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Thunderbird Club

#37,143
Dr_Feelgoood212 said:
Neat bass. Strange that the serial number says it's early September of 2013 being that it looks like the 2014 120th anniversary model and with 2015 pups. And that it's the second Cherry Bird with black pg that's been on Reverb recently
Click to expand...

Possibly a conglomerate of those years due to it being a one off?
 
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#37,144
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#37,145
Gaolee said:
I doubt the brass nut will make a huge difference in the sound you ultimately get, so long as everything is set up the way it should be. I'm in the wood matters, but it's behind pickups and the player when it comes to what sound you get. Same with nut material and whatever bridge you have on the bass.
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Yeah nut material isn't high on my list of concerns, but seeing as I'm getting a new one, I'm quite happy to have bone. The main concern is getting the neck straightened out -- and also frets levelled as recommended by Carlo. If that can't be done, then I'll have to reconsider the options.
 
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#37,146
JJR58 said:
Possibly a conglomerate of those years due to it being a one off?
Click to expand...
it's possible

GBassNorth said:
That's pretty cool, but it looks like those toggles would get in the way a lot while playing.
How would one ever even go about confirming this as a factory prototype vs an after market mod by a previous owner?
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I would think that a prototype would have a really low batch number or even "x"'s instead of numbers, I wouldn't think that prototypes would be made in the same batches as everything else
 
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#37,147
Dr_Feelgoood212 said:
it's possible


I would think that a prototype would have a really low batch number or even "x"'s instead of numbers, I wouldn't think that prototypes would be made in the same batches as everything else
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I agree, but then again, maybe it's the 7ender train of thought, use what's around, call it a prototype.
 
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#37,148
JJR58 said:
Have a look at this gang.

Gibson 120th Anniversary Thunderbird Bass *Prototype 2014 Cherry
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That's very cool - I recently made a similarly passive twin-bucker with a switching set-up like this and it really offers a lot of tonal options. It looks to be a logical evolution for a more sophisticated T-bird. However, judging by a casual consensus of bird lovers here, perhaps less is more / traditional over innovative. I bet that prototype would be a killer bass though.

Larry V said:
...or Pretty Retro Option.
Click to expand...

bingo!
 
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#37,149
JIO said:
That's very cool - I recently made a similarly passive twin-bucker with a switching set-up like this and it really offers a lot of tonal options. It looks to be a logical evolution for a more sophisticated T-bird. However, judging by a casual consensus of bird lovers here, perhaps less is more / traditional over innovative. I bet that prototype would be a killer bass though.



bingo!
Click to expand...
If it wasn't so expensive, I would think about it more. I bet it is a killer. It's expensive, and I have too many (if there is such a thing) already.
 
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#37,150
JIO said:
That's very cool - I recently made a similarly passive twin-bucker with a switching set-up like this and it really offers a lot of tonal options. It looks to be a logical evolution for a more sophisticated T-bird. However, judging by a casual consensus of bird lovers here, perhaps less is more / traditional over innovative. I bet that prototype would be a killer bass though.



bingo!
Click to expand...
Those are the same pickups I have in my '15 and my '15 also has a coil tap for each 'bucker...its nice to have but honestly, I just keep both pups wide open.
 
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#37,152
Dr_Feelgoood212 said:
it's possible


I would think that a prototype would have a really low batch number or even "x"'s instead of numbers, I wouldn't think that prototypes would be made in the same batches as everything else
Click to expand...
Agree on the serial number. It would be interesting to see the dates on the pups, pots and switches and if the switches are the same brand and type as the 2015 bird switches. If they're all about the same date and that date lines up roughly with the serial number date it may be legit. Until then I'll keep my doubts up and just assume some enterprising anniversary bird owner did what I was planning on doing - buy a Gibby Bird for about $1000 and a set of 2013/14 EB pups for about $200 and some switches for about $50 and a black pickguard for about $75 and a bridge for about $150. So with around $1500 invested they make a sweet little profit of nearly $1000 by hyping it as a prototype.

If it's a legit prototype the asking price is low. If it's not legit it's still a sweet bass priced at least $500 too high. JMHO
 
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#37,153
kat888 said:
View attachment 1185703 brass nut
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GBassNorth said:
Spot on. Sound wise the most impact you'll get from a nut material change is a better or worse match between a fretted note and the same note played on an open string. I have found that all my basses with brass nuts do in fact sound very similar on open vs fretted notes. But that's not to say that other basses I have that don't have brass nuts don't deliver the same level of open/fretted note parity, some do and some don't.

And for the record - I still use my architects multi scale (in real fractional units vs those crazy metric ones) and calipers for fine work. It is getting harder to read those darn little 1/32 hash marks on the architects scale though.
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When I think of Architect's Scale' it's the ones I used beginning in 1964 when I started studying Architecture and working summers as a draftsman/flunky. Made for constructing and measuring scale drawings. Not worth using for anything else.

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They're graduated in 3/32, 3/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 3/8, 3/4, 1-1/2", 3 inches to the foot; one edge to 16ths .
 
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#37,154
Dadagoboi said:
When I think of Architect's Scale' it's the ones I used beginning in 1964 when I started studying Architecture and working summers as a draftsman/flunky. Made for constructing and measuring scale drawings. Not worth using for anything else.

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They're graduated in 3/32, 3/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 3/8, 3/4, 1-1/2", 3 inches to the foot; one edge to 16ths .
Click to expand...

I'm currently using a similar one, though its 12" and not aluminum, to make a Cad drawing of a hand drawn print from 1944
 
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#37,156
Dadagoboi said:
When I think of Architect's Scale' it's the ones I used beginning in 1964 when I started studying Architecture and working summers as a draftsman/flunky. Made for constructing and measuring scale drawings. Not worth using for anything else.

Invalid Link Removed

They're graduated in 3/32, 3/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 3/8, 3/4, 1-1/2", 3 inches to the foot; one edge to 16ths .
Click to expand...
Yep, that's the one (except mines only 12" long). I used mine 8 hours a day 5 days a week for the better part of 20 years so it's a tool that I'm very used to and get along with quite well. Although my profession was more down the mechanical design path with a smattering of architectural here and there.

Edit: I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere, keep it clean guys. ;)
 
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#37,157
Dadagoboi said:
When I think of Architect's Scale' it's the ones I used beginning in 1964 when I started studying Architecture and working summers as a draftsman/flunky. Made for constructing and measuring scale drawings. Not worth using for anything else.

Invalid Link Removed

They're graduated in 3/32, 3/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 3/8, 3/4, 1-1/2", 3 inches to the foot; one edge to 16ths .
Click to expand...

The one I have here is 1:1, 1:100, 1:20, 1:200, 1:5, 1:50, 1:1250, 1:2500 - surprise!
 
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#37,158
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#37,159
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#37,160
GBassNorth said:
Yep, that's the one (except mines only 12" long). I used mine 8 hours a day 5 days a week for the better part of 20 years so it's a tool that I'm very used to and get along with quite well. Although my profession was more down the mechanical design path with a smattering of architectural here and there.

Edit: I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere, keep it clean guys. ;)
Click to expand...
There most certainly is.
 
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