Thunderbird Club

[GBassNorth]

Am I back guys? Received this a few days ago
The dual coils Alusonic developed for these are not quite tbird pickups but sort of a mix between a DCB and TBird sound. Going to play it for a gig tonight, despite it being the most metal looking bass out there and being tuned in A standard, it’s a Cumbia/Vellanato gig

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That’s like a top notch RestoMod street car of the Thunderbird bass world. Love the old school look of the sandblasted black/red satin stained base wood with the hot rodded high gloss look of the wing caps. Headless, fanned fret, 5 string and active just screams high performance. Would love to hear how it sounds.

LOL - As an inside joke on all the jabbing we Tbird players get about broken headstocks, it would be a riot if you had a dummy headstock made for that bass that magnetically attached to the neck. And while gigging, at the push of a button, it would pop off while you just calmly played on with the band.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

...

I would be surprised to learn that you have a 33.8 scale bass kit

I know that I was. Most unpleasantly so.

The whole kit is kinda cockeyed... I get the feeling it was "designed" from a photo of a Thunderbird. Or a verbal description. In a bar. Late.

 

[BklynKen]

I know that I was. Most unpleasantly so.

The whole kit is kinda cockeyed... I get the feeling it was "designed" from a photo of a Thunderbird. Or a verbal description. In a bar. Late.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

a little TB+ along with LB tapes action....... must say, infinitely more interesting than the news......

 

[BuddhaFingas]

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In comparison to a "pro drawn" set of prints I ordered; just a taste of what I'm up against:

I like a challenge, but sometimes you have to wonder if you're passing limits of what can be conquered.

Project Names like "Blunderbird" or "the Bird of Pray" running though my head.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

In comparison to a "pro drawn" set of prints I ordered; just a taste of what I'm up against:

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I like a challenge, but sometimes you have to wonder if you're passing limits of what can be conquered.

are you looking for a vintage length headstock?

 

[BklynKen]

In comparison to a "pro drawn" set of prints I ordered; just a taste of what I'm up against:

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I like a challenge, but sometimes you have to wonder if you're passing limits of what can be conquered.

Smaller headstock should balance better.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

are you looking for a vintage length headstock?

That was the idea & what I maybe foolishly thought I was buying; were there variations that extreme in production units, over time?

 

[BuddhaFingas]

Question; is there a "proper" forum for doing an actual build thread?

I want to come here with questions and hopeful celebrations of progress/success, but I feel like I'm cluttering up the club thread with not-yet-a-Thunderbird content.

& bog help my willpower if an honest lefty Thunderbird crosses my forever-shopping path halfway thru this project.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

That was the idea & what I maybe foolishly thought I was buying; were there variations that extreme in production units, over time?

Yes I feel your pain.....hadn't owned a Bird since my stolen (in 2005) 70's and was disappointed to find the short headstock on my newly acquired 2013 NR when I saw early type (Kluson) tuners wouldn't fit......as NRs are of interest for me I went the BaCH direction (thanks to this club)......for reverse types an Eppi VP (or 64 or whatever) or an Orville is a good choice....Greco's work too if you don't mind the funky headstock/neck and shorter scale....

 

[MCF]

In comparison to a "pro drawn" set of prints I ordered; just a taste of what I'm up against:

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I like a challenge, but sometimes you have to wonder if you're passing limits of what can be conquered.

Project Names like "Blunderbird" or "the Bird of Pray" running though my head.

It’s like they used the free Harbor Freight ruler they give away.

 

[BklynKen]

Yes I feel your pain.....hadn't owned a Bird since my stolen (in 2005) 70's and was disappointed to find the short headstock on my newly acquired 2013 NR when I saw early type (Kluson) tuners wouldn't fit......as NRs are of interest for me I went the BaCH direction (thanks to this club)......for reverse types an Eppi VP (or 64 or whatever) or an Orville is a good choice....Greco's work too if you don't mind the funky headstock/neck and shorter scale....

Don't forget BuddhaFingas is left-handed.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

Agreed it's weird, but there's no need to do any math to check if it will work:

Fret Position Calculator for Fret Spacing - StewMac

Get precise fret spacing every time with our fret position calculator. Ideal for builders who demand accuracy across every scale length.

www.stewmac.com

I would be surprised to learn that you have a 33.8 scale bass kit

I ran the StewMac calculator and compared to the measurements I took yesterday with a 1/100th steel scale, eyeballing to the top center of each fret from the nut.

These numbers match +/- 0.002" the measurements I took, which considering I'm measuring by "magnified" eye to the top of a rounded fret, is fairly accurate.

So it seems I have a kinda-precisely-constructed 33.8"-Scale bass kit. Kull wahad!

Which SHOULD mean, if I place the bridge carefully, it will play true at the frets/marks, even if forever being odd-scale?

 

[Engle]

Question; is there a "proper" forum for doing an actual build thread?

I want to come here with questions and hopeful celebrations of progress/success, but I feel like I'm cluttering up the club thread with not-yet-a-Thunderbird content.

& bog help my willpower if an honest lefty Thunderbird crosses my forever-shopping path halfway thru this project.

I would not feel bad about cluttering up this thread with your project. There is a metric ton of content unrelated to Thunderbirds, basses, or even music here most days!

You could do a build thread in Luthier's corner. That would likely get more responses from people who build/mod/repair.
I tend to just post my work here because I don't always have time to post pictures and write up everything

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Don't forget BuddhaFingas is left-handed.

yeah me too.....short of a custom build the NR Greco (with mods of course) as you initially suggested is probably one good way to go.....wonder if Orville ever made lefty Birds...probably not since Gibson didn't(?) was Peterson's lefty NR a one off?....

 

[TBird1958]

The un glamorous side of playing in a band - Ugh, I am just tired today. For the band, last night's show was not our best, way too many mistakes for my liking, some small some verging on being a train wreck - Most of it falls on our singer as she's just not paying enough attention to what she's doing, coming in at the wrong time, or missing parts. I was glad to be done with the show, we loaded out in heavy rain and Frank drove us the 130 miles home, I sure couldn't do this anymore without his support.

Not the happiest girl.

 

[BklynKen]

me too.....

I should've said PLAYS left-handed.

 

[BklynKen]

The un glamorous side of playing in a band - Ugh, I am just tired today. For the band, last night's show was not our best, way too many mistakes for my liking, some small some verging on being a train wreck - Most of it falls on our singer as she's just not paying enough attention to what she's doing, coming in at the wrong time, or missing parts. I was glad to be done with the show, we loaded out in heavy rain and Frank drove us the 130 miles home, I sure couldn't do anymore without his support.

Not the happiest girl.

Well at least you looked great? As Fernando says, "It's better to look good than to feel good."

 

[TBird1958]

Question; is there a "proper" forum for doing an actual build thread?

I want to come here with questions and hopeful celebrations of progress/success, but I feel like I'm cluttering up the club thread with not-yet-a-Thunderbird content.

& bog help my willpower if an honest lefty Thunderbird crosses my forever-shopping path halfway thru this project.

I would just like to say that you're very welcome to post this as a project here, we'll all learn something and it encourages a lot of constructive conversation.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

I would not feel bad about cluttering up this thread with your project. There is a metric ton of content unrelated to Thunderbirds, basses, or even music here most days!

You could do a build thread in Luthier's corner. That would likely get more responses from people who build/mod/repair.
I tend to just post my work here because I don't always have time to post pictures and write up everything

Thanks; somehow a lowly kit build by a garage-level hack like me didn't seem qualified for the exalted "L-word."