Thunderbird Club

[Chucky Stiletti]

Even with the upgrade of the pickups this sounds really bad, considering that it is a Gibson... even playing it through that tube amp. The basic Epiphone sounds just the same.

Don’t think his amp choice does it justice...that said, pretty workable tone imho..

 

[PillO]

Note: about a year ago my Sweetwater agent cold called me to see if there was anything I wanted to buy. I told him not to call me back until he had an Eppi Non Reverse Thunderbird Vintage Pro in stock. He said he had an in at Eppi and could pull some strings to at least make sure they knew there was a market out there looking for the NR VP. So far no return call from him. So far nothing posted from Eppi about a NR in the works. This pandemic may have put a lot of company plans on the back burner so I'm willing to cut Eppi some slack but if I don't hear something soon I'm just gonna make my own and move on.

Believe the rumour! And spread it far and wide. And maybe Epiphone will get the message.

 

[Engle]

Don’t think his amp choice does it justice...that said, pretty workable tone imho..

Yeah that farty distorted tone doesn’t sound great on it’s own, but could work in the right mix.

 

[Gaolee]

Thanks for the welcome! No, this one has a 1.73” nut.

Nice! A baseball bat. Or maybe a cricket bat in the UK.

 

[Gaolee]

Finally got everything finished up on the Pro V, plays & sounds so much better now. Prettier too!

Took a bunch of mostly useless pics, for any of you that might be interested...


Hoping this works as intended....

No such thing as useless pics of a Thunderbird.

 

[11th Street Kid]

Nice! A baseball bat. Or maybe a cricket bat in the UK.

I can go with a baseball bat, they’re better for beating on the brat!!!

 

[Gaolee]

The only other bolt-on in the 2011-12 range that had a 1.5” nut was the Nikki Sixx Blackbird, beyond that I’m not sure.

As far as I can tell, early Korean ones had the big neck. Later Korean ones and all Chinese ones had the narrower neck. It took me a while to find a big one when I got my bolt-on. It is looking more and more alike the next refin project, along with a Dimarzio One at the neck. If you hold your breath, you will turn blue.

 

[PillO]

Well...played through a guitar amp with who knows what settings and Roto flats. Not really representative of what the pickups or tone from that bird is capable of IMO. It looks like he did a nice job with his mods though. I’ve got three Epis with the basic PUPs that sound better to my ears through a little Marshall 12’” Hybrid bass combo. I’m always skeptical of random YouTube posts. That would be a cool bass to play some Skynard tunes on.

I hate the yoot oob demos. Of pretty much everything. They never seem to be representative of what I can do with the gear. They are useful for figuring out stuff that I am not interested in though.

Even trying things out at my local L&M isn't representative because I will be using one of their basses amps, cabs, etc.

I can try out a bass in the store and see if it "speaks" to me. If it feels good I can probably get a useable sound of it.*

For everything else I either:
figure out if I think I can get a useable sound out of it, or
bring it home and try it out.


* I have purposely not tried out one of their VPs - I don't want to be in the market for one right now. I'm holding my breathe for the non-reverse VP.

 

[dagrev]

....Highly satisfied with Sweetwater and my wife loves the candy)

Yeah, but the "I love you so much I'll order you more candy from Sweetwater" thing doesn't work so well..... They catch on quick.

 

[dagrev]

* I have purposely not tried out one of their VPs - I don't want to be in the market for one right now. I'm holding my breathe for the non-reverse VP.

You might want to take a breath once in while....so we can keep the watermelon entertainment going here.

 

[MCF]

I hate the yoot oob demos. Of pretty much everything. They never seem to be representative of what I can do with the gear. They are useful for figuring out stuff that I am not interested in though.

Even trying things out at my local L&M isn't representative because I will be using one of their basses amps, cabs, etc.

I can try out a bass in the store and see if it "speaks" to me. If it feels good I can probably get a useable sound of it.*

For everything else I either:
figure out if I think I can get a useable sound out of it, or
bring it home and try it out.


* I have purposely not tried out one of their VPs - I don't want to be in the market for one right now. I'm holding my breathe for the non-reverse VP.

And what would be wrong with one of each?

 

[Instagator]

Yeah..Sweetwater is my go to for brand new Basses as well...during a follow up email after I received my ebony VP T-bird they asked if I had any issues. I told them that I was very picky about my set ups and usually take a couple of hours on the bench to dial in my preference..I told my rep that he cheated me out of 1 hour and 58 min. of bonding time with my new VP.It was that dead on right out of the box.I did tell him on my next order I want all bit o honey and that's it.

Years ago somewhere on TB a member was having an "on the fence" issue with a Bass that they received from SW ..The best advice that I saw on the thread was.."Send it back..keep the candy"

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I hate the yoot oob demos. Of pretty much everything. They never seem to be representative of what I can do with the gear. They are useful for figuring out stuff that I am not interested in though.

Even trying things out at my local L&M isn't representative because I will be using one of their basses amps, cabs, etc.

I can try out a bass in the store and see if it "speaks" to me. If it feels good I can probably get a useable sound of it.*

For everything else I either:
figure out if I think I can get a useable sound out of it, or
bring it home and try it out.


* I have purposely not tried out one of their VPs - I don't want to be in the market for one right now. I'm holding my breathe for the non-reverse VP.

If I was in Epiphone marketing and saw this fervent desire for an NR I would worry about reverse sales suffering if this holy grail NR was to be made available..

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Yeah..Sweetwater is my go to for brand new Basses as well...during a follow up email after I received my ebony VP T-bird they asked if I had any issues. I told them that I was very picky about my set ups and usually take a couple of hours on the bench to dial in my preference..I told my rep that he cheated me out of 1 hour and 58 min. of bonding time with my new VP.It was that dead on right out of the box.I did tell him on my next order I want all bit o honey and that's it.

Years ago somewhere on TB a member was having an "on the fence" issue with a Bass that they received from SW ..The best advice that I saw on the thread was.."Send it back..keep the candy"

and grab the cannoli..

 

[dagrev]

If I was in Epiphone marketing and saw this fervent desire for an NR I would worry about reverse sales suffering if this holy grail NR was to be made available..

And tanking Gibson Thunderbird sales....

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Don’t think his amp choice does it justice...that said, pretty workable tone imho..

Tube guitar combo is not great for bass.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Tube guitar combo is not great for bass.

Yep, for recording maybe, but for live? No way, even if the (hard to find) guitarist was going through a Princeton..

 

[Instagator]

and grab the cannoli..

That is exactly where I was going..leave the gun..

 

[PillO]

You might want to take a breath once in while....so we can keep the watermelon entertainment going here.

 

[GonePlaid]

If I was in Epiphone marketing and saw this fervent desire for an NR I would worry about reverse sales suffering if this holy grail NR was to be made available..

Maybe. I think there will always be a market for the 'regular' TBird shape, just because it's different from the norm.
EDIT:Tried to find a :02 second "NORM!". Nope.