Thunderbird Club

[heatheroo1]

I understand how dry the air gets when the heat comes on, but I'm curious. Why wouldn't you just adjust for the different conditions? There shouldn't be much adjustment since wood doesn't change dimension much, if at all, along the grain, just across the grain.

No go. I have tried various schemes. Trussrod is pretty much maxed already and since Dan Erlewine repaired the trussrod back in 2018(?), I am hesitant to make any adjustments. She’s 48 years old. She’s earned a good nap once a year.

 

[GBassNorth]

I only play thru Mark Bass stuff by coincidence...... my buddy needed brakes on his car and had a MB 4x10 cab to offer as partial trade..... and my quest for a lightweight head landed me a MB Little Mark unit from the TB classifieds.

I like the yellow, matches my 79 Blazer that I've owned for 33 years.

View attachment 7345228

Love the old K5 blazers! Unfortunately they’ve become crazy expensive in the last 15 years. Let me know if you come across a 1975 or older blazer 4x4 with an automatic trans at a reasonable cost, I’m in the market. I figure if I remove the back seat I should be able to fit a number of thunderbirds back there.

 

[GBassNorth]

Just a little public service advisory for George @GBassNorth
Don’t park your Porsche next to an electric Mini Moke while it’s charging overnight.
This belongs to a friend at the marina.
No one was hurt but the car needs a new paint job.
Oyster season is in. I’ll send some pictures from this coming weekend.
View attachment 7345646View attachment 7345647

Sad to hear about the Porsche and garage (who cares about the Mimi Moke, just one less one on the planet). My 911 keeps good company in the garage…

 

[Gaolee]

There's a '64 Thunderbird on sale in Turku, Finland.
Gibson Thunderbird II 1964 - Sunburst | Tori

I think I have to pass. My children didn't agree it was a good idea to sell them and my parents apparently still want to live in the house they're are living in...

That's a little selfish of them, don't you think?

 

[Gaolee]

heck, I don't speak Suomi and I think I pressed the wrong button (trying to get to a posted EB-2) and bought it by mistake....

For that price, I might sell you my EB-2. Maybe. I played it the other day and remembered why I have had it for so long. It isn't the short scale, it's the sound. So never mind.

 

[Gaolee]

Yeah. It takes a little adjustment on a couple of my Thunderbirds, most notably the ‘13 NR for some reason, when we turn the heat on. We usually try and hold out to Thanksgiving. But it has been colder than usual and it may come on a little early. It was 35 when I got to the mountain this morning, fifty inside. So heat had to come on for a couple hours and I got a fire going. I’m only keeping a few basses up here; the VP, the Epi Blackbird, the Epi Goth and a Precision. They are pretty impervious to the changes.

My CroMagnon fingers don't notice the subtle changes in my bass guitars brought on by weather. As long as they stay in tune and the intonation is good, I'm not fussy about their setup.

 

[MCF]

My CroMagnon fingers don't notice the subtle changes in my bass guitars brought on by weather. As long as they stay in tune and the intonation is good, I'm not fussy about their setup.

Once they’re dialed in, I pretty much don’t have to mess with them much.

 

[GBassNorth]

I love how they sound, depending on how you mix and EQ the pickups-

Way back in early 2009 I had purchased my first quality bass, a Warwick Corvette Bubinga Fretless and had gotten acquainted with done members of the Warwick Bass Forum.

So a friend had recommended this song by Thomas Dolby, the bass comp and tone of which really blew me away, particularly the melodic line in the outro.



And I presented the song to someone on the Forum and asked what type of bass it was-

“Sounds like an out of phase Jazz” he replied.

So I got on eBay and eventually purchased the one I have.

And later verified when I saw Mark Hayward Chaplin, Dolby’s bassist at the time, playing, along with Dolby as a guest musician with Lene Lovich on the Dolby written song “New Toy”. And as you can see and hear. It’s a Jazz-

LOL - That’s quite an amazing sound coming from that Jazz bass in the Lovich video - considering the bass isn’t plugged in.

That said, lots of people can get amazing sounds from their Jazz basses with or without tone twisting pedals, I’m just not one of them. My Tbirds give me all the sounds I’m looking for with a couple of exceptions.

