Thunderbird Club

[MCF]

Under $5k, but a refin. It’s a IV.

https://reverb.com/item/83757592-gibson-thunderbird-bass-iv-1964

Funky bridge and claw alignment. Neck repair. Refin. Someone will buy it, not me.

 

[Stealth57]

Funky bridge and claw alignment. Neck repair. Refin. Someone will buy it, not me.

Wrong color

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Look at Matt's original post that I'm quoting, Mr Chick Magnet

At first glance , that did not look like knees!!!

 

[BklynKen]

Any coil reads from the magic 2001?

If one of these were to be dismantled and copied who/ how many would actually purchase the copies?

If they sound like the 2001s and are quiet, and come in black metal cans, I'd go for it.

 

[BklynKen]

At first glance , that did not look like knees!!!

Bee's knees.

 

[Gaolee]

Is that the T bird pickup that looks like a P Bass powered by a single ceramic magnet?

Thunderbird pickups i can see in pics after the originals are sometimes just blade Humbucker with larger ceramic , and the P bass looking ones with standard ceramic. All are epoxied. If ones not taken apart alot of the build would be a guess. Coil reads would help as the coils are small and a reading would tell what wire was used.

If there is one for sale let me know. If someone wants to send in and have it taken apart it can always be put back together. I have to take apart broken Peavey Super Ferrite all the time due to being wired poorly and they die

I don't believe they are split coils.

 

[Gaolee]

Funny, I watched a different vid on that last night. There was no mention that the Bako GC was involved. Doesn’t surprise me. Just sayin’. And I have shipped things via UPS that disappeared.

UPS made something disappear. They told me to deal with the shipper in spite of their updates all the way to Tacoma. Where it vanished. I called the shipper and got another one ordered, but it was backordered and maybe permanently out of stock. Months go by. Then out of the blue, the original part shows up. The box was thrashed, but the part was undamaged. Go figure.

 

[Matt Kustom]

You did. A lot before some of us became really involved. They were pretty much unavailable as an aftermarket item (except to you) as of about four or five years ago. Maybe before that. Oh well. And then Thunderbucker Ranch closed up. It’s great there are makers like Matt stepping up to help out.

I looked at some of these unobtanium t bird pickups. Some people love a good story. Alot of story behind PAF , vintage stuff. Its interesting where these stories go. But really alot of it is silly. Gibson , Fender , etc are company's. Gibson did not have magnet wire spun from the golden hair of angels and metals forged by Dwarfs. Covers stamped by Thors hammer.

My background is from the Automotive world. When i got my certificate in Race Engine Balance and Blueprinting from Joe Mondello part of the class was metallurgy. Alot of recreating pickups is knowing what metal points were used in the past and if that 0000 steel is available. Many times going back in time is hard to do as metal points readily available are not those of 1955. Magnets are not made in the same furnaces today as 1950. Our rare earths come from China. There are only 2 furnaces left in the U.S. and you have to spend many thousands of dollars to have one of these companies fire up the oven to cook you some Alnico. (I have tried). These companies in the U.S. sell magnets from one of their companies in wait.... Where... China. China has magnets on lock down. Of the 3 main players in China 916 works with the same lady at one of the top companies for over 10 years. There has not been any issue so far. We check our mags like blueprinting a race engine. They are spec and checked. Checked with gauss meters etc. Whenever possible we get stampings from the U.S. , they are alot more expensive than foreign stampings. Gibson stuff is easy to get U.S. made. Odd ball stuff is usually from China. The big difference really is the Chrome or Nickel plating. U.S. plating is much thicker. The Steel blades made at 916 are cut from U.S. certified steel purchased from the same place machine shops and the Government buys steel from. Each batch has paperwork. All blades are plated in house using nickel. If someone wants the close to original T Birds the only thing that is hard if not impossible to get right now is bobbins. Honestly i have not cracked open a 60's t bird pickup , im guessing they have bobbins. Since T bird bobbins are not available, laser cut tops and bottoms are cut and the magnet makes the bobbin. The magnet wire we use is Electrasola. After years of feeling the Electrasola it feels like freshly conditioned long hair compared to the improperly anneled forign stuff.

Its totally possible to get top quality Thunderbird pickups with high quality materials. U.S. stampings are readily available , the Gavitt lead wire is always available. The U.S. Single Poly wire is always available. The magnets will 99.99% most likely be from China until the U.S. Government stops with the NIMBY way of doing things.

 

[Gaolee]

Interesting! This came out of Will's 1991. Currently in the RNR with its sibling.

View attachment 7233024

That is the original TB+ from 1991. It is also a good sounding pickup. But I am shallow and wanted shiny covers instead of black.

Not 2001 pickups, though. The pixie dust missed them.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

The Magic year (2012) CP is just such a perfectly built inexpensive bass. Its purpose in the Eppi/Gibby line up was to offer a less expensive option than a full spec Gibby Tbird but with the same sound, look and feel of the Gibby. Epiphone succeeded with the CP. However, in true Eppi fashion, they took the extra step of bumping the neck pickup nearly a full pickup width towards the bridge. This gave it a tighter punchier low end. For some reason they only did that for one or two years then moved the neck pickup back to standard Gibby spec location closer to the neck. Love my modern Gibson Reverse (gold anniversary edition) and my 2015 Tbird with the DeCola pickups but the magic year CP is the one of the three I reach for more the most. To my ears it’s very much a Gibson Tbird in sound only better.

