Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

Arrived about an hour ago!
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I’ve been underwhelmed with a lot of Gibson color choices the past few years. But they knocked it out of the park with these NRs!

 

[dagrev]

Not new news, but I just saw yesterday that Sweetwater has been sold to Providence Equity Partners.
Providence Equity Partners Acquires Sweetwater Sound | Mergr
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Could be good for an influx of cash to expand or improve, or.....accountants ruin a good thing.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I just can't justify it right now. Not even to myself. We're still getting things fixed up on the house after the move. But I'm thinking and wondering what I could sell to offset the cost a bit. Maybe even one of the VPs! The white one is pristine and would sell in no time. But it sounds so stinking good. The '06 is a possibility simply because a NR would sound more like what I'm used to. But I don't think I could part with it because it's about as perfect as an instrument could be and I love playing it as much as anything I've ever played. Maybe I can take a pile of things to trade in on a used one one day. I'm hoping that someone will buy one and just not bond with it and I would find myself to be a NR owner as a result, and at a discount.

If you decide to sell the white VP, I might be interested.

 

[Tbone76]

Nice looking Thunderbird you've got there! No doubt it might be the best playing bass you own.

That nut being rounded may mean no more than someone with poor tool skills tried to adjust it or a goofball couldn't figure out the right size socket (5/16) to fit and just went with what he/she had in hand. You may want to take it to make sure the neck will adjust--and likely it will. But if you want a nut, PM me and I'll send you one if you just want to change it and adjust it yourself. But, getting one that's rounded off and tight could be tricky. (I had to buy about three or four a while back to replace the one on my '76, which may have been owned by the same person who had yours! No point in anyone here buying several when I have extras.) That offer still stands for anyone here in need of a ..... You know.

I appreciate the offer, thanks. For now I’m just going to have my shop assess it, though. They’ve worked on a few of my other basses, and have always done great work. They added the DiMarzio Model 1 pickup to one of my previous SG basses, and the routing looked factory-done when I got it back.

The condition of my bass, truss rod nut notwithstanding, is really good overall. The back plate still had the protective plastic layer on it, there are only a couple tiny surface dings on the front of the body, minor dings on the back of the body, and no dings on the headstock or neck. The tuners are all smooth, the bridge studs aren’t pulling out (I did have to properly set the front post to be slightly higher than the rear 2, though), and the pots aren’t scratchy. There’s only minor fret wear on the first few frets, no weird buzzes, and overall it looks like it was well taken care of. It’s why I’m willing to shell out a little cash to get it sorted.

Now I just have to get some black (or gold) speed knobs. I’ve put them on every Gibby I’ve owned that didn’t already have them. My first thought was to swap them for black, but I also think gold would compliment the color. Maybe also put a black pg on it, too....

 

[dagrev]

If you decide to sell the white VP, I might be interested.

Will do, Miles. I doubt it, but if these clowns here don't knock it off about the NRs....well, I have discipline and self-control, but these people here are professional enablers.

FYI: I'm returning the Phase 95. I tried it live for a couple weeks and wanted it to work, but it would not sound like my old block 90. Close, but not it.

 

[MCF]

Does anybody know if Eppi ever put out a stock Tbird with a chrome three point and chrome tuners? Seems to me they’ve all been black hardware.

 

[dagrev]

I appreciate the offer, thanks. For now I’m just going to have my shop assess it, though. They’ve worked on a few of my other basses, and have always done great work. They added the DiMarzio Model 1 pickup to one of my previous SG basses, and the routing looked factory-done when I got it back.

The condition of my bass, truss rod nut notwithstanding, is really good overall. The back plate still had the protective plastic layer on it, there are only a couple tiny surface dings on the front of the body, minor dings on the back of the body, and no dings on the headstock or neck. The tuners are all smooth, the bridge studs aren’t pulling out (I did have to properly set the front post to be slightly higher than the rear 2, though), and the pots aren’t scratchy. There’s only minor fret wear on the first few frets, no weird buzzes, and overall it looks like it was well taken care of. It’s why I’m willing to shell out a little cash to get it sorted.

Now I just have to get some black (or gold) speed knobs. I’ve put them on every Gibby I’ve owned that didn’t already have them. My first thought was to swap them for black, but I also think gold would compliment the color. Maybe also put a black pg on it, too....

You're very welcome. Sounds good. You'll have a great bass when you get her all tuned up!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

This is true, we've met, you have far better legs than me. Bitch!

That’s hard to believe. Photos, please!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

With a butt bow?

For playing upright while shaking her royal booty!

 

[MCF]

So does the TV Silver.

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Beautiful! Is that yours? One of those is on my list.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

We are out of practice and need to get some work in. So, George needs a full set - one of each color.

Don’t we all?

