Thunderbird Club

[Chucky Stiletti]

I was told Alnico months ago seems Gibson doesn't know the difference. When I tested the bass they certainly didn't sound like Alnico V, now I know why.

wouldn’t Alnico defeat the purpose of a more vintagey tone?

 

[RedVee]

Funny thing with the new NR Tbird. From a visual standpoint I like everything about it except two not so minor issues - the three point, wish they had gone the Eppi vp route, but that’s easily compensated for with a hard tail and bridge cover. The other and to me most glaring OCD thing is the decision to put the Gibson name on the headstock and not the truss cover. It just looks out of place there. I’d have to have Irv make me a custom truss with the Gibby name and find a way to cover/hide the Gibson logo on the headstock. I’m sure it’s just me, but it’s really driving me nutz and there’s no easy fix without painting over it.

I assume this is to defeat the folk that put a Gibson TRC on their Epiphone.

Does that mean an Epi VP NR is coming?

I'm looking at the price and thinking wow. Gibson Thunderbird IV non reverse 1967 Sunburst Gibson Thunderbird IV non reverse 1967 Sunburst | Guitare Collection | Reverb

I said poopie! (Merde?) Rather than wow!

 

[Thumper]

I her ya! Giving up carbs is tough, once you get away from stuff like white bread it really gets better. I've had just two beers so far in 2021..........

2 beers? Now you're just talking crazy!!!

 

[MCF]

Funny thing with the new NR Tbird. From a visual standpoint I like everything about it except two not so minor issues - the three point, wish they had gone the Eppi vp route, but that’s easily compensated for with a hard tail and bridge cover. The other and to me most glaring OCD thing is the decision to put the Gibson name on the headstock and not the truss cover. It just looks out of place there. I’d have to have Irv make me a custom truss with the Gibby name and find a way to cover/hide the Gibson logo on the headstock. I’m sure it’s just me, but it’s really driving me nutz and there’s no easy fix without painting over it.

Change can be good. On the bright side, the chintzy Gibson cover can be replaced with a better one without worrying about not having the logo.

 

[D.M.N.]

Me thinks a bridge cover, possibly a tail piece and realignment of the tone knob will work for me. I'm thinking the neck and the sound are going to be a lot like my "Studio" and I'm fine with that.

You know, both the bridge and knobs don't bother me that much, they're easily reconciled visually. The main thing that bugs me bulbous, inflated pickguard. Is it just that the neck pickup has been moved towards the nieck? Or has the bridge pickup moved back and the extended the pickguard to fill the space? Idk, but it looks really...off to me. And the pickguard on the sides isn't as straight, kinda bubbles out to the sides more. Do we have an overlay comparison of the 2013/new NRs to the old ones to see what the dimensional differences are?

And now hearing they aren't Alnico pups but likely the same ol' same ol' ceramic TB+...boy...

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

grandsons…….

 

[dagrev]

wouldn’t Alnico defeat the purpose of a more vintagey tone?

The originals were Alnico so it should help. I think even the 70s sidewinders had one Alnico magnet. I didn't recall any Thunderbird PUs being ceramic until the modern black version. I think this is correct, so please correct if it it's not.

 

[MCF]

It’s almost 17% wider. My fingers notice these things.

I played the ‘15 with the wonderful fast neck and the ‘13 NR today with the slightly wider nut and beefier neck. Moved back and forth between both without thinking about the differences. YMMV.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

The originals were Alnico so it should help. I think even the 70s sidewinders had one Alnico magnet. I didn't recall any Thunderbird PUs being ceramic until the modern black version. I think this is correct, so please correct if it it's not.

oh, had it backwards, got it

 

[dagrev]

oh, had it backwards, got it

Well, now we know you're human like the rest of us!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

You know, both the bridge and knobs don't bother me that much, they're easily reconciled visually. The main thing that bugs me bulbous, inflated pickguard. Is it just that the neck pickup has been moved towards the nieck? Or has the bridge pickup moved back and the extended the pickguard to fill the space? Idk, but it looks really...off to me. And the pickguard on the sides isn't as straight, kinda bubbles out to the sides more. Do we have an overlay comparison of the 2013/new NRs to the old ones to see what the dimensional differences are?

And now hearing they aren't Alnico pups but likely the same ol' same ol' ceramic TB+...boy...

kinda hard to scale them prefectly but totally see what you mean...

