152617

There was some debate on these a month ago...not sure if it is Epi's supplier selling on the side or counterfeit.

 

[bylar13]

There was some debate on these a month ago...not sure if it is Epi's supplier selling on the side or counterfeit.

While humans always seem to be able to find a new low sometimes, I really doubt someone is going to the trouble to counterfeit a bass pickup and then sell it for $60.

 

[Stealth57]

While humans always seem to be able to find a new low sometimes, I really doubt someone is going to the trouble to counterfeit a bass pickup and then sell it for $60.

I agree these are more likely from the manufacturer selling outside their contract with Epi or someone slapping stickers on Chinabuckers. I suspect the former as you can go to Temu and find items that are exactly like what is sold in the US for a fraction of the price. Example, a Ghostfire pedal board selling for $60-80 on Amazon going for $30 on Temu. The photos are identical, right down to the storage bag.

 

[AllieCat]

I agree these are more likely from the manufacturer selling outside their contract with Epi or someone slapping stickers on Chinabuckers. I suspect the former as you can go to Temu and find items that are exactly like what is sold in the US for a fraction of the price. Example, a Ghostfire pedal board selling for $60-80 on Amazon going for $30 on Temu. The photos are identical, right down to the storage bag.

I've seen a lot of instances of Temu bait-and-switching, using photos from legit listings to market counterfeits that look very different when they actually arrive.

 

[GBassNorth]

There was some debate on these a month ago...not sure if it is Epi's supplier selling on the side or counterfeit.

I do find it interesting that the “Eppi” Tbird 760ProBuckers on eBay are actually cheaper than EY “ChinaBuckers”. I personally think there’s some counterfeiting or side sales or some other nefarious dealings going on. That said, they might sound perfectly good.

I could be mistaken but my recollection is that the 760ProBuckers I removed from a trashed Eppi Embassy and installed in my ‘66 NR tribute bird had the word Epiphone stamped into the metal plate on the under side of the pickup. I’ll try to find a pic to see if I’m recalling things correctly.

Update:
My memory was correct. My ProBuckers are stamped with the Eppi logo on the back plate, see photos a couple of posts down in this thread.

 

[MCF]

You mention the original pickups - I’ve gotten several messages inquiring about them, so I might as well put it out there. Lost them, along with a bunch of other gear, in a house fire. Sucks to find out they’re highly regarded, but they’re by far not the biggest gear loss in that event. It was years ago so I’m past it, but some really good stuff burned up. I was able to get a lot of instruments out, but the SVT and Bassman rigs were too heavy to hustle out of there. Most of the important instruments made it out except for two I’ll never get over, that were blocked off by fire - my ‘77 Jazz and a ‘76 Rick 3001.

Wow. So sorry to hear that. Gear can be replaced. Lives can’t. Glad you made it out.

 

[GBassNorth]

There was some debate on these a month ago...not sure if it is Epi's supplier selling on the side or counterfeit.

Here’s what the back side of my 760ProBuckers looks like (on the left). Clearly stamped with the Eppi brand. The one on the right is a Gibson reissue. Note the different hole patterns. My ChinaBuckers (not shown) look exactly like what is posted on EBay as a ProBucker.

In Gibsons infinite wisdom they decided not to stamp the brand on the back plate, thus counterfeiting in the future will be very easy. Eppi did it right (at least on the pickups I extracted from an early run Embassy reissue bass). They do sound great in my ‘66 NR Tribute which has the pickups in the 1966 locations vs the current Gibson NR reissue.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The beaver is friendly, it's the goose ya gotta watch for!

Ahem!
But true!

 

[MCF]

Those sorts of finish issues have kept me from buying a Gibson Tbird a couple of times.
My Les Paul Tribute has some roughness along the fingerboard, but for the money I can live with it.

Small imperfections come with the territory on true nitro finishes. Poly is much more forgiving. But it just isn’t the same.

 

[Bent77]

Same spot after 2 hours

 

[B-Mac]

Here’s what the back side of my 760ProBuckers looks like (on the left). Clearly stamped with the Eppi brand. The one on the right is a Gibson reissue. Note the different hole patterns. My ChinaBuckers (not shown) look exactly like what is posted on EBay as a ProBucker.
View attachment 7152656

In Gibsons infinite wisdom they decided not to stamp the brand on the back plate, thus counterfeiting in the future will be very easy. Eppi did it right (at least on the pickups I extracted from an early run Embassy reissue bass. They do sound great in my ‘66 NR Tribute which has the pickups in the 1966 locations vs the current Gibson NR reissue.

I love it when something is backed up with real items.

Thanks!

 

[dagrev]

You could try the aged PB like Epi used on the JC models. It's stunning in person.

Those do look great. J.T. was thinking of doing it in a gold mist poly. That sounds interesting as well and would be a nice omage to him.

 

[dagrev]

I think those are Epi 760 - Probuckers.

Thanks Andy. I think you nailed it! I like those in the VPs, so that suits me fine. If those sound great I will have to see about unsoldering the nickle cans to be replaced with the gold.

I have some Hipshot tuners, bridge and SIT Powerwounds on. Those are on the '64 so it will give me an idea for the sake of comparison.

 

[dagrev]

Someone on here 1000 pages ago I probably posted a picture of chinabuckers. They were listed as EY
I can pull them out if needed

Thanks, but don't do that. Much appreciated

Told the wife if I had to live in the city I would probably need to resume drinking

Louisville is bigger than I care for. Or I might resort to the same thing as you! We're in the city, but in a area not heavily populated. People get on my nerves!
Mostly surrounded by woods and a golf course.