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Thunderbird Club

#157,762
TBird1958 said:
Welcome Andy1325!

Gorgeous Black Bird! What year is it? Please feel free to join in the conversation, it dodges in and out of the central topic, we have folks from all over the world. Questions are always encouraged as are pictures and video Thunderbird related.
You're #826 here!
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Well it's a 2013 model, one of Thomann's B Stock bargains.
I didn't know what year it was or anything, but because of the price I just thought I'd give one a go.

I've only just moved onto playing bass from guitar so I wouldn't class myself as a bass player by any stretch!

My main bass was an EBMM Bongo, I've loved that shape forever, but the preamp has died, typical with PCB mounted pots I suppose. I'm waiting on another being sent from the US so that's confined to it's case.

I saw the Thunderbird and I just love the shape, I also like the 'none more black' vibe with the black hardware.

The neck feels great and as I said earlier it's got a really nice thump to the sound. I love that it's passive too, just straight up and simple. I was very surprised at how light it is.

Typically though it's not Gibson's finest finishing work. I don't tend to go on about it in the guitar forums, I love Gibson guitars, they have a vibe all their own, and sometimes the little finishing quirks are part and parcel of that. Saying that, the electronics all work, plays nice, sounds good and really that's all I wanted.

And I got it for the price of the Epi version so that was nice!
 
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#157,763
BTW: available from "Redbubble"(no affiliation)[and others] I googled Gibson Thunderbird T-shirts. Some say Gibson on the left sleeve, others don't.
ssrco,unisex_tshirt,womens,101010:01c5ca27c6,front,square_product,x600-bg,f8f8f8.jpg
 
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#157,764
Bunky said:
Why won’t Gibson build the Thunderbird to the 60s specs anymore?
Click to expand...
Good question, I don't think the Gibson bass line up gets the attention that the much more profitable and sizable guitar division gets. That said, we do have the Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro that delivers a lot of the look and sound that the early birds did.

Miles_ONeal said:
Yeah. Would have to file saddles a bit.
Click to expand...
The G saddle could easily be filed to fit an E string, and the D could be filed to fit an A. The A is probably close enough to fit the D. But that huge E saddle isn't gonna be ideal for the tiny G string and filing isn't an option there.

Engle said:
I don’t remember having an intonation issue with Cobalt flats on my VP. What gauges are you using?
Click to expand...
I must have been lucky, no intonation issues with Cobalts or any other string I've had on my VP.

FWIW - I measured my VP from the neck face of the nut to the center of the bridge stud on both the E side and G side of the bridge. I have 34 3/16" on the E side and 34 1/8 on the G side. Interesting, I thought it looked a bit of and an angle but I just assumed the claw was what was off. Here's a pic showing how much room I still have for intonation...
IMG_4199.JPG


Andy1325 said:
Thanks!

Well it's a 2013 model, one of Thomann's B Stock bargains.
I didn't know what year it was or anything, but because of the price I just thought I'd give one a go.

I've only just moved onto playing bass from guitar so I wouldn't class myself as a bass player by any stretch!

My main bass was an EBMM Bongo, I've loved that shape forever, but the preamp has died, typical with PCB mounted pots I suppose. I'm waiting on another being sent from the US so that's confined to it's case.

I saw the Thunderbird and I just love the shape, I also like the 'none more black' vibe with the black hardware.

The neck feels great and as I said earlier it's got a really nice thump to the sound. I love that it's passive too, just straight up and simple. I was very surprised at how light it is.

Typically though it's not Gibson's finest finishing work. I don't tend to go on about it in the guitar forums, I love Gibson guitars, they have a vibe all their own, and sometimes the little finishing quirks are part and parcel of that. Staying that, the electronics all work, plays nice, sounds good and really that's all I wanted.

And I got it for the price of the Epi version so that was nice!
Click to expand...
Andy, welcome to the best club on TalkBass! I love the black birds and have an Eppi VP in that color. Sounds like you got a steal of a deal on your Gibby. You nicked a nice one! Cheers.
 
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#157,765
GBassNorth said:
Good question, I don't think the Gibson bass line up gets the attention that the much more profitable and sizable guitar division gets. That said, we do have the Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro that delivers a lot of the look and sound that the early birds did.


The G saddle could easily be filed to fit an E string, and the D could be filed to fit an A. The A is probably close enough to fit the D. But that huge E saddle isn't gonna be ideal for the tiny G string and filing isn't an option there.


I must have been lucky, no intonation issues with Cobalts or any other string I've had on my VP.

