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Thunderbird Club

Cool looking basses! In your opinion, what does that M-75 sound like? A similar Gibson, or its own thing? And while the scale a pickup placement are different, I guess I would have expected that other Guild to sound at least a little like a jazz, though I have no experience with older Guild basses.

Which bridge would you go with for the upgrade? Hipshot?
The M-85 has its own sound, separate top so there's some hollowness to it, plus the wood saddles. A little too heavy, I prefer my Harmony H-22s for short scale thump.

DiMarzio designed and made the pickup(s) for the 300 series basses, single coil but more like a P-90, short and wide. Unlike Jazz pickups, which are tall/narrow, and thin sounding IMO. The 301 sounds great, I've been trying to get ThunderBucker to wind me something like that pickup with a blade magnet.
 
Wow can't describe how fine this is. But is this thing hollow? How do you get the the wiring harness?

057912

Typical vintage solid body construction. Once upon a time Fender didn't put a giant route in Ps and Js when drilling a hole or two did the job. They only started the big route way after after I lost interest in buying one. For them it's more cost effective to simplify construction on the 'modern' basses.
 
....and as I suspected, our King of Thunderbird inspired basses, Carlo, has been there and done that. :thumbsup:
...so @Dadagoboi do tell - with the bolt on Fender style neck and solid (alder or ash?) jazz body shape, and what looks like stacked Vol/tone pots similar to the '62 jazz layout - did the end result retain most of the Thunderbird sound and vibe?
 
Got a question...how come you see a lot of Fenderbirds but you never see a Thundercision or Thunderjazz? Won't their necks fit on Fender bodies? Or is it just because John Entwistle never had one? :D
There are a number of Precision and Jazz shaped bass guitars around here with 'Bird pickups. There's at least one with a 'Bird neck. The most likely reason you almost never see them is that the usual Thunderbird is neck through, not bolt on. It makes taking the neck off far more of a surgical procedure than it's worth. You can make a Thundercision, as an example, using a bolt-on Epiphone neck easily enough, but I believe the Epi neck is a little different shape. Fenderbirds are generally built from scratch, as mine was. Some are built using bolt-on Epiphone bodies, and others are built with modified Gibson or Epiphone bodies, but when you think about what's necessary for a neck pocket, and the amount of "meat" left after you take the neck off a neck through instrument and then route out the pocket, there's the challenge of keeping things from buckling and coming apart. So, there you have it. I think most are built from scratch by CroMagnon cranks like me who want a Precision sound but prefer the ergos of a Thunderbird.
 
speaking of pics, can we see one of your Fenderbird?
You have several times. Most recently dozens of pages ago instead of hundreds. So, maybe about a month. I'll see if I can find it.

[edit]
And here ya go:
20181122_142759_burst01-1-jpg.jpg


Now that I look at the picture a little more, the drum kit and bass make for some pretty great shadow patterns on the wall due to the way lighting is down in the music room. One of these years I probably ought to figure out a way to put all the 'Birds on stands and take a picture of them in the room. Ah, manana.
 
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We only inflict pain if you don't put up pictures for us to ooh and aah over. And tort. We inflict pain for tort.

No tort! Just got the bass about 30 minutes ago, but I'm still working. I'll get the pics up soon, but my first impression is good! It's in pretty good shape for a bass as old as I am. Actually, it's simply in better shape than I am. :) It has some interesting options with the various switches on the body, and they may be aftermarket because I don't see the switches on other Google images.

It came with flats, and I'm generally more of a rounds guy, so I'll have a better idea of the sound once I get some new strings on her. Oh, and GC forgot to ship the case with it. Actually, that's true of both basses I picked up, from two entirely different stores. Sigh. At least the case issue delays the return window (usually 72 hours for vintage instruments) to give me more time to make sure everything is in order.
 
You have several times. Most recently dozens of pages ago instead of hundreds. So, maybe about a month. I'll see if I can find it.

[edit]
And here ya go:
View attachment 3238923

Now that I look at the picture a little more, the drum kit and bass make for some pretty great shadow patterns on the wall due to the way lighting is down in the music room. One of these years I probably ought to figure out a way to put all the 'Birds on stands and take a picture of them in the room. Ah, manana.
Very COOL....thx! Does it really qualify as a Fenderbird? I thought part of the requirement was a Gibson type bucker....;);)
 
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You have several times. Most recently dozens of pages ago instead of hundreds. So, maybe about a month. I'll see if I can find it.

[edit]
And here ya go:
View attachment 3238923

Now that I look at the picture a little more, the drum kit and bass make for some pretty great shadow patterns on the wall due to the way lighting is down in the music room. One of these years I probably ought to figure out a way to put all the 'Birds on stands and take a picture of them in the room. Ah, manana.

Those Lowe basses are pretty nice. They had an ad in the classified for the bodies at one time. The pricing was very good as well. I almost pulled the trigger on one. They were even willing to do a 5 string neck pocket.
 
Very COOL....thx! Does it really qualify as a Fenderbird? I thought part of the requirement was a Gibson type bucker....;);)
It is 'Bird shaped, so I consider it a Fenderbird. Definitions are on the loose side around here. Lack of dogma is one of the most refreshing parts of having been chosen by 'Birds.
 

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