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Thunderbird Club

#115,321
PillO said:
I vaguely recall that @theFixer spent a lot of time looking for a Thunderbird with a bigger P like neck. I seem to recall that he found it with a Korean made one. I think the larger necks only came out of the Korean plant.
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Will then, this may be of help...

Looks like @mbell75 would want the fifth and sixth numbers on an Eppi serial code to be 2 and 2 for the Korean plant origin.
 
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#115,322
mbell75 said:
Thanks. What is the typical nut width on these? 1.5”? I’m not even sure what were on the original models.
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My 67 Gibby NR is 1 1/2".
IMG_3010.JPG
 
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#115,325
PillO said:
I vaguely recall that @theFixer spent a lot of time looking for a Thunderbird with a bigger P like neck. I seem to recall that he found it with a Korean made one. I think the larger necks only came out of the Korean plant.
Click to expand...

I have a Chinese made Goth and it has the wider, thicker neck. I don't know that the country of origin so much dictates the change in neck size as much as the year it was built. But just because I think that doesn't make me right.

Another giveaway is if the headstock seems to go "straight ahead" at the nut or if it looks like it leans to the right. If the headstock angles to the right, that seems to be an indicator of a thinner nut from the bolt Epi's I have handled.
 
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#115,327
PillO said:
What is @GonePlaid hiding beneath the large green sheet? Is it a rack full of tort covered jazz basses? A collection of Elvis jump suits? A collage of Thunderbird club members?
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I don't know what's under the cover but he should tell us more about the frilly white bed pan cover he has in the book shelf. :whistle:
 
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#115,330
GBassNorth said:
Yep, just confirmed it - all of my TBirds have a nominal nut width of 1.5". That's a 2013 and 2015 Gibby as well as a 2017 VP and a 2016 Goth. Not sure what year the wider necks ended.

I bounce back and forth between playing 4 and 5 string basses, most of the fives have about a 2" nut. On 4 string necks I have a tendency to wrap my thumb over the fret board vs 5 string necks where I usually position my thumb at the center of the back of the neck. Usually only takes me a minute or so to adapt to a drastically different size neck. I find virtually no difference in the feel or how well I play a Jazz vs Precision neck. One could argue that I play both equally bad.;)
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I feel the same - I have basses of various neck configurations and have no issues switching from one to the other. But each different bass has a definite personality and inspires and shapes my playing. My 'favorite' depends on what's being played... as in, the one I am playing is my favorite regardless of which bass it is! :)
 
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#115,331
JIO said:
I feel the same - I have basses of various neck configurations and have no issues switching from one to the other. But each different bass has a definite personality and inspires and shapes my playing. My 'favorite' depends on what's being played... as in, the one I am playing is my favorite regardless of which bass it is! :)
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+1
 
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#115,332
IMG_20190511_182221_205.jpg
PillO said:
What is @GonePlaid hiding beneath the large green sheet? Is it a rack full of tort covered jazz basses? A collection of Elvis jump suits? A collage of Thunderbird club members?
Click to expand...
Did somebody menyion Elvis? My latest addition to my music room .
 
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#115,333
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#115,336
GBassNorth said:
I don't know about the 2014 Eppi. My oldest bolt on Epiphone TBird is a 2016 Goth and it has the narrow nut. My 2013 Gibson TBird is a neck through and it also has the narrow nut. Just providing more data points for you, not sure of the last year for wide nut neck through or bolt on models. Hoping others chime in with the proper dates.
Click to expand...

My Goth is Chinese and has a wide/r neck, but it is not baseball bat deep - pleasantly slim tapered. It is a reconditioned gold sticker job, at one time I worked it out to be 2011 - but I could be completely wrong in that.

Mine is the same width at nut as my P copy and my Ibanez AEB10 acoustic. They are all within a poofteenth of each other. My Gibson is the outlier at 1.5.

TBH if it was me and I liked the bass apart from the neck... I’d be contacting Carlo on his spare neck. That, or look for a P neck.
 
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#115,337
PillO said:
I vaguely recall that @theFixer spent a lot of time looking for a Thunderbird with a bigger P like neck. I seem to recall that he found it with a Korean made one. I think the larger necks only came out of the Korean plant.
Click to expand...

Yep, but I think Fix was looking for deep as much as wide.
(Oh dear, self ahem!)
 
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