 

[Nocturnal]

Thanks everybody for the info and pics!

Here’s what’s going on - I was surfing the net last night in the wee hours of the morning and ran across a used Eppi bird for sale at Guitar Center. It was a stupid low price of $180 and supposedly in good condition. It was advertised as a Burgundy Thunderbird (which is probably wrong, it’s most likely a burst) but the pic was so dark it looked like a solid black finish so who knows. It also had a chrome 3 point and what looked like chrome tuners which seemed odd for a normal Eppi. The pickups looked like std black plastic, not chrome and no sign of trim rings either. I didn’t see a Ltd or any other special stamp at the back of the heel. All things considered I don’t think it’s an elite. Probably just a plain burst Eppi IV that someone slapped chrome hardware on.

I figured what the heck, at that price I’ll give it a spin, I’ve been looking for a body donor for my FrankenGoth anyway. Thing is, with Guitar Center you sometimes just don’t know for sure exactly what it is they’re selling due to all the inaccurate listings and poor pictures. Recall I got my 2015 bird there when it was advertised (and priced) as a std Gibby, and my BaCH thunderbird was advertised as an “Epic Firebird”. So next week I guess I’ll find out what I got, unfortunately I didn’t grab a screen shot before I bought it so there’s no pics on the web I can reference.

I saw the Bird of which you speak. The pics were blurry and I couldn't see any sticker on the back of the headstock. I thought it was a standard Epi burst Bird that someone swapped hardware on. Regardless, that was a great price.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

To my knowledge Gibson rattled the lawsuit saber with Lull and several others including Dingwall, thus their redesign of the D-Roc. This came after Mike's passing and Spencer (Mike's son) my have just decided to let it go and not take on a potential lawsuit. It's kind of strange though, because back in 2008 when Mike was starting up the project and we were discussing it, one of first questions to him was about this very issue and he replied that it had gone court and Gibson had lost the ability to trademark the shape for a number reasons. Thus he went ahead with his Thunderbirds, in the present day I don't know what's changed in the legal sense, but I will say that I think Mike's basses and probably others like Cataldo will increase in value because of this action by Gibson.

Regard the T5, I'd have rewired VVT, hardly an irreversible modification and, well I think the bass would be better, but that might just be my preference in terms of wiring.

Even if Gibson can’t successfully sue, big company threats go a long way with many people.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Our dachshund, Molly comes into the music room and lays down when music is being played as well. She never goes in there otherwise, choosing to nap alone in the mud room or the living room. If someone is in the kitchen, she'll sleep in there unless there's food being prepped or eaten, then it's full attention for anything dropped or shared.

If you've never owned a dachshund and I've had three... they are either sleeping or at attention for food. Every last one of them.

Sometimes they’re doing wheelies on your rug, and during thunderstorms they foolishly try to get atop your head. At least our long ago housemate’s did.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The G spot!
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(Reaches with quivering fingers)

 

[MCF]

two more days, to get the latest update....

A little musical diversion.

 

[WillyW]

A little musical diversion.

more than $26 in my hand…

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I finally picked up my first Gibson Thunderbird:
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It’s a 2019 Heritage Red Burst, picked up used at Guitar Center. It came with all of the case candy, including the picture after it was built. The build card shows it was made on 11/2018, but it’s stamped on the neck as a 2019 model.

I got it for $1200, but I think I know why it was so inexpensive (relatively). It plays very nice with a medium action, but the neck has a bit too much relief. When I took off the truss rod cover, I saw that the truss nut is rounded off, so I can’t add tension. I know a lot of you will probably say to just return it, I think I’m going to bring it to my local shop to have it looked at and see if they can take care of it. I really love how it sounds (loud and aggressive!), the neck feels great even though I normally prefer wider necks, and the bass feels like it weighs under 8lbs. I was shocked at how light it is compared to my P Bass.

Assuming my shop can sort out the truss rod nut, I’m probably going to swap the top hat knobs for Speed Knobs, and I also plan on swapping to a Supertone bridge. Thoughts on my plan for addressing the truss rod? And as always, thanks for taking a look!

I would get it to my tech right away for eval. It should hopefully be fixable at a reasonable cost, which makes it a sweet deal.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Will do, Miles. I doubt it, but if these clowns here don't knock it off about the NRs....well, I have discipline and self-control, but these people here are professional enablers.

FYI: I'm returning the Phase 95. I tried it live for a couple weeks and wanted it to work, but it would not sound like my old block 90. Close, but not it.

Gotta love return policies! Sorry it didn’t work out, but I get it.

 

[JIO]

Doood!

Congrats! So they are still making the brown/fuchsia interior Gibson-stamped HSC... sans interior satin fuchsia cover-sheet and combination lock. The handle is different too, but the form-fit interior is the way all HSC's should be made.