Thunderbird Club

[Chucky Stiletti]

Thanks! That old neck feels like a very old friend. Slightly less wide than typical P necks, which is just fine with me.


When I first started playing I didn't like maple FBs and avoided them. But I love the three I have. This one plays and feels like a boutique bass.
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Gorgeous, Deluxe?

 

[dagrev]

sure knew what they were doing in 68….
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OK, hopefully it will never happen, but if you could only keep one item in the pic, which would it be? Talk about being on the horns of a dilemma!

 

[Nocturnal]

It'll be 20 years next Spring. I saw this EB on eBay and went searching online to see what model it could be because I'd never seen one like that. I stumbled onto the Dudepit and the rest is history. Scott jumped in and answered my questions and we bonded over both Thunderbirds and Gene Simmons, among many other things.

I ended up missing out on this thing and being super disappointed, but a few years later (maybe 2004 or 5?) it popped up again and I was able to snag it then. Turned out to be a modded EB4. In the meantime, (through that site) I'd made friends with many awesome guys all over the U.S. and even internationally, and those ties continue today, with this thread feeling somewhat similar to what we had there.

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I found the Dude Pit in a similar way. I had just bought my 2001 ebony Bird and was looking for info on modern Birds. Found the Gibson forum at the DP and really enjoyed the people. Met one of my closest friends there, plus many other great people. I even had a dinner date with our Queen! The Dude Pit was a lot of fun and I learned a lot there.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

OK, hopefully it will never happen, but if you could only keep one item in the pic, which would it be? Talk about being on the horns of a dilemma!

No brainer……AMX….I’m a player, not collector…

 

[dagrev]

Gorgeous, Deluxe?

Thanks. A little history. These, or the version I have, is fantastic and will never be sold. This is a P/J done right. But half the time I just use it as a Pbass.

8/1999-6/2000 American Hot-Rod Precision
6/2000 Fender introduced the American Series
6/2000-1/2002 American Hot-Rodded Precision [alternative name]
1/2002 Discontinued
Description
Finish: 3 Color Sunburst, Olympic White, Black. Ash in Natural and Sunset Orange Transparent (upcharge)
Neck: Graphite Reinforced Maple Modern “C” Shape
Nut: Bone
Fingerboard: Rosewood or Maple, (9.5” Radius/241 mm)
Pickups: 1 “New” Hot-Vintage P-Bass, 1 “New” Hot-Vintage Jazz
Schaller strap buttons
Bridge: Deluxe Bridge (Top-Load/Strings-thru-Body)
Controls: 250k Solid Shaft (2 Volumes, 1 Tone)
Rolled Fingerboard Edges
Make: U.S.A.
Sound
The P and J pickups volume balance very well together. The control layout is the standard VVT. By turning the individual volume knobs you can blend different amounts of each sound. The J pickup is Hot (over wound) compared the American Standard J. The split-coil P pickup, also Hot (over wound), maintains the vintage Precision tone- harmonically rich, solid and warm. The split-coil pickup is suitable for comparison to Fender’s ’62 Reissue split-coil P.

 

[TBird1958]

I found the Dude Pit in a similar way. I had just bought my 2001 ebony Bird and was looking for info on modern Birds. Found the Gibson forum at the DP and really enjoyed the people. Met one of my closest friends there, plus many other great people. I even had a dinner date with our Queen! The Dude Pit was a lot of fun and I learned a lot there.

I have very fond memories of the "Pit", it was really my "coming out" in the bass community. It was a pretty wild and wooly place to be sure, but everyone was really nice to me, never got slagged. Aside from meeting Andy in person I've spoken with Scott @godofthunder59 and George 69'vette and had the pleasure of meeting Uwe Hornung and his wife in person twice. There was a lot of good that happened there, especially on the Gibson Bass part of the forum.

Thunderbird on!

 

[dagrev]

No brainer……AMX….I’m a player, not collector…

Good choice I should think! Both hard to replace, but the AMX would be more difficult and way more expensive to replace.

 

[GonePlaid]

and to think… I’m only 8 grand short

I went back and looked at all the pix. Gotta wonder why there are 2 'plugs' behind the bridge. Moved forward? Holes from a 3 point? Hmm. And 2 MT holes from a missing bridge cover(needs that ).

 

[Larry V]

I even had a dinner date with our Queen!

We should all be so lucky!

