Thunderbird Club

[Engle]

Look what showed up on Thunderbird Thursday! An application to join the club!

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Nice! I also stack my 210AV cabs.

 

[TBird1958]

Here's Post Script to my earlier post, from my buddy Blair, his shot of the RGZ as we saw it.
Still having trouble believing that was 40 years ago....

 

[D.M.N.]

St.Andrew’s and St.George’s Cross! Go Blighty! Is that a Series II?

Becvar Triple Omega. Likely built in the Alembic shop, uses alembic hardware and pickups, but a much simpler wiring. Vol/Tone/Vol/Tone and a pickup selector.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Becvar Triple Omega. Likely built in the Alembic shop, uses alembic hardware and pickups, but a much simpler wiring. Vol/Tone/Vol/Tone and a pickup selector.

How cool..

 

[Basvarken]

Saw this on the nets -"Telebird" (by Brooks - Bass of the Week on No Treble in '19) - nicely done ash body with traditional amber'd trans-white (blond) finish ala '51 P. The Tele hs works better visually than a P-J hs with the T-bird body. Probably sounds like a single-coil P in T-bird guise.

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Thank you.
The pickup looks like a fifties single coil. But it is in fact a split coil pickup that can be switched from series to parallel with the push-pull volume pot.

 

[Basvarken]

Also from Brooks (we know him as @Basvarken) I really like this bass a lot! Then there's our sacred text as well - The Gibson Bass Book!


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Thank you Mark!
For those who wonder how she sounds:
Here's a quick demo that I made when the build was ready.

 

[MCF]

Remember how much they were asking for it?

Always love some Redbone! That is a fun song to play.

 

[TBird1958]

Thank you Mark!
For those who wonder how she sounds:
Here's a quick demo that I made when the build was ready.

That's Sweet! Single pup Birds...............

 

[D.M.N.]

How cool..

Yep, that's it, one and the same! And here it is on a track I played on last year

 

[Gaolee]

Another one of these for your viewing pleasure.

Ah, GAS.

 

[JIO]

I didn't grow up in Michigan but have seen those seated sleds a lot here. My coworker makes them in her woodworking shop for her grandkids. She's a bit different... farm girl that likes to build stuff. She has a farming tractor collection as well. Tomboy all the way.

I bet that sled design/schematics was in a Popular Mechanics magazine back in the '50s.

 

[JIO]

A 'Bird through that rig is the voice of the gods.

I think the Chambers Brothers bass player (George Chambers - who played a T-bird IV) went through Acoustic 360's if I remember correctly.

 

[JIO]

I think that bass looks fantastic! I know I’d just route it for a TBird pickup though. Never been able to make those 51 style singlecoils work for what I like to hear. Though I’d still love to have that bass



When I got my Cataldo NR41, Carlo sent it with a ThunderBucker’63 installed and a spare ‘66 in the box. Carlo suggested I try both and send back the one I didn’t want. The TB’63 sounded like the best P bass pickup I’d ever heard. Highly recommended if you want a ‘Pbass and then some.’ I went with the ‘66 because I already have a good sounding Pbass

I had a Fender '51P RI ('06) with a single-coil and liked it for a bit but it was too much of a one-trick pony for someone weened on T-bird buckers. But I do like a Darkstar single though.., so what do I know?

 

[dukeorock]

Thank you Mark!
For those who wonder how she sounds:
Here's a quick demo that I made when the build was ready.

I would very much like to have this bass please

I had a Fender '51P RI ('06) with a single-coil and liked it for a bit but it was too much of a one-trick pony for someone weened on T-bird buckers. But I do like a Darkstar single though.., so what do I know?

LOVE Darkstars! Bisonics too (is there a difference?) It’s really just the 51 Pbass single coil I can’t seem to make work, but that telebird has a different pickup anyway. Just couldn’t tell from the picture.

 

[RexxRokket]

THUNDERFRIDAY

 

[JIO]

I would very much like to have this bass please


LOVE Darkstars! Bisonics too (is there a difference?) It’s really just the 51 Pbass single coil I can’t seem to make work, but that telebird has a different pickup anyway. Just couldn’t tell from the picture.

The Bi-Sonic part has to do with a specific wiring of the Darkstar pu. (coil-slitting?/series-parallel?) I just wire them as standard single coil pu's - and they sound great!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

A little bit of the Wayback machine.......

