Thunderbird Club

[MCF]

Nah, the probuckers are coming from the returned sparkle birds

Maybe not all that far fetched. Who knows.

 

[dagrev]

[photo removed to prevent club shutdown]

Ahem!

I'm a '62 model so it wasn't my personal backside. Thus no need for Eye Bleach.

 

[TBird1958]

Lot's of options, but one is baby oil works just fine. Like with any product, don't drench the wood. I'm not crazy about citrus oils. There is debate that that that actually cause some drying. I don't know and haven't tested it and am not wasting time figuring it out since there are plenty of other options. I do know that when I put lemon oil on cabinets it didn't last as long as baby oil. And baby oil is cheap.

I'm not a parent, so forgive my ignorance, I didn't know babies need oiling - where exactly?

 

[MCF]

Lot's of options, but one is baby oil works just fine. Like with any product, don't drench the wood. I'm not crazy about citrus oils. There is debate that that that actually cause some drying. I don't know and haven't tested it and am not wasting time figuring it out since there are plenty of other options. I do know that when I put lemon oil on cabinets it didn't last as long as baby oil. And baby oil is cheap.

Besides, lemon oil stinks.

 

[dagrev]

I'm not a parent, so forgive my ignorance, I didn't know babies need oiling - where exactly?

I'm not either, but I think it's the extraction process that is of concern!
All I know is they do at times. "Valvoline Restore And Protect" a good option?

 

[AllieCat]

There are three Pelham Blue ‘12/‘13 (manufactured in ‘12 for model year ‘13) NRs on Reverb right now.

One is listed at $1895.00 from Lovies (reputable shop) in Thousand Oaks. It has been up for awhile. Free shipping! There is one for $1795.00 plus shipping in New Jersey. There is a third for $1895 plus shipping with (why? oh the humanity!) EMG active pickups, although the original TBird Plus pickups are included but the pots are missing.

I really like mine for a different, more modern take on the NR with the Babicz bridge. There were only 400 blue ones made. It is unusual to see three available t the same time. You may be able to get a deal on one of them. The blue finish is gorgeous with just a hint of sparkle to it.

I'm watching a couple of those listings, but I have limited disposeable income for the forseeable future so time will tell if I'm abke to swing one of those before they're gone. Others are out there though, and patience is a virtue, even if it's rare among those of us with the impulse to collect.

 

[Stealth57]

I'm not a parent, so forgive my ignorance, I didn't know babies need oiling - where exactly?

You've never been to a greased baby contest?

 

[dagrev]

You've never been to a greased baby contest?

I think you mean pig don't you? Or do y'all do things differently in California?
Never mind, I know the answer to that one.

 

[TBird1958]

You've never been to a greased baby contest?

The horror!

 

[AllieCat]

I'm not a parent, so forgive my ignorance, I didn't know babies need oiling - where exactly?

Anywhere there's metal to metal contact. You typically should consult the user and service guide for the make and model you have.

 

[MCF]

I'll be the heretic.

I've been playing for 19 years and I've never put any special whiz-bang juice on my fingerboards. My dad's cheapo Korean strat from the 80's similarly has never been conditioned and while its pot metal bridge has come apart, the fingerboard remains uncracked. I make a point of not playing with dirty hands and keeping the instrument from getting wet or getting left in extreme temperatures. Maybe I'll learn the hard way, maybe it's all marketing, I dunno.

I do know that commercial furniture polishes should be avoided, and would suggest you only use things designed for open grain wood, preferably designed for use on guitars. Note that things like lemon oil polishes say they're safe for any sealed wood.

Some of us eat too much KFC or Popeye’s and the boards get nasty.

I like a dark FB and conditioning them makes them look better. I’m shallow that way.

I will clean/condition a board when I acquire a bass and restring it. I have bought basses that had pretty gunky boards. But I can go a long time before doing them again. My last two basses didn’t need cleaning or to be restrung. I know some here won’t do anything to a fretboard for fear of removing mojo. It’s a personal thing.

I showed up to a GTG in ‘22 and caught grief because my ‘21 NR looked really dry. I got it new and didn’t do anything to the board when I got it. I went ahead and conditioned it when I got home. Haven’t reconditioned it since.

 

[dagrev]

Some of us eat too much KFC or Popeye’s and the boards get nasty.

I like a dark FB and conditioning them makes them look better. I’m shallow that way.

I will clean/condition a board when I acquire a bass and restring it. I have bought basses that had pretty gunky boards. But I can go a long time before doing them again. My last two basses didn’t need cleaning or to be restrung. I know some here won’t do anything to a fretboard for fear of removing mojo. It’s a personal thing.

I showed up to a GTG in ‘22 and caught grief because my ‘21 NR looked really dry. I got it new and didn’t do anything to the board when I got it. I went ahead and conditioned it when I got home. Haven’t reconditioned it since.

I'm with you on them looking better. And darker typically. I have seen examples where FBs have cracked, presumably due to lack of care. The '66 NR I just got was likely the worst I have gotten and needed to deal with. It was fine other than dry looking due to being in storage for some time. Slapped some baby oil on it and it looks fantastic now.

 

[GBassNorth]

I finally found time to install the LaBella Low Tension Flats. LTF-4A .042, .056, .075, and .100.

View attachment 7171830

I put them on my 2010 Epiphone IV LE.

Initial impressions are that they're a little brighter than the Roto 77's usually are. Probably will darken up a bit with age obviously but I'm guessing they'll end up brighter overall than a broken in set of 77's. I did find that I wanted to roll off my tone knob a bit, though. Way smoother than what I'm used to with Rotos. These things are silky smooth.