As for Goths - don’t get me started. My absolute hands down favorite mod platform in the Eppi/Gibby line up. I gravitate towards deep and dark in a lot of my playing and the Goths come voiced that way stock. Tou can pick them up for as little as $250 on the used market (although that’s getting much harder to do lately, the word is getting out I guess). But you’ll also see many in the $600 and up category. Which means if you pick one up for cheap you can still dump some serious mods in it and not be completely underwater on resale value.

I’ve had four of them, still have three left (the original FrankenGoth had an unfortunate accident, so I parted some of it out and built a new one). I have a lot of different and top end birds, but from a sound and player standpoint my number two bass is my Capped Goth (Lull TP Tbird is #1). Simple $5 mod on a $200 bass and it hangs with my birds that cost 10 to 20 times more money. I dont gig anymore but this is the perfect gig bass - cheap, indestructible, ballz galore and easily replaced if lost or stolen. I did add a Hipshot bridge because the stock bridge inserts were toast when I bought it (that’s why it was $200). Also has Cobalt Flats - the perfect string for this bass.
View attachment 7231860
View attachment 7231872

Then there’s my FrankenGoth. Bartolini pickups, Aguilar OBP-2 two band preamp (Vol, Vol, treb boost/cut, bass boost/cut) and a coil tap switch that takes both humbuckers to single coil (outside coil of each pup) when needed. Equipped with LaBella Black Tapes this thing goes from hard rock monster to baritone guitar at the flip of a switch. Paid $300 for the bass and sunk about $300 in upgrades in it. Very unique sounding with the Bart pickups, my go to bass for noodeling out bass lines or doing guitarish riffs due to it’s crystal clear output.
View attachment 7231859
View attachment 7231874
View attachment 7231873

Finally, there’s the SilverGoth. Just finished it up a few weeks ago. Loved the Aggie preamp in the FrankenGoth so I did another one of those except I configured it with a push/pull active passive volume pot and a blend knob (instead of two volume knobs like the FrankenGoth). Then I added a third pickup, a DiMarzo one right up at the neck and a Dingwall 4way selector switch connected to the blend pot. Now I can pan and blend anything from full mudbucker to whatever setting the pup selector is on (mid pup, mid and bridge in series, mid and bridge in parallel or bridge pup). Sounds great and very gig friendly with the fast pan and pickup selector. IIRC I paid under $300 for the bass and sunk about $250 in it. Still trying to figure out just where it sits in my bass line up, the pickup in the Mudbucker position is much clearer and more articulate than I was expecting (I may change it out for a 1960’s EBO pickup if I can find a nice one at a good price).
View attachment 7231861
All pickups on tone flat…
View attachment 7231871
Mudbucker solo with some treb boost…
View attachment 7231890

this club's come a long way.....thx G!

 

[Gaolee]

If they sound like the 2001s and are quiet, and come in black metal cans, I'd go for it.

Thunderbuckers sound very much like 2001 TB+ pickups.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Bee's knees.

V’s knees

 

[MCF]

UPS made something disappear. They told me to deal with the shipper in spite of their updates all the way to Tacoma. Where it vanished. I called the shipper and got another one ordered, but it was backordered and maybe permanently out of stock. Months go by. Then out of the blue, the original part shows up. The box was thrashed, but the part was undamaged. Go figure.

I won’t go into this much further. But given where the hubs are located, what they pay, and a shortage of reliable workers, inside theft is going to happen. What bothers me is that management knows this. But they do little to make it right for the customer when it happens. So sellers need to fully insure. And that adds to the cost.

 

[bylar13]

I thought this one got purchased by someone here:

https://reverb.com/item/89924085-1976-gibson-thunderbird-bass-aged-pelham-blue-restoration

But i just got an offer from the seller because I had looked at it on Reverb.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Yeah, I've seen pics of those type before, if I recall it's the same as mine, minus the epoxy. Humbuckers with/without plates etc. Gibson tried a lot of different pickups over the years - even today. What they need to do is the new Re-Issue types into Reverse and Non Reverse II's with a 2 point bridge.

Like this.

did you get it?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Look at Matt's original post that I'm quoting, Mr Chick Magnet

Thanks, babe!

 

[TBird1958]

did you get it?

No, I wish! Gibson made this two years ago for Dave Kiswiney, it's certainly a bass they could make as limited run in the same fashion as the Gene Simmons or Rex Brown - as they say, "Shut up and take my money!"

 

[TBird1958]

Under $5k, but a refin. It’s a IV.

https://reverb.com/item/83757592-gibson-thunderbird-bass-iv-1964

That bass has been up for awhile, I know George, Scott and I discussed it when it first came up. There *where* some rather telling photos in the listing when first posted that have since been removed, that bass need some serious help, unfortunately.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

The Flock has a new member in the way!

My Wife just told me to stop looking and just buy the damn thing!

It will be here Friday paid Fedex overnight, so it BETTER be LOL.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

No, I wish! Gibson made this two years ago for Dave Kiswiney, it's certainly a bass they could make as limited run in the same fashion as the Gene Simmons or Rex Brown - as they say, "Shut up and take my money!"

something like that would make many so very happy...meanwhile.....