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Thunderbird Club

#160,381
KaraQ said:
Twins!:hyper:

View attachment 3958350

...except the pickguards are different? :thumbsdown:

View attachment 3958351

...and they sound completely different, which I am currently primarily attributing to the difference between flatwounds and roundwounds :eek:

Will get into doing a proper setup (and fixing that bridge!) later-ish...

View attachment 3958355
Click to expand...
Suspense is no longer killing me! Are those the earlier ones with chunky, wide necks or later ones that have necks more like a neck-through? I really like the baseball bat neck of my bolt-on. Plus, they have their own sound, and I like it a lot.
 
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#160,382
Thumper said:
They sure tightened up on aircraft art. I was the crew chief of a F4D from '74-'76 (66-7487), all we could do was paint the Pilot's name, crew chief's name, and the aircraft's name on the hatch, mine was named La Chichona. The pilots, all anglos, never got it, but didn't care because I took alot of pride in her, and she was well maintained and was never a Hangar Queen (no disrespect to our illustrious Queen).
Click to expand...
Our illustrious queen is no hangar queen, either. So, how would that be disrespect? Veronica as a jet aircraft kinda fits.
 
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#160,383
Mvf said:
The pickup spacing looks different, the neck pup of the 2007 seems to be closer to the bridge pup?
Click to expand...

You're right! :wideyed:

And also wrong...:cautious:

On the '07, the spacing is 2 & 7/8 inches between them.
On the mystery Thunderbird, the spacing is 2 & 3/8! :jawdrop:

The '07 neck pickup is closer to the neck.
Distance from pickup to base of the neck for the '07 is 2 & 7/16, for the other three, it's 3 & 5/16...

I've also discovered the pickguards are identical, and mounted in the same spot, the '07 just has a quarter inch more wood sticking out, apparently :facepalm:
 
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#160,384
KaraQ said:
You're right! :wideyed:

And also wrong...:cautious:

On the '07, the spacing is 2 & 7/8 inches between them.
On the mystery Thunderbird, the spacing is 2 & 3/8! :jawdrop:

The '07 neck pickup is closer to the neck.

I've also discovered the pickguards are identical, and mounted in the same spot, the '07 just has a quarter inch more wood sticking out, apparently :facepalm:
Click to expand...
The 'Birds on the pickguards look like they are in different places and different angles. That's what I was picking up on.
 
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#160,385
KaraQ said:
You're right! :wideyed:

And also wrong...:cautious:

On the '07, the spacing is 2 & 7/8 inches between them.
On the mystery Thunderbird, the spacing is 2 & 3/8! :jawdrop:

The '07 neck pickup is closer to the neck.

I've also discovered the pickguards are identical, and mounted in the same spot, the '07 just has a quarter inch more wood sticking out, apparently :facepalm:
Click to expand...
Aha , ok. So the 2007 is the one in the case. Thought it was the other way around ...:)
 
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#160,386
Gaolee said:
The 'Birds on the pickguards look like they are in different places and different angles. That's what I was picking up on.
Click to expand...

I thought so too, but after measuring...

I wonder if my mystery 'Bird is newer? The Pro V is 2009, the CP is at least a 2013, maybe the 2007 is the oldest one, which is why it's different? :help:
 
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#160,387
KaraQ said:
I thought so too, but after measuring...

I wonder if my mystery 'Bird is newer? The Pro V is 2009, the CP is at least a 2013, maybe the 2007 is the oldest one, which is why it's different? :help:
Click to expand...
Could be. Production of bolt-ons was moved from Korea to China. And now Indonesia as far as I know. The early Korean bolt-on Thunderbirds were the ones with big necks. Mine is about 1-3/4" wide, with a big, round back. It is amazingly comfortable, and the odd thing is that the proportions of it make it feel like a thinner neck-through. My CroMagnon hands like it, but not everyone does. Epiphone changed the size to be more in line with every other Thunderbird made. Newer ones are 1-1/2" wide, but with the same round back that we all know and love. I like my Precision well enough, but the road-kill flat back isn't my thing as much.

Your Pro V is its own thing. I have never picked up a Pro V to see what the neck is like. Probably fairly wide, but I don't know. The mystery 'Bird could be any age, especially since the neck is also an unknown. I suppose there are people who can decipher all that from pot codes and the like, but I don't see much point in that.
 
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#160,389
Gaolee said:
Could be. Production of bolt-ons was moved from Korea to China. And now Indonesia as far as I know. The early Korean bolt-on Thunderbirds were the ones with big necks. Mine is about 1-3/4" wide, with a big, round back. It is amazingly comfortable, and the odd thing is that the proportions of it make it feel like a thinner neck-through. My CroMagnon hands like it, but not everyone does. Epiphone changed the size to be more in line with every other Thunderbird made. Newer ones are 1-1/2" wide, but with the same round back that we all know and love. I like my Precision well enough, but the road-kill flat back isn't my thing as much.

Your Pro V is its own thing. I have never picked up a Pro V to see what the neck is like. Probably fairly wide, but I don't know. The mystery 'Bird could be any age, especially since the neck is also an unknown. I suppose there are people who can decipher all that from pot codes and the like, but I don't see much point in that.
Click to expand...

After digging a bit more, it appears that it was made in Unsung China (UC prefix to the serial number), not Korea. There's one just like it on Reverb, all the rest seem to have the regular pickup placement :thumbsdown:
 
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#160,390
Larry V said:
The location of the TBird emblems on the two PG's is very noticeably different. The PG's might be the same size, shape and hole pattern but the 'Birds aren't stamped in the same spot and that's for certain.
Click to expand...
You're right! You guys are great at spotting things I miss! :thumbsup:

Looking at the backside, looks like the center part is made differently - appears to be a single piece on the '07 (on the right)

20200825_082859.jpg
 
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#160,392
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#160,395
GBassNorth said:
LOL - it was a skill I acquired to entertain my daughter in grade school. Late at night we'd make some popcorn, turn on a cable movie, mute the sound and flip the captions to French, German or Hispanic and I'd "translate" for her while we watched the movie. Never knew where the story line was going but she'd be rolling on the floor laughing and having a ball. Just good silly fun. :D

It must have made a lasting impact on her. In high school she became fluent in Latin and in college she became very well versed in Russian. I on the other hand, can just get by with Americanized English and fair bit of Californian and Kentuckian. ;)
Click to expand...
Yes! Translating things by How they feel at the moment is a blast. The kids now do it, too.
 
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#160,398
Thumper said:
They sure tightened up on aircraft art. I was the crew chief of a F4D from '74-'76 (66-7487), all we could do was paint the Pilot's name, crew chief's name, and the aircraft's name on the hatch, mine was named La Chichona. The pilots, all anglos, never got it, but didn't care because I took alot of pride in her, and she was well maintained and was never a Hangar Queen (no disrespect to our illustrious Queen).
Click to expand...
what’s a La Chichona?
 
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