Notably - Warwick thumbs very unique sound (which I hope to capture in a Tbird build I’m completing in the next couple weeks), Fender Telecaster Modern Player very unique sound (which I captured in a Tbird build I finished about a year ago), Stingray very unique sound (which should be easy and cheap to capture in a future build) and Alembic Series unique sound (which may be prohibitively expensive to capture in a Tbird build). G&L and Ric could probably be added to that list but so far I haven’t bonded with either, so no immediate desire to make a Tbird inspired version of those at this time.

 

[MCF]

No go. I have tried various schemes. Trussrod is pretty much maxed already and since Dan Erlewine repaired the trussrod back in 2018(?), I am hesitant to make any adjustments. She’s 48 years old. She’s earned a good nap once a year.

Understood. My ‘77 will be taking a trip with me to the beach next week. It’ll be getting my undividend attention all week. Can’t wait.

 

[MCF]

TT!

I moved the SVT rig upstairs from the basement. Wanted to be able to sit by the fire

Ouch. I forgot how heavy that rig is. I understand why Chucky’s Ampeg rig doesn’t get out much.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

rockin' arrangement....

 

[Mike N]

Love the old K5 blazers! Unfortunately they’ve become crazy expensive in the last 15 years. Let me know if you come across a 1975 or older blazer 4x4 with an automatic trans at a reasonable cost, I’m in the market. I figure if I remove the back seat I should be able to fit a number of thunderbirds back there.

The old K5's with the fully removable top (75 and earlier) are commanding stupid $$.

I had a 73 that I bought sight unseen for $400 and along with the 74 parts Blazer I had, that old 73 was probably my favorite vehicle that I've ever owned, and at last count I've had 120+ vehicles in the last 40+ years.

 

[Mike N]

sweet, 350?

454, one ton axles and 44" Super Swampers.

I carried that truck home in a series of boxes in 1992 with no drivetrain, no interior, 1/2 ton axles and 4" of lift.

I screwed it together in a month in a one car garage, drove to a truck show in Pennsylvania three days after putting it together (it was in primer, the paint would come in 1994) and narrowly missed the "Best Under Construction" award.

Oh, to be young & dumb again.......

 

[MCF]

rockin' arrangement....

Alex G!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

454, one ton axles and 44" Super Swampers.

I carried that truck home in a series of boxes in 1992 with no drivetrain, no interior, 1/2 ton axles and 4" of lift.

I screwed it together in a month in a one car garage, drove to a truck show in Pennsylvania three days after putting it together (it was in primer, the paint would come in 1994) and narrowly missed the "Best Under Construction" award.

Oh, to be young & dumb again.......

Wow, looks like a blast...manual? Was the 454 ever factory installed on those?, great looking truck.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

For that price, I might sell you my EB-2. Maybe. I played it the other day and remembered why I have had it for so long. It isn't the short scale, it's the sound. So never mind.

nah...no thx, original mudbucker pls....

 

[Mike N]

Wow, looks like a blast...manual? Was the 454 ever factory installed on those?, great looking truck.

TH350 auto with an NP205 transfer case, and yes the 4x4 actually works. One year heading home from the Pennsylvania show I smoked a rear u joint, so I took the rear shaft out, locked the hubs and put it in 4HI for the rest of the trip home.

1/2 tons of that vintage didn't come with a Big Block.

 

[dagrev]

I'm with you on GS. I can't help but wonder if Gibson helped or hurt sales by having his name associated with it. A plus for a few, a turn off for more I would guess.

That said, they are fantastic looking.

 

[dagrev]

Let me just say this- of the two signature Gibson instruments I own- the G2, the Lizzie Hale white Explorer, were not because of the musician’s musical prowess, but they did have good taste in instruments .

The Lizzy Hale I got a good deal on Reverb back in 2018 or so- it was five years old by then-

Show something with binding and I’m a lost case-

View attachment 7345720

No shade intended. The GS2 is stunning and no doubt topnotch. We've all said for years at least some Thunderbirds should have inlays, and I know I mentioned before that binding would be killer. I know when they came out I was shocked at how good they looked, and that Gene even played a Thunderbird. Gibsons yes, Thunderbirds? Who knew. He's no doubt played every bass known at some point, but I know I never thought of him as a Thunderbird player, thus the shock there.

Beautiful Explorer!

 

[dagrev]

There's a '64 Thunderbird on sale in Turku, Finland.
Gibson Thunderbird II 1964 - Sunburst | Tori

I think I have to pass. My children didn't agree it was a good idea to sell them and my parents apparently still want to live in the house they're are living in...

Never listen to young people. Remember how foolish we were at that age.