Wow! Congrats!View attachment 4356263 View attachment 4356264
The TBird has landed!
Man, what a cool one. It’s off the operating table and now resting comfortably in recovery.
This was my first time doing a setup on a 3-point. Pretty intuitive, and certainly functional. It’s no Babicz, but does the job.
I actually ordered through GC last week, after talking to SW and not getting a warm fuzzy. Order with GC was conditional upon the box being sealed from Gibson. I didn’t want anyone from GC monkeying around with it.
So I got it today, and it wasn’t set up at all, other than being tuned. I admit I was scared when I saw that mile-high action. But I got everything dialed down, nominally, to where my Reverse sits, in terms of relief and string height. Then I had to fix the intonation, which was super flat. But all fine now.
Sounds very good. I think I’ll leave the pups as they are. Real meaty and clear.
Fit and Finish is excellent save for the bottom side of the neck, beneath the edge of the first three frets. Kinda rough there. Have to work to see it. I can feel the edge of the fretboard is much sharper than my Reverse, which is rounded and glassy smooth.
Neck is definitely wider in the hand, but still comfy. Quite a bit of neck dive, which I’ve got zero with my Reverse. I’ll have to see how it plays live before it’s an official complaint.
I need a few gigs on it to really know her, but I’m off until the 14th so…. I’ll abuse her at home for a while.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
@KaraQ Did you not try the Roto Ultra Mags? Maybe it was something else from Roto. If so What are your thoughts now (esp compared to reg 66's), please?
Chuck, sooner or later you’re gonna have to use the hard tail on the Greco.
Nice flame on the body wings and a super clean specimen. Much cleaner than mine.
I have a set of the Nexus strings, which, iirc, are just coated version of the Ultramag.
The only 66s I have are a slightly? used set of the nickel version. The Nexus are brighter than that - and much louder.
I've only tried them on a couple of Thunderbirds. Right now, they're on my Blackbird, and I can't play it with the bass's volume on full, without getting distortion. Even through the active bass input.
I need to try them again on another 'bird, to refresh my memory on how they sound on a "normal" bass....
Oh heck yeah! I love Thunderbird porn. I still can't get over how great the NR looks with the clear pickguard. Great choice!
You’re encouragable.
and the strap button afterwards?Chuck, sooner or later you’re gonna have to use the hard tail on the Greco.
Thanks Kara! I recall you tried a new Roto string but couldn't remember which one. Yes, they are the coated version. Something I think I'm going to try. GHS has a couple offerings of strings with Alloy 52, both sound great Pressurewounds and Progressives, which aren't in production right now.
Spent some time this evening with both of these. I played the white VP for a while first, then got the '06. As much as I rave about the VPs and their tone, the Gibson is just superb to play. It just feels so much better than either VP, which are great playing instruments themselves.
(I also have no idea why my pics end up a little blurry after posting here. They look great in my pics but after copying then end up not very clear.)
(I also have no idea why my pics end up a little blurry after posting here. They look great in my pics but after copying then end up not very clear.)
thx D, @JIO suggested a black pg for the Reverse…..gotta trace the one on there and send him the drawing…eager to see how it looks..
I'm kind of fond of white, likely because it's what I'm used to seeing. Took me a while to warm up the aluminum on the '06, but now I wouldn't think of putting the white back on. But, I think the black would look absolutely fantastic. He does have an eye for those kinds of things!
Get a '15 and join our black and gold club!
View attachment 4356263 View attachment 4356264
The TBird has landed!
Man, what a cool one. It’s off the operating table and now resting comfortably in recovery.
This was my first time doing a setup on a 3-point. Pretty intuitive, and certainly functional. It’s no Babicz, but does the job.
I actually ordered through GC last week, after talking to SW and not getting a warm fuzzy. Order with GC was conditional upon the box being sealed from Gibson. I didn’t want anyone from GC monkeying around with it.
So I got it today, and it wasn’t set up at all, other than being tuned. I admit I was scared when I saw that mile-high action. But I got everything dialed down, nominally, to where my Reverse sits, in terms of relief and string height. Then I had to fix the intonation, which was super flat. But all fine now.
Sounds very good. I think I’ll leave the pups as they are. Real meaty and clear.
Fit and Finish is excellent save for the bottom side of the neck, beneath the edge of the first three frets. Kinda rough there. Have to work to see it. I can feel the edge of the fretboard is much sharper than my Reverse, which is rounded and glassy smooth.
Neck is definitely wider in the hand, but still comfy. Quite a bit of neck dive, which I’ve got zero with my Reverse. I’ll have to see how it plays live before it’s an official complaint.
I need a few gigs on it to really know her, but I’m off until the 14th so…. I’ll abuse her at home for a while.
Following-up on my initial post:
Extremely pleased!
Observations:
-The sound seems to be spot-on for me, meaning it’s got a wide range, highs to lows. -The tone knob certainly makes a bigger difference on this NR vs my 2018 Reverse with Lollars.
-The tuners are great. I know some folks don’t like the mini-cloverleaf, but these are the same ones I installed on my 2018.
-Setting/ adjusting intonation is a hassle, with the screws on the front of the bridge. Much easier on the Babicz.
-Body is thicker than my Reverse’s “wings”. I haven’t weighed this NR yet, but it’s a bit more porky.
-I’m kinda liking the arrangement of the knobs, with the tone down below, rather than all in-line. Only because the output jack is on the front of the body. If I swapped the tone control with the output jack location, I think my cable would lay across the tone knob when it’s threaded through my strap. My Reverse has the output jack on its rear side, so in-line is fine.
-Yes, definitely a neck-diver. I’m wondering about the front strap button location, and whether it would benefit from a relocation to the neck heel.
Those of you with either vintage, or 2012 reissue,
1) Vintage or 2012 reissue
2) what’s your neck width at the nut,
3) where’s your front button located, and
4) how is the balance?
It would be nice to know these data points. I’m not keen on drilling a hole at that neck heel, not knowing what that joint looks like under the paint, but if it made a significant difference, I might do it.
Don’t get me wrong- I love love love my new addition. No regrets, but I’m all for improving any shortcomings.
Thanks for sharing any of your details!
Isn't 30 enuff?burning any transformer smell terrible....i remember being at a Paper Mill on the Finnish/Russian border that had a ground fault on a medium voltage 10kV oil filled transformer that morning and there was oil on the floor all over the place....the 2" diameter wire winding just exploded and there were strands just dangling out of the case......I could NOT for the life of me flush that smell from my nose for what seemed like weeks!......
on Marshalls they don't fully fail (open or short) but instead singular windings start fusing due to the heat altering the performance and power output....ie, can only get about 30 Watts into 8 Ohms instead of the intended 50+....
I’m daydreaming of a NR short scale. Just being difficult I guess.
