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Thunderbird Club

#67,501
godofthunder59 said:
So I am up to the fateful day I bought my first Nonreverse Thunderbird, the receipt shows the date March '80, I thought I bought it in '79 but the paper work doesn't lie.
I remember the day clearly. I went to the House of Guitars and checked out the back display case, l called it the turd case. For years there had been 4-5 Nonreverse Thunderbirds there, Craig Grubers modded white one was among them. I gravitated to a beat Tobacco Sunburst II, there were hammer and screwed driver marks in the back. Man it seemed big and frankly a little homely but I was intrigued .
I went to plug it in and holy cow there was this fantastic sound coming from this beast of a bass. I had to have it. I put it on layaway and paid it off as quickly as I could. I remember when I went to pick it up Bruce brought two out front, one was in much better condition I insisted on getting the beat up one. It took me awhile to cope with the lenght of the bass and beefy neck but man was it worth it !
The bass is unusual, it's body is thicker than any Nonreverse I have owned and the body also has a very sharp radius on the body's edge, only one I have ever seen like it. The serial number dates it a '68, some sources say none were shipped in '68 but I have checked it many times over the years.
It's been my main bass all these years,it has had two headstock repairs and a split body. I semi retired it around '09, think I'll be taking it back out this summer. View attachment 2920199 View attachment 2920199 View attachment 2920200 View attachment 2920201 View attachment 2920202 View attachment 2920203 View attachment 2920204
Click to expand...
SWEEETTT!!!!!!
 
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#67,502
JJR58 said:
And the GP just loves a go at hand technique and eq.
Click to expand...
That brings to mind.... do any of you guys recall me ever speaking at length regarding technique or EQing as it relates to playing bass? Yeah... me neither. That's because I'm not super experienced with it, and have a lot to learn. Should I go out to GP & start a thread criticizing others & telling what they oughta be doing? That's how this works... right?
 
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#67,503
godofthunder59 said:
So I am up to the fateful day I bought my first Nonreverse Thunderbird, the receipt shows the date March '80, I thought I bought it in '79 but the paper work doesn't lie.
I remember the day clearly. I went to the House of Guitars and checked out the back display case, l called it the turd case. For years there had been 4-5 Nonreverse Thunderbirds there, Craig Grubers modded white one was among them. I gravitated to a beat Tobacco Sunburst II, there were hammer and screwed driver marks in the back. Man it seemed big and frankly a little homely but I was intrigued .
I went to plug it in and holy cow there was this fantastic sound coming from this beast of a bass. I had to have it. I put it on layaway and paid it off as quickly as I could. I remember when I went to pick it up Bruce brought two out front, one was in much better condition I insisted on getting the beat up one. It took me awhile to cope with the lenght of the bass and beefy neck but man was it worth it !
The bass is unusual, it's body is thicker than any Nonreverse I have owned and the body also has a very sharp radius on the body's edge, only one I have ever seen like it. The serial number dates it a '68, some sources say none were shipped in '68 but I have checked it many times over the years.
It's been my main bass all these years,it has had two headstock repairs and a split body. I semi retired it around '09, think I'll be taking it back out this summer. View attachment 2920199 View attachment 2920199 View attachment 2920200 View attachment 2920201 View attachment 2920202 View attachment 2920203 View attachment 2920204
Click to expand...
MAN!!! I would love to see one of your demo videos on that ol' fella when ya get around to reinstating it to active duty:cool:
 
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#67,504
theFixer said:
That brings to mind.... do any of you guys recall me ever speaking at length regarding technique or EQing as it relates to playing bass? Yeah... me neither. That's because I'm not super experienced with it, and have a lot to learn. Should I go out to GP & start a thread criticizing others & telling what they oughta be doing? That's how this works... right?
Click to expand...

