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Thunderbird Club

Well the neck shaving is done. Took a while but it's all good, only a small gap on each side of the neck pocket that will be filled up. I do think i'll make a movie of this whole thing again, i had fun doing the first one :D ! I've started repainting the headstock the same scheme as before i like the look. I've also discovered the neck isn't mahogany, it's maple as far as i can tell. The body's been sanded & gaps have been filled ( i gotta redo the treble side bridge post again because it's inwards a bit & i can't fit the bridge properly).

I think i'll use the same scheme of paint for the body but doing a red burst on the front (& i'll keep the red binding as well, so it's red burst, to black with red edges). Honestly, the neck feels way better than it did before, i think the neck should've been as i've made it cause it does feel very wide & flat ish around the 9th fret til the end. But now it feels like a proper neck profile.
 

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I'm still in parts mode for the chromed 'Bird project. I have the pickup rings, got a chrome Babicz bridge coming, and have figured out the tuners. They need to be ordered. Pickup covers are still out of stock. I haven't taken a look to see how easy or hard swapping out the cover will be. That's a problem for later anyway.
 
I'm still in parts mode for the chromed 'Bird project. I have the pickup rings, got a chrome Babicz bridge coming, and have figured out the tuners. They need to be ordered. Pickup covers are still out of stock. I haven't taken a look to see how easy or hard swapping out the cover will be. That's a problem for later anyway.

I've got a pair of new chromed covers that I never got around to using. Interested?

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I've got a pair of new chromed covers that I never got around to using. Interested?

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Deal made. Thanks, Larry. Now I have to get off my thumbs and get the tuners ordered. My wallet is recovering from new (upright) strings. Those are #$%!! expensive!
 
Crude paint job, but i'm trying to find the burst look on my bird. I might just do one shade of red instead of a burst persay & just add the amount of black i want around the edge of the top. Cause i still want it to maintain some darkness about it. I'm thinking of doing a few coats of red on the side of the fretboard to give it that red aspect between the rosewood stained black & the satin black neck finish.

I love red & black, most of my gear is like that aside from two white ones :P. But yeh, i honestly can't wait to be done with it so i can rock out even more! Oh i rounded off the bass side of the pickup covers just to prevent me stabbing my finger while i pick.
 

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So a bit of bad news on my end, i think i screwed up. Although the neck feels nice, i have a feeling the new spacing is going to be too close to the new edge & that scares me quite a bit. I'm going to plan out a rebuild of this neck (unless i can find an inexpensive thunderbird goth neck replacement for it & just repaint the face of the headstock red like i want it). This is one Big FML on my part & i just should've swapped out the nut to have the slight narrow spacing.

EDIT: I'm going to rebuild the original neck so that it fits in the pocket like it used to & replace the fretboard & frets (i'm going to maintain the XII inlay - i think it's perfection) & i should have it done fairly soon.
 
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Hey guys- here are my birds, Epi Pro 5 and Silverburst bolt-on! I put a Hipshot on the Silverburst its all good, my questions right now mainly concern the Pro 5.

I've been lurking these threads for a while and really appreciate all the knowledge. I primarily use 5 strings and I'm not a full time bird player but I love the look, vibe, and sound! I bought the Epi Pro 5 shortly after they first came out. I understood at the time there were issues with the 5 string pickups and the preamp was just so-so. I really loved the idea of an affordable 5 string bird and decided to try one out. When it arrived I was very impressed with the build quality and fit/finish. It suffered from the weak B string problem and I sent it to Epihone a couple times for warranty work. It came back sounding a little better but not perfect. My plan was to make it passive and upgrade it someday, so I decided to keep it. It's been in the closet for a few years and now it's time for Thunderbuckers, Hipshot cloverleafs, and a chrome bridge!

Can anyone confirm if the 5 string Thunderbuckers will drop right into the Epi 5 Pro; same demensions? Also do the 5 string Thunderbuckers actually cover the B string completely so there is no volume difference (weak B string)? If anyone has done similar mods to their Pro 5, please share any advice you have.

Thanks!!!


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So a bit of bad news on my end, i think i screwed up. Although the neck feels nice, i have a feeling the new spacing is going to be too close to the new edge & that scares me quite a bit. I'm going to plan out a rebuild of this neck (unless i can find an inexpensive thunderbird goth neck replacement for it & just repaint the face of the headstock red like i want it). This is one Big FML on my part & i just should've swapped out the nut to have the slight narrow spacing.

EDIT: I'm going to rebuild the original neck so that it fits in the pocket like it used to & replace the fretboard & frets (i'm going to maintain the XII inlay - i think it's perfection) & i should have it done fairly soon.
How 'bout calling somebody like Graphtech and having a custom nut cut? Shouldn't be very expensive.
 

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