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Thunderbird Club

#5,001
imdkoz said:
Has anyone swapped out the Epiphone pickups for Gibson TB plus, Deep Sixx or the EMG TBTW? The TB Plus and EMG have one screw on each side, so a little bit of a mod with those. I would buy used of course because I don't want to spend more on PUPs than the bass itself.
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You would need to do some routing for either the TB Plus or EMG's, but the Deep Sixx would drop right in. All 3 are probably good replacement choices but the TBX tone control can be purchased for less than $15 shipped so that is a pretty good option to try first. I still plan on trying it with my sunburst Epi along with a couple of other mods.
 
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#5,004
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#5,005
Well I brought the '14 Gibson home today. All I can say is I'm super pissed off now.

I know it wasn't like this before I put it on layaway, but I went there opened the case, looked good to go then went home.
Opened it up to play a little and ***!?! The fretboard is popped off to the 3rd fret.

Im seriously like *** do I do now? Take it back yeah, but I LOVED the way this one played, and it was the only one they had anyway afaik.
Thanks GC for taking such great care of her for me! Ruined a brand new f'n gibson.
Great f'n job a-holes!
 
#5,006
SVTbird said:
Well I brought the '14 Gibson home today. All I can say is I'm super pissed off now.

I know it wasn't like this before I put it on layaway, but I went there opened the case, looked good to go then went home.
Opened it up to play a little and ***!?! The fretboard is popped off to the 3rd fret.

Im seriously like *** do I do now? Take it back yeah, but I LOVED the way this one played, and it was the only one they had anyway afaik.
Thanks GC for taking such great care of her for me! Ruined a brand new f'n gibson.
Great f'n job a-holes!
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Oh no!!! :(

That's a cryin' shame... I really feel bad for you. I hope they will get you another one fast.
 
#5,007
hillerup said:
Oh no!!! :(

That's a cryin' shame... I really feel bad for you. I hope they will get you another one fast.
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Idk I hope so, but it's a 14 so im worried they probably won't be able to get a replacement thats not a 15 (and then try to get me to pay the difference) I feel totally screwed here. I should be playing it not having to worry about this.

Edit: just checked their site, '15s are listed for $2599. Yay!
 
#5,009
SVTbird said:
Well I brought the '14 Gibson home today. All I can say is I'm super pissed off now.

I know it wasn't like this before I put it on layaway, but I went there opened the case, looked good to go then went home.
Opened it up to play a little and ***!?! The fretboard is popped off to the 3rd fret.

Im seriously like *** do I do now? Take it back yeah, but I LOVED the way this one played, and it was the only one they had anyway afaik.
Thanks GC for taking such great care of her for me! Ruined a brand new f'n gibson.
Great f'n job a-holes!
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Please take it back and let us know what GC does for you. I recently bought a 2013 Bird from there, and it was in great shape. It was on clearance, though. Never owned, just been hanging on the store for almost 2 years. Had a ding, but other than that, nothing.

I ended up buying one of those 2 -year warranties just because I was so paranoid of what it had been through hanging in the store for 2 years.

I'd love to know how GC handles your problem. And I hope it works out for you!
 
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#5,010
hillerup said:
That is sweet!

Wonder what it would cost to get shipped to Denmark..?

Probably way too much, and then add 25% Danish VAT and import taxes... :(

Still hoping to find one within the EU, which would be without the additional taxes and VAT.

But thanks, Andy - I will definitely be keeping my eyes on this... :)
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Fellow danish brethren(well that's my heritage, anyway) I'm heading over to Europe in September this year to suss out the music scene, can you give me any tips on locations to meet people/start a band. Australia is as dry as tonight's whiskey bottle when it comes to flourishing art/music scene.


I've also decided to put thunderbuckers in my am. Dlx Jazz. Since I put them in my '14 tbird all other basses (musicman, RICK, fender) hve taken a back seat. This is how bass should sound!! Crushing like Thor's hammer, dirty like Christina Aguilera's prime, and PHAt like Kim Kardashians money maker.
 
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#5,011
Its a brand new bass. If GC can't help (unlikely) its Gibson's problem to fix it. It will get sorted one way or the other. First thing I'd do is contact GC as soon as possible. The sooner you contact them, the less "dead time" there is between when you took it home and when you contacted them so there's less room for them to say it's your fault. If they won't remedy it then contact Gibson customer service and send that bass to them to fix. You are not without rights and options in this situation.
 
