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Thunderbird Club

#337,101
GBassNorth said:
Well, the eagle (or should I say Thunderbird) has landed!

It’s a very sweet playing ‘67 NR II with tons of patina, checking and player wear. Appears to be mostly original. A sturdy pro neck repair with dual splines, the obligatory aged cracked/warped/broken pick guard and what looks like newer pots and possibly an after market hardtail. Action is super low and super smooth at 2/64ths on the open strings at the 12th fret, bridge is completely on the deck and the truss rod works smooth and easy. Sounds fantastic with the Pino Palladino light gauge Cobalt flats (more on those in another post).

Some pics…
Played hard but maintained nicely…
View attachment 7431313

Nice checking…
View attachment 7431314

Pick guard as it should be. I had to remove it and gently sand a bit of the pickup opening on the guard, it had shrunk up around the pickup preventing the pickup from moving when the height screws were adjusted…
View attachment 7431315

The back isn’t too badly abused, just honest player wear and nice checking there as well…
View attachment 7431316

The headstock repair was done some time ago with dual splines and appears to be holding steady, some light finish cracking around some spline seams but nothing structural. I’ve seen better jobs, but I’ve seen a lot worse as well. It came with some incredibly high tension rounds on it (to the point that it was a real chore to turn the D and A tuners to pitch, honestly thought I was going to snap them off). I put some noticable back bow on the neck with the high tension strings up to pitch and everything held in tune overnight with no visible change in the repair area. This morning I strung it up with low tension EB Pino light gauge cobalt flats, backed off a bit of the back bow and was able to achieve a very low 2/64ths action on the open 12th across all strings with zero fret buzz…
View attachment 7431317

So far she seems to be a keeper. GC Vintage Gear return policy is only 72 hours after pickup, so unless I find a glaring issue by Saturday I’m stuck with her. Now to get some quality side by side time with the ‘67 and the ‘79 to see if I drastically favor one over the other.
Click to expand...

Congratulations George, looks beaut.
 
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#337,102
For those interested in the new EB Pino Palladino cobalt flats…
IMG_5994.jpeg

I just installed an extra light (38,54,68,98) set on my ‘67 Tbird II and compared them to some EBCF strings I have on another bird.
First impressions:
Feel - ultra smooth to the max. EBCFs can sometimes feel a bit grippy for a flat, not these, they’re hot snot on a French door knob smooth.
Tension - very low but certainly not floppy. I’m able to run these on a set up with only 2/64ths action on the open strings at the 12th fret.
Silks - both ends in an attractive turquoise, unfortunately not purple
Length - these seem a bit longer than the EBCFs which can be a tad shorter than I like on the D string. I had to trim the E,A and D strings and had plenty of length on the G string as well.
Sound - compared to the EBCFs these have a more subdued top end and every bit as much bottom with slightly stronger mids. I’ve always considered EBCFs the most round wound sounding flat, these are somewhere between EBCFs and RotoSound flats. Plenty thumpy if wanted but still very articulate on the top end without sounding pingy or round wound bright. These sit nicely half way between EBCFs and Rotos.
Cost - about $60 on Amazon, might be cheaper elsewhere, so a premium price for a premium string that should last a good long time.
Recommendation - if you’ve been on the sideline because EBCFs seem rough, or if you like a clean articulate sounding flat, or if you are in search of a light gauge flat that’s not flabby or floppy, or if you like the Roto sound but want a tad more definition and top end then these strings may be worth a try.

I’ll try to put up a sound sample tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
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#337,104
Stealth57 said:
BadBird Friday

View attachment 7431611
Click to expand...
I was able to intonate my stock ‘67 bridge, but just barely. The E saddle is as far as goes.
Is that the stock hardtail for the 60’s birds? Mine matches yours, but I just assumed it was a modern replacement even though there are no extra screw holes under it. I do need to source a bridge cover to hide my ugly brass feltless mute, any leads?
 
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#337,105
GBassNorth said:
For those interested in the new EB Pino Palladino cobalt flats…
View attachment 7431588
I just installed an extra light (38,54,68,98) set on my ‘67 Tbird II and compared them to some EBCF strings I have on another bird.
First impressions:
Feel - ultra smooth to the max. EBCFs can sometimes feel a bit grippy for a flat, not these, they’re hot snot on a French door knob smooth.
Tension - very low but certainly not floppy. I’m able to run these on a set up with only 2/64ths action on the open strings at the 12th fret.
Silks - both ends in an attractive turquoise, unfortunately not purple
Length - these seem a bit longer than the EBCFs which can be a tad shorter than I like on the D string. I had to trim the E,A and D strings and has plenty of length on the G string as well.
Sound - compared to the EBCFs these have a more subdued top end and every bit as much bottom with slightly stronger mids. I’ve always considered EBCFs the most round wound sounding flat, these are somewhere between EBCFs and RotoSound flats. Plenty thumpy if wanted but still very articulate on the top end without sounding pingy or round wound bright. These sit nicely half way between EBCFs and Rotos.
Cost - about $60 on Amazon, might be cheaper elsewhere, so a premium price for a premium string that should last a good long time.
Recommendation - if you’ve been on the sideline because EBCFs seem rough, or if you like a clean articulate sounding flat, or if you are in search of a light gauge flat that’s not flabby or floppy, or if you like the Roto sound but want a tad more definition and top end then these strings may be worth a try.