If I ever make it out that far northwest... never been to Washington state... been sorta close though; Utah, Nevada and California by vehicle. Would've loved to have made a northwest swing on that trip back in 2016 but all of the days were already accounted for.

 

[TBird1958]

We should all be so lucky!

If I ever make it out that far northwest... never been to Washington state... been sorta close though; Utah, Nevada and California by vehicle. Would've loved to have made a northwest swing on that trip back in 2016 but all of the days were already accounted for.

The welcome mat is out, Larry!
Washington state is so worth the trip, we have Rain Forests, beautiful islands, rivers, mountains, volcanoes, deserts, basalt cliffs, rolling hills and high plains forests - all in one state! Seattle still has a great "food scene" and of course, I have a couple Thunderbirds and a loud amp for you to try.

 

[GBassNorth]

I went back and looked at all the pix. Gotta wonder why there are 2 'plugs' behind the bridge. Moved forward? Holes from a 3 point? Hmm. And 2 MT holes from a missing bridge cover(needs that ).
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I kinda wonder if that bird can even intonate properly. The new bridge location looks to be at least a half inch forward of the old location. So is it now a 33-1/2” scale bass?

 

[TBird1958]

I just found this...............

I'm so glad that when I was younger concerts were affordable, I got to see UFO around this time, Schenker, Way, Raymond, Moog and Parker were real "Rock Stars" the %^$#*&( on fire, best 30 minutes of the day!
If you don't have 30 minutes FF to 25:00 for "Too Hot to Handle" , Way is not shy about swinging that '76 around, no standing the shadows for him! RIP, Paul Raymond and Pete Way.

 

[Larry V]

The welcome mat is out, Larry!
Washington state is so worth the trip, we have Rain Forests, beautiful islands, rivers, mountains, volcanoes, deserts, basalt cliffs, rolling hills and high plains forests - all in one state! Seattle still has a great "food scene" and of course, I have a couple Thunderbirds and a loud amp for you to try.

Sounds amazing and thank you for the gracious offer. Perhaps in retirement the wife and I will make another drive across this big beautiful country of ours sans children in tow.

 

[Engle]

I kinda wonder if that bird can even intonate properly. The new bridge location looks to be at least a half inch forward of the old location. So is it now a 33-1/2” scale bass?

I guess it depends on how far off the bridge studs were installed in the first place. @godofthunder59 has probably seen a number of 60's Tbirds with intonation issues. His Badbird bridges don't look like they add 1/2" of saddle travel toward the neck. My guess is someone has moved the studs too far

 

[PillO]

No doubt that you will be happy. I switched out a pair that came from my Embassy and put them into a DBZ Bass. It was just supposed to be a rainy weekend experiment..Let’s just say that there is no way that I’m putting them back in the Embassy.The sound and tone follows the pickups.It was an absolute game changer over the stock EMG’s..good luck with the install..you made the correct choice in my opinion.

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Wow! That is pretty bass!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I just found this...............

I'm so glad that when I was younger concerts were affordable, I got to see UFO around this time, Schenker, Way, Raymond, Moog and Parker were real "Rock Stars" the %^$#*&( on fire, best 30 minutes of the day!
If you don't have 30 minutes FF to 25:00 for "Too Hot to Handle" , Way is not shy about swinging that '76 around, no standing the shadows for him! RIP, Paul Raymond and Pete Way.

Awesome, thx….for the life of me I cannot seem to find footage of Way playing Lights Out on a Bird..

 

[PillO]

Anybody else going to swap positions for the tone pot and the input jack?
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It will stay stock initially and see how it goes.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I guess it depends on how far off the bridge studs were installed in the first place. @godofthunder59 has probably seen a number of 60's Tbirds with intonation issues. His Badbird bridges don't look like they add 1/2" of saddle travel toward the neck. My guess is someone has moved the studs too far

not worth that amount imho…the tuners are wrong…who knows what HS break that paint is hiding…..wonder if that gold was In Gibson’s palette that year? Sure looks cool..

 

[PillO]

Lol, I get amps in for repair where the owner puts a piece of masking tape over the knobs to keep the settings…
happens often believe it or not…
how am I supposed to test it? haven’t you heard of photography?

Hey Chuck, what was wrong with my amp?

To start with some @%$hole put masking tape on all the knobs...

 

[Larry V]

It will stay stock initially and see how it goes.

I found no reason to change mine… I thought it was weird to not put the knobs all in a row but not enough to change them up.