Thunderbird Club

[PillO]

As a rule of thumb, never second guess yourself, leave that chore to others.
Your original statement was correct. I have posted the method I use for the three point bridge equipped bass set up. It's basically what's Noc posts but has a couple of additional trouble shooting tips.
Here it is from post #41490 in this thread...

Lots of advice on this thread about neck adjustments. I like my action very low so I might as well jump in with what has worked best for me... something I clipped from TB some time ago and modified heavily that has proven to be spot on for all my Gibby needs

Do this...
1. Loosen the strings to a slack setting then adjust your truss rod to create a slight back bow. From a dead straight neck position it might take two or three 1/3 clockwise turns. BTW, it's clockwise as seen from the headstock end of the bass looking down the neck towards the bridge.

2. Next, lower your bridge until the rear of the bridge is just off the body and the front of the bridge is about 1/8" higher than the rear.

3. Bring your strings up to tension and tune each string (don't worry about intonation yet).

4. Now check your action around the 15th and higher frets to see if it's comfortable for you without any or too much buzz (some players don't mind a little buzz). Don't worry about buzzing in the lower registers at this point. Raise your bridge as necessary to eliminate unwanted fret buzz in the 15th to end of fretboard area but always make sure the front stud is keeping the front of the bridge at least 1/8" higher than the rear of the bridge.

Note: the saddles on the 3 point bridge are specific in height to each string to ensure the strings match the FB radius, they are sequentially numbered so check to make sure each one is in the proper position. Also note that it is much easier on you, the studs and your stud inserts to slightly loosen the strings before raising the bridge height. Yes that means you'll need to retune after each adjustment. As an alternate, you can start step 4 with the bridge in a higher position and keep lowering and tuning until you get the level of buzz in the 15th and higher frets that suits you. Just be sure to always keep the front stud higher than the rears.

5. Now you've got your bass retuned with a lower action at the high frets. Your lower frets will now either buzz (see 6a for the subsequent steps) or the action will still be too high even in the low registers (see 6b for the subsequent steps).

6a: Low Register buzzes: You need to loosen the truss rod. Take off the truss rod cover and insert an allen wrench in the allen nut (the cheaper Epis generally have allen nuts). Don't detune the bass for that, rather lift the A and the D string to the side to the slots of the G and E string to have room for turning the allen wrench. With the bass' butt resting on your toes and the strings/fretboard facing away from you, you - while standing up and looking down - will now turn the allen wrench counterclockwise maybe 1/3 of a turn and immediately look to find out how the action of the bass has altered and buzzing has become less or disappeared. Don't be scared of overdoing it - it is impossible to break a truss rod by loosening it as you are releasing tension. That said, one or two "one third turns" counterclockwise should do it. sometimes you will need a few more of those to actually adjust the bass if the neck is too straight or even curved away from the fretboard (called back bow).

6b: Low Register has too much action: Same as 6a, except that you have too tighten the truss rod now which is done by turning the allen wrench clockwise. You will also have to be more careful as you can break a trussrod by overtightening it. When tightening a truss rod its best to slacken the strings a bit first, then make your truss adjustment followed by retuning and checking to see if your adjustment eliminated unwanted fret buzz.

7. After a combination of either steps 5 and 6a or steps 5 and 6b you should have a relatively or even totally buzz free bass with good to reasonable action. If there is still some persistent buzzing at some places then raise the bridge a little. Raising the front stud will raise all strings (remember to slacken the strings first then after raising the front stud retune the bass). Raising the treble side rear stud just a very tiny bit more may help the D and G string, or raising the bass side rear stud just a tiny bit more may help the E and A strings. The bridge does not have to be dead level but it should be very very close.

8. You should be done... but if you're still getting buzzing just on one string (while the other strings are buzz-free) and you have to raise the bridge considerably to make it go away even though you could stay much lower if it were just for the other strings, then double check you're saddles to ensure they're in the proper sequence. In a pinch you might be able to swap the D and A saddles but only as a last resort. If you still have unwanted buzzing then your low action expectations may be too much or you might have a string or fret level or neck hump problem. See step 9 for string checking. For fret level or twisted neck or neck hump or ski jump problems find a good luthier and see if they can fix the problem.

9. Occasionally it's possible to twist a string when installing a them on a bass. A twisted string can potentially have an odd oscillation that may make it vibrate in more of an elliptical pattern vs a flatter pattern. In some cases the effect is great enough to cause fret buzz on that specific string. To fix this, detune the string and starting at the nut pinch the string between your fingers and slowly slide down the string towards the bridge allowing the ball end of the string to spin as needed to eliminate any accidental twist you may have put in the string when installing. Once untwisted, hold the ball end in position and retune the string without letting the ball flip or spin. This should eliminate any twist related issues.

