Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

So, as you know, I had mentioned I was thinking of trading the bolt on for a neck through. I'm very tempted to stop at Sam Ash on the way home today to compare the two. I've been checking out the neck through for a while now every time I've gone in there. It's a great bass. It's used but in great shape and a flawless player.
Thoughts?

 

[ubernator]

So, as you know, I had mentioned I was thinking of trading the bolt on for a neck through. I'm very tempted to stop at Sam Ash on the way home today to compare the two. I've been checking out the neck through for a while now every time I've gone in there. It's a great bass. It's used but in great shape and a flawless player.
Thoughts?

Do it! Since getting the classic pro I have had less desire to play the goth. The goth is now truly a TBSO backup

 

[JIO]

The Sean Conneries and Bond Girl - Is there a recurring theme going on here?

It's a distinct possibility... The Sean Conneries is a Bond Girl spin-off (minus BG Cherie and plus Bruce on keys) and we play a "shuffle" mix of songs compared to primarily Bond and spy related songs - more rock and less lounge. Adding a female singer is in the works to further broaden our scope. A friend who speaks French pointed out that "conneries" roughly translates to "foolery", so Sean Foolery - which made me think of tomfoolery.., so I guess it fits!

origin of tomfoolery:
The term "Tom o' Bedlam" came from a very old poem and was used to describe beggars and vagrants who were (or pretended to be) mad. Foolery means acting the fool. 'Tom' is more than the shortening of Thomas - it was often used in the 16th century to indicate maleness (hence “tomcat”).

 

[Haji]

So, as you know, I had mentioned I was thinking of trading the bolt on for a neck through. I'm very tempted to stop at Sam Ash on the way home today to compare the two. I've been checking out the neck through for a while now every time I've gone in there. It's a great bass. It's used but in great shape and a flawless player.
Thoughts?

Yeah, this is definitely the place to come to be talked out of buying a TBird. LOL!

 

[JJR58]

Still riding out the arrival of the Vintage Pro, but I'm hooked on neck throughs.

Edit: I just called the store and they still have it, so I'm going there later today.

 

[bylar13]

Still riding out the arrival of the Vintage Pro, but I'm hooked on neck throughs.

Edit: I just called the store and they still have it, so I'm going there later today.

This is one of the two (second is the humbucking pick ups) major reasons I own a bird and what brought me to them in the first place. To my ear, there is a noticeable feel/tonal difference between neck though and bolt on construction.

I have a Jazz bass that checks the single coil, bolt on box. I don't need two of the same thing. The neck-through humbucking pick up construction is different enough to warrant owning one of each....or at least that is how I justify it!

 

[theFixer]

So, as you know, I had mentioned I was thinking of trading the bolt on for a neck through. I'm very tempted to stop at Sam Ash on the way home today to compare the two. I've been checking out the neck through for a while now every time I've gone in there. It's a great bass. It's used but in great shape and a flawless player.
Thoughts?

I would encourage you to do exactly that. Compare the 2. Just because the other one's a neck-thru, doesn't mean it's automatically a guaranteed smile generator. As for the "should you do it" part of the conversation... only you can decide that. IMHO... once you've cleared the familial and sentimental hurdles, the rest is easy

<edit>

You may find yourself in a situation similar to mine, so I'mma drop some honesty on ya.
My Goth (which was my first 'bird), had MOJO! I traded it for another 'bird that has a neck that's better for me. The mojo went with the Goth. That Goth would call to me from it's stand & say, "Hey! Look at me! You wanna play me, don'tcha". This one doesn't. It sits there, silent. It plays better than the Goth... it (technically) sounds better than the Goth... it looks better than the Goth (subjective)... it hangs more comfortably than the Goth... but I miss the Goth. Unfortunately... my left hand has a tremendous amount of pull, when it comes to matters such as these, so if I found myself in that same scenario again, I'd probly still make the trade... but man I miss the fire that the Goth had. Fortunately, you don't have the same demons as I do, but consider your situation carefully. If sparks fly between you & your current 'bird, you have to consider what it might be like to lose that. If Sam Ash has a policy similar to GC's 45 day policy... it would be time well spent to bring the neck-thru home & spend sometime with it.

