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Thunderbird Club

@JJR58 -- seriously now, if it's scratchy when turning = pot ... and if it's scratchy when it's turned up = intermittent connection somewhere. That would be my diagnosis without seeing it and running a multimeter over it.

That was my guess all along.
But the pot makes absolutely no noise when turned.
No matter where the pot is dialed, there is always the scratchy. No itchy. :rolleyes:
But seriously, no noise when twisting the pot, just noise wherever i have the pup set at.
 
Didn't even know there was a difference between the Epi and the Gibson bird logos...

For comparison:

Gibson

IMG_7840.JPG



Epiphone

IMG_7841.JPG




 
That was my guess all along.
But the pot makes absolutely no noise when turned.
No matter where the pot is dialed, there is always the scratchy. No itchy. :rolleyes:
But seriously, no noise when twisting the pot, just noise wherever i have the pup set at.

I suppose the other thing it could be is a microphonic pickup. Do they manifest as scratchy?
 
I suppose the other thing it could be is a microphonic pickup. Do they manifest as scratchy?
They shouldn't. My P has a microphonic pickup. It also has a pickup cover, which means banging on the cover turns it into an outstanding percussion instrument.

As far as the logo, it was probably just some kind of marketing thing Gibson came up with in the early '60s. Both Firebirds and Thunderbirds came out in '63. I assume they were released at the same time. Because they were so clearly designed rather than evolved, there was probably some kind of thought about making the headstock look like a beak, as has been noted. The logos were undoubtedly adapted from a variety of sources, but I'm sure they were just as designed as the guitars themselves.

Funny thing is that I think of Explorers as more extreme versions of Thunderbirds and Firebirds, but they came earlier. Same with flying "V" guitars. I can't imagine how radical those must have seemed in 1957 or 1958. I suspect they sold fairly well to R&B and blues players who were all about putting on a good show, but I can't imagine too many others would have bought them.
 
They shouldn't. My P has a microphonic pickup. It also has a pickup cover, which means banging on the cover turns it into an outstanding percussion instrument.

As far as the logo, it was probably just some kind of marketing thing Gibson came up with in the early '60s. Both Firebirds and Thunderbirds came out in '63. I assume they were released at the same time. Because they were so clearly designed rather than evolved, there was probably some kind of thought about making the headstock look like a beak, as has been noted. The logos were undoubtedly adapted from a variety of sources, but I'm sure they were just as designed as the guitars themselves.

Funny thing is that I think of Explorers as more extreme versions of Thunderbirds and Firebirds, but they came earlier. Same with flying "V" guitars. I can't imagine how radical those must have seemed in 1957 or 1958. I suspect they sold fairly well to R&B and blues players who were all about putting on a good show, but I can't imagine too many others would have bought them.
From what I gathered, the flying V was actually designed to almost be it's own stand when leaning up against the wall or your amp.
 

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