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Thunderbird Club

#123,381
BklynKen said:
Thanks! It's one of the earliest made. I don't think people realize that in the early days the BC Riches were completely hand-built. No power tools. In fact they even made their own tools. I love knowing that Bernie Rico brought up luthiers from Mexico to work in his shop and got them citizenship. The tuners on the back of the headstock are not properly-aligned, but most were like that. I consider it character.
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Their quality is coming back too. They’re starting to make neck-thru only instruments! And at reasonable costs from what I’ve heard!
 
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#123,382
BklynKen said:
Thanks. :) I'm trying to find the photo I saw, but the way they secured the body wings (these were neck-through) was with rope wrapped around it.
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Gibson does that for their binding still.

I’ve read stories that when they were doing custom shop only stuff, the person that make the necks would sit there for hours with the person buying the guitar, and hand carve it with a blade!
 
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#123,384
BklynKen said:
Still not totally sure. The pickups are passive. The 9v battery in there is apparently just for a boost. Everything except for one switch works, so that must be boost. The battery is dead. There's coil splitting or tapping going on. I'll try to figure it all out, but I'll just probably end up settling on what sounds the best to me.
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I know. This is cheating.

BC Rich Guitars Controls Layout Diagrams
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#123,387
GonePlaid said:
I meant this. Only sports type car I've ever really wanted. Now I prolly couldn't squeeze my froggy body into one.:(
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agree - but this version... can get you to a gig :bassist:
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#123,388
fasterpussycat said:
Thomastik-Infeld Dominants, down from $300 to $200 (and I still winced when I ordered them). Decided synthetic core would get me most of the way to gut without the expense, or having to use sheeps.

The original tailgut, hanger, whatever you want to call it is gone. Getting rid of the corroded metal tailpiece, replacing it with ebony and a kevlar hanger -- sort of 18th century and 21st century all at the same time.

The next step will be to get my bow rehaired with Coruss -- the existing horsehair more or less crumbles when you touch it and there's no reason to use more horse parts than already went into the original manufacture.

The most expensive part will be getting geared Wittner or Planetary pegs fitted, but that's a long term project.

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I am partial to Pirastro Evah Pirazzi strings. They seem to last forever, at least for me. The E and A are wound synthetic. D and G on my bass are gut, but I have had wound synthetic D and G strings on it in the past. Evahs are outstanding.

I happily eat animals, so using animal parts doesn't faze me much. As far as hair, if the horse tail gets trimmed, we may as well use the waste to make music instead of throwing it away and using something pumped out of the ground. It's just my way of thinking about it, not a criticism of anybody else's philosophical approach. There are both musical and philosophical reasons to go either way.
 
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#123,394
fasterpussycat said:
'Matches' was quite a popular indoor game when I was a student. Hold the match perpendicular to the matchbox striker and flick it at someone across the room. The last time I ever played, my match flew across the room and lodged in the particularly furry sock of a lad and kept burning. He looked mildly aggrieved. I have never done it again.
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Quit right after you achieved mastery!?
 
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#123,397
Miles_ONeal said:
No Thunderbirds, but tons (literally) of Peavey stuff up for auction. New, returns, etc. For most of it, you gotta know Peavey or research to figure out what it is. 8^/

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I had no idea that Peavey was in financial trouble. I know a little abut CAGP - they are one the companies called in to liquidate assets when a company is in liquidation (chapter 7 bankrupty). I'm not suggesting that they are bankrupt, but this indicates at a minimum a big plant closure.
 
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#123,399
BklynKen said:
NBD!!! New Bird Day!!!

A new bird has entered the flock. But it's an Eagle! 1976 BC Rich Eagle. I'd been eyeing this for a long time but couldn't justify the price, but the planets suddenly aligned for me last week and I grabbed it. All original, including the case. All mahogany, original Badass bridge, and really early Bartolini Hi-A pickups. I always loved the Eagle body style and am so happy to have been able to get this. Very light, too. Exactly 8 lbs. Taking it to Mas Hino tomorrow to get it properly examined and set up. And I'll replace whatever these strings are with SIT.

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I've always liked the Rich basses and all their pointy goodness.

Too bad you got a backwards one... ;):D
 
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