Thunderbird Club

[Dark Horse]

One of a kind.

Never considered her as "masculine." At all.

Warrior goddess.

Ditto.

 

[DJ Bebop]

That’s one cool cat! Looks pretty big, is he a Maine Coon cat?

He’s an all-American Siberian boy
He fluctuates between 18-21 lbs.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

That’s worth repeating!
Never seen that style strap lock before, I’m gonna get me some. Thx.

And even better news... they are not pricey.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

Progress after 4 coats of clear. Getting glossier.

Now, I will let it harden until next weekend, give it a light sand and carry on. And probably drop-fill the serial number so it'll be clear-filled and mostly flush under all final coats.

Some of the grain has not been completely submerged by clear yet, but a light levelling at this point will help with that.

Overall pretty happy with results. The edge got a bit improvisatioal along the bottom but it's my first go at a half-dozen skills.

Ultimately, my "vision" for the narrow dark burst was to make it resemble having been torch-cut raw out of a plate of gold.

Hey, as an artist Im a good engineer...

At first it will have a gloss black cavity cover. Eventually I'll make a mahogany one and paint to match. I have the supplies and pattern set up for the laser but i don't want to get hung up on that just now.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

at Starving Musician in Santa Cruz ran into this......

then I turn and to my horror....oh no, we're losing Thomas!....

 

[GBassNorth]

at Starving Musician in Santa Cruz ran into this......
View attachment 7491681

then I turn and to my horror....oh no, we're losing Thomas!....
View attachment 7491683

That’s a pretty nice price on the MM cab as well.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

3 sets here at 2, getting hungry....

 

[JIO]

Found on my ride yesterday:

View attachment 7490635

It screams "steal me"

 

[JIO]

Thanks I'm still getting to know it sonically playing through various amps/spaces. It sounded good/well balanced at home but it lacked bottom during a BG rehearsal. So I replaced the 2A333J cap that came on the Hofner-style harness with a .047µF Black Beauty cap to darken it up. It helped but I still found I had to bump the bass up on my MXR d.i.+ at rehearsal last night. That angled N pu position was to get the poles to align with the strings. All & all it sounds really good - very hollow-body plunky with pick/palm-mute and bass-y enough finger-style. It just requires setting-tweaking to shape it for the situation. I'll have more to say after playing our 3-set gig tomorrow night. It's a small dinner-club so I'll be using my TC Electronics BG250 112 combo amp and playing at reasonably low volume. I used the same bass at the same venue last year and it was perfect for that situation, so I'm confident it will fit the situation nicely. It sounds similar but after re-doing it it plays much better with nice action.

Before: I would have preferred to keep it original but the table caved in and in the process of addressing it I had to undo some pretty nasty DIY hacking within that lead to the need to replace it. The whole process is covered here : Opening a Can of Worms...
View attachment 7490251-

Played it last night at The Rite Spot - 3 sets. A nice receptive crowd. Relatively low volume as required for that situation. The bass sounded good and I had no problem dialing it for the room. It had plenty of bass and maybe less top-end definition that I'm used to but I rolled with it. An original by Cherie has a dynamic harmonic accent in the chorus that I couldn't hear in the mix, otherwise the overall sound was good. During one of the breaks a fellow bass-player (just met him) commented he has seen/heard us a few times and he felt we sounded best last night. (of course we geeked out about basses like the Musima) From the stage (and with a very basic PA) you can never tell how it sounds 'out there' so I thanked him for his compliment even if I felt we've sounded better at other past shows. (Paul agreed)

The other thing I'm noticing is that it stays in tune. The basic/crude 50yr old German tuners leave much to be desired but they do lock in. Using flats helps.

I did clean them up and lube/adjust them as best as I could.

 

[Engle]

Hello guys
I have a question regarding my newish Gibson Non reverse thunderbird. I am in love with the sound and the looks. It has been my main bass for a couple of months now and I love it. However, I want to ask you a couple of questions about it:
-The neck gets a little bit sticky after 3-4 songs. I leave a lot of fingerprints (which I don't mind) but it gets a little bit sticky in some parts. I clean it after each gig with a Dunlop product and it becomes like new, but again after 3 songs, it becomes sticky. I do not mean everywhere in the neck, just some parts where I put my thumb. My hands don't sweat and it is the first time that happens to me in any bass that I played. Do you know how should I clean it to avoid that?
-My other question is about the strap knobs. Do you know if there are any stap locks (rubber or anything like that) that fits in these strap knobs. They are big and I tried with the Fender rubber ones and the D'addario plastic ones and neither fit. I do not want to change the original strap knobs so that is why I was thinking about these solutions.

Welcome to nitro lacquer!
My Les Paul Tribute was like that. After a while I took some 0000 steel wool to the back of the neck. It's much better.

 

[JIO]

Man, I never read MF as anything other than a swear. Then again, i'm extremely exhausted so excuse my brain atm

On bird talk, how many of y'all prefer the vintage Alnico 60's sound over the Modern post 88 ceramics? I feel both have their place when needed, however the post 88 doesn't do the clear angry piano like the 60's does, but does the 60's do that very thick/compressed in a way post 88?