 

[theFixer]

It's a distinct possibility... The Sean Conneries is a Bond Girl spin-off (minus BG Cherie and plus Bruce on keys) and we play a "shuffle" mix of songs compared to primarily Bond and spy related songs - more rock and less lounge. Adding a female singer is in the works to further broaden our scope. A friend who speaks French pointed out that "conneries" roughly translates to "foolery", so Sean Foolery - which made me think of tomfoolery.., so I guess it fits!

origin of tomfoolery:
The term "Tom o' Bedlam" came from a very old poem and was used to describe beggars and vagrants who were (or pretended to be) mad. Foolery means acting the fool. 'Tom' is more than the shortening of Thomas - it was often used in the 16th century to indicate maleness (hence “tomcat”).

Wow... It's like I'm watching an all-text version of "Pop Up Video"

 

[theFixer]

Yeah, this is definitely the place to come to be talked out of buying a TBird. LOL!

 

[JJR58]

I would encourage you to do exactly that. Compare the 2. Just because the other one's a neck-thru, doesn't mean it's automatically a guaranteed smile generator. As for the "should you do it" part of the conversation... only you can decide that. IMHO... once you've cleared the familial and sentimental hurdles, the rest is easy

Oh of course good sir.

 

[GBassNorth]

Still riding out the arrival of the Vintage Pro, but I'm hooked on neck throughs.

Edit: I just called the store and they still have it, so I'm going there later today.

Cool! Can you take your bolt on with you and play them back to back through the same cab with the same settings? I'd be very interested to hear a report back on what if any differences there are sound, feel and playability wise.

Reason I'm interested - I desperately want the sound of the 2015 Bird and it's coil switching controls but I want it in an NR body shape. So if there's not a lot of difference between the bolt on and neck through I could go the cheap route and get the Eppi NR Bird with the P/J layout and route it for humbuckers. Otherwise, I'm forced to buy a Gibby NR (which I think is actually a set neck) and flip out the stock humbuckers and controls for some 2017 EB humbuckers and controls. The Gibby route will cost at least $1000 more, so it would be handy to know if there's really a significant BO vs NT difference (that's not entirely attributed to the pickups, since I would be swapping those out any way).

Edit: obviously, if anyone else in the club already has a BO and a NT and maybe even a SN Bird they'd like to compare and contrast for me it would be very much appreciated.

 

[JJR58]

Cool! Can you take your bolt on with you and play them back to back through the same cab with the same settings? I'd be very interested to hear a report back on what if any differences there are sound, feel and playability wise.

Reason I'm interested - I desperately want the sound of the 2015 Bird and it's coil switching controls but I want it in an NR body shape. So if there's not a lot of difference between the bolt on and neck through I could go the cheap route and get the Eppi NR Bird with the P/J layout and route it for humbuckers. Otherwise, I'm forced to buy a Gibby NR (which I think is actually a set neck) and flip out the stock humbuckers and controls for some 2017 EB humbuckers and controls. The Gibby route will cost at least $1000 more, so it would be handy to know if there's really a significant BO vs NT difference (that's not entirely attributed to the pickups, since I would be swapping those out any way).

I'll have a report for you sometime later..

 

[JJR58]

This is one of the two (second is the humbucking pick ups) major reasons I own a bird and what brought me to them in the first place. To my ear, there is a noticeable feel/tonal difference between neck though and bolt on construction.

I have a Jazz bass that checks the single coil, bolt on box. I don't need two of the same thing. The neck-through humbucking pick up construction is different enough to warrant owning one of each....or at least that is how I justify it!

I also have a jazz I like very much.
So let's see how the neck through compares to the bolt on.

 

[JIO]

I also have a jazz I like very much.
So let's see how the neck through compares to the bolt on.

The only variety I don't have is a set-neck bass and most are bolt-ons. I'd like to say I can hear a difference but they all sound good to my ears.

