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Thunderbird Club

#8,121
Alaotatto said:
alright.. so I bought me a 2010 Gibson thunderbird and after doing a set up, some parts raised a few red flags and Im hoping somebody could perhaps help me a bit!

what I'm thinking is that perhaps I bought an epiphone bird and paid the gibson price for it. I contacted the seller and he is fine with me returning it....if this turns out to be the case.

here are some pics that raised a few suspicions:

in the first picture, the serial number, year and the "made in usa" writings seem to be superficial, different than a 2006 gibson bird a friend has.
the second one is pretty self explanatory.. an epiphone bridge in a US made gibson thunderbird.. is that normal?
and the last picture, of the truss rod adjustment screw, it seems so rough and without any refinement.. is this also normal?



please, help me shed some light into this matter! cheers!
Click to expand...

Other than the Epi bridge it looks pretty legit to me...

However it's not the first time I've heard (or read) about a Gibson bird with an Epi bridge - Could the original one at one point have been broken, and the Epi is s replacement?

Considering you rarely see Gibson 3-point bridges on EBay, but plenty of Epi bridges, that could be a reason for the Epi bridge on your bird.

The ferrules that hold the bridge on your bird are definitely Gibson, as the ferrules on an Epi have a lip, that sits on top of the body.
 
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#8,122
Gibson and Epi, easy to tell them apart.
1352513906.jpg
 
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#8,127
hillerup said:
Yes, as long as it is a '76 /'79 Gibson with chrome covers it's easy to tell them apart..

But if you hold a 2013 Gibson in Vintage Sunburst against a Classic Pro IV Epi in the same colour the differences are much more subtle...
Click to expand...


The lower 'bout is a dead giveaway, the Epi's is cut away deeper and meets the neck asymmetrically.
The Gibson is a rebuilt '89, comparing the pickup positions it looks like the neck pup is different on the Epi.
 
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#8,136
I worked in the finishing department at Taylor Guitars for a while, so I have some frame of reference to say that Gibson's finish work is generally pretty bad. They do a bad job in the pre-finish sanding so their finishes tend to be consistently ripply. If you reflect light across the surface you'll see ripples in the finish. One of their TBird I saw at the Sam Ash store in Nashville today actually had bubbles in the finish around the neck, which is the mark of piling up finish with bad technique. Epi uses a moderately thick poly finish and they don't have the typical Gibson ripply finish, which can be found on even the most expensive Les Paul Customs. The finish in the photos looks typical Gibson to me.

Additionally, the info on the headstock is stamped in, with finish on top of it. If that's faked, that's a heck of a lot of work to do it.
 
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#8,139
Speaking of RD's from what Ive seen and heard the Standard in ebony is my dream bass (I hate actives) The way it looks in black is perfect and Ive heard a couple of sound samples and they sounded pretty good. I was wondering if theres any one who owns one here and if you could tell me how they to compare to a Thunderbird (mines a epi classic pro)
 

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