Pretty much :)
 
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#67,505
theFixer said:
That brings to mind.... do any of you guys recall me ever speaking at length regarding technique or EQing as it relates to playing bass? Yeah... me neither. That's because I'm not super experienced with it, and have a lot to learn. Should I go out to GP & start a thread criticizing others & telling what they oughta be doing? That's how this works... right?
Click to expand...
I think that would be a great idea. However there is an alternative forum where you can share your great thoughts and build on others insights - here's the link...
Let's spread some musical misinformation
 
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#67,506
theFixer said:
MAN!!! I would love to see one of your demo videos on that ol' fella when ya get around to reinstating it to active duty:cool:
Click to expand...
I have a new set of Rotos to slap on it, I will try and do one this week.
 
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#67,510
GBassNorth said:
I think that would be a great idea. However there is an alternative forum where you can share your great thoughts and build on others insights - here's the link...
Let's spread some musical misinformation
Click to expand...
I read a few of those. There's some comedy gold in there! It reminded me of something from my youth. It's not music related, but I wanna share it here, with my friends.

My brother & I used to make sport of trying to convince people that our Grandfather was so big and strong, that he could pick himself up by his own belt loops! It was FAR easier than it ever should have been! :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
 
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#67,511
GBassNorth said:
I think the Fender fanboyz realize deep down that the Thunderbird could easily give a P bass or a Jazz bass a run for the money in just about any setting. It threatens the very existence of their favorite instruments if left un-checked. Consequently, many of them freely chime into the echo chamber and feed themselves and anyone else listening a bunch of half truths, outdated information and just plain lies. All that negative confirmation creates a bias in the mind of those that overhear it but don't have any first hand experience to refute it (I was one of those).

It wasn't until I bought my first SG Supreme 4 years ago that I realized 90% of the players in the TB GenPop don't have a freaking clue about what they're talking about. Here I am 6 Gibby/Eppi instruments later and I still haven't found one loudly proclaimed fault of Gibson basses to be true. Three Thunderbirds, Two SG Supremes and a 2014EB all purchased on line (no try before you buy) and not a bit of neck dive, no mud, no quality control issues, no boat anchors, no self detaching headstock, no garbage bridges, no noodle necks, not even any hate mail from a$$hole Henry.

TB GenPop is where the delusional persuade the gullible to believe the improbable.
Click to expand...

I actually have never had a Gibson with a neck problem- 11 Gibson basses, 5 Epiphone basses, 5 Gibson guitars. over the years

If only I could say that for Fenders- I have had several develop neck problems and rejected buying many others because they had neck problems. Luckily Fenders have easily disposable necks.
 
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#67,512
JJR58 said:
They pretty much go for it every time. Sad, but my favorite so far is the comment Kat got on the V only on a Pbass.
Click to expand...

'Another forum' meant not Talkbass. I think it was Basschat in the UK and it really wasn't me, I was just relaying it as it amused me -- the idea that the unadulterated tone of a pickup is in some way extreme, or that halfway rolled off to ground is some sort of flat and happy medium.

It was all prompted by seeing a couple of hinky looking P wiring diagrams -- 'that can't be right!'
 
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#67,513
This is different than expected -- on a Bird the pups are wired to the centre lugs, and the left lugs connect to out.

F443044C-2209-498C-AC97-83269463FD90.jpeg
 
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#67,520
So, my Vintage Pro arrived last week. It took me a couple of days to warm to it - I'm not used to shiny brand-new instruments, fresh from the factory - but I'm struggling to put it down now! Seriously chuffed with the playability, and the tone! I play through a Tech 21 Leeds and I'm getting a tonal dead ringer for Tom Petersson on the first Cheap Trick LP - this thing ROARS! Very happy with the sound.

I have noticed a rather odd issue however with the pickup and bridge placements - compared with every other pic I've seen on here, mine seem to be placed approx 5mm closer to the neck when lined up with the scratchplate and knobs.
Now, logic tells me this is highly improbable on a mass produced instrument, but also, surely if the bridge is indeed closer to the neck, shouldn't the whole bass be out of whack? It plays fine and in tune (intonation slightly out but I haven't tweaked it yet) but it's annoying the hell out of me now I've noticed it!
 

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