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#5,012
Haji said:
Its a brand new bass. If GC can't help (unlikely) its Gibson's problem to fix it. It will get sorted one way or the other. First thing I'd do is contact GC as soon as possible. The sooner you contact them, the less "dead time" there is between when you took it home and when you contacted them so there's less room for them to say it's your fault. If they won't remedy it then contact Gibson customer service and send that bass to them to fix. You are not without rights and options in this situation.
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Yeah I'm waiting for them to open and I'm gonna call as soon as they do.
Been through this before with an ibanez I ordered through them. They would only refund the money, but it was used. Hopefully they'll handle it right...damn maybe I should have bought the warranty.
 
#5,013
Man that sucks!! You have the 30 day return policy and since you just bought it they should be pretty understanding. A second option is to have a luthier re-glue the fretboard to the neck. May be a very simple fix for an experienced repair man. Might even talk to the manager about refunding you the cost of getting the board reglued. Contacting Gibson may at least get you contact info for the closest authorized repair shop in your area. Hope this all gets sorted out and you are happy in the end.
 
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#5,014
Nocturnal said:
Man that sucks!! You have the 30 day return policy and since you just bought it they should be pretty understanding. A second option is to have a luthier re-glue the fretboard to the neck. May be a very simple fix for an experienced repair man. Might even talk to the manager about refunding you the cost of getting the board reglued. Contacting Gibson may at least get you contact info for the closest authorized repair shop in your area. Hope this all gets sorted out and you are happy in the end.
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I tried the repair expense refund with them with that ibanez, they wouldn't go for it. I figure this will be a lot more since the lacquer is comprised and they're going to have to shoot the neck (and probably the whole center section) to blend the spray.

It does suck. Hopefully they'll source a replacement bass. Id really rather end this up with a kick ass customer service story than a "sorry we busted your bass, tough luck. Heres a refund" story.
 
#5,015
SVTbird said:
I tried the repair expense refund with them with that ibanez, they wouldn't go for it. I figure this will be a lot more since the lacquer is comprised and they're going to have to shoot the neck (and probably the whole center section) to blend the spray.

It does suck. Hopefully they'll source a replacement bass. Id really rather end this up with a kick ass customer service story than a "sorry we busted your bass, tough luck. Heres a refund" story.
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How do you figure GC 'busted your bass'? Any signs of impact? More likely it was defective from Gibson and the neck to fretboard joint failed while on layaway. The trussrod pushes upward on the fretboard and a bad glue job will fail, some sooner than later.

Gibsons aren't perfect in the fretboard to neck adhesion department. I've owned two that delaminated.

Hope everything works out!
 
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#5,016
Dadagoboi said:
How do you figure GC 'busted your bass'? Any signs of impact? More likely it was defective from Gibson and the neck to fretboard joint failed while on layaway. The trussrod pushes upward on the fretboard and a bad glue job will fail, some sooner than later.

Gibsons aren't perfect in the fretboard to neck adhesion department. I've owned two that delaminated.

Hope everything works out!
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I don't know, hmmm, I jammed on it for an hour, inspected it very thoroughly, then put in on layaway, and picked it up a week later.
Pretty sure they did something.

Don't need signs of impact if they tossed or knocked the case over right?
 
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#5,018
SVTbird said:
I don't know, hmmm, I jammed on it for an hour, inspected it very thoroughly, then put in on layaway, and picked it up a week later.
Pretty sure they did something.

Don't need signs of impact if they tossed or knocked the case over right?
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IMO even if they tossed or knocked it over and the fretboard separated it's Gibson's fault unless they dropped it from high enough that the case has visual damage.

GC's responsibility extends to getting you a replacement if possible, returning you money, or getting Gibson to repair it under warranty. Case is supposed to protect it, right? As I said, just my opinion.
 
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#5,019
Dadagoboi said:
IMO even if they tossed or knocked it over and the fretboard separated it's Gibson's fault unless they dropped it from high enough that the case has visual damage.

GC's responsibility extends to getting you a replacement if possible, returning you money, or getting Gibson to repair it under warranty. Case is supposed to protect it, right? As I said, just my opinion.
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Yeah we'll see what happens.
I called them and I have to talk to the store manager so theyre gonna have him call me back when he gets in later.

The guy was pretty cool on the phone. Sympathetic. Hopefully there's something they can do.
 
#5,020
Dadagoboi said:
IMO even if they tossed or knocked it over and the fretboard separated it's Gibson's fault unless they dropped it from high enough that the case has visual damage.

GC's responsibility extends to getting you a replacement if possible, returning you money, or getting Gibson to repair it under warranty. Case is supposed to protect it, right? As I said, just my opinion.
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I agree. After cooling off some, im thinking it probably wasn't anything they did so much as something waiting to happen.
Just bad luck on my part.
 
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