 

[Engle]

kinda hard to scale them prefectly but totally see what you mean...
View attachment 4345181

I see it, but I like the looks of the new one as well. All mahogany and set neck is pretty sweet.

 

[GonePlaid]

You know, both the bridge and knobs don't bother me that much, they're easily reconciled visually. The main thing that bugs me bulbous, inflated pickguard. Is it just that the neck pickup has been moved towards the nieck? Or has the bridge pickup moved back and the extended the pickguard to fill the space? Idk, but it looks really...off to me. And the pickguard on the sides isn't as straight, kinda bubbles out to the sides more. Do we have an overlay comparison of the 2013/new NRs to the old ones to see what the dimensional differences are?

And now hearing they aren't Alnico pups but likely the same ol' same ol' ceramic TB+...boy...

Just a thought after looking at Chucky's pic. Maybe the 'bubbling' out of the PG is to put a little more PG between the screw hole and the edge since that's where they crack.

 

[GonePlaid]

I see it, but I like the looks of the new one as well. All mahogany and set neck is pretty sweet.

 

[Bassmike62]

I have used (and still use the Amazing Slower Downer.

In the android store it is inexpensive and the paid version allows you to connect to spotify. It does all the usual slowing, shifting ect. but connecting to spotify is really useful (to me).

I use Reaper for practice. Load each song into its own track, mute all except the one you’re practicing, right click on the track and open the properties window. There you can adjust time/pitch (among many other things) as well as apply EQ and other effects.
I set up a separate file for each band/gig I’m practicing for.

I'll look it up, sounds interesting.

bad link, but I don’t have Windows, anyway. Thanks, though.

Came in late, will check the link tomorrow, thx.

 

[GonePlaid]

I'm looking at the price and thinking wow. Gibson Thunderbird IV non reverse 1967 Sunburst Gibson Thunderbird IV non reverse 1967 Sunburst | Guitare Collection | Reverb

HOLY CREEPECK!! If I could get half of that for mine, I might be tempted to let 'er go. In fact, for their shipping cost, I might even deliver it. Jeez!

 

[GonePlaid]

It’s almost 17% wider. My fingers notice these things.

My fingers? Maybe. My eyes? Not 'til the new specs come in.

 

[dukeorock]

I see that the ‘21 NR looks ‘different’ than a vintage NR, but I think it looks great. Slightly different, but great. I didn’t see any marketing about an era correct vintage reissue, so I’m not fussed, personally. There’s a romance about gear that’s still working and sounding great after 50+ years that I love and understand and if it has certain unique properties to the owner, that’s a win. But odds are there is gear being made right now that will be coveted 50 years from now. Just saying I’m hopeful these new NR’s will be rad because I think they look awesome

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

HOLY CREEPECK!! If I could get half of that for mine, I might be tempted to let 'er go. In fact, for their shipping cost, I might even deliver it. Jeez!

Hard to tell from the post if it has a cracked headstock….

 

[WSquires]

Funny thing with the new NR Tbird. From a visual standpoint I like everything about it except two not so minor issues - the three point, wish they had gone the Eppi vp route, but that’s easily compensated for with a hard tail and bridge cover. The other and to me most glaring OCD thing is the decision to put the Gibson name on the headstock and not the truss cover. It just looks out of place there. I’d have to have Irv make me a custom truss with the Gibby name and find a way to cover/hide the Gibson logo on the headstock. I’m sure it’s just me, but it’s really driving me nutz and there’s no easy fix without painting over it.

And here I thought I was the only one thinking about ways to cover the logo .

Honestly, I thought I would hate the logo, but it's not that bad. It's kind of like a Trini Lopez headstock. What I'm realizing with this bass is that it's its own thing. Gibson doesn't appear to have any desire to make a vintage accurate reproduction. I mean, let's face it, pretty much EVERY detail is different than the model it was based on. The headstock is smaller, the tuners are smaller, the logo is not on the truss rod, the pickguard is shaped differently, the neck pickup is further away from the bridge, it's using a 3-point bridge, the pickups have ceramic magnets. They could have very easily not done all of these things, but they did. Which suggests to me that this is their attempt to re-invent the instrument. (Not saying that it's for the better)

You might also find that it's not that big of a deal when you see it in person. If not, then I eagerly await to see what you do to make the instrument look closer to it's 60s counterpart.