I’ll try to put up a sound sample tomorrow.
Click to expand...
I like the description, interest is piqued...
 
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#337,106
GBassNorth said:
I was able to intonate my stock ‘67 bridge, but just barely. The E saddle is as far as goes.
Is that the stock hardtail for the 60’s birds? Mine matches yours, but I just assumed it was a modern replacement even though there are no extra screw holes under it. I do need to source a bridge cover to hide my ugly brass feltless mute, any leads?
Click to expand...
Stock claw as far as I can tell.
 
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#337,107
Count Bassie said:
I like the description, interest is piqued...
Click to expand...
These would sound phenomenal with a pick and some tastefully done palm muting. Because of the cobalt material they interact heavily with your magnetic pickups for some great attack. Nice and punchy if you dig in. Relatively dynamic for a flat IMHO.
 
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#337,110
GBassNorth said:
These would sound phenomenal with a pick and some tastefully done palm muting. Because of the cobalt material they interact heavily with your magnetic pickups for some great attack. Nice and punchy if you dig in. Relatively dynamic for a flat IMHO.
Click to expand...
Never played a T-bird w/flats, but if I did it would be incorporating a pick & palm-muting. I use GHS Precision flats and LaBella Deep Talkin' flats on basses I own w/flats. I used Ernie Ball 'Slinky' flats on my recent Gildaxe 5'r (that you played) on recommendation from tb members on 'best flats for a 5'r'.
 
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#337,112
GBassNorth said:
For those interested in the new EB Pino Palladino cobalt flats…
View attachment 7431588
I just installed an extra light (38,54,68,98) set on my ‘67 Tbird II and compared them to some EBCF strings I have on another bird.
First impressions:
Feel - ultra smooth to the max. EBCFs can sometimes feel a bit grippy for a flat, not these, they’re hot snot on a French door knob smooth.
Tension - very low but certainly not floppy. I’m able to run these on a set up with only 2/64ths action on the open strings at the 12th fret.
Silks - both ends in an attractive turquoise, unfortunately not purple
Length - these seem a bit longer than the EBCFs which can be a tad shorter than I like on the D string. I had to trim the E,A and D strings and had plenty of length on the G string as well.
Sound - compared to the EBCFs these have a more subdued top end and every bit as much bottom with slightly stronger mids. I’ve always considered EBCFs the most round wound sounding flat, these are somewhere between EBCFs and RotoSound flats. Plenty thumpy if wanted but still very articulate on the top end without sounding pingy or round wound bright. These sit nicely half way between EBCFs and Rotos.
Cost - about $60 on Amazon, might be cheaper elsewhere, so a premium price for a premium string that should last a good long time.
Recommendation - if you’ve been on the sideline because EBCFs seem rough, or if you like a clean articulate sounding flat, or if you are in search of a light gauge flat that’s not flabby or floppy, or if you like the Roto sound but want a tad more definition and top end then these strings may be worth a try.

I’ll try to put up a sound sample tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Good, thorough review. Too light a gauge for me, but nice to know.
 
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#337,117
GBassNorth said:
For those interested in the new EB Pino Palladino cobalt flats…
View attachment 7431588
I just installed an extra light (38,54,68,98) set on my ‘67 Tbird II and compared them to some EBCF strings I have on another bird.
First impressions:
Feel - ultra smooth to the max. EBCFs can sometimes feel a bit grippy for a flat, not these, they’re hot snot on a French door knob smooth.
Tension - very low but certainly not floppy. I’m able to run these on a set up with only 2/64ths action on the open strings at the 12th fret.
Silks - both ends in an attractive turquoise, unfortunately not purple
Length - these seem a bit longer than the EBCFs which can be a tad shorter than I like on the D string. I had to trim the E,A and D strings and had plenty of length on the G string as well.
Sound - compared to the EBCFs these have a more subdued top end and every bit as much bottom with slightly stronger mids. I’ve always considered EBCFs the most round wound sounding flat, these are somewhere between EBCFs and RotoSound flats. Plenty thumpy if wanted but still very articulate on the top end without sounding pingy or round wound bright. These sit nicely half way between EBCFs and Rotos.
Cost - about $60 on Amazon, might be cheaper elsewhere, so a premium price for a premium string that should last a good long time.
Recommendation - if you’ve been on the sideline because EBCFs seem rough, or if you like a clean articulate sounding flat, or if you are in search of a light gauge flat that’s not flabby or floppy, or if you like the Roto sound but want a tad more definition and top end then these strings may be worth a try.

I’ll try to put up a sound sample tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Public Service Announcement: take care opening doors at George’s house… 😮🤣
 
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