This is from 40 years ago, I'm standing by the mainline of the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad in central Utah, the temp is over 105 degrees, I'm with my friend, noted railroad photographer Blair Kooistra and we're waiting for a train to show, the train in question is the Rio Grande Zephyr, the last privately operated passenger train in the U.S. since the advent of Amtrak. Even more notable is the use of one of very few EMD F9 locomotives and late '40 vintage stainless steel passenger cars.

I was a hairy thing back then, this was after 4-5 days on the road with no bathing!
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Not my shot here, but what the train looked like.
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Unfortunately, the train was late and while we stuck it out when it did show there was a freight locomotive leading the train like this picture.......The hazards of railfanning in the pre internet era!
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“you’re waiting for a train…”

 

[AustinBike]

Reposting here on a recommandation from someone on the main forum saying that there may be some people including @godofthunder59 that can help me decode this thing:

So, here we go. This is a late 70's, Gibson Thunderbird. It does not have a serial number. Bought back in the early 80's when I was in high school in Chicago, sold to someone 20 years ago, and just bought back this weekend.

The legend, when I bought it, was that a very famous luthier in Chicago named Jim Beach went to Kalamazoo when Gibson was moving their custom shop and bought up all kinds of bodies and necks, then built some custom guitars and basses. He has since passed and his shop (Wooden Music Company) is no longer around, though they do have a Facebook page and I posted this there as well.

The bass is burgundy with a cream binding and pick guard. No beveled edge like a normal Thunderbird. Schaller heads, Bartolini Hi-A pickups, Badass bridge. Gibson logo on the headstock, no serial # anywhere. The binding is the most unique feature on the bass, I have never seen another one anywhere with this type of edge on it.

Back in the 80's I took it to a shop for some work and when the guy saw it, he immediately said "oh, this is a Jim Beach special" before I said anything about it, so that checked out. The bass weighs and has the fit and feel of a real Gibson, everyone that has played it said that this was a Gibson.

I have no reason to suspect that it is counterfeit and all of the story details check out from multiple vectors. It is a legit Gibson of some sort, I'd just like to see if anyone knows anything about it.

Trying to find anyone that might possibly know anything about either the Gibson Custom shop, Jim Beach, or this particular bass.​

Can anyone help? Here are some additional pictures:

 

[dukeorock]

Reposting here on a recommandation from someone on the main forum saying that there may be some people including @godofthunder59 that can help me decode this thing:

So, here we go. This is a late 70's, Gibson Thunderbird. It does not have a serial number. Bought back in the early 80's when I was in high school in Chicago, sold to someone 20 years ago, and just bought back this weekend.

The legend, when I bought it, was that a very famous luthier in Chicago named Jim Beach went to Kalamazoo when Gibson was moving their custom shop and bought up all kinds of bodies and necks, then built some custom guitars and basses. He has since passed and his shop (Wooden Music Company) is no longer around, though they do have a Facebook page and I posted this there as well.

The bass is burgundy with a cream binding and pick guard. No beveled edge like a normal Thunderbird. Schaller heads, Bartolini Hi-A pickups, Badass bridge. Gibson logo on the headstock, no serial # anywhere. The binding is the most unique feature on the bass, I have never seen another one anywhere with this type of edge on it.

Back in the 80's I took it to a shop for some work and when the guy saw it, he immediately said "oh, this is a Jim Beach special" before I said anything about it, so that checked out. The bass weighs and has the fit and feel of a real Gibson, everyone that has played it said that this was a Gibson.

I have no reason to suspect that it is counterfeit and all of the story details check out from multiple vectors. It is a legit Gibson of some sort, I'd just like to see if anyone knows anything about it.

Trying to find anyone that might possibly know anything about either the Gibson Custom shop, Jim Beach, or this particular bass.​

Can anyone help? Here are some additional pictures:

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Whoa...seriously cool looking bass

 

[godofthunder59]

Seems like you know plenty about it already.! Definitely a Bicentennial, the serial number would have been a oval decal on the back of the headstock Bicentennials were made from 76-79 the '79s had stamped serial numbers, I think all the other years had the decal. The only bound Gibson Thunderbird I have seen was one of Overend Watts birds on the Shouting and Pointing album cover. Anyway that's a really cool bass I'd certainly leave it as is.