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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- club thunderbird
Ugh, this guy...
1964 Gibson Thunderbird Sunburst bass owned and used by Felix Pappalardi bassist of Mountain/ Cream
He also has a massive stash of Sunn gear and other stuff listed at...well, as someone who collects and follows the market, I would deem exorbitant prices.
1964 Gibson Thunderbird Sunburst bass owned and used by Felix Pappalardi bassist of Mountain/ Cream
He also has a massive stash of Sunn gear and other stuff listed at...well, as someone who collects and follows the market, I would deem exorbitant prices.
I'm glad I was sitting when I read the price
My NR looks Just like one Leon Wilkerson played. If I stenciled "LW' on what's left of the case do ya think I could get $50K.?
Douglas Bader hey, I remember getting ‘Reach for the Sky’ out of the school library about 3 times. Cracking story.
I want that Geoff Emerick book one day. Seems like it would be a good addition to my little pile of Beatles books.
Only $65k - it’s 88k in AUD$
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Nope. I doubt he will get $65K either.I'm glad I was sitting when I read the price
He states "only one available" like he wants to start a bidding war.
You put up a pretty good argument
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,057
- 38,405
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
Reach For The Sky has been in my reading pile since the 7th grade! I recommend Emerick's book, it's a very interesting read.
Libation of the night
Invalid Link Removed
Bridge 1 crossed
I put the chrome bridge on the Midtown today.
Unfortunately, the bridge does not come with any instructions. So, a little trial and error was involved.
Putting the bridge on was easy and obvious. Putting new strings on was easy and obvious. But then onto unexplored territory (I have never done my own set up before). Setting string height - not bad. Setting string spacing easy. Setting intonation - there we get tricky. Figure out that setting string spacing afterwards would have made life easier. Intonation finally got done. Not difficult, but time consuming. I suppose if I did it often it would be much quicker. As it is infrequent, perhaps I am further ahead to pay someone to do it.
Impression - well, I put on a set of Bass Boomers I had lying around. I took off the Fat Beams. [Editorial] I like the Fat Beams; they sound great, but they really don't last that well.[/Editorial] I bought a set of Bass Boomers some time ago with the thought that I should try them and it is always useful to have a spare set of strings lying around in case I do something stupid. The Bass Boomers seem to spend some time stretching - I have tuned a few times in the last few hours. So, because I changed strings, I can't make a great comparison. But I like the bridge.
Invalid Link Removed
Bridge 1 crossed
I put the chrome bridge on the Midtown today.
Unfortunately, the bridge does not come with any instructions. So, a little trial and error was involved.
Putting the bridge on was easy and obvious. Putting new strings on was easy and obvious. But then onto unexplored territory (I have never done my own set up before). Setting string height - not bad. Setting string spacing easy. Setting intonation - there we get tricky. Figure out that setting string spacing afterwards would have made life easier. Intonation finally got done. Not difficult, but time consuming. I suppose if I did it often it would be much quicker. As it is infrequent, perhaps I am further ahead to pay someone to do it.
Impression - well, I put on a set of Bass Boomers I had lying around. I took off the Fat Beams. [Editorial] I like the Fat Beams; they sound great, but they really don't last that well.[/Editorial] I bought a set of Bass Boomers some time ago with the thought that I should try them and it is always useful to have a spare set of strings lying around in case I do something stupid. The Bass Boomers seem to spend some time stretching - I have tuned a few times in the last few hours. So, because I changed strings, I can't make a great comparison. But I like the bridge.
If I was ridiculously wealthy, I'd put up 65 grand for Felix's Thunderbird. The seller's a cool guy and I don't begrudge him asking whatever he wants for that particular bass.
So basically, he's looking for a ridiculously wealthy guy with no sense to find his ad and pay what could easily be 40k-45k more than that bass is worth. I'd rather have a bass from JPJ or the Ox than Felix but that's just me and I do begrudge him for asking for such a ridiculous price. It's just stupid.
See how that works? You have an opinion and so do I.
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,057
- 38,405
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
It's a iconic bass with lots of documentation. Well out of my league. If he can get 65k for it god bless him.
Do I think it is worth that? It is only worth what someone is willing to pay.
Do I think it is worth that? It is only worth what someone is willing to pay.
I dislike these people.
I am just not like other people. I really can't get my head around why something owned by someone who is/was famous is worth a premium over an example comparable in age and condition.
For many things I can construct an argument why someone wold value something differently from me (higher or lower) even if I do not subscribe to that valuation. But celebrity ownership does absolutely nothing and I can not come up with any reasonable explanation why value might differ. The only argument that could hold is the greater fool theory - that I could buy the item at an inflated price and sell to a greater fool at an even more inflated price. The problem with the greater fool theory is that sooner or later you encounter the greatest fool, and you might be seeing him/her in the mirror.
Can anyone explain to me why I might want to own a celebrity owned item and why I should pay a premium?
It's all about fandom or the significance an item may have played in history and in this case, music history.
I'm not sure that a Felix Pappalardi or Mountain fan exists to the level of fandom that this seller needs.
I've seen through his ploy. He posts this ad, lets it ride awhile, donates it to a "Hard Rock" and takes a $65K write off.
The owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay, paid over $137,000 for one of Prince's guitars so I'd say it's possible the seller could get close to his asking price. Felix might not have the same appeal as Prince or Jerry Garcia but Bill Gates would be considered a whole lot cooler if he was rocking out with this bass.
