Thunderbird Club

[TBird1958]

Sir Colonel of Kentucky works for me.
I keep waiting for that special invite from our Queen, I'll even bring the cold chicken.

Well now! I had no idea Sir Colonel. Get that pesky virus thingie gone and chicken it shall be!

 

[TBird1958]

Did Gibby ever make a Fretless bird?

I might be selling my beloved Pedulla Pentabuzz (best sounding fretless I've ever heard) and although I don't play fretless much any more and I don't play 5 strings all that often, I'm really gonna miss this gal if she goes...
View attachment 3793816
She's my only fretless. I'm thinking it might be nice to have a modest little something in the wings if the need arises for some fretless work. Maybe I'll buy a white Eppi VP and defret it.

Look for a Victory fretless. Not for the timid!

 

[Count Bassie]

Did Gibby ever make a Fretless bird?

I might be selling my beloved Pedulla Pentabuzz (best sounding fretless I've ever heard) and although I don't play fretless much any more and I don't play 5 strings all that often, I'm really gonna miss this gal if she goes...
View attachment 3793816
She's my only fretless. I'm thinking it might be nice to have a modest little something in the wings if the need arises for some fretless work. Maybe I'll buy a white Eppi VP and defret it.

Omg... there's a sweetie.

 

[dagrev]

yeah, made me think I had his name wrong.....can I have a Thunderbird now?..

Sure, why not. I have a few left. How about white?

 

[dagrev]

How about a '64? I can make a whole lot of embarrassing mistakes if that is the reward.

Here you go, 1964...

It's no Thunderbird but I don't think is disapoints.

 

[dagrev]

Guys, is any of you in possession of the Epiphone Classic pro and the Vintage Pro? if so do you have any recordings using both? I am interested in a side by side comparison, I see a lot of pictures but no really audio files, there is, of course, videos on youtube, videos which tend to vary from one to another... so if any of you have those and can share some audio files I am very interested : )

Most of what I saw of the VPs online sounded like a bad chainsaw instead of a bass. Fine if that's what someone is shooting for, but most play bass not grounds equipment. My VPs sounds nothing like any "review" I recall watching.

 

[dagrev]

Did Gibby ever make a Fretless bird?

I might be selling my beloved Pedulla Pentabuzz (best sounding fretless I've ever heard) and although I don't play fretless much any more and I don't play 5 strings all that often, I'm really gonna miss this gal if she goes...
View attachment 3793816
She's my only fretless. I'm thinking it might be nice to have a modest little something in the wings if the need arises for some fretless work. Maybe I'll buy a white Eppi VP and defret it.

Stunning!

 

[RexxRokket]

Indeed, that's why I would like it if someone around could record a real comparison.

Most of what I saw of the VPs online sounded like a bad chainsaw instead of a bass. Fine if that's what someone is shooting for, but most play bass not grounds equipment. My VPs sound nothing like any "review" I recall watching.

 

[StephnG]

Did Gibby ever make a Fretless bird?

I might be selling my beloved Pedulla Pentabuzz (best sounding fretless I've ever heard) and although I don't play fretless much any more and I don't play 5 strings all that often, I'm really gonna miss this gal if she goes...
View attachment 3793816
She's my only fretless. I'm thinking it might be nice to have a modest little something in the wings if the need arises for some fretless work. Maybe I'll buy a white Eppi VP and defret it.

SWEET

 

[Nocturnal]

I prefer this one from one of my favorites from the 80’s:

I had forgotten about them. They were an interesting band and i enjoyed some of their songs.

 

[Nocturnal]

Did Gibby ever make a Fretless bird?

I might be selling my beloved Pedulla Pentabuzz (best sounding fretless I've ever heard) and although I don't play fretless much any more and I don't play 5 strings all that often, I'm really gonna miss this gal if she goes...
View attachment 3793816
She's my only fretless. I'm thinking it might be nice to have a modest little something in the wings if the need arises for some fretless work. Maybe I'll buy a white Eppi VP and defret it.

The only fretless Gibson Birds I have ever seen have been "conversions". Somewhere there is a vintage Gibson Bird that was defretted and had a flame maple cap added to the face of the body. Was owned by a member of Skinny Puppy I believe.

 

[RedVee]

Well since ukuleles were mentioned, I just bought this:
View attachment 3793519
View attachment 3793520

looks nice @Glenn Johnson

is that a Soprano ? I couldn’t cope with the Soprano and up in size past the Concert to a Tenor - which is the largest using Uke tuning.

good fun and my accident I found it works well with the sopranos being that bit deeper in tone.

 

[PillO]

I prefer this one from one of my favoritesfrom the 80’s:

Cool. It reminds me of Teenage Head.

Warning, no Thunderbird.
Additional warning left handed bass player.

 

[Count Bassie]

Cool. It reminds me of Teenage Head.

