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Thunderbird Club

#87,282
GonePlaid said:
Had an Epiphone EB3L. Loved the sound and thought I'd love the long scale-like my NR TBird and my EB3 combined.(you can see and hear it in our You Tube videos @"Driftwoods of Treasure Coast-Live"). Part of our shtick requires I let go w/ my left hand. It dove like a Dauntless(WWII USN dive bomber). Sold it and got a short scale for some of our tighter venues. Oh, well, live and-hopefully-learn.
Click to expand...

I'm sure to check em out :P & the Epiphone is simply EB3, although it is based off the gibson EB3L rather than keeping it short like the rest. Nice bass construction - but to me if you're taking an existing guitar shape fully & just making it as a bass (at least in most gibson cases) it should be short/medium scale at most. Anything long scale should be unique design to gibson which has worked. All in all, i prefer the shorter epiphone EB0 if i'm going budget sg basses.
 
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#87,284
So maybe you can tell I'm bored senseless!

Hows about this for a starting point?

1, Through neck, plain quarter sawn Mahogany, possibly some Walnut stripes as per the Gibson but I'm not sure, maybe Beech or Maple might work better with a darkish finish?
2, Figured quarter sawn Mahogany wings vee jointed into the body
3, Rocklite Ebony fretboard, inlaid with something, blocks, dragons eyes or dragons? Will keep that open for now
4, Trussrod, I've been talking with @JJR58 about this and he suggests a spokewheel adjustment at the heel of the neck rather than a nut in the headstock. It cleans up the headstock and leaves more wood in that weak area.
5, Body shape: Rather than the usual flat body layout we have a heavily curved one, the back of the bass still has the same look but the back of the centre is hollowed out and the wings are angled back and hollowed along their length. The idea is that the body will be lighter as well as sit over the hip. The front of the body will have the centre slightly curved but the wings will be more so, curving backward into your body to give more comfort for your right arm. This then leaves quite a thin bass with a very sinuous neck blending into it
6, Bridge, maybe Hipshot's D type or maybe the Warwick 2 piece
7, Tuners, clover leaf Ultralites or Resolites
8, Pickups, Hmmm, I'm thinking Nordsrand dual coil soapbars or similar, everything I have heard about them seems fantastic, they do some preamps too that I'm going to look into
9, Finish, nitro obviously, colour, we'll see but at least one will have to be red :)

Lots of details to sort but how does that sound?
 
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#87,285
Christine said:
Here's a vid from last night, sorry it's a bit shaky it I forgot my phone so used Wendy's but it doesn't have image stabilaisation. There's a few more I'm uploading to Youtube too if you want to have a scan :)

Click to expand...

I remember these guys! We had lot of fun at their expense, I'm afraid, when they made the scene!... lol. But hey, we were young and flew the Electric Blues banner high. Youth, God bless us.
 
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#87,286
Count Bassie said:
I remember these guys! We had lot of fun at their expense, I'm afraid, when they made the scene!... lol. But hey, we were young and flew the Electric Blues banner high. Youth, Good bless us.
Click to expand...
They wouldn't of minded, I think they have a good sense of humour :) Not sure how many of you are familiar with "Little Britain"? this was a collaboration

 
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#87,288
Christine said:
Just back from the hospital, I have torn a tendon so it's feet up for a while and no workshop :( I might try and rig up some sort of low bench in the garden when it feels a little better so at least I can do a little work. Another week and I could have been spraying which is time spent waiting for paint to dry, feet up would have been ideal then
Click to expand...

Take it a little easy and hope you're better soon sweetie!
 
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#87,293
Christine said:
So maybe you can tell I'm bored senseless!

Hows about this for a starting point?

1, Through neck, plain quarter sawn Mahogany, possibly some Walnut stripes as per the Gibson but I'm not sure, maybe Beech or Maple might work better with a darkish finish?
2, Figured quarter sawn Mahogany wings vee jointed into the body
3, Rocklite Ebony fretboard, inlaid with something, blocks, dragons eyes or dragons? Will keep that open for now
4, Trussrod, I've been talking with @JJR58 about this and he suggests a spokewheel adjustment at the heel of the neck rather than a nut in the headstock. It cleans up the headstock and leaves more wood in that weak area.
5, Body shape: Rather than the usual flat body layout we have a heavily curved one, the back of the bass still has the same look but the back of the centre is hollowed out and the wings are angled back and hollowed along their length. The idea is that the body will be lighter as well as sit over the hip. The front of the body will have the centre slightly curved but the wings will be more so, curving backward into your body to give more comfort for your right arm. This then leaves quite a thin bass with a very sinuous neck blending into it
6, Bridge, maybe Hipshot's D type or maybe the Warwick 2 piece
7, Tuners, clover leaf Ultralites or Resolites
8, Pickups, Hmmm, I'm thinking Nordsrand dual coil soapbars or similar, everything I have heard about them seems fantastic, they do some preamps too that I'm going to look into
9, Finish, nitro obviously, colour, we'll see but at least one will have to be red :)

Lots of details to sort but how does that sound?
Click to expand...

I'm still in the no pickguard camp, with the Dragon inlay positioned where the ThunderBird logo would be.
 
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#87,294
Christine said:
Just back from the hospital, I have torn a tendon so it's feet up for a while and no workshop :( I might try and rig up some sort of low bench in the garden when it feels a little better so at least I can do a little work. Another week and I could have been spraying which is time spent waiting for paint to dry, feet up would have been ideal then
Click to expand...
OW! Sorry to hear that. Please be careful, that takes awhile to heal.:thumbsup:
 
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#87,295
JJR58 said:
I'm still in the no pickguard camp, with the Dragon inlay positioned where the ThunderBird logo would be.
Click to expand...
This is the Dragon I was going to propose to @JJR58 but this one is his should he want it, if not well..... So no PG just this inlaid in pearl or stone as wanted

Jeff Dragon small.jpg
 
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#87,296
Christine said:
The drilling is super easy on a Tbird with the wings being fitted late on in construction so losing the pick guard isn't an issue. The raised bit in the middle is also very easy in a through neck as Gibson make them, it's a self centring Vee joint just cut on a table saw with the wings thinner than the neck blank.

A double bound headstock? as in a black and white binding or a binding on both the outer edge abd the edge of the rebate?

The Dragon, it will be tiny, until recently I would have said that is beyond me but I have found someone who has more skill than me cutting pearl so it may be possible now. Any chance you could find me a picture of something you have in mind? :)
Click to expand...
The dragon you already put on a headstock, more or less. It wouldn't have to be contained in just the 12th fret location. It could lap over into the 11th and 13th or even beyond.
 
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#87,297
ThaCoast said:
I'm sure to check em out :p & the Epiphone is simply EB3, although it is based off the gibson EB3L rather than keeping it short like the rest. Nice bass construction - but to me if you're taking an existing guitar shape fully & just making it as a bass (at least in most gibson cases) it should be short/medium scale at most. Anything long scale should be unique design to gibson which has worked. All in all, i prefer the shorter epiphone EB0 if i'm going budget sg basses.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd had a Gibson EB3 that I wasn't using so I sold it. Then I sorta "retired" the NR 'Bird(from outdoor gigs),so I got the Epi EB3L. Then, when I needed a short scale, I couldn't find an Epi EB0 in black(my preference), so I bought an Ibanez AGB200 semi-hollow 30" scale-good for big band and concert band w/ an(almost)UB tone. I shoulda kept the Gibby EB3. Somehow, the term "dumba$$" comes to mind.
 
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