Thunderbird Club

[Klondike]

Right now however, I'm trying to figure out how to best do round two (hands on visual impressions). I want it to be in a similar format but it would be a huge number of photos if I post everything, so I'll probably only post exceptions and maybe just use a reference link to the non-posted photos.

Maybe instead of yor personal opinion on phase II of this shootout you state all the visual facts about the basses as an unbiased point of view. Maybe rate some of the workmanship. ie - frets installed and properly shaped with no edges popped, paint, all the screws holding the pups are properly screwed in (I saw a squire jazz that had three screws about to fall out), smoothness and workability of the tuning machines, etc. what are your thoughts on that?

 

[GBassNorth]

Maybe instead of yor personal opinion on phase II of this shootout you state all the visual facts about the basses as an unbiased point of view. Maybe rate some of the workmanship. ie - frets installed and properly shaped with no edges popped, paint, all the screws holding the pups are properly screwed in (I saw a squire jazz that had three screws about to fall out), smoothness and workability of the tuning machines, etc. what are your thoughts on that?

That's exactly the plan. Just completed the round 2 evaluation, up loading pics now and inputting the data into a spreadsheet. Should be posted in the next few hours for all to see.

 

[mistergoats]

I hate to be cheating on the club, but my neck came in today for the parts P I'm working on, so my attention will be elsewhere for a bit!

 

[wolfkeller]

NBD 2013 Thunderbird. I got my still new bass today, I quickly noticed this. It looks like the studs are screwed directly into the wood. One insert is there, 2 are either missing or buried under the finish. I've never seen this.

 

[mistergoats]

NBD 2013 Thunderbird. I got my still new bass today, I quickly noticed this. It looks like the studs are screwed directly into the wood. One insert is there, 2 are either missing or buried under the finish. I've never seen this.

That's the 2013 lefty? Weird. There's even bits of finish flash (or possibly glue) above the one that's visible. Yikes. My 2012 has none of that. That looks like the finish was applied after the studs were put in and then not cleaned, which is sloppy.

I'm wondering if the bridge has been ripped out and repaired. (Not to try and spook you)

 

[Nocturnal]

I suspect you and Noc are also correct about there being more than 3 neck plys unfortunately I can't find any official spec info that says there are more than three plys. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that the neck is 9 ply (5 strands of mahogany and 4 stringers of walnut) but I can't seem to find anything that confirms that. Do you have a reference or pics you can post?

Thanks again for the keen eye! I'd like this to be as correct as possible.

Here is a bad shot to show that there are walnut ply's in the neck. Best I can do right now.

 

[ThaCoast]

That's the 2013 lefty? Weird. There's even bits of finish flash (or possibly glue) above the one that's visible. Yikes. My 2012 has none of that. That looks like the finish was applied after the studs were put in and then not cleaned, which is sloppy.

I'm wondering if the bridge has been ripped out and repaired. (Not to try and spook you)

Sad to say i agree with this. if it's a problem to turn the 3 point screw, i'd say repair it yourself (or take it to someone if you're not comfortable). But if it doesnt affect anything, enjoy playing.

 

[wolfkeller]

I waited along time to get her and there are only a few out there, they only did them for 13 and that's it. I'm gna leave it be for now. Plays and sounds great. I changed the strings and cleaned it up some. Up close it almost looks like plastic inserts. Later on I may put new ones in. Other than this and the right handed pots it's awesom. I may reverse those later on.

 

[wolfkeller]

BTW way it's a bran new bass from southpaw guitars.

 

[wolfkeller]

Here we go!

 

[GBassNorth]

Here we go!

That's a rare bird! Not many lefties out there. Very nice, happy NBD.

 

[GBassNorth]

Here is a bad shot to show that there are walnut ply's in the neck. Best I can do right now.

Thanks! Yep, definitely walnut stringers in that mahogany neck. I updated the post with the chart on it to reflect this. Thanks again.

 

[GBassNorth]

OK - here's a prelude to Round Two of the battle of the birds... Gibson vs Spector
Recall round one was all about the Specs and in my scoring Gibson edged out Spector. Round two is all about the look and feel and fit and finish. The blow by blow chart will be posted shortly with more detailed pics but here's four shots of the two basses side by side.
Full frontal splendor...

Two sexy backsides...

