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Thunderbird Club

#12,342
hillerup said:
Well, it's no wonder, really.... Fender's come by the gazillions and have used that same old tired design for 65 years, and Squire G&L Lakland and Sadowsky are basically "just" copies of that design, so there's nothing new to get excited about there either (however good they may be).

The Thunderbird you don't see that often, and it really does stand out in the sea of bland 7ender and 7ender lokalikes...

I do think the Rick's do stand out as well, though...
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I would agree, a long-standing back-burner GAS of mine is a Fireglo Rick. Had a Jetglo 4003 that I bought used back in '82 but got rid of it in '83 due to unfixable neck/truss rod issues.
 
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#12,343
Count Bassie said:
Dude... We just finished a Wed nite jam at a bar in Westport.MA, and we did Ziggy Stardust!! And we nailed it. I've wanted to.play that song for YEARS!! And we did it. It's not that I'm so elated, it's that it was my thank-you that I got to say. Might sound stupid or useless, but I got to do it. And I played it on my Thunderbird bass. Somehing is right with the world.
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We actually started working on a cover of Suffragette City about a month ago, who knew a month later it would be a tribute to one of the greats?
 
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#12,344
hillerup said:
Yes, Thunderbirds are becoming more apparent in the music scene, but nowhere near as plentyful as 7enders.

And yes, Thunderbirds go way back to 1963 - But have had several changes along the way, like the NR's. Also they've been in and out of production several times, which the 7enders haven't...
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Fenders are more plentiful because 9 times out of 10, they sound better in a mix. Having recorded with a Tbird and a P, I can attest to this, as many others likely would as well.

Thunderbirds, aside from the body shape change in 1966, have had relatively few changes in its 39ish years of production.
 
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#12,346
winterburn69 said:
Fenders are more plentiful because 9 times out of 10, they sound better in a mix. Having recorded with a Tbird and a P, I can attest to this, as many others likely would as well.

Thunderbirds, aside from the body shape change in 1966, have had relatively few changes in its 39ish years of production.
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My P will remain a stand-by, because it does something distinctly different than the T-Bird. And it does tend to stand up and hold it's own space in a mix like nothing else.
 
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#12,348
hillerup said:
Ritter and Crossrock makes some nice affordable ones specific for Thunderbirds...

There's also Rockbag as well, but they are a bit more expensive, and there are a few others as well...
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I have a Mono case and my Epiphone Thunderbird fits! It's snug, but the Mono padding is so soft and protective.
 

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#12,351
winterburn69 said:
Fenders are more plentiful because 9 times out of 10, they sound better in a mix. Having recorded with a Tbird and a P, I can attest to this, as many others likely would as well.

Thunderbirds, aside from the body shape change in 1966, have had relatively few changes in its 39ish years of production.
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This is true, especially in some registers on the neck. I find the sound of my 'Bird tends to get lost with guitars if I go too high on the neck. There's an easy solution to that, though. There are also some things that a 'Bird was never intended to do. We were playing Folsom Prison Blues last night, and that song on a Thunderbird is a bit of a non-sequitor. 'Birds aren't exactly wallflowers that are happy sitting in the background thumping away.

That's one of the reasons I bought a 2015 - those pickups have a bit more ability to dial back from the usual Thunderbird aggression. Oddity aside, I'm expecting the 2015 to end up challenging for the most playing time. I really like those pickups a lot, and I put a Babicz on the 1991, so you know what I think about that bridge.

For what its worth, I find Thunderbird aggression easier to channel than Ric aggression. I never did quite corral the Ric, even after a couple years and a number of string changes.
 
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#12,353
Gaolee said:
This is true, especially in some registers on the neck. I find the sound of my 'Bird tends to get lost with guitars if I go too high on the neck. There's an easy solution to that, though. There are also some things that a 'Bird was never intended to do. We were playing Folsom Prison Blues last night, and that song on a Thunderbird is a bit of a non-sequitor. 'Birds aren't exactly wallflowers that are happy sitting in the background thumping away.

