Thunderbird Club

[tom_t]

Beautiful!
Welcome to the club, I'm sure the Queen will be by shortly to assign you a member number.

Congrats! It looks fantastic!! After some playing time, be sure and give us your impressions.

Visit often for intellectually stimulating conversation. Well, not really.

Thank you guys for your welcome. Will visit the Club as often as I can.

Now, here's my take on Epi Thunderbird Vintage PRO.
First of all I have not spend with her as much time as I would love to. Mostly because my 15 months son is keeping me pretty busy. But I like to share my first impression.

Right of the box, fit and finish flawless. Nut setting, fretwork - perfect. Comparing to previously own Sandberg Electra TT4 which had nut coming off on one side, and glue sticking out on the other, this one is perfect. And those Sandbergs have QC in Germany. Few things that required correction were sharp screws on pickup covers which I replaced with new ones and tone knob position was off a little (at least not to my liking). No problem here as I was taking all knobs off anyway to put knob pointers underneath. One more thing. G tuner machine is slightly off alignment with rest of the tuners. It's not like is right in your face but it's off. Normally it would bother me, but I am planning on replacing these machines with Gotoh GB640 in the near future so I will live with that for the time being.
My Epi is quite heavy - 4.7 kg (10 lb 6 oz). I weighted her dozens of times and it just won't go any lower than that.
When I am reading that some of you guys have their around 8 something pounds I am starting to wonder wether weight on mine comes from the wood or thick poly finish .
I like ergonomics of this bass. I really am. And it's not like I am trying to force myself to like it. You have to get used to, and like many said before, you can't play them like you play Fenders or Fender alike basses.
I still caught myself fretting on 14th instead on 12th fret. But it gets better every time I pick it up.
No neck dive, even with my Dunlop nylon strap that I will change anyway for a nice leather one this bass deserves.
The tone of this bass I massive. Having J style bass with single coils previously, you can really hear the difference in sound with humbuckers. Even my wife notice it and say that she likes T-bird better. Not mention that she loves the look.
I like low action, and I manage to get it really low on this bass with no buzzing. 2 mm under E string measured on 12th fret.
I strung mine with Rotos 77 after seeing this video.



This video actually helped me to pull the trigger on the T-bird. The tone that our fellow member netohugo got on this song is sick. That is the tone I am after. I know that he plays Gibson T-bird which has different pickups and plays through Ampeg SVT. But still if I can get close or close enough to his tone with my Epi and Rumble 500 I'll be super happy.
Any suggestions on pickup and amp EQ for starting point to get this tone will be appreciated.

Can't wait to try my Epi with the band. Hope my bandmates like it.

Wish I have more time for her.

Sorry you have to read this.

 

[GonePlaid]

Thank you guys for your welcome. Will visit the Club as often as I can.

Now, here's my take on Epi Thunderbird Vintage PRO.
First of all I have not spend with her as much time as I would love to. Mostly because my 15 months son is keeping me pretty busy. But I like to share my first impression.

Right of the box, fit and finish flawless. Nut setting, fretwork - perfect. Comparing to previously own Sandberg Electra TT4 which had nut coming off on one side, and glue sticking out on the other, this one is perfect. And those Sandbergs have QC in Germany. Few things that required correction were sharp screws on pickup covers which I replaced with new ones and tone knob position was off a little (at least not to my liking). No problem here as I was taking all knobs off anyway to put knob pointers underneath. One more thing. G tuner machine is slightly off alignment with rest of the tuners. It's not like is right in your face but it's off. Normally it would bother me, but I am planning on replacing these machines with Gotoh GB640 in the near future so I will live with that for the time being.
My Epi is quite heavy - 4.7 kg (10 lb 6 oz). I weighted her dozens of times and it just won't go any lower than that.
When I am reading that some of you guys have their around 8 something pounds I am starting to wonder wether weight on mine comes from the wood or thick poly finish .
I like ergonomics of this bass. I really am. And it's not like I am trying to force myself to like it. You have to get used to, and like many said before, you can't play them like you play Fenders or Fender alike basses.
I still caught myself fretting on 14th instead on 12th fret. But it gets better every time I pick it up.
No neck dive, even with my Dunlop nylon strap that I will change anyway for a nice leather one this bass deserves.
The tone of this bass I massive. Having J style bass with single coils previously, you can really hear the difference in sound with humbuckers. Even my wife notice it and say that she likes T-bird better. Not mention that she loves the look.
I like low action, and I manage to get it really low on this bass with no buzzing. 2 mm under E string measured on 12th fret.
I strung mine with Rotos 77 after seeing this video.



