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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
Why doesn’t it get played?
Welll, since yer not playing the Silvertone, you could move those to the Silverburst
Ha! Too many Thunderbirds. It was my first bass. I kept it for sentimental reasons. Got it when I was 12. The bridge is the old two saddle type; the intonation screw for the bass side is stripped and I’ve not located a replacement. Not that the intonation was ever spot on anyway...The PUP selector switch is bad and needs replacing. And I keep meaning to get a PG made to replace the original cracked one. I’m keeping it in the original beat up fiberboard case until I get around to getting it back into playing shape. Lots of hours on a 50 year-old Japanese plywood bass. I’ve pretty much realized that restoring it will be a retirement project.
Silvertone is a shorty.Welll, since yer not playing the Silvertone, you could move those to the Silverburst
Funny you should mention those. I was looking at them and their pressure wounds last night. I play SIT on my acoustic guitar, and have for a long time because they sound great and seem to last.
Oh, nice. I love these strings. Tone, tension, feel; everything.
That's a Chinabird. I saw them when perusing some of the "custom" basses on Aliexpress. That bridge sucks. It's the same bridge that comes on the new Hagstrom 8 sting basses. No individual intonation for the octave strings.
Just for giggles I asked for a quote on a five string with trapazoid inlays, bound fretboard and body with a three-way pickup selector in the upper bout. It was more than I expected.
Interesting. SIT strings have been on my list of strings to try.
Well, I didn’t get the Silverburst shim job finished yesterday like I planned. The honey do list and a little three-point insert issue got in the way. I forgot to take before pics, but realized I should take a few once I got going. First thing I did was install the strap locks @GonePlaid suggested. The treble side insert had popped back up about 1/8th of an inch; I tapped it down when I got it a few days ago, hoping it would hold. Nope. It took some effort to pull it the rest of the way up by hand, but I decided to address it now instead of later.
It being the treble side insert, I knew I had to be careful not to disturb the ground wire or compromise the contact point. The hole looked to be in ok shape so I decided not to add any wood (toothpick(s)).
I decided to just use Titebond. I did this once before on the first Goth I had. Titebond is a lot safer to use on instruments and mistakes can be cleaned up. And I like to work slow, so the extra setup time is helpful. I used a small brush and applied the glue to the sides of the hole.
I carefully pushed the insert into place, gave it a few taps using a piece of wood between it and the mallet and it was done. It’ll set a few days while I finish other stuff.
Now for the shim. Here’s the neck pocket. The Epi Wikipage says this is mahogany. Is it?
I’m using a whole pocket 1 degree shim blank. The neck on this bird sat visibly lower in the pocket than the necks on the PB and Goth, so I’m pretty sure that is the thickness needed. The shim tapers with the thick part starting at back of the pocket. I bought a kit of three; .25, .5 and 1.0. They sell them pre-cut to fit a standard Fender pocket, but I wanted to give fitting it myself a try.
I used Exacto blades to cut it to shape, sanded it here and there, checking as I went along.
I got it close to done, but had to stop to make dinner. I’ve decided to paint the bottom part black and see how the little bit that might be visible looks rather than trim wood off the bottom before going further.
I’ll probably have to wait until the weekend to finish.
It being the treble side insert, I knew I had to be careful not to disturb the ground wire or compromise the contact point. The hole looked to be in ok shape so I decided not to add any wood (toothpick(s)).
I decided to just use Titebond. I did this once before on the first Goth I had. Titebond is a lot safer to use on instruments and mistakes can be cleaned up. And I like to work slow, so the extra setup time is helpful. I used a small brush and applied the glue to the sides of the hole.
I carefully pushed the insert into place, gave it a few taps using a piece of wood between it and the mallet and it was done. It’ll set a few days while I finish other stuff.
Now for the shim. Here’s the neck pocket. The Epi Wikipage says this is mahogany. Is it?
I’m using a whole pocket 1 degree shim blank. The neck on this bird sat visibly lower in the pocket than the necks on the PB and Goth, so I’m pretty sure that is the thickness needed. The shim tapers with the thick part starting at back of the pocket. I bought a kit of three; .25, .5 and 1.0. They sell them pre-cut to fit a standard Fender pocket, but I wanted to give fitting it myself a try.
I used Exacto blades to cut it to shape, sanded it here and there, checking as I went along.
I got it close to done, but had to stop to make dinner. I’ve decided to paint the bottom part black and see how the little bit that might be visible looks rather than trim wood off the bottom before going further.
I’ll probably have to wait until the weekend to finish.
Attachments
Nice! You going with a Hipshot?
Not sure yet what I’ll do. Short term, I’ll see how it turns out with the three point back on. I love the Babicz on the ‘15, but may try a Hipshot. One or the other if the three point has to go.
Nice little tutorial you got going there, keep us all posted with the progress pics and after shot. And yes, that does look like Mahogany.
Now you have to be the anchor man for Das Boot!
I was happy to get the confirmation it was Mahogany. I thought it was when I popped the neck on when I got it, but was too excited to hear how it sounded. It sounds great.
Interesting that it would move 1/8" but then be hard to remove. If it were to move, I would have assumed that it would come out relatively easily.
Well, it looks mahogan-y.
Deliberate and precise is the way to do it. I tend to get impatient sometimes.
Looking forward to the rest of the pictures next week.
The discussion and your thoughts about @Count Bassie’s CP had a lot to do with why and what I did. It didn’t just lift out; I had to pull a lot harder than I had expected. That’s why I didn’t add any wood or risk making a harder problem to fix later with superglue. As a bass player, I tend to prefer the less is more approach.
WARNING: NON THUNDERBIRD CONTENT FOLLOWS!
Look what I went and done did today:
Always wanted one and I have to say, it sounds fantastic and plays wonderfully!
Look what I went and done did today:
Way cool Dan Longhorn.
