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Thunderbird Club

#6,602
I've been in the process of turning a Spector legend x into a reverse Nikki Sixx skull bass, lefty. It's moving along now so I wanna post some pics as it gets done.

It was a stock righty so first I found the parts I needed. I needed gold for this so I got some gotoh tuners off a euro Spector. I couldn't find a gold legend bridge so I found a nos Washburn bridge that looks almost identical. I was gna use a euro bridge but the string spacing might not work. The bridge was thinner that I thought so I had the bridge recess filled in, then the bridge located.
I had a new control cavily routed as well as a top mount jack. The pot and jack holes were filled with dowels.
My big problem, Nikki's has P&J and it couldn't be found so I got emg 4p & js, I'll be using a tonepump pre to get close to that Spector sound. Now, Nikkis bass only had 1 vol control. I want the pre but want it to look as close as I can. I'll wire both pick ups to 1 vol put and I'm gna keep the pots for the tonepump inside rhs cavity. On my euro I almost always used the same pre settings so it'll be a set n forget deal. I thought of having the pots out of the back but I'm sure they'll be in my way.
I painted the neck black and the top and sides will be repainted black then airbrushed and cleared. It SHOULD look killer. We shall see
 

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#6,605
ThaCoast said:
Can someone in this family, who owns a Gibson RD: be it Artist, Standard or Krist novoselic sig, measure out the following (based on this picture)

Body Length (top horn to bottom):
Upper Width:
Lower Width:
Waist Width:
Pickguard distance from bottom of neck:
Length from top of horn to middle of fretboard:
Distance between knobs:
Length from bottom of bridge to end of bass:

Thank you, this will go a long way in helping me finalize the design for my friend's build this summer :D
Click to expand...

I can't do anything for a couple of days, but I will try to get the measurements for you. I actually have a blueprint of an RD too. maybe I can get it scanned and email it to you.
 
#6,606
wolfkeller said:
I've been in the process of turning a Spector legend x into a reverse Nikki Sixx skull bass, lefty. It's moving along now so I wanna post some pics as it gets done.

It was a stock righty so first I found the parts I needed. I needed gold for this so I got some gotoh tuners off a euro Spector. I couldn't find a gold legend bridge so I found a nos Washburn bridge that looks almost identical. I was gna use a euro bridge but the string spacing might not work. The bridge was thinner that I thought so I had the bridge recess filled in, then the bridge located.
I had a new control cavily routed as well as a top mount jack. The pot and jack holes were filled with dowels.
My big problem, Nikki's has P&J and it couldn't be found so I got emg 4p & js, I'll be using a tonepump pre to get close to that Spector sound. Now, Nikkis bass only had 1 vol control. I want the pre but want it to look as close as I can. I'll wire both pick ups to 1 vol put and I'm gna keep the pots for the tonepump inside rhs cavity. On my euro I almost always used the same pre settings so it'll be a set n forget deal. I thought of having the pots out of the back but I'm sure they'll be in my way.
I painted the neck black and the top and sides will be repainted black then airbrushed and cleared. It SHOULD look killer. We shall see
Click to expand...
You could attach the pre amp pots to the control cavity plate and cut down the shafts on the pots a bit and cut a groove into the top of the shaft so you could use a flat head screwdriver to change your settings? Seen this on a few basses before and if your a set and forget player it cleans up the front of the bass nicely. Or alternatively if space allows use a couple of strat type jack sockets again mounted onto the control cavity cover that way it would possibly allow you to change the eq without the need for the flathead?
 
#6,607
Hello people, just a quick update; sorry for such sporadic activity, I have a lot going on in life since my accident which the older, still active members will remember me talking about. Anyway I'm not going to go bore you all with my problems etc... But a few days ago I decided to dig out the 'bird, which I stopped using due to not knowing how to set it up, so I learned and treated her to new strings and Damn it's like I've fell in love all over... And having her working again and playing her is almost therapeutic... Onwards and upwards! Peace, Liam
 
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#6,608
Nocturnal said:
I can't do anything for a couple of days, but I will try to get the measurements for you. I actually have a blueprint of an RD too. maybe I can get it scanned and email it to you.
Click to expand...

This would indeed help very much. Thank you Andy :D !

Liam McMonigle said:
Hello people, just a quick update; sorry for such sporadic activity, I have a lot going on in life since my accident which the older, still active members will remember me talking about. Anyway I'm not going to go bore you all with my problems etc... But a few days ago I decided to dig out the 'bird, which I stopped using due to not knowing how to set it up, so I learned and treated her to new strings and Damn it's like I've fell in love all over... And having her working again and playing her is almost therapeutic... Onwards and upwards! Peace, Liam
Click to expand...

Sir Prince Liam, you are missed in this kingdom since you're on the battle field. But no all medieval things aside, it's good to hear from you, even if it's a spur thing. It's pretty rad you fell in love with your bird again, i know i did once it was done :P take care, & onwards; wtvr you face in life, we support you.

All the best Liam
 
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#6,609
ThaCoast said:
This would indeed help very much. Thank you Andy :D !



Sir Prince Liam, you are missed in this kingdom since you're on the battle field. But no all medieval things aside, it's good to hear from you, even if it's a spur thing. It's pretty rad you fell in love with your bird again, i know i did once it was done :p take care, & onwards; wtvr you face in life, we support you.

All the best Liam
Click to expand...
Ah Andii how I miss your kind self! Don't think that I'm going anywhere because I'm firmly here to stay, just not as active as I used to be!
 
#6,610
A black 2006 Studio 5 just popped up on eBay. One bid at $1,200 so far. Super cheap shipping at less than $25. It's listed as excellent condition but it looks more like good condition to me. I'm just watching it to see where it goes as I'm not looking to replace the one I sold. My guess is north of $1,500 before it's said and done.

2006 Gibson Studio 5 Thunderbird Bass | eBay
 
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#6,613
Haha! Yep, I'm back. As it does from time to time, work gets in the way of all things awesome.

Nice to see all the projects happening right now! I'm stagnant, nothing fun in the works, so it's nice to see everyone doing neat stuff.

On the Twitters the other day, for reasons I do not know, a picture of the bass player from System of a Down appeared in my feed and he was playing what looked like an olive drab Thunderbird. Anyone got any deets on that? Is it just a TV silver? This is the best pic I could find.

shavo_odadjian_by_gaze_smith0510-d54gbcn.jpg
 
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#6,616
mistergoats said:
Haha! Yep, I'm back. As it does from time to time, work gets in the way of all things awesome.

Nice to see all the projects happening right now! I'm stagnant, nothing fun in the works, so it's nice to see everyone doing neat stuff.

On the Twitters the other day, for reasons I do not know, a picture of the bass player from System of a Down appeared in my feed and he was playing what looked like an olive drab Thunderbird. Anyone got any deets on that? Is it just a TV silver? This is the best pic I could find.

View attachment 606361
Click to expand...

Shavo had custom Gibson Thunderbirds made shortly before they reformed a few years ago. Notice the kill switch in the tone position. They also have open back tuners instead of the standard ones
 
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#6,617
MRDOOM said:
Shavo had custom Gibson Thunderbirds made shortly before they reformed a few years ago. Notice the kill switch in the tone position. They also have open back tuners instead of the standard ones
Click to expand...

Yep, that's the silver Shavo signature T-Bird, that was supposed to go into production a few years back, but somehow never happened... :(

There's more info and pictures on this site:

Shavo’s New Custom Bass – SOADomized.com
 
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