This video actually helped me to pull the trigger on the T-bird. The tone that our fellow member netohugo got on this song is sick. That is the tone I am after. I know that he plays Gibson T-bird which has different pickups and plays through Ampeg SVT. But still if I can get close or close enough to his tone with my Epi and Rumble 500 I'll be super happy.
Any suggestions on pickup and amp EQ for starting point to get this tone will be appreciated.

Can't wait to try my Epi with the band. Hope my bandmates like it.

Wish I have more time for her.

Sorry you have to read this.

Suggest you visit Fender Rumble Club and Fender Rumble Club Wiki for EQing pointers. And welcome to Thunderbird world.

 

[tom_t]

Suggest you visit Fender Rumble Club and Fender Rumble Club Wiki for EQing pointers. And welcome to Thunderbird world.

Thanks, will definitely check this

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Thank you guys for your welcome. Will visit the Club as often as I can.

Now, here's my take on Epi Thunderbird Vintage PRO.
First of all I have not spend with her as much time as I would love to. Mostly because my 15 months son is keeping me pretty busy. But I like to share my first impression.

Right of the box, fit and finish flawless. Nut setting, fretwork - perfect. Comparing to previously own Sandberg Electra TT4 which had nut coming off on one side, and glue sticking out on the other, this one is perfect. And those Sandbergs have QC in Germany. Few things that required correction were sharp screws on pickup covers which I replaced with new ones and tone knob position was off a little (at least not to my liking). No problem here as I was taking all knobs off anyway to put knob pointers underneath. One more thing. G tuner machine is slightly off alignment with rest of the tuners. It's not like is right in your face but it's off. Normally it would bother me, but I am planning on replacing these machines with Gotoh GB640 in the near future so I will live with that for the time being.
My Epi is quite heavy - 4.7 kg (10 lb 6 oz). I weighted her dozens of times and it just won't go any lower than that.
When I am reading that some of you guys have their around 8 something pounds I am starting to wonder wether weight on mine comes from the wood or thick poly finish .
I like ergonomics of this bass. I really am. And it's not like I am trying to force myself to like it. You have to get used to, and like many said before, you can't play them like you play Fenders or Fender alike basses.
I still caught myself fretting on 14th instead on 12th fret. But it gets better every time I pick it up.
No neck dive, even with my Dunlop nylon strap that I will change anyway for a nice leather one this bass deserves.
The tone of this bass I massive. Having J style bass with single coils previously, you can really hear the difference in sound with humbuckers. Even my wife notice it and say that she likes T-bird better. Not mention that she loves the look.
I like low action, and I manage to get it really low on this bass with no buzzing. 2 mm under E string measured on 12th fret.
I strung mine with Rotos 77 after seeing this video.



This video actually helped me to pull the trigger on the T-bird. The tone that our fellow member netohugo got on this song is sick. That is the tone I am after. I know that he plays Gibson T-bird which has different pickups and plays through Ampeg SVT. But still if I can get close or close enough to his tone with my Epi and Rumble 500 I'll be super happy.
Any suggestions on pickup and amp EQ for starting point to get this tone will be appreciated.

Can't wait to try my Epi with the band. Hope my bandmates like it.

Wish I have more time for her.

Sorry you have to read this.

Don’t be sorry! Great to hear your thoughts. Enjoy the bird and your child!

 

[JIO]

I went straight from a Gibby EB-3(ss)to the TBird. Prolly the fact I always 'slung' my bass low, I had no problems.

Same here - (ss)EB-3 to T-bird II in '74 - I remember how big the T-bird felt when I first got it. Never been much of a low-slinger though - this (from a Sunday afternoon show yesterday) is about the lowest I've 'slung' a bass.

 

[JIO]

I won't be one of those three. Alien, ya know.
Like dialing in that nasty bridge pu'p.

View attachment 3718810

Did you say three?

 

[BklynKen]

Speaking of three, someone needs to acquire this.