 

[theFixer]

I would encourage you to do exactly that. Compare the 2. Just because the other one's a neck-thru, doesn't mean it's automatically a guaranteed smile generator. As for the "should you do it" part of the conversation... only you can decide that. IMHO... once you've cleared the familial and sentimental hurdles, the rest is easy

Oh of course good sir.

(check the edit in my post)

 

[JJR58]

(check the edit in my post)

Got it bro.
I'll know right away whether it's a trade or not.

 

[GBassNorth]

I also have a jazz I like very much.
So let's see how the neck through compares to the bolt on.

I have plenty of Fender Jazz basses (MIA, MIM, MIC, CIJ) all bolt on necks, all maple necks with rosewood or PF fretboards, some active some passive.

Sound - my preference is the TBird
None, I repeat not one of my Jazz basses sound anything like my 2015 Gibson Thunderbird. They all have more honk, more nasal twang, more bark and more top end than my Bird. Conversely, my Bird has more mids and more low mids and about the same bottom end, but more punch, more grit, more growl, and more sustain than my Jazz basses.

Playability - my preference is the TBird
Both the Jazz and the TBird are comfortable to play while sitting but when standing I prefer to sling my basses down around my waist or lower and the Bird feels better there. Neither exhibits any concerning neck dive. The Bird neck feels a tad thinner and narrower so fretting hand speed feels a bit faster on the Bird. My (floating thumb technique) right hand always seems at a loss for a thumb anchor when playing the E string on the Jazz since I have a tendency to hover between the neck pup and neck. On the Bird it just naturally falls on the corner of the neck pup so it feels better in that sense. Access to the controls is just fine with either bass but after playing Gibson guitars for a while I really became addicted to the ease of quickly rolling volume or tone up or down with the speed knobs, but either bass can be equipped with those.

Feel - tie
Both basses are top notch in quality fit and finish for their price ranges. No sharp frets, no wobbly knobs or sloppy tuners. Very much a tie in this category IMHO.

 

[JJR58]

I have plenty of Fender Jazz basses (MIA, MIM, MIC, CIJ) all bolt on necks, all maple necks with rosewood or PF fretboards, some active some passive.

Sound - my preference is the TBird
None, I repeat not one of my Jazz basses sound anything like my 2015 Gibson Thunderbird. They all have more honk, more nasal twang, more bark and more top end than my Bird. Conversely, my Bird has more mids and more low mids and about the same bottom end, but more punch, more grit, more growl, and more sustain than my Jazz basses.

Playability - my preference is the TBird
Both the Jazz and the TBird are comfortable to play while sitting but when standing I prefer to sling my basses down around my waist or lower and the Bird feels better there. Neither exhibits any concerning neck dive. The Bird neck feels a tad thinner and narrower so fretting hand speed feels a bit faster on the Bird. My (floating thumb technique) right hand always seems at a loss for a thumb anchor when playing the E string on the Jazz since I have a tendency to hover between the neck pup and neck. On the Bird it just naturally falls on the corner of the neck pup so it feels better in that sense. Access to the controls is just fine with either bass but after playing Gibson guitars for a while I really became addicted to the ease of quickly rolling volume or tone up or down with the speed knobs, but either bass can be equipped with those.

Feel - tie
Both basses are top notch in quality fit and finish for their price ranges. No sharp frets, no wobbly knobs or sloppy tuners. Very much a tie in this category IMHO.

Good to hear your take on that. I like the Jazz, cause of what it sounds like.
No way would I expect a Thunderbird to sound like one.
It's in a league all of its own.

 

[theFixer]

Got it bro.
I'll know right away whether it's a trade or not.

What are the details on the neck-thru?

 

[JJR58]

What are the details on the neck-thru?

Not sure I can give you a good answer on that Fix. TB+ pick ups and neck through are the major differences, slightly chunkier neck. iirc, I think the fret work is cleaner as well. But without tools, I've just been eye balling. But playing them side by side will tell me something. I don't cave to the "better" philosophy, but what differences do I prefer. We'll see.