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Thunderbird Club

#6,161
TBird1958 said:
Here's Pete Way and the boys.......

Mr Way is an early bass hero :thumbsup:
No sense in standing in shadows giving all the fun to the guitarist


Click to expand...


Mine as well! If not already noted, he was a bass hero to Mr. Steve "God" Harris as well. Speaking of Mr. Way, I think in his Wiki write-up it was noted that he was a TBird fan and that his TBird of choice early on were Gibsons but these days he prefers Epi's. He's had health issues of late but it appears he is doing better now and has gone back into the studio. Speaking of old bass heros, was going through some of my photos last night and chanced upon a photo I had taken of Overend Watts back in probably late '75 or early '76 with the Mott lineup (Post Ian Hunter and simply Mott, having dropped The Hoople). Playing his white Gibby TBird of course!
 
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#6,164
Mark Cult said:
So, i am gonna customise my Epi TBird Gothic... strip the body, neck and headstock and stain it all translucent black... strip the electrics to tidy the mess of wiring out, replace pots and cap etc... should i post it her or as i thought im gonna start a new thread. Whatdo you guys think?
Click to expand...
This is the TBird club. I say post it here. Or you could do both.
 
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#6,165
Mark Cult said:
So, i am gonna customise my Epi TBird Gothic... strip the body, neck and headstock and stain it all translucent black... strip the electrics to tidy the mess of wiring out, replace pots and cap etc... should i post it her or as i thought im gonna start a new thread. Whatdo you guys think?
Click to expand...

Mark, please feel free to share your project here, we have many proud Epi owners. Andii has shared a great deal of his Epi project here - It's a very helpful exchange of info.
 
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#6,166
marko57 said:
Mine as well! If not already noted, he was a bass hero to Mr. Steve "God" Harris as well. Speaking of Mr. Way, I think in his Wiki write-up it was noted that he was a TBird fan and that his TBird of choice early on were Gibsons but these days he prefers Epi's. He's had health issues of late but it appears he is doing better now and has gone back into the studio. Speaking of old bass heros, was going through some of my photos last night and chanced upon a photo I had taken of Overend Watts back in probably late '75 or early '76 with the Mott lineup (Post Ian Hunter and simply Mott, having dropped The Hoople). Playing his white Gibby TBird of course!
Click to expand...


I think Nikki was influenced a lot by Pete too.
I had the great fortune to see them quite a long time ago here in Seattle, they opened for Blue Oyster Cult - this was just before Michael Schenker left the band. I've always really like Schenker's playing, as '70s guitarists go he's one of my faves, they played "Love to Love" which I've always thought to be their Magnum Opus and just killed it. Mr. Way was a bit feisty that night, at the end of the set he used his Thunderbird to push his Marshall stack to the floor.
I had heard he had a serious problem with alcohol, hopefully he's better now.
 
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#6,168
My plan is to strip the paint on the neck body and head (a shame as the matte black is cool) and then stain it translucent black... this would obviosly show off the woodgrain, but keep it really dark still. My main question then is after that would i be able to treat the rear of the neck with an oil to make it slide smoother?
 
#6,171
Larry V said:
The only concern I'd have for your project is that removing the paint might reveal some flaws in the bass's wood that were gone over with filler and such and ten painted over.
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Yeah man, but its gonna be pretty dark,and sanded back quite a bit... if it looks poopie, i will take it to my mates paintshop and have it redone black...
 
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#6,172
TBird1958 said:
I think Nikki was influenced a lot by Pete too.
I had the great fortune to see them quite a long time ago here in Seattle, they opened for Blue Oyster Cult - this was just before Michael Schenker left the band. I've always really like Schenker's playing, as '70s guitarists go he's one of my faves, they played "Love to Love" which I've always thought to be their Magnum Opus and just killed it. Mr. Way was a bit feisty that night, at the end of the set he used his Thunderbird to push his Marshall stack to the floor.
I had heard he had a serious problem with alcohol, hopefully he's better now.
Click to expand...