That's one of the reasons I bought a 2015 - those pickups have a bit more ability to dial back from the usual Thunderbird aggression. Oddity aside, I'm expecting the 2015 to end up challenging for the most playing time. I really like those pickups a lot, and I put a Babicz on the 1991, so you know what I think about that bridge.

For what its worth, I find Thunderbird aggression easier to channel than Ric aggression. I never did quite corral the Ric, even after a couple years and a number of string changes.
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So you have the model with the EB pickups and controls with coil splitting, correct? I bet that sounds sweet!

I have one of the newer EB 5 string basses and I find that it sounds very little like my Tbird. Both sit in the mix quite well and depending on the song even better than any of my P basses. I'd say the EB tone is a bit more laid back and fundamental but more ballsy than a P bass and the Tbird is a bit sharper with a touch more grit, growl and snarl.

I love my P basses and all my Gibsons (Tbird, SG, EB) as well as my Stingrays and Alembics and just about every thing else I own. But over the years I have seen a trend in my playing that is slowly moving all my Jazz basses to the back of the pack. I seem to be gravitating more to humbuckers and P/J layouts (active and passive) for some reason.
 
#12,354
I had an EB and the 2015 'Bird should be arriving tomorrow. The EB is why I wanted a 2015 Thunderbird. My ears think 7ender Jazz basses sound nasal and whiny. It's a minority opinion, but that doesn't faze anybody around here. The EB could do all kinds of things, but its ergos were too 7ender-ish relative to what I like.
 
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#12,356
Klondike said:
Everything is "fixable" unless you tossed it into the fire.

Just sayin...
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I had put it in the shop to be fixed but Rick's apparently have two truss rods and they are octagonal shaped (not sure why that had any bearing) and the shop was having a hard time getting replacements. After probably 3 months or more I gave up and traded it in for a new Hamer Blitz. Haven't really regretted it but in the past few years the GAS has been slowly burning on the back-burner. If they weren't so expensive, to my budget anyway, I'd probably be playing one already. :) You're right though, everything is fixable, just came down to time in my case on this one. Plus at the time, I only had two basses, the Rick and a F word! So I was stuck playing the F word and not really liking it. :)
 
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#12,357
Gaolee said:
I had an EB and the 2015 'Bird should be arriving tomorrow. The EB is why I wanted a 2015 Thunderbird. My ears think 7ender Jazz basses sound nasal and whiny. It's a minority opinion, but that doesn't faze anybody around here. The EB could do all kinds of things, but its ergos were too 7ender-ish relative to what I like.
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Agree on all counts!
I've only had my new EB for a few months but I think she's a keeper. If nothing else it's the perfect Fender sleeper. It can sit right next to any Fender on the stage and blend in perfectly but when played it gives me all that Gibby goodness I crave.
Here's a pic of my Gibby in full Fender cammo mode...
aa52dda0-8682-4ec3-98d7-b6f6c4aec147_zpsko8uwwzo.jpg

I'd love to try one of the 2015 Tbirds but I'm waiting until the used price drops a bit more. Be sure and give us a pic and rundown on your new bird when you get it!
 
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#12,360
marko57 said:
I had put it in the shop to be fixed but Rick's apparently have two truss rods and they are octagonal shaped (not sure why that had any bearing) and the shop was having a hard time getting replacements. After probably 3 months or more I gave up and traded it in for a new Hamer Blitz. Haven't really regretted it but in the past few years the GAS has been slowly burning on the back-burner. If they weren't so expensive, to my budget anyway, I'd probably be playing one already. :) You're right though, everything is fixable, just came down to time in my case on this one. Plus at the time, I only had two basses, the Rick and a F word! So I was stuck playing the F word and not really liking it. :)
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Long time to wait fer sher.
For the record I was just trasing. ;)
Edit: I tossed back a fee to many last night. This was supposed to say "... I was just teasing. "
 
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