Took a little bit of adjustment at the bridge but they intonated really nicely, all the way up and down the fretboard. My action may be sitting a touch lower, but you won't find me complaining about that.

Tension is definitely less than my older flats, I needed to add just a touch more relief to the neck to correct some buzz at the first fret. Nothing crazy, but this bass has been set up with those. Bends feel more like they would with rounds.

Lots of room for dynamics. Super mellow played with fingers, but you can really dig in with a pick still.

Probably a new favorite flatwound for me.

Interesting. I’ve been a EBCF guy for a while now, maybe I need to give La Bella a try. Low tension options offer different playing style opportunities.

I've been waffling on whether to buy a purple (lavender, puce, whatever) 64, swap the Thundbuckers from the VP with the 64 pickups, and selling the VP or to just get the VP painted. The latter approach looks better every week even though it will likely cost a bit more. I know some here are happy with their 64, but it sounds more and more like a crap shoot.

Love my Purple sparkle, no quality issues whatsoever.

If I follow the math the two options are:

1) buy a ‘64 ($800 minimum), swap pickups with the VP ($0), sell the VP ($400 minimum recovered including shipping), realize a $200 max loss on the VP sale vs what you paid for it and be left with a modded ‘64 bass that will have a resale value of about $600.
Spent $1,400 max (Orig VP purchase plus the ‘64 purchase)
Recover $1000 max (sell modded VP plus net resale value of the modded ‘64 if sold someday)
All in cost $400

Or

2) keep the VP and get it professionally painted ($800 minimum including shipping) be left with a VP bass that will have a resale value of about $700
Spent $1,400 max (original VP purchase plus professional repaint)
Recover $700 max (net resale value of the modded VP if sold someday)
All in cost $700

Conclusion - keeping and painting the VP will cost nearly twice as much as purchasing and modding a ‘64. I know first hand from my bass builds that professional bass finishing is nearly 50% of the cost of building a bass. If you can do your own finishing it’s a totally different situation, but pro level finishing, especially neck through jobs are ridiculously expensive.

Disclaimer: I did the math before I had a cup of coffee, worth double checking before assuming it’s all accurate.

So, these EBCF are interesting. They aren’t as buttery smooth on the fingers as the LaBella Flats, but they feel okay and are easy enough to play and finger. The sound is not quite what I expected. They almost sound like round wounds, absent the fingering artifacts. They’re punchy, and slightly bright and edgy, with a nice growl and plenty of rich tone/timbre. I’m no expert, but that’s my impression of them.

That a very accurate summation

Interesting, this one is just a 3 month newer production date and it has the smaller Wilkinson.

View attachment 7172067

Mine are also Wilkinson, but they’re smaller than those big ones. I swear the key required a LOT of turning to get the peg to move even a little. I believe my bass was made in Samick, Indonesia in September of 2022.

We had the VP tuner discussion a few years ago (thats about ten gazillion posts back, and I don’t do searches) but my recollection is that sometime around August of 2017 Eppi switched from the big wilkensons to the smaller ones.

 

[GBassNorth]

My other two basses both have prefinished maple fingerboards. This is the first unfinished fingerboard I’ve owned. Do I need to apply any kind of oil to the fingerboard on this bird or just leave it alone? What do you all do?

Assuming you have a rosewood or similar type fret board on your bird, you should apply fretboard oil to it once or twice a year to keep he rosewood from drying out. Same as any other brand of bass equipped with a rosewood or ebony or wenge or whatever non finished board. Clear coated maple boards or any other type of coated wood fretboard (think Pedulla fretless with the epoxy coated board) do not require any oiling to keep them from drying out.

 

[TBird1958]

I'm with you on them looking better. And darker typically. I have seen examples where FBs have cracked, presumably due to lack of care. The '66 NR I just got was likely the worst I have gotten and needed to deal with. It was fine other than dry looking due to being in storage for some time. Slapped some baby oil on it and it looks fantastic now.

My turn to be the heretic.........

When it's gunk I made, I don't mind it at all,

 

[Engle]

They're not exactly a guitar humbucker, they use rail magnets inside instead of being their standard 6-pole guitar humbuckers they used at the time. I don't know of a six string they used these pups on.

This is also consistent with T-bird humbuckers usually being a rail design.

View attachment 7172186View attachment 7172187

Here's a comparison of them under magnetic viewing film vs a generic 6-pole design.

I do kinda wonder how T-birds would sound with some of the lower value Seymour Duncan rail models on the market. IIRC they have a set that's close to the 14k bridge, 8.5k neck range. Would probably have to do a little routing though. If I ever come across a through-neck with trashed electronics, maybe...

I've seen pics of those pickups showing the bottom plate with 6 holes in it - makes sense its a rail PU.

 

[AllieCat]

I've seen pics of those pickups showing the bottom plate with 6 holes in it - makes sense its a rail PU.

Both sets that I own have the six holes but no threaded pole pieces visible inside the package. They're stamped with an Epiphone logo on the underside. I think they're using the bottom plate off of their standard humbucker from that era but a special set of bobbins inside and a special cover, since Epi LP's of similar vintage have holes for the adjustable poles in the cover.

I've yet to desolder the cover, mostly because I don't want wax all over my desk. Might do some exploratory surgery at some point though, and if I do, I'll be sure to document it.

 

[Engle]

My turn to be the heretic.........

When it's gunk I made, I don't mind it at all,

0000 Steel wool would clean up that ebony so nicely

 

[AllieCat]

0000 Steel wool would clean up that ebony so nicely

Anybody ever try the synthetic stuff from 3M? They have a 0000 equivalent. No little fuzzies on your pickups though. Never tried it myself.

 

[Count Bassie]

0000 Steel wool would clean up that ebony so nicely

#0000 steel will is one of my favorite things.