Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

Are you (the royal 'you') really feeling the fretboard when you're playing bass?

How the fretboard interacts with the strings provides tactile feedback. How much this matters will depend on strings and fingers as well as fretboard material. Probably very little in most cases.
Thus speak the Royal We.[1]

[1] Not the Royal Wee, which doth not speak, per se, and which we keep far away from fretboards and THUNDERBIRDS in general, and even farther away if they are plugged in.

 

[ToddOfThunder]

Try playing this on your Thunderbird...

I only have one word.......WOW!

 

[ToddOfThunder]

forgot one...
View attachment 3956966[
I will never look at the accordion the same again!

 

[ToddOfThunder]

If you are Canadian, a melon helmet will suffice.
View attachment 3957086

I can't believe I forgot to add that!

 

[Richard I]

Agreed. But it's a starting point for comparing. There's also the classified ads here. I really don't know what the current market for a 10 or 15 year old Thunderbird is these days. I would assume around $1200 or $1500, but I don't know. And I really don't know how that translates to any other country.

Lately, here they go for 900-1200€.
For example, I found a 2013 Tbird priced 900€ (but I don't remember if they had one of the weird fretboards they used during 2009-2014, such as bake maple, obeche, granadillo etc), a "road worn" 2008 priced 1000 (naturally aged due to playing), that 2004 with ebony board (but no OHSC) at 1000/1100.

Agreed. In my experience, fingerboard material mainly affects how it feels as you play, and how it looks, although some guitar players sweat otherwise.

As a (modest) guitar player, who tried to swap necks (same neck model) on the same body, with same electronics and same strings...I heard differences between maple and rosewood.
But, bass wise, I think the differences get more subtle.

Could be, to cover the Reverb fees. And maybe additional work?

Fees matter for sure. And they're enough to distort statistics.

 

[BklynKen]

For example, I found a 2013 Tbird priced 900€ (but I don't remember if they had one of the weird fretboards they used during 2009-2014, such as bake maple, obeche, granadillo etc), a "road worn" 2008 priced 1000 (naturally aged due to playing), that 2004 with ebony board (but no OHSC) at 1000/1100.

My 2013's is rosewood.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Cool old Univox tube head for pretty cheap....

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

like those...pretty rare, from the Japanese pre solid state days....they used voltage doublers so as not to have to hi-pot certify their power transformers making more vendors available.....thanks for posting..
this 50 Watter screams...

 

[TBird1958]

So it's true then that Gibson has never made a more recent (post 70s) Thunderbird that has chrome pickups, and whenever I have seen a modern Gibson with chrome they would be replacements of some kind, correct? I've seen several, and didn't want to continue in ignorance about whether Gibson has ever recently used chrome pickups instead of the black plastic for their bases. Thanks for filling in an ignorance gap!

For standard Gibson production Post '88 Re-issue have had black plastic covers, however, I've be able to document at least 5 variations of pickups inside those plastic covers! There are some Custom Shop 'Birds that have been produced with metal covers in the Re-issue time frame.

 

[BFISHER1970]

Question: would the tuner holes on an Epi T-bird need to be bored out to fit 11mm Schaller tuners?
"Asking for a friend"

I put Gotoh GB707s (11mm shaft 14mm bushing)on my CP. All that was needed to make them fit was to remove the paint inside the holes.

 

[BklynKen]

For standard Gibson production Post '88 Re-issue have had black plastic covers, however, I've be able to document at least 5 variations of pickups inside those plastic covers! There are some Custom Shop 'Birds that have been produced with metal covers in the Re-issue time frame.

Ooooh, where is this documentation?

 

[Gaolee]

Lately, here they go for 900-1200€.
For example, I found a 2013 Tbird priced 900€ (but I don't remember if they had one of the weird fretboards they used during 2009-2014, such as bake maple, obeche, granadillo etc), a "road worn" 2008 priced 1000 (naturally aged due to playing), that 2004 with ebony board (but no OHSC) at 1000/1100.



As a (modest) guitar player, who tried to swap necks (same neck model) on the same body, with same electronics and same strings...I heard differences between maple and rosewood.
But, bass wise, I think the differences get more subtle.



Fees matter for sure. And they're enough to distort statistics.

I don't believe Thunderbirds ever had one of those oddball fretboard materials. It was ebony until it was rosewood. Maybe there's room to negotiate the 2004 since there's no case. I don't think there will be much inherent sound difference between them, so it will come down to which one feels and plays better. My 2001 has some weird magic that I cannot define. The 1991 is close, with the 2015 close as well. But, the 2001 is just different somehow. One of the ones you are looking at may have the same kind of magic and make it an easy choice.

 

[TBird1958]

Ooooh, where is this documentation?

Unfortunately, some of it is on PhotoBucket which makes it very hard to retrieve.

 

[BklynKen]

Unfortunately, some of it is on PhotoBucket which makes it very hard to retrieve.

Ah. If you're ever bored....

 

[Gaolee]

I will never look at the accordion the same again!

Well, she is wearing shoes at least. So she understands what this club is all about.

 

[Gaolee]

For standard Gibson production Post '88 Re-issue have had black plastic covers, however, I've be able to document at least 5 variations of pickups inside those plastic covers! There are some Custom Shop 'Birds that have been produced with metal covers in the Re-issue time frame.

Uwe probably owns those few Thunderbirds. And if he doesn't, Scott probably does if they are NR.

 

[JIO]

Looks like a case of essential tremor to me. Propranolol would be a good choice for treatment.

he made lemonade when given lemons...

 

[Gaolee]

Only if you get it from Mary Kay.

mary kay pink cadillac - بحث Google

Sister Aretha's funeral

 

[JIO]

Well, she is wearing shoes at least. So she understands what this club is all about.

Some of you may know that that is the comedian/accordion player Judy Tanuta. I saw her many years ago in Chicago (she's from Oak Park - a northern suburb of Chicago) She was very funny/entertaining then and is still doing her thing now. (with cloths on)

 

[ToddOfThunder]

he made lemonade when given lemons...

He's at a whole other level for sure

 

[GBassNorth]

forgot one...
View attachment 3956966

Looks pretty saggy to me.

How much an ebony board affects the tone of the tbird? What would be a fair price for a 2004 mint Gibson tbird with ebony board and NOHSC?

Fair price depends on whether you're buying or selling. If you're selling, fair price is about $25 USD and I'm buying!