Vintage 1969 Gibson EB-3 Bass Mike Watt Owned Minutemen Stooges Rare Punk Iggy

 

[TerribleTim68]

...Never been much of a low-slinger though...

For me it has changed over the years as the belly got bigger. I used to sling it pretty low, but now the middle section tends to push the "top" of the bass forward so it has creeped up a lot more than I'd like it to be simply to keep the face of the bass from tipping towards my feet. Stupid metabolism!

 

[Gaolee]

Being built like a fire hydrant is no impediment to playing a thunderbird!

Nor is being built like a more prehistoric object. It all depends on adjusting the strap and the neck angle.

 

[tom_t]

Don’t be sorry! Great to hear your thoughts. Enjoy the bird and your child!

Thanks Miles_ONeal,
Right now I enjoy one more then the other
I let my son pluck on stings so he can have some fun two. It always put smile on his face. But he is more into knob twisting. And for some strange reason he goes straight to the master volume on my amp and cranck it all the way up. It must be the power light next to it that draws him. And then the whole apartment rattles like there was a thunder ...
Oh wait... it is a Thunder.

 

[Gaolee]

I'm not so sure that it's just preconceptions. I'm 5' 10" and could never get comfortable with a Bird. It always felt like the headstock - along with first five frets - was in a different zip code. Meanwhile I was fine with the RD. Go figure.

We are the same size. I have long arms, but not long enough to scratch the backs of my knees without bending a little. That said, the key to 'Bird ergos is how you angle the neck. The ergos do not work at all like the usual BG that wants to be more horizontal than vertical. A long upper bout gets in the way of angling the neck up, in my experience. Put a long strap on a Thunderbird and then tip the neck up and you have my idea of the perfect ergos. It's more like an upright than you would get from a Fender or Ric or Ibanez or pretty much anything except another Gibson. I find that playing it that way makes wrist angles and everything else completely relaxed. But, if a 'Bird doesn't choose you, then it's just not going to work. They are funny that way. You can't force it.

 

[GBassNorth]

Thank you guys for your welcome. Will visit the Club as often as I can.

Now, here's my take on Epi Thunderbird Vintage PRO.
First of all I have not spend with her as much time as I would love to. Mostly because my 15 months son is keeping me pretty busy. But I like to share my first impression.

Right of the box, fit and finish flawless. Nut setting, fretwork - perfect. Comparing to previously own Sandberg Electra TT4 which had nut coming off on one side, and glue sticking out on the other, this one is perfect. And those Sandbergs have QC in Germany. Few things that required correction were sharp screws on pickup covers which I replaced with new ones and tone knob position was off a little (at least not to my liking). No problem here as I was taking all knobs off anyway to put knob pointers underneath. One more thing. G tuner machine is slightly off alignment with rest of the tuners. It's not like is right in your face but it's off. Normally it would bother me, but I am planning on replacing these machines with Gotoh GB640 in the near future so I will live with that for the time being.
My Epi is quite heavy - 4.7 kg (10 lb 6 oz). I weighted her dozens of times and it just won't go any lower than that.
When I am reading that some of you guys have their around 8 something pounds I am starting to wonder wether weight on mine comes from the wood or thick poly finish .
I like ergonomics of this bass. I really am. And it's not like I am trying to force myself to like it. You have to get used to, and like many said before, you can't play them like you play Fenders or Fender alike basses.
I still caught myself fretting on 14th instead on 12th fret. But it gets better every time I pick it up.
No neck dive, even with my Dunlop nylon strap that I will change anyway for a nice leather one this bass deserves.
The tone of this bass I massive. Having J style bass with single coils previously, you can really hear the difference in sound with humbuckers. Even my wife notice it and say that she likes T-bird better. Not mention that she loves the look.
I like low action, and I manage to get it really low on this bass with no buzzing. 2 mm under E string measured on 12th fret.
I strung mine with Rotos 77 after seeing this video.



This video actually helped me to pull the trigger on the T-bird. The tone that our fellow member netohugo got on this song is sick. That is the tone I am after. I know that he plays Gibson T-bird which has different pickups and plays through Ampeg SVT. But still if I can get close or close enough to his tone with my Epi and Rumble 500 I'll be super happy.
Any suggestions on pickup and amp EQ for starting point to get this tone will be appreciated.

Can't wait to try my Epi with the band. Hope my bandmates like it.