Edit: follow all the above steps in order. Don't skip steps or start in the middle.

Woo hoo! The brain is batting 1000 today!

 

[dagrev]

You got a great deal. This one is a great deal. And the PB NR in Michigan is still available for pickup only at an excellent price.

I am getting very happy with it now that I'm dialing in a tone I really like.

I so want one of those NRs. If only I can convince you that yours is just atrocious and get a good deal! Maybe one day I'll get one. I would like a '60s version (who wouldn't), but seriously don't see that happening--and they don't come in PB. So I don't see that happening anytime in the not so near future. But I think I would sell some basses if there was a good opportunity.

 

[GBassNorth]

Ditto,
So far I have been apprehensive to crank a truss rod, but now I'm gonna give it a shot and if it doesn't work out, I'll know WHO to bother

Just remember, loosening a truss rod won't hurt a thing, you can and should do it with strings at tension, BUT tightening a truss rod should be done with care. When tightening a truss rod always bring the strings to a slack state first and only go in 1/3 of a turn increments max between retuning and checking the action. And for heavens sake, these are TBirds with self detaching headstocks, so don't put any force on the neck beyond about the third fret, keep your hands off the headstock as much as possible.

 

[dagrev]

What’s a bookmark. It sounds kinda hard. Like searching.

Far more easy than searching, so the part of me that hates wasting time loves it. The lazy part loves it equally well.

 

[FlyingPigSound]

I own the VP but not the Gibson. Yes he was blindfolded, but I think buddy knew he was playing the VP as soon as he grabbed a tuner.
The statement lumping all Gibson basses together as dark sounding is ridiculous! I own a 68 EBO and it sounds nothing like a TBird.

I would think that he'd notice the difference between the nitro and poly finish almost immediately, so the blindfold challenge is flawed

 

[FlyingPigSound]

This bird is still looking to choose someone. No affiliation.
For Sale - Gibson Thunderbird

Great price for essentially a new (2019) Gibson T-Bird

 

[RedVee]

Somebody's going to get a really nice bass said a really nice price. My '06 Gibson gets more enjoyable the more I play it. It's darn near perfect in terms of play ability as far as I'm concerned. If the for sale Thunderbird is anything like mine, somebody's going to get a bass that plays and feels great. I think I would have been and the buyer on this one. But I'm glad I have the one I do. It has no signs of wear and it already has the Hipshot bridge. That certainly is a nice addition.

I’m glad to hear you are liking the Gibson now. I was worried there For a while.

 

[Patrick J]

Interesting ... made some legit points for non-advocates. What do those who own the Epi think about what they said?

Once he touched the tuner, he had to know which bass he had. They feel nothing like each other.

 

[GBassNorth]

Once he touched the tuner, he had to know which bass he had. They feel nothing like each other.

Heck, before he even played it he had to plug it in and should have figured it out at that time (front vs side jack).

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Al Gore?

Yes. Strings are basically tubes, of which the internets are built.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Here's a big old n00bie n00b question ......



Are T-birds routed under the pickguard? Could one conceivably remove the guard, fill the screwholes (ahem!) , refinish, and have a T-bird logo painted in the proper spot?



I've jonesed strictly for NR's for years but the recent pix of white T-birds with chrome pickups.....................


View attachment 3895355

the Classic Pro is. I believe others are as well. It’s a small cutout where they pull and push the pickup wiring through.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Good morning everyone. Hoping for some advice regarding an issue with my Thunderbird. My 2014, which is getting new strings as soon as they arrive has developed quite a buzz. Beg pardon, but it is sort of a yeeeooooww part of the ring or sustain. It is the G string and especially pronounced when down stroking with my thumb. I have started learning the double thumb technique and that has really brought this to light. My teacher first thought it was the nut, then the bridge, then perhaps the string. He admitted Thunderbirds are unique creatures and encouraged me to seek advice from others. She is heading to my favorite tech once the strings arrive. I have tried attaching photos but keep getting an error message, but will wait a few and try again. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

How low is the G string? What’s the neck bow like? The description sounds like a noise one of mine made after I switched to lower tension strings but before I adjusted the truss rod.