Close up frontal (note the Spector color shift vs the first photo, its always changing)

And an interesting side by side with both basses perfectly aligned at the 12th fret (note the different pickup placements and probable right hand positioning) (and another color shift)

 

[ThaCoast]

Just like that - my bet's on the spector. Although gibson is the classic shape, if i could reproduce holoflash of spector, i'd paint it on a gibson thunderbird style body. Seriously, gibson should do something about it's bass color range. The guitars get it, why not the basses? Plus the only other reason i'm voting spector, is cause i've played the gold anniversary in store and the quality and finish was very poor. Some sharp fret ends, smudged paint job in some areas neck the fretboard and on the back of the bass (body, heel, and headstock) Plus it wasn't set up properly so it was hard to play with all the buzzing :S.

 

[Klondike]

Each one of those are just darn sexy

 

[Klondike]

Just like that - my bet's on the spector. Although gibson is the classic shape, if i could reproduce holoflash of spector, i'd paint it on a gibson thunderbird style body. Seriously, gibson should do something about it's bass color range. The guitars get it, why not the basses? Plus the only other reason i'm voting spector, is cause i've played the gold anniversary in store and the quality and finish was very poor. Some sharp fret ends, smudged paint job in some areas neck the fretboard and on the back of the bass (body, heel, and headstock) Plus it wasn't set up properly so it was hard to play with all the buzzing :S.

I would think the shop would have their tech give all "nice" and "special edition" instruments a quick going over before hanging on the wall. At least they will when I'm king.

 

[GBassNorth]

The Thunderbird vs Spectorbird shoot out Round One is now complete!
the "Battle of the Birds" will go a total of three rounds.

Here's how its organized...
Round one - specifications comparison - how do they stack up on paper
Round two - hands on visual impressions - how do they stack up on fit, finish and quality
Round three - a good flogging - how do they stack up sound and playability wise

Here's the results from round one...

Note: I called a winner of round one but that only reflects my humble opinion. The data is set up so each TB reader can assign their own winner of each category based on what's important to them. It would be interesting to hear from others on how they ended up scoring the first round.

Edit:
the Gibson nut dimension should read 1.5" not 1.6"
The Gibson neck design should read 9 ply mahogany/walnut not 3 ply

And now the results from Round Two...

Gibson tuners nicely aligned (please ignore the reflection of my hand and the purposeful photoshop smear of the serial number) ...

Spector tuners misaligned (dang, forgot to smear the serial number, too late now)...

Gibson pick guard close up near the neck. Note how the pick guard edge (near the screw) is no longer flush with the raised center block due to the center block tapering down... (Note the look of a rough finish along the body edge radius, its an optical illusion, that edge and all others are smooth as glass, the reflections on the body side in this pic accurately show the near perfect gloss nitro top coat)...

Gibson body wing "V" joint visible. The others were filled properly...

Gibson finish has tremendous depth and looks very unique. Its hard to photograph - you can see every grain and pore in the wood but the nitro gloss looks and feels like a layer of glass over the top...

Spector features a concave back on the Rex Pro similar to their other models to aid in how it fits your body when strapped on. Also the Spector body wings are much thicker than the Gibson...

So now we're tied with Gibson and Spector each winning one round in my scoring (your scoring may differ). Looks like round three will be the deciding round (and the most difficult round as well). Look for a conclusion in the next few days!

 

[ThaCoast]

In conclusion i was right, but in regards to the recessed jack, i think the tube jack the thunderbird has is one of the best. It'll never come loose unintentionally, but then again for me it would be a tie. And i was right for betting on the sepctor for this round

 

[GBassNorth]

In conclusion i was right, but in regards to the recessed jack, i think the tube jack the thunderbird has is one of the best. It'll never come loose unintentionally, but then again for me it would be a tie. And i was right for betting on the sepctor for this round

The Rex Pro and Thunderbird use virtually the exact same output jack. The only significant difference is that Spector recesses theirs into the wood a bit vs the surface mount method Gibson uses. Its a minor detail that probably doesn't really add any value to the bass but its a nice detail (kinda like PRS countersinking all their control knobs into the body, just a neat detail).

 

[ptleftybass]

Here is my 2012 Thunderbird Jimmy from Southpaw Guitars said it was # 1 for left handed t-bird from the Gibson Factory. I received it in December of 2012, I also got a 2013 Gibson SG Standard.