Thunderbird Club

[theFixer]

Just spotted this in the classifieds...

For Sale - PRICE DROP! 2013 Gibson Thunderbird

 

[dukeorock]

Good price!

Just spotted this in the classifieds...

For Sale - PRICE DROP! 2013 Gibson Thunderbird

 

[dukeorock]

Very Tom Morello but with bass! Love it!

Thanks!

View attachment 2883848 Once again vintage Sunday is here, for those of you who missed my first post I am chronicling my early years collection and the path that lead me to Thunderbirds.
My second bass was a '65-'66 Hofner purchased in if I remember correctly Feb of '73. I remember driving out to R.I.T with my dad in a snow storm to get it. The seller lived in RITs student apartments. It was a funky place, black lights and hippie art and there laid out on the couch was the Hofner. I can only imagine what my Dad a WWII era Marine thought. After a few minutes of noodling on the bass my Dad asked are you sure this is what you want? I of course said yes he forked over the sum of $125.00. I remember it being a very happy ride home. God bless my Dad the stuff he did for me.
I foolishly traded the Hofner for another bass in '76, more on that next week.
In '81 I spotted the my bass at a local rercording studio I was laying tracks at. I tried to buy it but the studio owner didn't want to sell, he did say he would call me if he ever did. Well he never did call but in '83 I saw a add in the paper for a Hofner for sale and it turned out to be mine! I was broke so I brokered a deal with a good friend of mine who really wanted a Hofner. He gave me rights to first refusal. In '86 he called me up and asked if I wanted it, I jumped at the chance. It's been in my possession ever since. View attachment 2883778 View attachment 2883779 View attachment 2883778 View attachment 2883779 View attachment 2883781 View attachment 2883783

Great story on a sweet bass, Scott!

Double Plus Good, Mark! (I just read '1984' for about the fourth time, that could be part of the soundtrack).

Ha! I’ve read the book twice myself

Officially not a Thunderbird. But it's got all the right specifications ;-)
My latest build; the Brooks EB-TB (EB-0 meets Thunderbird II)

View attachment 2883907

Cool concept and great execution!

 

[BklynKen]

Congrats on pulling off the gig despite the obstacles! Good man

Assuming this was meant for me, THANKS! Always gotta be a professional and rise above.

 

[dukeorock]

Just about ready to ship @dukeorock's NR41

View attachment 2884022

This makes me so happy!

There's a few of them lying around the shop, mostly cannibalized for the good parts...Duke's NR41 is a prototype from 2012, it's definitely not perfect.

I’ll be the judge of that!

@dukeorock best not leave the house for the duration then.

UPS has not been my friend lately

....beautiful, need the same as a REV....still waiting for the VP from Andertons UK..
my vintage Sunday pic, 66NR on stage last summer....

View attachment 2884181

Beautiful!

 

[dukeorock]

Assuming this was meant for me, THANKS! Always gotta be a professional and rise above.

It was meant for you!

 

[JJR58]

Assuming this was meant for me, THANKS! Always gotta be a professional and rise above.

Which you guys did, flawlessly.

 

[Count Bassie]

Just about ready to ship @dukeorock's NR41

View attachment 2884022

Well there you go.

 

[hillerup]

Oh, ok. Sorry, didn’t realize Schallers were also German. For what it’s worth, LOXX seems to sell extra screws. What they don’t sell, which is what I needed a while back, was extra buttons for the strap ends. I had to buy a whole new set for that. But it worked out in the end, since I put the spare screws into the NR.

Haven’t seen extra screws yet anyware... Being a German company, one would expect these to be available on the Thomann webshop...

 

[Count Bassie]

150 pages behind the Spector club -- Thunderbird righteousness on their tail!

Filler...
Forcing open the occasional window to get some stuff done for my functional Thundermutt ("Look- it's a bird!"... "No, it's a plane!"... "No, it's just my little old Thunderdog"...). Cut out a pickup surround from brass and a control cover from some old tin that I'll paint matte black. And screwed in my pickguard, finally.

Not done, but on the way...

