• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Thunderbird Club

#122,242
PillO said:
What is the one on the left? The headstock looks a bit Ibanez but the rest doesn't.
Click to expand...
Walnut body that I built, with a Warmoth boodwood on wenge neck. It is stupidly heavy, with brutal neck dive. But somehow I can track standing with it for hours and it doesn’t bother me because the tone is perfect for the heavy rock stuff I’m doing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Count Bassie, RedVee, GBassNorth and 5 others
#122,244
Miles_ONeal said:
Trombone > guitar > percussion > bass

I played around with piano through a lot of that journey, but not enough to count. At some point I attempted to play nearly every instrument our marching band had. It reinforced my conviction to play trombone.

Awesome about your friend cleaning up her life. Hope that goes well for y’all!
Click to expand...
The amazing thing is that she is only 31 now. I have known her and been playing with her off and on for a long time already. She is about as close to a daughter as I will ever have by now.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Engle, dagrev, RedVee and 8 others
#122,245
  • Like
Reactions: RedVee, GBassNorth, Dr_Feelgoood212 and 5 others
#122,248
b-bottom said:
Has Gibson ever done a reissue of the Thunderbird 2 or the non reverse thunderbird in Pelham blue?

And how were the reissued two pickup non reverse Pelham blue birds that they released a few years back?
Click to expand...
I do not believe Gibson ever did an official Thunderbird II reissue. There may be a few one-offs.

Link Removed is single handedly cornering the market for NRs. I expect he either has or knows about the reissues of those.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dagrev, RedVee, GBassNorth and 5 others
#122,250
I've been thinking about adding a new TBird to the collection. Right now I have two (well really just one I suppose). I have an early 2000's Gibson TBird that has the best neck, and plays and sounds great! I've posted pic here before. I added an aluminum pickguard, and made my own matching aluminum truss rod cover. The other is a green Epiphone non-reverse TBird from the 90's. These have the PJ pickups, so its not so much a Thunderbird, except in looks. Its not very playable. Big and heavy with a wide neck, it doesn't feel or sound anything like a TBird. But it sure looks good hanging on the wall :)

I've had my eye on the Epiphone custom versions .. Pelham blue, TV silver, and Silverburst. But I can't find any good info on the necks. Are they thin and feel something like my Gibson? How do they sound? If anyone has one of these and can share any info it would be appreciated.

The other one that interests me is the Epiphone Vintage pro. I've heard great things about these. Thin neck, great pickups. A little more than the other ones, but still a great value compared to the cost of a Gibson. Anyone have one of these?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nocturnal, dagrev, RedVee and 4 others
#122,252
b-bottom said:
Has Gibson ever done a reissue of the Thunderbird 2 or the non reverse thunderbird in Pelham blue?

And how were the reissued two pickup non reverse Pelham blue birds that they released a few years back?
Click to expand...
they never reissued the NR T-bird II. the 2012/3 NR IV reissue is a great instrument nut nothing like the originals....i have a sunburst one that I replaced all of the hardware with chrome equivalents and 76 sidewinder pups...great player, almost like a P neck...didn't really care for the response of the old pups as they were way too emphasized at around 2.4k....because the replacement 76 winders were chrome, i replaced the rest of the h/w with chrome..

thumbnail_file-2 (2).jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Butcherboy, Count Bassie, dagrev and 9 others
#122,255
jpmcbride said:
I've been thinking about adding a new TBird to the collection. Right now I have two (well really just one I suppose). I have an early 2000's Gibson TBird that has the best neck, and plays and sounds great! I've posted pic here before. I added an aluminum pickguard, and made my own matching aluminum truss rod cover. The other is a green Epiphone non-reverse TBird from the 90's. These have the PJ pickups, so its not so much a Thunderbird, except in looks. Its not very playable. Big and heavy with a wide neck, it doesn't feel or sound anything like a TBird. But it sure looks good hanging on the wall :)

I've had my eye on the Epiphone custom versions .. Pelham blue, TV silver, and Silverburst. But I can't find any good info on the necks. Are they thin and feel something like my Gibson? How do they sound? If anyone has one of these and can share any info it would be appreciated.

The other one that interests me is the Epiphone Vintage pro. I've heard great things about these. Thin neck, great pickups. A little more than the other ones, but still a great value compared to the cost of a Gibson. Anyone have one of these?
Click to expand...
I do not have one of the custom paint versions, but I do have a bolt-on from the same era. Unless they used different necks, the bolt-on necks from the zeros, made in Korea, were boat hulls. I like them, but they are not the same thin neck as your Gibson at all. They are closer to how you describe your Epi.

The Gibson factory had some kind of magic going in the very early 2000s. I have a 2001 that was sprinkled with pixie dust. It doesn't look any different, but it manages to be just a little more fun to play and sound just a little better than any other Thunderbird I have ever picked up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Count Bassie, Nocturnal, dagrev and 5 others
#122,257
PillO said:
I think my journey was different from everyone else's... Just like everything else, I have a very different approach.

Music theory -> keyboard (to understand the concepts) -> bass.

I started reading music theory because I had never learned any music and well, life long learning. In reading theory, to really understand some concepts, I needed tones so the cheap keyboard I inherited from my Dad (who never played it, long story) got pulled out. I realized that to properly understand theory, I found that I really needed to take on an instrument. After several weeks of listening critically to music and thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in music, I decided that bass was my instrument.

Some of the elements of that decision:
Much of the music I studied has a strong groove and the bass carries the groove
Lots of people (claim to) play guitar/keyboard, comparatively few play bass, so there is plenty of opportunity to find people to play with
Plenty of chordal instruments can be played sloppily and sound OK, but for bass, you have to play with precision
Geddy, Lemmy, Bootsy
No one ever yells "turn up the treble"
Click to expand...
It is not a surprise to find out that you didn't get to bass like a normal person. Lack of normality is why we love ya.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Count Bassie, Engle, dagrev and 7 others
#122,259
Chucky Stiletti said:
they never reissued the NR T-bird II. the 2012/3 NR IV reissue is a great instrument nut nothing like the originals....i have a sunburst one that I replaced all of the hardware with chrome equivalents and 76 sidewinder pups...great player, almost like a P neck...didn't really care for the response of the old pups as they were way too emphasized at around 2.4k....because the replacement 76 winders were chrome, i replaced the rest of the h/w with chrome..

View attachment 3477510
Click to expand...
Good to know. 'Course I'm still on hold for the RI, NR, VP, II-or IV-in Sunburst, Pelham Blue, Inverness/Kerry Green, Dark Cherry, Walnut or White.:smug:
 
  • Like
Reactions: RedVee, GBassNorth, MCF and 2 others

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back