Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

Oh, my goodness. I just wet my pants!!! What a car.

My first.
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My favorite.
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I like the MSG (Plymouth?) car but what is the white car?

 

[Engle]

A real one is worth a crap tonne of $$$

Apappappappapsppapappaoommowmow

Oh wait that’s the SurferBird, you’re talking about a Superbird

 

[JIO]

An old memory just came back to me: a guitarist I played alongside back in 69-70 had an orange extended nose "Super Bird"(or whatever it was called)with the big@$$ spoiler on the back.
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Someone on the coast owns an orange "Daytona" Charger. (made in limited # to allow Dodge to enter it into the Daytona 500 race) and I see it now and then - usually a woman driver!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

A real one is worth a crap tonne of $$$

Richard Petty’s blue one recently went for 4 million on Mecum...

 

[KaraQ]

Someone on the coast owns an orange "Daytona" Charger. (made in limited # to allow Dodge to enter it into the Daytona 500 race) and I see it now and then - usually a woman driver!

Some of us do drive, now that it's the 21st century....





(although, admittedly, most have poor taste in transportation choices... )

 

[JIO]

Some of us do drive, now that it's the 21st century....





(although, admittedly, most have poor taste in transportation choices... )

Major sorry - not my intent in the slightest ... more that I am celebrating that concept - related; loved this Tarantino flick - if you haven't seen it.. you will cringe majorly but will LOVE it. (Tarantino)

 

[KaraQ]

Major sorry - not my intent in the slightest ... more that I am celebrating that concept - related; loved this Tarantino flick - if you haven't seen it.. you will cringe majorly but will LOVE it. (Tarantino)

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I'm just pokin' a bit of fun, I know you didn't mean it that way

I get the sentiment too, always cool to see a woman driving a cool car/truck/etc., it's such a rarity still.


I know some people may disagree, but that's actually my favorite Tarantino movie! I also loved the Robert Rodriguez "Planet Terror"; I saw them in theaters & bought the set....

 

[GBassNorth]

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Are those pickups the same as those that came in the EB 2013/14s? I just got one and am trying to find some tones I can use before replacing them completely with something else. My initial thought was to remove the black plastic covers and put these in some NOS chrome 70s covers I have, but I think the ash body may be throwing me. This has the push/pull volume pots to go single coil (and I'm liking that), but nothing is blowing me away. Are those switches on your bird in place of push/pull pots or something else? If those are the DeCola pickups, how do you like them in mahogany? I'd love to know your thoughts.

Yep, the Decolas only came on the 2015 Thunderbird. I really like them. The switches are instead of push pull pots. Lots of tone once you get used to them. They’re very hot. Dialing in pickup height can be a chore. And string choice will change things. But I’ll tell you what, with the versatility of my new tt800, that bird is a hundred trick pony.

I appreciate that. I was thinking these we worth giving a chance. I'll keep playing with them and see if I can't dial them in. Thank you!

I have a 2013 EB like yours, and it's what convinced me that I really needed a 2015 Thunderbird. It's amazing what you can get out of those pickups. Having both convinced me that wood does make a difference. The mahogany 'Bird is just a bit darker than the ash and maple EB. And, I have found that you have to lower the pickups as far as you can or they will overwhelm the amp and everything else. The magnets in those things could lift a Buick.

Some additional data points for you.

I have both the 2013EB 5 string and the 2015 Thunderbird. Pickups are identical, both have coil taps.
I was able to dial in my EB fairly quick and find it to be quite a tone monster. For some reason my 2015 TBird took much longer to dial in. Now that its all sorted out I'm quite happy with it, but it was definitely the most challenging bass I've ever done a setup on (and I've done a bunch). If you're having problems with the EB you might be experiencing what I was on my TBird.

As noted by others, the Dicola pickups have massive magnets in them. This means string selection and pickup height (and the interplay of the two) will be critical. I believe MCF is using Cobalt flats, I don't recall for sure what strings Gaolee is using, maybe Black Beauties. I've had best results with La Bella Black Tapes on my TBird and NYXL round nickels on my EB.

You'll most likely have best results if you start by screwing your pups down as far as they'll go. Install your strings (I'd suggest a high tension brand) and do your normal set up for action and intonation. Once you're happy with the set up you can start raising your neck pup a little bit at a time (maybe one turn of each screw at a time) on both the treble and bass side checking your intonation and action with each pup adjustment. If you're EB bass is like my TBird you'll eventually notice the magnets of the pups are pulling your action down (creating fret buzz that you didn't have before) or actually pulling your strings out of tune on the intonation. If so, back the pup back down a notch to eliminate the problem. Follow the same process with the bridge pup. At that point you should be good to go and will be able to get the most out of the Dicola pup EB.

It took me quite a while to figure out the interplay of the pups and strings on my TBird. I've never run across a bass that was so heavily (and negatively) impacted by pup height. That wasn't the case on my EB. So all I can guess is the magnets on my 2015 TBird are much stronger than my EB even though they are supposed to be the same pickup, you may have something similar going on. Hope this helps.

 

[Hano Rokpony]

Mine is a 2005 when they were still made in Korea and it freakin thumps! Damn fine quality and it just looks so cool. The tone it amazing! I honestly feel no need to upgrade to a Gibson.

 

[GBassNorth]

Love those!