Colour me jealous! I saw UFO in '78 but after Schenker had left and saw Waysted somewhere in the 80's opening for Maiden. 100% agreement on "Love To Love" and Schenker's playing! I like all the Schenker era UFO albums. Schenker is actually doing a club gig here next month, half my band already have tix, I need to get on that too! :) Yes, his (Pete) battle with the bottle is why he's not in UFO at the moment and the photos I've seen of him in recent years he looked pretty ragged but the most recent photo, if it IS a recent photo, he looks a bit healthier so hopefully that is behind him and we'll see new music from him soon.
 
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#6,173
TBird1958 said:
Mark, please feel free to share your project here, we have many proud Epi owners. Andii has shared a great deal of his Epi project here - It's a very helpful exchange of info.
Click to expand...

Indeed! it's always good to share with this great big family of thunder lovers. SPeaking of my project, i went out back to the shed to see how much wood i still had after my grabber inspired build and it looks like i can have myself 3 bass bodies out of one huge 24inch x 4 ft long blank. MK II bird and Ripper body wil be made of those blanks
 
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#6,174
marko57 said:
Mine as well! If not already noted, he was a bass hero to Mr. Steve "God" Harris as well. Speaking of Mr. Way, I think in his Wiki write-up it was noted that he was a TBird fan and that his TBird of choice early on were Gibsons but these days he prefers Epi's. He's had health issues of late but it appears he is doing better now and has gone back into the studio. Speaking of old bass heros, was going through some of my photos last night and chanced upon a photo I had taken of Overend Watts back in probably late '75 or early '76 with the Mott lineup (Post Ian Hunter and simply Mott, having dropped The Hoople). Playing his white Gibby TBird of course!
Click to expand...
Missed opportunity. If that had been my band, the name would have been "Mott the Hoopless".
 
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#6,175
Mark Cult said:
My plan is to strip the paint on the neck body and head (a shame as the matte black is cool) and then stain it translucent black... this would obviosly show off the woodgrain, but keep it really dark still. My main question then is after that would i be able to treat the rear of the neck with an oil to make it slide smoother?
Click to expand...
About, oh, 200 pages ago there's pics of my Goth that I sanded the finish off of. I did it the old fashioned way: tennis elbow from scrubbing off the paint. Its got a pretty thick coat of paint, with a coat of clear over that, so it's some work. I didn't really care much what the back of the neck looked like, so I didn't worry about straight paint lines and I didn't bother with the back of the headstock, either. I pore filled the raw wood (I'm not convinced that's necessary with maple, but I also knew it wouldn't hurt) and then I finished it with a dozen coats of Birchwood Casey Tru Oil. Now that it's had about six months to dry and cure, its a really nice, smooth finish...right in time to be replaced by my TBird IV. With that one, I taped the neck up on the flat of the neck with it bolts to the body and at the headstock, and buffed off the shine of the gloss finish with a grey Scotch Brite pad. I do that with every bass I've got or will have that has a painted or gloss finished neck. They get sticky when you sweat on 'em, and the matte finish doesn't.
 
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#6,179
Mark Cult said:
My plan is to strip the paint on the neck body and head (a shame as the matte black is cool) and then stain it translucent black... this would obviosly show off the woodgrain, but keep it really dark still. My main question then is after that would i be able to treat the rear of the neck with an oil to make it slide smoother?
Click to expand...

0000 steel wool and minwax paste with the grain. Smooth as silk
 
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#6,180
Haji said:
About, oh, 200 pages ago there's pics of my Goth that I sanded the finish off of. I did it the old fashioned way: tennis elbow from scrubbing off the paint. Its got a pretty thick coat of paint, with a coat of clear over that, so it's some work. I didn't really care much what the back of the neck looked like, so I didn't worry about straight paint lines and I didn't bother with the back of the headstock, either. I pore filled the raw wood (I'm not convinced that's necessary with maple, but I also knew it wouldn't hurt) and then I finished it with a dozen coats of Birchwood Casey Tru Oil. Now that it's had about six months to dry and cure, its a really nice, smooth finish...right in time to be replaced by my TBird IV. With that one, I taped the neck up on the flat of the neck with it bolts to the body and at the headstock, and buffed off the shine of the gloss finish with a grey Scotch Brite pad. I do that with every bass I've got or will have that has a painted or gloss finished neck. They get sticky when you sweat on 'em, and the matte finish doesn't.
Click to expand...
Ive used the tru oil on gun stocks. Love the stuff. Incredibly durable and easy to apply.
 
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