Comparing T-bird pu's (while I'm no authority, not even close) as good as the '60s pu's sound (and those who own them will attest to that) - V's Lull pu bird sounds great - George's black '70s bird also sounds great and I personally think the VP pu's also sound great, maybe a bit less great - but I was surprised by how good they sound.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Regarding your strap lock question, I keep one of these on my amp cord.
It fits the bottom pin on everything I have from my Thunderbird to Fender to Guild to Schecter to Rogue, with the added benefit of strain-relieving the cord connector.

Easy on and off, plastic so does not scratch the pin, holds tight but does not make the strap bind on the body.

View attachment 7491534
View attachment 7491539
Added benefit is you only need one per cord for the bottom pin, not one per instrument.

For the upper pin, due to the way a rear-mount strap hangs, I dont really need a lock on the T-bird as the strap fits tight and hangs very vertically, but one of these would work if desired

For horn-mounted top pins, I either use the silicone rubber washers or one of the above.

I also dont swap straps much. Each bass has its own.

I was looking for something like those but finally pulled the trigger on wireless and haven’t looked back.

And I love having a strap per bass.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Comparing T-bird pu's (while I'm no authority, not even close) as good as the '60s pu's sound (and those who own them will attest to that) - V's Lull pu bird sounds great - George's black '70s bird also sounds great and I personally think the VP pu's also sound great, maybe a bit less great - but I was surprised by how good they sound.

View attachment 7491715

The originals and Thunderbuckers are my faves of my pickups, with the Grecos close behind. V’s Lulls are right up there, too.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I’ve been practicing this week’s set with two basses, the CP for the first two songs (all low end) and either the Thunderbucker VP or a Greco for the rest, where I wanted a fuller range.
Last night I realized the point I’d swap basses was between two songs that segue, so I practiced the set with just the ‘64, kicking on the eq pedal the first two songs to get just low end. Man, did things sound good, at home and with the band today.
If I had to cut back to just one bass, it would be that one, hands down. Why Gibson does everything except reproduce this bass boggles my mind. Thank you to all the people who kept nudging me to get one!

 

[dagrev]

And if so, we’ll need access to @DJ Bebop ’s bird fund…

Great point. Sounds like there's enough to go around too!

 

[dagrev]

Hello guys
I have a question regarding my newish Gibson Non reverse thunderbird. I am in love with the sound and the looks. It has been my main bass for a couple of months now and I love it. However, I want to ask you a couple of questions about it:
-The neck gets a little bit sticky after 3-4 songs. I leave a lot of fingerprints (which I don't mind) but it gets a little bit sticky in some parts. I clean it after each gig with a Dunlop product and it becomes like new, but again after 3 songs, it becomes sticky. I do not mean everywhere in the neck, just some parts where I put my thumb. My hands don't sweat and it is the first time that happens to me in any bass that I played. Do you know how should I clean it to avoid that?
-My other question is about the strap knobs. Do you know if there are any stap locks (rubber or anything like that) that fits in these strap knobs. They are big and I tried with the Fender rubber ones and the D'addario plastic ones and neither fit. I do not want to change the original strap knobs so that is why I was thinking about these solutions.

I have the same issue with the neck. I think dirt in the air gets stuck to it! Like you, more so that with any bass I've owned. I wipe with a rag, but often rub the neck on my shirt or pants in a pinch.

 

[dagrev]

at Starving Musician in Santa Cruz ran into this......
View attachment 7491681

then I turn and to my horror....oh no, we're losing Thomas!....
View attachment 7491683

And he's smirking like he's enjoying it. Get that '64 back from him until his attitude improves! Somebody needs some Thunderbird timeout.

 

[dagrev]

Used the '21 NR today with the new DR Legends. Sounded ok and certainly usable. Good lows but seemed to lack punch. After run through I put the Dean Markely Blue Steels back on for kicks. Sounded better. That was the first time I've used that NR with the ABM 300--I think. Maybe. To be fair, flats take time to get their tone, so new flats isn't always a good test. Though I don't have that problem with DTFs which seem to sound great from the beginning and still get better. Oddly enough they look and feel like SIT flats and may sound kind of like them.

 

[ThaCoast]

Comparing T-bird pu's (while I'm no authority, not even close) as good as the '60s pu's sound (and those who own them will attest to that) - V's Lull pu bird sounds great - George's black '70s bird also sounds great and I personally think the VP pu's also sound great, maybe a bit less great - but I was surprised by how good they sound.

View attachment 7491715

Different takes/flavours on the 60's sound - aside from George's Black 70's bird with its sidewinders/series wiring scheme?. Which are another bird pickup i'd be curious to try, but i do feel maybe they'd need to be wired in series vs parallel like every other bird. But heck, all equally good!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I have the same issue with the neck. I think dirt in the air gets stuck to it! Like you, more so that with any bass I've owned. I wipe with a rag, but often rub the neck on my shirt or pants in a pinch.

Ahem!