Warning, no Thunderbird.
Additional warning left handed bass player.

Teeneage Head was a Flaming Groovies tune...

 

[GBassNorth]

The only fretless Gibson Birds I have ever seen have been "conversions". Somewhere there is a vintage Gibson Bird that was defretted and had a flame maple cap added to the face of the body. Was owned by a member of Skinny Puppy I believe.

I kinda figured Gibby didn't make one.

I suppose I might be able to snag a used white VP for under $600 then have the fretboard defretted and lined for a few hundred more at most. So I'd have a nice fretless (but not nearly as nice as my Pedulla) for under a thousand.

However, the more I think about it, a bolt on Eppi bird might make more sense because of the ability to shim the neck, which may be required to get the action low enough without the frets. That would in turn lower the cost by a couple hundred more bucks, which is a good thing. Except I'm not that fond of the Eppi non VP pups.

Heck, might just be best to keep the Pedulla, that doesn't cost me anything. First world problems I guess.

 

[MCF]

I had forgotten about them. They were an interesting band and i enjoyed some of their songs.

They’re still sorta around. They get together around Thanksgiving and do shows in KC. They also do trips to Norway where they were huge. Always loved this one:

 

[PillO]

Teeneage Head was a Flaming Groovies tune...

Teenage Head were a notorious punk band from Hamilton. In fact, they still cause controveries today, years after they broke up and several years after the singer, Frankie Venom, died.

They were known for some of their riots - the one at the free concert at Ontario Place, the one at "The Last Pogo".
Most high schools banned their t-shirts - probably something to do with large lettering on the back that proclaimed "F#ck the rest, Head's the best" but with a u in place of the octothorpe. This, of course, made the t-shirts very desirable items. Especially at schools that had not yet banned the T-shirts. The notoriety of being the one that caused the ban was only part of the allure.
When they got a US distribution deal, the US record company insisted that the name be changed to Teenage Heads as they worried about the connotations of their name.
Unfortunately, ahead of their first US tour, the guitar player was seriously injured in a car accident and the tour was postponed (and never happened).
Frankie Venom died in 08 from cancer.

A few years ago, Hamilton undertook to erect statues of influential Hamiltonians along the main street. Frankie Venom was considered instrumental (pun intended) in developing the Hamilton music scene and a statue was approved. Some "concerned citizens" then undertook to have the decision reversed because of Frankie's history of drug abuse.

 

[MCF]

I kinda figured Gibby didn't make one.

I suppose I might be able to snag a used white VP for under $600 then have the fretboard defretted and lined for a few hundred more at most. So I'd have a nice fretless (but not nearly as nice as my Pedulla) for under a thousand.

However, the more I think about it, a bolt on Eppi bird might make more sense because of the ability to shim the neck, which may be required to get the action low enough without the frets. That would in turn lower the cost by a couple hundred more bucks, which is a good thing. Except I'm not that fond of the Eppi non VP pups.

Heck, might just be best to keep the Pedulla, that doesn't cost me anything. First world problems I guess.

Colonel Sir,
Now that I’ve spent some time with the Limited Edition Pelham Blue and Silverburst birds, the stock Epi IV pickups have grown on me. Some EQ fiddling and I like what I’m hearing. They’re great Thunderbirds for the price.

You could always drop a set of Lollars in a standard IV. This is a good vid from Mr. Lollar himself:

 

[Count Bassie]

Teenage Head were a notorious punk band from Hamilton. In fact, they still cause controveries today, years after they broke up and several years after the singer, Frankie Venom, died.

They were known for some of their riots - the one at the free concert at Ontario Place, the one at "The Last Pogo".
Most high schools banned their t-shirts - probably something to do with large lettering on the back that proclaimed "F#ck the rest, Head's the best" but with a u in place of the octothorpe. This, of course, made the t-shirts very desirable items. Especially at schools that had not yet banned the T-shirts. The notoriety of being the one that caused the ban was only part of the allure.
When they got a US distribution deal, the US record company insisted that the name be changed to Teenage Heads as they worried about the connotations of their name.
Unfortunately, ahead of their first US tour, the guitar player was seriously injured in a car accident and the tour was postponed (and never happened).
Frankie Venom died in 08 from cancer.

A few years ago, Hamilton undertook to erect statues of influential Hamiltonians along the main street. Frankie Venom was considered instrumental (pun intended) in developing the Hamilton music scene and a statue was approved. Some "concerned citizens" then undertook to have the decision reversed because of Frankie's history of drug abuse.

Now there's a story I can appreciate.

Sorry to hear the bad turns and sad endings, but they did their thing with gusto, and that's what you want.

 

[BklynKen]

Cool. It reminds me of Teenage Head.

Warning, no Thunderbird.
Additional warning left handed bass player.

Warning? That's an insta-watch for me. Stuart Chatwood, bassist in The Tea Party, is also left-handed.