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Thunderbird Club

#89,821
Christine said:
Timber has been ordered, for 3 new Dragons, will be going to sort it out Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll only be buying hardware for one now as my funds are what you might call small.

Out of curiosity, those of you who have a newish Gibson with the Babicz bridge, as it is usable on 7enders, have Gibson reduced the neck angle or do the saddles adjust very high? As well as the Babicz I'm toying with using the Hipshot Kickass bridge as I really like it but that will mean no neck angle or maybe just a couple of degrees rather than the 4.5 we have now
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Well, the specs for my ‘15 with the factory Babicz say it’s 10 degrees. I believe, but I’m not certain as I don’t have any other birds at this time, that the traditional angle is 14 degrees. I will say that the Babicz is a really nice bridge. I had an Epi Goth for awhile and the three point on it drove me nuts until I learned how to properly angle it.
 
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#89,822
MCF said:
Well, the specs for my ‘15 with the factory Babicz say it’s 10 degrees. I believe, but I’m not certain as I don’t have any other birds at this time, that the traditional angle is 14 degrees. I will say that the Babicz is a really nice bridge. I had an Epi Goth for awhile and the three point on it drove me nuts until I learned how to properly angle it.
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10 or 14 degrees will be the headstock angle, the neck angle from the body is only about 4.5 degrees a bit like these two hanging in the wardrobe.

IMG_5220.jpg
 
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#89,824
Christine said:
This is all I've been able to find, not ideal but I suppose it would do the job. Invalid Link Removed

Another option I have is I have a friend with a metal working CNC, maybe I should get some custom bridges made, a Tbird bridge for the 21st century, probably a big investment per bass but they would be the dogs doo dahs. Not this time though because it would take some time and money
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Well... here's a kuppl things...

Chrome Custom Heavy Duty 4-string Bass Guitar Stop Tailpiece BTP-STP-C | eBay

Chrome 4-String Bass Stop Tailpiece | eBay
 
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#89,825
Nocturnal said:
I know most here are purists when it comes to the 4-in-line headstock, but I really think the Dingwall D-Bird headstock works on the body style. It still has some of the "flow" of the original but just not so long. I prefer this 2+2 to the Spector 2+2 headstock on a Bird styled bass.

View attachment 3112433
View attachment 3112434
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To my eyes, the Dingwall headstock always looked out of proportion to the body. Just a tad too small for my tastes, kinda like all Musicman guitar headstocks.

@Christine - the alternate style headstock that I think would look cool on a Bird would be your take on a reverse Sadowsky headstock. Maybe a bit more angular curves (vs the rounded curve under the Sadowsky name) and maybe even add a perimeter route like Gibson does. That would be too cool.
Here's a pic of the stock Sadowsky head...
IMG_2229.JPG

I think you could tweak this for a really neat Tbirdish look.
 
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#89,827
theFixer said:
I just took a look at the Warwick bridge like you have for the twins. I see why you like it! I like your idea of using their bridge & a Gibson style "stop bar"...
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Christine said:
It's nice, the lower half gets sunk into the top of the bass and the top is adjustable in height seperatley from the saddles if you need it to be
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theFixer said:
Yeah man... I like the sound of that... and with a more traditional looking stop bar, the look would be good on the 'bird:thumbsup:
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The Warwick bridge and hard tail is a fantastic setup. The neat thing about going the hardtail route is you can easily design one and have a friend machine it out of nickel (or do brass and Chrome or gold plate). Instead of using the Warwick hardtail piece take a look at some of the different tails Alembic has used, some really neat designs there, all very easy to have machined...
IMG_2230.JPG

IMG_2231.JPG


Also, Hipshot does have a type D bridge thats very close to what you're trying to do. The saddles are round but a much smaller diameter than a Fender barrel style, so there would be no chance of change in intonation when playing.
 
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#89,828
Engle said:
I play upright and have resigned myself to the fact that there is no way to avoid scrapes and dings. My VP just follows in that tradition: Make music with the beast and don’t sweat it if you bang into something - except the singer. I would definitely feel bad if I clocked her with the VP headstocko_O
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Not half as bad as she would feel!;)
 
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