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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- Tags
- club thunderbird
Those 'brittle' ones might have been 78s(RPM). My folks had a ship(sp?) load of those-one tune per side.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,964
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Yes, they were 78's - I spaced.
Made from shellac, pre-vinyl.
It’s unique for sure.
The Vintage EB sound isn’t for everybody (maybe not even for most people) and really only fits in very specific settings where you might want to slather on a super thick woolly rich sub sound if desired. Jack Bruce made good use of it, hence the Cream reference on the PU toggle. Not sure how many of our Tbird owners also have a vintage EB (I think our Queen does) but it’s quite a bit further to the dark side than any of my Thunderbird type basses.
The Goth pickups bring the design back into reality and drastically improve the useability of the bass. Goths are really quite nice with the proper tone caps and pot values and easily cover 90% of the sound I chase, a bit more top end than a TB+ but every bit as deep and dark, plus the physically scooped ends of the pickup just fit my hand perfectly for a thumb rest.
As a side note, I may switch the EB/GB bass to EBCF strings for the trifecta, that’s the perfect string for the Goth pickups and might also do very well with the massive fundamentals of the EB pickup.
It’ll be a push button kill switch. The bass already has a PU toggle so I didn’t want to introduce a second toggle to the mix.
I’ve never really seen a good use in the bass world for momentary kill buttons, so this one will be a latch action - push flush mounted button to kill, push it again to activate. Because it’s flush mounted and not a toggle I chose to mount it near the forward most volume pot so it can easily be found without looking.
It’s this type…
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Build update;
Did a second 90% leveling sand with 600-grit yesterday, and added 3 more coats of clear.
12 coats of clear so far. 7 cans, one of which was mostly spent on tests.
Finally getting full depth over all grain texture, and smoothing out. Couple small dips still present.
Probably add 1 or 2 more coats today, then let it shrink and cure a couple or 3 weeks to see if more are needed, or any drop fills, before final cure and polish.
Most of June and July will be curing time.
It won't be perfect, but it'll be the best I can manage given available time and materials, and it'll be unique.
Did a second 90% leveling sand with 600-grit yesterday, and added 3 more coats of clear.
12 coats of clear so far. 7 cans, one of which was mostly spent on tests.
Finally getting full depth over all grain texture, and smoothing out. Couple small dips still present.
Probably add 1 or 2 more coats today, then let it shrink and cure a couple or 3 weeks to see if more are needed, or any drop fills, before final cure and polish.
Most of June and July will be curing time.
It won't be perfect, but it'll be the best I can manage given available time and materials, and it'll be unique.
WOW, probably 15+ clear coats when all is said and done. Looks great!
Also looks like an incredibly difficult and time consuming finish, much more than I would have thought. How many months of just finish work do you think you’ll end up with on this bass?
That depends on whether your definition of “rig” includes the instrument. I haven’t played — or even heard — a Ric through dual R100s. Alas.Well... you should know
Thanks. I had meant latch rather than toggle.
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- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,895
- 142,215
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Not sure I understand the question, Miles. But, if you're asking about me doing set ups - I don't at this point, maybe in future. Had a fun day at the shop yesterday, we packed up all the basses, pedals, strings and various bits in prep for the move to the new location. I also sold an Ashdown Capri bass.
Roasted Capri-23
Hard to judge between delays needed for lacquer curing, and delays caused by waiting for supplies, having to test or sort out techniques new to me, lack of available time due to my so-called life, and weather, travel, etc.
First coat of actual sealer went down on April 9th, according to my paint log.
So around 7 weeks spent applying finish coats. In sprints.
Then wait 6 weeks or so minimum for full cure before sandout and polish. Which will take a week or two worth of free time.
(I have to write down dates, times, steps, etc or I lose track during the between-steps time when I have to focus intensely on other life stuff.)
Lacquer is a lot of work over a lot of time, but timing "windows" are wider.
I've done poly finishes on car stuff. It's faster and less steps but also less forgiving, more concentrated effort due to narrow windows between steps. Needs fewer but larger uninterrupted blocks of time. And cleanup is harder.
Thanks, it's a 1997 4001v63. Love it! And sorry Thunderbird brothers, but I think it's my new number one.. at least for now..
Ok... yeah... right... but... you know how a bird sounds through that 2x12 R100 rig, and I know how my 1990 Bird sounds through that. And I can tell you that the Rick sounds very good too
Hmm...? and... ? .... ok, you know what I'm trying to say..
Hey there Thunderbirders!
I have a simple question that I know someone here will be able to answer.
So I ended up the proud owner of an Epiphone non-reverse Thunderbird PJ (I got a deal I couldn't refuse!). I understand that they are "Fenders in Thunderbird Clothing," but I really like the feel/size of the neck. I was wondering what Thunderbird would have the most similar feeling neck to the Epi non-reverse I have.
Thanks in advance!
Jimmy
I have a simple question that I know someone here will be able to answer.
So I ended up the proud owner of an Epiphone non-reverse Thunderbird PJ (I got a deal I couldn't refuse!). I understand that they are "Fenders in Thunderbird Clothing," but I really like the feel/size of the neck. I was wondering what Thunderbird would have the most similar feeling neck to the Epi non-reverse I have.
Thanks in advance!
Jimmy
My E
Here it is again
My EB3 is a '69 (these have the sweet 1.5" slim neck). It has been modded, to use a vintage Guild pickup at the bridge position and a 3 way toggle PUP selector. All 3 settings are useful. And wearing DR Fat-Beams, I could easily use it for everything.
Here it is again
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Not sure what this place is, but there is definitely a sense of humor (Downtown Las Vegas, Fremont Street)
moved the SVT 1540 cab indoors....
