Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

ADDENDUM: I actually got a 69 Ford Econoline van so I could carry all my bass playing gear. My first van of at least 9 vans I've had over the years. So much for having a muscle car(sigh).

I had a 66! Workhorses.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It was a solution to a problem. A cheap car that gets good gas mileage. It was a success in that they sold a lot of them and made good money doing so. In fact, that and the minivan are what saved Chrysler from bankruptcy (along with a number of operational efficiencies).

All I know is that the couple of people I knew who drove those had lots of problems with them. Ugly AND poorly designed or made.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Are those diesel horse powers or gasoline horse powers?

Class A are the best horsepowers. In GP's example, the GTO was undoubtedly making Class A tube horsepowers, and the Civic was making Transistor Radio horsepowers.

 

[GBassNorth]

Just the tip....

View attachment 3862966

How do you like the Pro 5?
I've heard that they sound different than most of the other TBirds out there and I'm always on the lookout for something different.

 

[GBassNorth]

Happy Thunderbird Thursday!
Last week I had an empty spot for "just one more bass dear, really!"
View attachment 3862771

Got the Epiphone TB VP Ebony this week, still haven't cleaned or changed strings.
Some weeks it's hard finding a couple hours for myself. But here is a pic of my last 3 acquisitions.
Epiphone TB IV SB Jan2019
HB PB50 April2020
Epiphone TB VP Ebony June2020
View attachment 3862777

All very nice! Love the burst on that HB.

 

[JIO]

TT - the 'Sheltering in Place' edition

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

TT!.....the three witches..

 

[GonePlaid]

LOL - The Pinto. I was test driving a friends (vomit green) Pinto (needed a beater for commuting to work in 1979) and while I was shifting the shift stick broke off in my hand. I told him I'd give him $100 for the car if he wanted to get rid of it, otherwise he could keep the hundred to fix the car. He kept the $100 and the car. A year later the engine blew and he ended up paying to get rid of it. He'd have been better off with my $100 offer for the car.

There was a Pinto I saw in Miami that had a FLAMMABLE sticker above the rear bumper.

 

[GBassNorth]

TT!.....the three witches..
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Three beautiful NR birds!
Of the three which one is your "go to" for live performances?

 

[Gaolee]

Class of ‘76. My high school parking lot had several Mustangs and Chevelles handed down from Mom and Dad or bought for + or - $500. My bro had a ‘66 Charger bought from a neighbor for $300. A lot of Bugs too. I had one buddy who had a red ‘66 Mustang convertible, pretty beat, that he paid $350 for. I don’t think any of those have survived. If a kid got a new car, it was usually a vomit green Pinto. I’m certain none of those lasted more than 10 years, thank god.

As I recall, there were mostly old beaters of various kinds in the kids' parking lot when I was in high school. There were a couple kids whose families had a Chevy dealership. They had mid '60s Stingrays. There were a couple others who had semi-hot rodded cars, but most were rusty '50s and '60s heaps. It was the mid '70s, so there were still plenty of '50s cars on the road in awful shape. It's a miracle we all survived.

 

[GonePlaid]

TT!.....the three witches..
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TT. Old pic. Wanted to love the 5er. Couldn't. It went to AZ. Buyer was happy. Then again, so was I when I first got it. Haven't heard updates.

I do love the other 5er. My 2 Gibbys.

 

[JIO]

TT!.....the three witches..
View attachment 3863021

'cause they all sound wicked-cool! (with Boston accent)

 

[Gaolee]

Occasionally on the road, mostly at car shows. Watched a little 90's Honda 'hot car'(Civic?) with one of those big, noisy mufflers turn a corner and "get on it"(hee-hee), right behind him was a 66(?)GTO that w/o trying ate him up and spit him out without a burp-and he wasn't trying, just normal acceleration. Never broke the speed limit(45).

Flip side - I had a 1966 Mini that had been a C Sedan racing car. It was seriously built and seriously fast. It would surprise GTOs and the like at stop lights. IT would flat fly, and because it weighed nothing, it was quick off the line. While the big, heavy car with gobs of torque was turning that torque into smoke, that car was turning what torque it had into velocity in a big way. I never ran it on a drag strip, because that's not what I was interested in, so I don't know what that means in numbers. What I do know is that it was an amazing stop light warrior and would irritate the crap out of muscle car drivers.

 

[FlyingPigSound]

TT
View attachment 3862986

What’s the black one? Looks like an Epi VP, but the TRC says Gibson?

 

[BC Blackmur]

All very nice! Love the burst on that HB.

Yes it does look good, it came with a black pg on it. Thought I'd take it off to see what was underneath and decided to keep it off for now. It is only a studio bass, as are all of mine, so nobody is going to see the screw holes except in pics.

 

[GonePlaid]

Flip side - I had a 1966 Mini that had been a C Sedan racing car. It was seriously built and seriously fast. It would surprise GTOs and the like at stop lights. IT would flat fly, and because it weighed nothing, it was quick off the line. While the big, heavy car with gobs of torque was turning that torque into smoke, that car was turning what torque it had into velocity in a big way. I never ran it on a drag strip, because that's not what I was interested in, so I don't know what that means in numbers. What I do know is that it was an amazing stop light warrior and would irritate the crap out of muscle car drivers.

There was 1 of these running around in Miami. Refrigerator white(faded), looked beat. He had shoehorned a 426 into it-IDK how-and had hand painted "Ram-blur" on the front 1/4 panels in maybe inch high letters.

 

[PillO]

Just the tip....

View attachment 3862966

Ahem!

 

[PillO]

All I know is that the couple of people I knew who drove those had lots of problems with them. Ugly AND poorly designed or made.

I think they made a killing on fleet sales. And amoungst those looking for a cheap (both senses) car.

 

[JIO]

There was 1 of these running around in Miami. Refrigerator white(faded), looked beat. He had shoehorned a 426 into it-IDK how-and had hand painted "Ram-blur" on the front 1/4 panels in maybe inch high letters.
View attachment 3863075

"car"

 

[GBassNorth]

TT. Old pic. Wanted to love the 5er. Couldn't. It went to AZ. Buyer was happy. Then again, so was I when I first got it. Haven't heard updates.
View attachment 3863038
I do love the other 5er. My 2 Gibbys.
View attachment 3863042

On the LP - are those a full 34" scale or are they shorter? How does it sound compared to your Thunderbird? I've been kicking around the idea to buy a LP Gold Top someday.