Wish I have more time for her.

Sorry you have to read this.

Excellent!
Glad to hear you're getting along great with the new VP TBird. Keep the wife and kids happy and they'll help you find time to play the TBird. The video was great, don't think I've ever heard of that band before but I'm a fan now.

As far as getting the same sound as the player on the video, you couldn't have made a better bass choice. The VP wants to naturally sound very agressive. The player in the video has fantastic technique (almost Entwistle style playing) with lots of hard hitting rapid finger reps. His sound has a lot of "zing" and upper mids. It looks like he's using a modern Gibson TBird, which is a bit less agressive sounding and generally more laid back in the mix than a VP. You should easily be able to get his sound with the VP through an Ampeg.

I don't have any experience with fender Rumble amps so can't help you there. Also, maybe somebody else will chime in with a good string recommendation for that type of tone. I usually try to get more laid back and in the pocket than that so my string selection would be different than yours. Rotos, SITs, or Cobalt Rounds might be good strings for that sound.

Enjoy your VP and welcome to the best club on Talkbass. Our Queen @TBird1958 will be by soon to give you a number and warm welcome.

 

[Gaolee]

Don’t know why but this makes me think of a sad cyberman playing a sad trombone.

can’t see a trombone but he doesn’t seem too pleased with the violin

View attachment 3718885

R2D2 looks like he's about to spear the violin player with the headstock.

 

[Gaolee]

I wouldn't mind being (partially) converted, but I only play seated nowadays and the way I position the instrument(s) just doesn't work with the Bird. TBT, I presume that I'll be playing mostly short scale basses for the rest of my days. A SS Bird would be a welcome addition, but they don't pop up for sale all that often.

Shoot! There was one that passed through recently. I got to look at it briefly. Its new owner polished the satin finish and did a lot of work on it, and it was a stunner when he was done. I don't know where it went, but whoever has it now has a gem.

 

[Gaolee]

Sorry you have to read this.

Nothing to apologize for - we love it! People who share our enthusiasm for Thunderbirds are always welcome to tell stories, ask questions, share thoughts, and anything else related to Thunderbirds. Or often enough, unrelated.

Welcome to our quirky little tribe of people who have been chosen by Thunderbirds. That's how it always works.

 

[GBassNorth]

I went straight from a Gibby EB-3(ss)to the TBird. Prolly the fact I always 'slung' my bass low, I had no problems.

Same here - (ss)EB-3 to T-bird II in '74 - I remember how big the T-bird felt when I first got it.

Same here (except much later in life), went from an SG Supreme (essentially a SS EB) to a TBird in 2015. I still play both almost daily.

 

[Gaolee]

Speaking of three, someone needs to acquire this.

Vintage 1969 Gibson EB-3 Bass Mike Watt Owned Minutemen Stooges Rare Punk Iggy

It's out of my price range, but it sure is an outrageous bass guitar. What do you suppose that neck pickup is? It's certainly not a '69 mudbucker. It's not a Dimarzo One, either. I don't know what it is. Maybe a blank-off plate? The Alumitone in the bridge position is a surprise. You don't see those very often. I think they are great, but then my opinion isn't always a universally accepted opinion.

 

[GonePlaid]

Same here - (ss)EB-3 to T-bird II in '74 - I remember how big the T-bird felt when I first got it. Never been much of a low-slinger though - this (from a Sunday afternoon show yesterday) is about the lowest I've 'slung' a bass.

View attachment 3719261

I always 'slung' the 'Bird so that if you took the bass away, my right hand would be adjusting my....uh,....er,...fly. Yeah, that's it.

 

[BklynKen]

It's out of my price range, but it sure is an outrageous bass guitar. What do you suppose that neck pickup is? It's certainly not a '69 mudbucker. It's not a Dimarzo One, either. I don't know what it is. Maybe a blank-off plate? The Alumitone in the bridge position is a surprise. You don't see those very often. I think they are great, but then my opinion isn't always a universally accepted opinion.

Actually, I wonder if there's any pickup at the neck position at all. It looks like a piece of pickguard material on there. Check out the edges of it in the closeups.

 

[GonePlaid]

Actually, I wonder if there's any pickup at the neck position at all. It looks like a piece of pickguard material on there. Check out the edges of it in the closeups.

Yeah, it looks like a 'plug'.