Thunderbird Club

[Dadagoboi]

... or the Catano Fenderbird. I think the Fenderbird will give you exactly what you're looking for and the price is very reasonable considering its a custom boutique builder.

That's 'Cataldo'. But thanks for the kind words! My Fivers start at $1295.

 

[Border]

Thanks LarryV, I had watched Ebay for awhile but had not seen one, and hadn't checked it in awhile. I will hit that from time to time, I plan to check out the Cataldo bass as well. If anyone knows when the Gibbys were made, what finishes and/or pickups were available, and what to watch out for, I would appreciate the insight. The one I played was black, was a bit heavy, but played like a dream. I do not know how old it was, but it played like a dream. Thanks much.

 

[Larry V]

Thanks LarryV, I had watched Ebay for awhile but had not seen one, and hadn't checked it in awhile. I will hit that from time to time, I plan to check out the Cataldo bass as well. If anyone knows when the Gibbys were made, what finishes and/or pickups were available, and what to watch out for, I would appreciate the insight. The one I played was black, was a bit heavy, but played like a dream. I do not know how old it was, but it played like a dream. Thanks much.

They were made from '05-'07. They came in Cherry and Black and weigh about 10 lbs. I sold mine a few months back because it turned into an expensive piece of wall art for me and Andy(Nocturnal) pointed me to a collector that wanted it.

 

[Border]

Thanks again LarryV, I appreciate the information. I did not realize they were made for such a short time. Out of curiosity I emailed Gibson and asked if they had any plans in the works to build them again, all I got back was an email ad for the EBS 5 string. I will keep an eye on ebay, and another member suggested gbase. I am keeping an eye out for one. That is one gorgeous bass in your post. Thanks much.

 

[Larry V]

YW, Border. Good luck in your search... you missed the black one on eBay by only a few days. I suggest you set up a search in your eBay profile that way when one pops up you'll get notified.

 

[GBassNorth]

That's 'Cataldo'. But thanks for the kind words! My Fivers start at $1295.

Oops, sorry! Corrected my original post, thanks.
Now how about posting a pic of your JAEbird (Fenderbird). I love that thing!
Post #6668 in this thread is looking for something that I'd bet you can help with.

 

[giocalypse]

I needed more of a punch to my Thunderbird for a show im playing friday. So i installed some EMG 40DC with a Bass Booster pot. I Also replaced the Plastic Nut with a Brass Nut. I needed to relocate the Jack to the bottom to clear room for the Battery. Bass is wired from PickUps>Toggle>Volume>Tone>Booster>Output And now i feel like this Thunderbird is ready to Party. Here are some before and after pictures

 

[wolfkeller]

I needed more of a punch to my Thunderbird for a show im playing friday. So i installed some EMG 40DC with a Bass Booster pot. I Also replaced the Plastic Nut with a Brass Nut. I needed to relocate the Jack to the bottom to clear room for the Battery. Bass is wired from PickUps>Toggle>Volume>Tone>Booster>Output And now i feel like this Thunderbird is ready to Party. Here are some before and after pictures View attachment 610669 View attachment 610664 View attachment 610663

I dig the finish on this, what is it? I thought 40dcs were for 5 strings? And how did you go about the brass nut?

 

[mistergoats]

I really like the bolted on Yen for the jack hole cover!

 

[giocalypse]

I dig the finish on this, what is it? I thought 40dcs were for 5 strings? And how did you go about the brass nut?

I re-painted my Sunburst to a Stain Black finish. I grew tired of the Sunburst Finish. I wanted to install a XL Tusq Nut, But couldn't find one that will fit the Thunderbird. So i found one seller on Ebay with a Brass Nut that fit my T-Bird. So i bought it. Adjusted the Nut to the neck and it was good to go. Brass sounds great with my Bass. And Emg 40dc are 5 string pickups. But i didnt want the gap in the pickup cavity if i would have installed Emg 35DC. So the 4inch long pickup would cover the whole cavity perfectly.

 

[wolfkeller]

I re-painted my Sunburst to a Stain Black finish. I grew tired of the Sunburst Finish. I wanted to install a XL Tusq Nut, But couldn't find one that will fit the Thunderbird. So i found one seller on Ebay with a Brass Nut that fit my T-Bird. So i bought it. Adjusted the Nut to the neck and it was good to go. Brass sounds great with my Bass. And Emg 40dc are 5 string pickups. But i didnt want the gap in the pickup cavity if i would have installed Emg 35DC. So the 4inch long pickup would cover the whole cavity perfectly.

It looks like stained raw wood to Me. Looks really cool but not like paint. Have you fired it up with those pick ups?

 

[giocalypse]

It looks like stained raw wood to Me. Looks really cool but not like paint. Have you fired it up with those pick ups?

Yea i did. I stained raw wood with 60% Black Ink and 40% Water mix. Finished it with 2 light coats of Thung Oil just to protect the Wood.

And the EMG 40DC sounds Amazing. Especially with the Bass Booster. I'm just afraid that i may blow a speaker on my Ampeg 4x10.

 

[wolfkeller]

Yea i did. I stained raw wood with 60% Black Ink and 40% Water mix. Finished it with 2 light coats of Thung Oil just to protect the Wood.

