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Thunderbird Club

#313,402
dagrev said:
Anyone who mentions a dobro and a resonator is my kind of guy.

As to the weird noise, I have never encountered anything like that before, so I'm puzzled and curious.
Can you take another string and put in the D position and see if it does it?
Click to expand...
That’s a great idea, but I don’t want to bend/dent any of the D strings I have on my other instruments to test it out. I do have a full set of EBCFs arriving tomorrow, so I’ll just restring it anew and see if the sound goes away. If not, I’ll have to look more closely at the saddle.
 
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#313,403
Bighouse said:
Based on the recommendations of many in this club, I’ve ordered some EBCF and they should arrive tomorrow. However, in the meanwhile I decided to adjust the intonation on the factory strings. I noticed something when working on them that I hadn’t really seen during playing the bass and checking it out in the store. The D string makes a kind of dobro rattling sound, like a high pitched resonator. Doesn’t matter which
fret I use from 1 to the end or even open, that tinny buzzing sound is present. I’ve the volumes up/down on each pickup and it’s still present. I’ve played with the tone adjustments, and it’s still present. I can’t really hear it on the instrument, but I hear it through my Mesa Boogie D-800+ and 115 cab. None of the other strings exhibit this issue. Is this the sound of a broken or cracked string maybe??? Could it be a pickup problem, even though it seems to happen with either pickup?
Click to expand...
Check the tuners. I had one of the machine strews loose once and the washer made a noise at times. Check every screw on the bass. Especially the neck joint plate.



;)
 
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#313,405
dagrev said:
Check the tuners. I had one of the machine strews loose once and the washer made a noise at times. Check every screw on the bass. Especially the neck joint plate.



;)
Click to expand...
There is no neck joint plate. (Must be said as in “There is no spoon”.)

This is a very good suggestion! I noticed when looking around that the screws that hold the truss rod cover in were actually quite loose and the plate wasn’t even flush to the surface of the headstock!!!
 
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#313,407
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#313,408
Engle said:
This looks like a pretty good deal. Comes with a bonus Hipshot 2 point!
Epiphone 60s Thunderbird w/ Hipshot Mods

For sale Epiphone 60s Thunderbird w/ Hipshot Mods

Old-school T-Bird with modern hardware
$625.00
4 watching
Click to expand...
Didn’t know a Hipshot would fit with the craw. I have one sitting on the self with no place to go…would it buy me anything on my VP?
 
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#313,411
I did this today. If it works out, good. Stoner Doom...
IMG_20250308_191339092.jpg

Don't know about pairing it with the Hartke (8 ohms), but it'll be interesting to try it with the 4 ohm 2x15 and the Ampeg PR410 HLF.
I played it before I took it home, and I'm believing the Bird's gonna like this one.
I will comment as this saga continues.
George, this doesn't mean I'm not looking into your Mesa Subway...
 
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#313,414
Update: I tightened every screw I could see on the body, including tuners, mounts, pick guards, tailpiece, PUPs to body, strap buttons, etc…there were four screws that mount the saddle-adjacent PUP to the body that were not capable for being tightened, they are pretty much loose and I’ll have to remove them and plug the existing holes with wood/glue to get them to tighten properly, but that’s not where the buzzing does seem to be coming from. When I play a string, I can hear some buzzing coming from inside the headstock, and perhaps from the truss rod cover area. I removed it to look inside, and there was some paint/junk material I carefully cut away to expose the end of the truss rod. I cleaned it with a small bottle brush and removed any dust, but the rattle sound continues, as does the resonator sound from my Mesa Boogie only on the “D” string.

I’m including a photo of the body and I’ve circled the four screws on the PUP that won’t tighten.

I’m going to hope that when I put new strings on it, the resonator goes away.

I’m hoping that everything is fixable…but now I’m wondering if I found maybe the reason why whomever owned it for a short amount of time got rid of it! This bass WANTS me though, I can tell. So I’m not giving up on it yet.
IMG_0230.jpeg
 
Last edited:
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#313,415
Bighouse said:
Update: I tightened every screw I could see on the body, including tuners, mounts, pick guards, tailpiece, PUPs to body, strap buttons, etc…there were four screws that mount the saddle-adjacent PUP to the body that were not capable for being tightened, they are pretty much loose and I’ll have to remove them and plug the existing holes with wood/glue to get them to tighten properly, but that’s not where the buzzing does seem to be coming from. When I play a string, I can hear some buzzing coming from inside the headstock, and perhaps from the truss rod cover area. I removed it to look inside, and there was some paint/junk material I carefully cut away to expose the end of the truss rod. I cleaned it with a small bottle brush and removed any dust, but the rattle sound continues, as does the resonator sound from my Mesa Boogie only on the “D” string.

I’m including a photo of the body and I’ve circled the four screws on the PUP that won’t tighten.

I’m going to hop that when I put new strings on it, the resonator goes away.

I’m hoping that everything is fixable…but now I’m wondering if I found maybe the reason why whomever owned it for a short amount of time got rid of it! This bass WANTS me though, I can tell. So I’m not giving up on it yet.View attachment 7171006
Click to expand...
Maybe it's a string in a nut slot? Try putting a finger across the nut, making sure you make finger contact with the strings, and pluck them with your right hand.
 
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#313,416
Bighouse said:
Update: I tightened every screw I could see on the body, including tuners, mounts, pick guards, tailpiece, PUPs to body, strap buttons, etc…there were four screws that mount the saddle-adjacent PUP to the body that were not capable for being tightened, they are pretty much loose and I’ll have to remove them and plug the existing holes with wood/glue to get them to tighten properly, but that’s not where the buzzing does seem to be coming from. When I play a string, I can hear some buzzing coming from inside the headstock, and perhaps from the truss rod cover area. I removed it to look inside, and there was some paint/junk material I carefully cut away to expose the end of the truss rod. I cleaned it with a small bottle brush and removed any dust, but the rattle sound continues, as does the resonator sound from my Mesa Boogie only on the “D” string.

I’m including a photo of the body and I’ve circled the four screws on the PUP that won’t tighten.

I’m going to hope that when I put new strings on it, the resonator goes away.

I’m hoping that everything is fixable…but now I’m wondering if I found maybe the reason why whomever owned it for a short amount of time got rid of it! This bass WANTS me though, I can tell. So I’m not giving up on it yet.View attachment 7171006
Click to expand...
Did you try a different amp? I had that issue with my B-15 playing A on the D string. It was a loose tube socket.
 
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#313,417
Bighouse said:
Based on the recommendations of many in this club, I’ve ordered some EBCF and they should arrive tomorrow. However, in the meanwhile I decided to adjust the intonation on the factory strings. I noticed something when working on them that I hadn’t really seen during playing the bass and checking it out in the store. The D string makes a kind of dobro rattling sound, like a high pitched resonator. Doesn’t matter which fret I use from 1 to the end or even open, that tinny buzzing sound is present. I’ve the volumes up/down on each pickup and it’s still present. I’ve played with the tone adjustments, and it’s still present. I can’t really hear it on the instrument, but I hear it through my Mesa Boogie D-800+ and 115 cab. None of the other strings exhibit this issue. Is this the sound of a broken or cracked string maybe??? Could it be a pickup problem, even though it seems to happen with either pickup?
Click to expand...

I can't help but wonder if the G string bridge saddle screw is rattling?
 
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