 

[Shannon]

5) With the volume maxed (regardless of tone setting) the strings have a wonderful deep buzz saw growl about them. Not gritty or harsh, but a very nice overdriven rumble that should play well in many rock settings. Back the volume off a couple notches and turn up the tone knob for a well mannered piano like tone.

So that's the 'angry piano' tone I heard mentioned? And a polite piano too? All on the same stings? Nice.

 

[Shannon]

Mine has a very useable tone knob. Maybe I'm playing with picks, and there's more treble to roll off.

Have not really noticed that ”tone knob thing”, either on my Orville 1991 or on the Gibson 2012 I regret I sold two years ago. Tone works just fine with volume(s) full. Normally I run neck full and bridge a little rolled off and tone full or close to. Play only with fingers.

I forgot about that little piece of brilliance.

Maybe his 'Bird didn't come with proper tonewood, so the tone knob didn't dial it in? i play very badly, but I am equally as bad with pick or fingers. The tone knob on my bird does stuff, though, so it must have been made with the right tonewood - regardless of how bad I play.

 

[Shannon]

Al Gore?

It's all about the Al Gore rhythms.

If this is the truth, it would be... (puts on )...inconvenient.

 

[Mvf]

After noting a couple of pages back that some birds don't react to tone knob adjustments as linear as you'd expect and that's not a function of a broken tone knob (as the two non bird guys on the video claimed) I decided to do a little test.

I plugged each of my birds into my amp, set the neck volume on full, bridge volume off, and the tone on full then played open GDAE strings finger style directly over the neck pickup while adjusting the tone knob down in one step increments. The results were interesting....

Eppi VP - no noticeable tone change from 10 to 4, then noticeably darker from 3 to 0
Gibby Anniversary - noticeable darkening at each step from 10 to 6, then from 5 to 0 no change
Greco - no noticeable tone change from 10 to 8, noticeable darkening with each step from 7 to 0
BaCH - no noticeable tone change from 10 to 4, noticable darkening with each step from 3 to 0
2015 - no noticeable tone change from 10 to 6, darker at 5, no change from 4 to 0

Conclusion - one could easily assume the VP tone pot isn't functioning IF the volume of a soloed pup is set at max and the tone pot is only rotated between 3 and 10. The Greco had by far the most linear tone pot and the 2015 had by far the least linear tone pot when volume is at max, all tone pots functioned just fine when the soloed pup volume was at 8 or less.

Something else to consider - I have all my pups raised to the max and strings nice and low, so I may be experiencing a bit of natural overdrive or over saturation in the signal that could be impacting the tone.

If you wish to repeat this test on your own bird it's very important that the volume of the soloed pot is at max. Anything less than max gives completely different and mostly very linear results. I also suspect that using a pick would give different results.

I’ll do this test later today with my Orville -91 (stock except for the Hipshot bridge). As I said earlier, I have never noticed anything strange with the function of the tone, but after reading this, I must really find out the truth!

 

[D.M.N.]

First evening’s progress on stripping the BaCH bird. Front and back complete, still need to do the sides, and then tackle the neck. Managed to avoid any real wood burn, nothing that won't be hit off with light sanding, and no major divets of dig-ins. Ran into a small issue of the heat gun melting the side dots a bit, so likely need to tackle the side of the fretboard with just simple sanding, as I'd assume any chemical stripper will probably damage the dots as well. Overall only took about 2 hours to clear the front and back




If I need to replace the fretboard side dots, anyone know what the material was on the original 60s Birds? Pearloid, clay, abalone, white ABS?

 

[GBassNorth]

I’ll do this test later today with my Orville -91 (stock except for the Hipshot bridge). As I said earlier, I have never noticed anything strange with the function of the tone, but after reading this, I must really find out the truth!

Should be interesting to see if the Orville played at full volume over the neck pup responds similar to the Gibson (non linear tone pot) or if it's more like the Greco (linear tone pot). You might want to try it both finger and pick style, and maybe both over the neck pup and more back towards the bridge since those could potentially make a difference in tone as well.

 

[Larry V]

Thunderbird brethren... a little help if you please.

Does anyone have a discount code to share for either Musician's Friend or Sweetwater or some other place that might sell the Fender GTX50 Amplifier?

Every retailer has the price locked at $380 and I'm trying to not pay full price.

Thanks.

 

[Patrick J]

Heck, before he even played it he had to plug it in and should have figured it out at that time (front vs side jack).

It was handed to him blindfolded. But he said it’s out of tune and reached up to tune it. That’s when he should have known exactly which one it was. (It was the Gibson.)