And the EMG 40DC sounds Amazing. Especially with the Bass Booster. I'm just afraid that i may blow a speaker on my Ampeg 4x10.

Interesting... How did you get it down to the wood? Its not really smooth looking like a lot of sanding wound do. Your running just pups, no preamp? I don't know anything about the bass boost

 

[TBird1958]

I believe I'm posting in the right place to get some Gibson T-Bird advice. If I'm wrong, please forgive me.

I've had a standard Gibson (1991) T-Bird for about 15 years, and I find I don't choose to play it out much even though I like the tone and the neck. I grab the Fender more often.

The balance points make the T-Bird uncomfortable compared to my Fender. On the Jazz Bass, the top strap peg is even with the 12th fret. On my T-Bird, it's at about the 17th-18th fret -- it's a long stretch to the low F on the E string. I can handle it, but it feels unnatural.

Adding to ergonomic problems, the top peg is mounted on the back of the bass, perpendicular to the plane of the body, so the fretboard turns away from the player. On most basses, both pegs are parallel to the plane of the body.

I don't want to drill new holes in, or perform any other surgery on, this bass. I'd rather sell it than own it but not play it. THAT got me to thinking about buying one of the Gibson NR T-Bird reissues.

Problem is, no one nearby has one for sale. As T-Bird enthusiasts, perhaps you can comment about whether Gibson's NR T-Bird RI is more comfortable to play compared to a regular one.

Appreciate any help or guidance the Thunderbird Club can provide.
-Joe in San Diego, CA
My band page: Link Removed

Interesting.........

I've never had a T Bird tip forward on me but since we're all different body types and have preferences as to comfortable length of strap etc., I can understand this happening, you're not the first person I've heard of describe this problem. I'm relatively skinny for a Queen of 57 years and find that keeping the bass a bit above my waistline so tipping forward hasn't been an issue, but you might try changing strap length as a place to start with you Reverse.
Non Reverses are different - completely, the Gibson Re-issue isn't faithful to the original, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good bass. It will hang differently, have a slightly different neck and tone because it's a set neck rather than neck thru bass.

 

[giocalypse]

Interesting... How did you get it down to the wood? Its not really smooth looking like a lot of sanding wound do. Your running just pups, no preamp? I don't know anything about the bass boost

I stripped the paint and fine Sanded the body. Started 1st coat of Stain, then 2nd fine sanding, followed by 2nd coat of Stain then finished it with 2 coats of Thung Oil. I tried to keep it looking natural. The bass feels smooth and even.

I got the Bass Booster from my Vintage Modified JaguarV. It sounds better in the Thunderbird with the EMGs.

 

[bassclef29]

Interesting.........

I've never had a T Bird tip forward on me but since we're all different body types and have preferences as to comfortable length of strap etc., I can understand this happening, you're not the first person I've heard of describe this problem. I'm relatively skinny for a Queen of 57 years and find that keeping the bass a bit above my waistline so tipping forward hasn't been an issue, but you might try changing strap length as a place to start with you Reverse.
Non Reverses are different - completely, the Gibson Re-issue isn't faithful to the original, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good bass. It will hang differently, have a slightly different neck and tone because it's a set neck rather than neck thru bass.

Appreciate the reply. At 5 feet 11, `150 pounds with long arms, I find the Bird tips forwards. But as you say, we're all different as far as strap length preference, etc.

As long as I'm in a pool of T-Bird experts, here's another question: I installed Bartolini T-Bird drop-ins because the OEM Gibsons were muddy and hummed badly. Improvements: better definition and top end. But the Barts sound kinda compressed and sterile. Are the Lollars, Thunderbuckers and Lulls truly 400 bucks worth of better?

Heck, in for a penny, in for a pound.
Thanks,
-Joe
Link Removed

 

[Dadagoboi]

Are the Lollars, Thunderbuckers and Lulls truly 400 bucks worth of better?

Heck, in for a penny, in for a pound.
Thanks,
-Joe
Link Removed

Can't speak for the others but ThunderBuckers don't sound ANYTHING like Barts. The one set of Barts I installed in one of my basses the customer immediately replaced with ThunderBuckers

..and unlike Barts or any of the others if you're not happy with THunderBuckers you can send them back for a full refund. Steve has built and sold over 300 ThunderBuckers and exactly three have been returned.

 

[hillerup]

That's 'Cataldo'. But thanks for the kind words! My Fivers start at $1295.

That is actually quite cheap!

How much is it for a beauty as the one in the picture, Carlo?

 

[redstrand]

I'm back, pics soon

 

[veebass]

I posted a couple of pages back for neck relief advice on my 08 Bird because it had started choking a little up the neck when set up for a low action, which it didn't used to do.
I think I figured out the problem.
When I was playing around the seventh fret on the E and A, the strings were just very lightly clipping the frets around the fourteenth and slightly choking the note off. What had me beat was the neck looks true and no frets appeared high.
I did notice quite a lot of travel in the E and A strings. I decided I would change strings and see if that helped. That set had been on for a while. I have always kept Gibson strings on this bass since I bought it new. Not sure why, I just did.
I didn't have any, so I put a set of Fender pure nickel 7150 rounds on. They are what I generally run on my Fenders, I love the feel and sound of them on my P Basses.
Issue gone. I do like the sound of the Fenders better on the T Bird. Happy day.