FWIW - I measured my VP from the neck face of the nut to the center of the bridge stud on both the E side and G side of the bridge. I have 34 3/16" on the E side and 34 1/8 on the G side. Interesting, I thought it looked a bit of and an angle but I just assumed the claw was what was off. Here's a pic showing how much room I still have for intonation...
View attachment 3921241


Andy, welcome to the best club on TalkBass! I love the black birds and have an Eppi VP in that color. Sounds like you got a steal of a deal on your Gibby. You nicked a nice one! Cheers.
Click to expand...
I've noticed that on every shot of a TBird, it looks like either the claw, bridge, or both are at a slight angle. Or I am.
 
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#157,773
Bunky said:
Why won’t Gibson build the Thunderbird to the 60s specs anymore?
Click to expand...
1. Because the existing stock Gibson would largely remain unsold once the real life comparisons being.
1. Big businesses (Gibson) don't always make sound business decisions.
(Business bubble. "Everyone in our bubble is smart, and we only want to listen to smart people. This of necessity means that we are obligated to only listen to ourselves." Leo Fender would seek out what players were saying and wanting and trying to give them what real players wanted not what designers thought was cool and clever.
1. Fender and other bass manufactures would go out of business.
1. Gibson would make lots of money.
1. It's not "outside the box" thinking. Only outside the box thinking is considered a way to show one's cleverness.
 
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#157,774
dagrev said:
Very nice indeed! I prefer it to the Gibson, which is both massive and feels like it. I actually think the Epi is a little more forgiving on the inside. The Gibson has some somewhat hard places (less cushy), which was a little surprising.
Click to expand...

Hah! Speaking of a bad designed case - the original HSC that my '64 came in is a joke! (black with yellow interior) It's deep enough to stack another T-bird on top of one in the case and still close it! The T-bird case I use for it is the brown version with Gibson graphics and fushia contoured interior padding and cover. It's big and heavy - but it is well designed/made and protective.
 
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#157,777
dagrev said:
1. Because the existing stock Gibson would largely remain unsold once the real life comparisons being.
1. Big businesses (Gibson) don't always make sound business decisions.
(Business bubble. "Everyone in our bubble is smart, and we only want to listen to smart people. This of necessity means that we are obligated to only listen to ourselves." Leo Fender would seek out what players were saying and wanting and trying to give them what real players wanted not what designers thought was cool and clever.
1. Fender and other bass manufactures would go out of business.
1. Gibson would make lots of money.
1. It's not "outside the box" thinking. Only outside the box thinking is considered a way to show one's cleverness.
Click to expand...

The other way to look at it is this; before the surge of "retro mania" in the '80s - something "new and improved" was the way all products including guitars/basses were developed. For all that CBS (for Fender) did wrong - their tact was "new and improved". Same thing happened with many businesses/products, like AMF/Harley Davidson to name one. In the late '60s-early '70s a lot of players modified their "vintage" instruments to get what wasn't available. So for many years there just wasn't the fervor for an authentic vintage re-issue - the first "re-issue" instruments happened in the '80s. A small hard-core group of pro players was clued about staying with these basses for their inherent quality and track-record playing on the songs we all (still) love, but at a certain point - a 'vintage' bass was mostly considered an old bass. Once the '80s established "retro" - the rest is... history.
 
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#157,779
MCF said:
This was discussed in the last couple of months? One of us on here wrecked the saddle by trying to flip it, but got it replaced by Epi. This can be an issue. My Recently acquired VP came with a set of heavy, terrible sounding ss rounds. But they were intonated. I hated them. They had to go. Replaced them with Super Slinkys, 45-100. I kept moving the saddles back, back, back. Finally got everything dialed in. But there isn’t much adjustability left for the E string. As far as I know, there is no solution, other than using strings that intonate within the adjustment parameters.
Click to expand...

That was me.
Unfortunately I am still waiting for the replacement part. COVID-19 is slowing things down.
I should have look for the set that would intonate properly but this could be expensive cause you never know.
On my VP it didn’t work out with Rotosound 77 and DR Lo Riders both sets .45 - .105 but with RS77 was much better
 
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#157,780
Thumper said:
Before you try this, have you measured from the neck side of the neck to the neck side of the bridge? It should be 34." On my properly drilled Embassies it is. I have noticed though that even on those, I am close to running out of aft adjustment.
Click to expand...

From the neck side of the nut to the neck side of the E and A saddles at their full extent is very close to 34 1/4".
 
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