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Thunderbird Club

#183,322
dagrev said:
Question: My beloved late 70s early 80s MXR Phase 90 has been acting up. The last few Sundays it would make some crazy and loud popping sound after engaged for a few seconds. Makes my 410s really hop. Like shorts or some kind. So I brought it home to see if it did it there, but can't get it to do anything, batter or power supply or both. Anyone ever run into this? It's fantastic sounding and hate to toss it, but everything has an expiration date I suppose.

Any recommendations on Phasers given this is likely done for?
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The "Orange Box" Phaser - Catalog - Whirlwind
 
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#183,325
Tanner5382 said:
NICE! No doubt that sounds killer. I never knew those cabs had little recesses for the feet of the head to go in. Cool!
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Talking killer…Thunderbirds sound magical through this rig.
37AB300F-1854-489A-BE81-71C0028B20FD.jpeg
 
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#183,333
GBassNorth said:
I’m sure many would claim that it’s only anecdotal evidence but I can honestly say, the six Gibson basses I own (2 SGs, 2 Tbirds, Memphis semi hollow, and an EB13) have virtually zero defects in finish, construction, hardware or electronics and are built as good or better than any bass I own, including basses that cost many times more than these Gibsons.

That said, possibly one of the worst built basses I ever bought new was my FrankenGoth (a China made Goth bass). The tuners were garbage and borderline functional, the neck plate was screwed on crooked, several frets were high and needed to be leveled, the body paint was rough on the front of the upper wing, and setup by the distributor (sweetwater) was non existent, heck I didn’t even get any candy. All my other Eppi basses have been just fine and no issues on arrival, including my second Goth (which was made in Korea).

So, if my data set was just Gibson I’d say Stellar basses! If my data set was just Epiphone I’d say hit or miss. And if my data set was just my China Goth I’d say dismal.

YMMV
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With you on the Epis! The IV was excellent. The Pro V had serious bridge problems and the truss rod nut was *very* difficult to budge. The connectors in the control cavity were a bit fidgety, too. The CP is perfect. The VP is excellent, though it needs a bit more adjustment room in the bridge (and the bridge is a smidge off center toward the E side). Thee Epi Goth V guitar I had was spot on, too. I wasn’t thrilled with the pickups after I played it a while, but that wasn’t a quality issue. They just weren’t really what I wanted.
 
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#183,335
Miles_ONeal said:
With you on the Epis! The IV was excellent. The Pro V had serious bridge problems and the truss rod nut was *very* difficult to budge. The connectors in the control cavity were a bit fidgety, too. The CP is perfect. The VP is excellent, though it needs a bit more adjustment room in the bridge (and the bridge is a smidge off center toward the E side). Thee Epi Goth V guitar I had was spot on, too. I wasn’t thrilled with the pickups after I played it a while, but that wasn’t a quality issue. They just weren’t really what I wanted.
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My EpiBird 5er was a disappointment. I'd been playing my 67 Gibson NR for a lotta years b4 I got the EpiBird. I knew it had P/J pups, and I was sorta prepared to make changes in that, but the neck profile and the tonewood (not mahogany), meant it hadda go. I'm not sorry I bought it-I wanted to know. I scratched that itch, and I did OK financially on it, so a plus. Meanwhile*, my recently scored Epi EB-0(09)is fine although I immediately put a Hipshot on it.

*back at the ranch
 
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#183,336
Miles_ONeal said:
With you on the Epis! The IV was excellent. The Pro V had serious bridge problems and the truss rod nut was *very* difficult to budge. The connectors in the control cavity were a bit fidgety, too. The CP is perfect. The VP is excellent, though it needs a bit more adjustment room in the bridge (and the bridge is a smidge off center toward the E side). Thee Epi Goth V guitar I had was spot on, too. I wasn’t thrilled with the pickups after I played it a while, but that wasn’t a quality issue. They just weren’t really what I wanted.
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1x Epi - it’s fine but hard to judge as it was a refurbished Goth. No idea what it was like from the factory but not 1st quality evidently.
1x Gibson - beautiful, gorgeous, perfect. The kids started arcing up when I went to update the home evacuation plan to include the Gibson…
 
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#183,337
Tanner5382 said:
Well, here's the deal. Thanks to you goons I have just ordered a Sparkling Burgundy AND a Pelham Blue through Guitar Center. I figured there was no harm in at least ordering and trying one out. Then, as I stated earlier in the thread, I couldn't really decide on color. I told the guy on the line this and very openly said I was interested in buying both to see which I preferred in person, then returning the other to the local GC if they didn't mind. I also said if they didn't want to do that, I totally understood. I didn't want to do that without being totally up front first. He said no problem at all as he has noticed some color variance from the pics too, so those two will be heading my way next week. Inverness Green was totally sold out, and it appears to be that way across all stores.

For anyone potentially interested in purchasing a NR, they seem to be sold out almost everywhere online. Gibson's direct site seems to have some Sparkling Burgundy in stock. The Guitar Center hotline told me that there are TWO more Sparkling Burgundies available other than the one I got, and that I got THE last Pelham Blue. So whatever I ended up returning, there's only a small handful of burgundy and potentially one blue left, through that outlet. Seems to be almost no stock anywhere else I've seen, though.
Click to expand...

So keep the Burgundy and sell the Blue to Mark!
 
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#183,338
dagrev said:
Question: My beloved late 70s early 80s MXR Phase 90 has been acting up. The last few Sundays it would make some crazy and loud popping sound after engaged for a few seconds. Makes my 410s really hop. Like shorts or some kind. So I brought it home to see if it did it there, but can't get it to do anything, batter or power supply or both. Anyone ever run into this? It's fantastic sounding and hate to toss it, but everything has an expiration date I suppose.

Any recommendations on Phasers given this is likely done for?
Click to expand...
For $50 (as of a year or so ago), MXR would refurb a pedal. You might contact them. I sent in a used M81 Bass Preamp I bought because the DI was noisy. It came back quieter.

Also, I’ve been happy with my MXR Phase 95…
 
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