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

Filler...
Forcing open the occasional window to get some stuff done for my functional Thundermutt ("Look- it's a bird!"... "No, it's a plane!"... "No, it's just my little old Thunderdog"...). Cut out a pickup surround from brass and a control cover from some old tin that I'll paint matte black. And screwed in my pickguard, finally.

Not done, but on the way...View attachment 2884574 View attachment 2884575 View attachment 2884576

Looks good!!

 

[hillerup]

Where do you get your Schaller buttons?
I've found them on evilBay and Amazon, but there's always a few people that say that they are cheap knockoffs

I usually order them from Invalid Link Removed, but they have some on the Thomann webshop as well...

Allparts. They have both the genuine and aftermarket buttons....which are perfectly acceptable IMO.
They also sell aftermarket complete schaller style system.
Chrome Strap Lock System | Allparts.com

Perfect, thanks!

Beware of this:

Recent Schaller strap locks are slightly different from the original models and not fully compatible, as the never model comes with a thicker button that does not fit inside the original strap locks - On the other hand, the old buttons fit fine inside the newer locks.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

I usually order them from Invalid Link Removed, but they have some on the Thomann webshop as well...





Beware of this:

Recent Schaller strap locks are slightly different from the original models and not fully compatible, as the never model comes with a thicker button that does not fit inside the original strap locks - On the other hand, the old buttons fit fine inside the newer locks.

Sheit... thanks for the heads up.

 

[hillerup]

Sheit... thanks for the heads up.

These are the ones I buy (usually in bulk), and usually put three on all my birds:

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

These are the ones I buy (usually in bulk), and usually put three on all my birds:

Invalid Link Removed

Cool! Thanks!

 

[Dadagoboi]

Beware of this:

Recent Schaller strap locks are slightly different from the original models and not fully compatible, as the never model comes with a thicker button that does not fit inside the original strap locks - On the other hand, the old buttons fit fine inside the newer locks.

Thanks, that tells me don't buy new Schaller locks. I did buy a set of genuine Schaller gold buttons a few months ago for the bass in my avatar but they were the same size as the generics.

 

[theFixer]

Filler...
Forcing open the occasional window to get some stuff done for my functional Thundermutt ("Look- it's a bird!"... "No, it's a plane!"... "No, it's just my little old Thunderdog"...). Cut out a pickup surround from brass and a control cover from some old tin that I'll paint matte black. And screwed in my pickguard, finally.

Not done, but on the way...View attachment 2884574 View attachment 2884575 View attachment 2884576

Man... that's gonna be COOL!!!

 

[hillerup]

Recent Schaller strap locks are slightly different from the original models and not fully compatible, as the never model comes with a thicker button that does not fit inside the original strap locks - On the other hand, the old buttons fit fine inside the newer locks.

Thanks, that tells me don't buy new Schaller locks. I did buy a set of genuine Schaller gold buttons a few months ago for the bass in my avatar but they were the same size as the generics.

Before spreading too much misinformation, let me double check this with my two straps which has the "older" Schaller's on them...

All the buttons and locks I have in my parts box seem to be identical and fit each other with no problem, though I do remember having issues and reading about the differences on the web...

 

[theFixer]

(random cool pic)

 

[RedVee]

I suspected that the neck pickup is farther back on the Vintage Pro than on the Classic Pro. I just measured and confirmed it. The Vintage Pro is 60's spec. 3 1/4" from the base of the fingerboard to the front of the pickup. The Classic Pro is 2 1/2". This pickup location is crucial and a integral part of 60's Thunderbird tone! Epiphone got this bass right on so many levels. View attachment 2875496

And that right there would explain a lot of why I find this bass more aggressive sounding than my Gold Anniversary Bird. Interestingly enough, the VP pup spacing is the same as the Goth as well, which combined with its original pups explains the large mid bump in tone on that bass as well.

Ok, I was fooling around a bit and had the Birds together.
The Gibson neck pickup is 6cm from the end of the fingerboard.

And the Goth is just about 8cm from the fingerboard; and shorter in overall length as well.

Quite noticeable when they are lined up together.