My dad always hated that I loved Mopar instead of Generic Motors, but he helped with all the ones I had over the years anyways

I found some old pics, of a time when mine was sorta in flux paint-wise, after getting some body work done (it was re-done back to "Petty Blue" after). Maybe '92 - '93?

The top pic was at my dad's house in TN, the other two were south GA, I think. I had a friend, she had moved with her family to.....Waycross? maybe?

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*sigh*.... I'm really starting to miss that car now

What an awesome Mopar!
Would look stunning in Candy Apple Red. Unfortunately the Coronets like almost all the other muscle cars these days have increased so much in value it makes it rather hard to justify buying one for fun, and they really aren't very practical daily drivers. I'm just waiting for the stock market to collapse and the zombie apocalypse to start so I can trade a few bags of food for a sweet 1970 429 Boss Mustang or maybe a Hemi Cuda.

Well, a guy can dream can't he.

 

[KaraQ]

What an awesome Mopar!
Would look stunning in Candy Apple Red. Unfortunately the Coronets like almost all the other muscle cars these days have increased so much in value it makes it rather hard to justify buying one for fun, and they really aren't very practical daily drivers. I'm just waiting for the stock market to collapse and the zombie apocalypse to start so I can trade a few bags of food for a sweet 1970 429 Boss Mustang or maybe a Hemi Cuda.

Well, a guy can dream can't he.

Agreed!

But then again, I think almost everything looks better in candy apple red, or similar

 

[GBassNorth]

Agreed!

But then again, I think almost everything looks better in candy apple red, or similar

Spot on! When it comes to muscle cars, if it isn't CAR then it better be triple Black.

 

[KaraQ]

Spot on! When it comes to muscle cars, if it isn't CAR then it better be triple Black.

You've not been hanging w/ Henry Ford have you?

The older I get, the more I seem to be over the usual dark-ish colors - black/brown/gray/blue/etc.

Kinda loving the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s colors variations these days...

 

[GBassNorth]

Mine is a 2005 when they were still made in Korea and it freakin thumps! Damn fine quality and it just looks so cool. The tone it amazing! I honestly feel no need to upgrade to a Gibson.

Great point! I have a number of both Gibby and Eppi birds as well as other brands and my top three players are an Eppi Goth, a Greco TBird and Gibson TBird. Mostly in that order depending on the songs I'm playing. And to think, I acquired my Goth for about $150 used. There's a lot of bang for the buck in the Eppi brand.

 

[GBassNorth]

You've not been hanging w/ Henry Ford have you?

The older I get, the more I seem to be over the usual dark-ish colors - black/brown/gray/blue/etc.

Kinda loving the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s colors variations these days...

LOL - maybe not so much Henry Ford as Ferdinand Porsche.
To me CAR on a muscle car screams "Look at me" which is a good thing considering how sweet most of them look. Triple Black on the other hand looks more menacing, it doesn't demand attention, it demands you get out of the way, or else!

Actually, most of my car purchases have a tendency to be more unique colors vs plain Jane run of the mill colors. My 911 is Zenith Blue, which is a hue shifting color that looks medium to dark blue on overcast days, looks Violet in bright light and picks up a purple tint in the evening when the sun is low. My Cayman was Ferrari yellow, which is a warm yellow, Porsche calls it Speed Yellow, I called it Ticket yellow because you could see it from miles away on the highway. And my Fiat was Seafoam Green, a fun retro color. Basically my garage looked like a Skittles factory. Of course I have dark grey cars and black cars as well but that was driven more by what was available on the used market at the time. About the only color of car I've never had was white, I just can't get into that color on a car, it's not me.

 

[11th Street Kid]

I'm just pokin' a bit of fun, I know you didn't mean it that way

I get the sentiment too, always cool to see a woman driving a cool car/truck/etc., it's such a rarity still.


I know some people may disagree, but that's actually my favorite Tarantino movie! I also loved the Robert Rodriguez "Planet Terror"; I saw them in theaters & bought the set....

View attachment 4151115

I love me some grindhouse cinema, vintage or otherwise. Although taking it back to the ‘60s, you can’t go wrong with these 3...

 

[PillO]

Love those!

My dad always hated that I loved Mopar instead of Generic Motors, but he helped with all the ones I had over the years anyways

I found some old pics, of a time when mine was sorta in flux paint-wise, after getting some body work done (it was re-done back to "Petty Blue" after). Maybe '92 - '93?

The top pic was at my dad's house in TN, the other two were south GA, I think. I had a friend, she had moved with her family to.....Waycross? maybe?

View attachment 4151041



*sigh*.... I'm really starting to miss that car now

Just needs to be orange and have 01 on the doors...

 

[PillO]

An old memory just came back to me: a guitarist I played alongside back in 69-70 had an orange extended nose "Super Bird"(or whatever it was called)with the big@$$ spoiler on the back.
View attachment 4151070

Nice! They only made as many as they had to for it to be allowed into NASCAR so they are quite rare these days.

 

[PillO]

Some of us do drive, now that it's the 21st century....

Even in Saudi Arabia now, Or has that been rescinded now?

(although, admittedly, most have poor taste in transportation choices... )

Not just women. There are an aweful lot of abominations on the highways...

And every single minivan.

 

[dagrev]

Love those!
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*sigh*.... I'm really starting to miss that car now

Thanks!
I understand. Several reasons likely: It's freaking super cool! And it would be worth a boat load of money if in good shape.