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Thunderbird Club

#188,762
Larry V said:
Completely agree with all points. That bass was a road warrior that was not lovingly maintained and should never have gotten the price paid. Their expert was far from an actual expert. He claimed it was all original and never checked the pots or pickups. He did give the tuners a look but that's not good enough, IMO.
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Yep. Around 4500 tops. But I still wouldn’t pay that much for a bass.
 
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#188,764
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#188,765
Nocturnal said:
I call BS on that entire segment for the following reasons:

1: The bass was not near mint from what I could tell. Every time they turned it, the light showed player wear. Including the "almost no buckle rash" that was obvious to me. It wasn't as bad as on my 77, but I would never describe mine as clean or very good condition. Also as V mentioned, the obvious extra strap button hole on the ass end.

2: The "expert" had never even seen a Thunderbird in his entire career? I find that difficult to believe.

3: He didn't even look for the obligatory headstock repair. Even if he has never seen a Thunderbird in his life, surely an "expert" knows the exploding headstock theory.

4: The expert declared it all original without looking in the control cavity.

5: The $9,000 value was based on what?? Clean, unbroken, 76's are half that price and not necessarily flying off the shelves. There was no evidence they even checked online for other models for sale or sold to see if the asking price was reasonable.

6: They offered to pay the guy his asking price plus "a little extra". When have they ever paid someone their asking price on that show?

7: My cousin used to be on 2 "reality" shows and he said almost everything on their shows were staged. I doubt this show is much different.

Of course I am a cynical a$$hole so take my "theories" with a grain of salt.
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You’re right. An expert would have examined the neck and talked about headstock breaks.
The bass looked pretty “road worn” to me.
If the transaction really happened, the Pawn Shop overpaid (double) based on their “expert” giving them bad advice.
 
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#188,766
Engle said:
You’re right. An expert would have examined the neck and talked about headstock breaks.
The bass looked pretty “road worn” to me.
If the transaction really happened, the Pawn Shop overpaid (double) based on their “expert” giving them bad advice.
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Nah. They knew it'd get talked about here. Free advertising.:smug:
 
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#188,767
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#188,768
An original, unmolested ‘64.
No breaks. At Rudy’s here in NYC.

336FF94E-4DC3-4CE3-9E77-E8EA50167C33.jpeg
 
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#188,770
MCF said:
I need a vacation too. I’m taking next week and going to the beach. It’s been a heck of a stressful week with work and buying a house to retire to…got to decide where the Thunderbirds will go.View attachment 4455856View attachment 4455849 View attachment 4455857View attachment 4455858 View attachment 4455859View attachment 4455860
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Congrats on the retirement! Neat house. Lots of character, looks really warm and cozy. With the moose antler and outdoor pics I’m guessing Idaho, but could just as easily be Tahoe or Mammoth. Where will you be calling home?

MCF said:
Tha more I see that setup, the more I like it. How do you keep the three point from moving without it being under tension?
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I have two Greco birds with the three point hard tail configuration, and yes over time (hours and hours of aggressive playing) with low tension strings the three point can slip a bit back towards the claw. A quick bump with your fist puts it right back in position. With higher tension strings it pretty much stays put. If I were to buy one of the new NR birds I’d absolutely consider putting a hard tail on it along with a bridge cover to hide the three point. To the untrained eye it looks convincingly vintage…
632D11A1-40B7-48C6-8144-1577712B5760.jpeg
 
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#188,776
Larry V said:
View attachment 4454552

Did anyone else notice that for some odd reason the bass "turned into a lefty"?

It's weird that the editors reversed the scene. Got to wonder why?
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As a guess, it is not in the original video and is done by the uploader to try to escape a takedown notice from the copyright holder.

TBird1958 said:
I thought it was interesting that his "expert" said he had actually never seen a Thunderbird bass before. It wasn't in perfect shape either, extra unplugged hole in the body end for a strap pin and no bridge or pickup covers. Further, just seeing that bass laying on the counter with no block under the neck to keep the headstock from supporting weight made me cringe. I know it's rare but I would not have paid so much for that bass.
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Larry V said:
Completely agree with all points. That bass was a road warrior that was not lovingly maintained and should never have gotten the price paid. Their expert was far from an actual expert. He claimed it was all original and never checked the pots or pickups. He did give the tuners a look but that's not good enough, IMO.
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They are making a TV program, not a deal... It wouldn't make good TV to say - yeah I've seen dozens of Thunderbirds and this one is rather beat up...
 
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#188,779
PillO said:
As a guess, it is not in the original video and is done by the uploader to try to escape a takedown notice from the copyright holder.
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Ummm... nope.

I set up a tripod in my living room and shot that with my iPhone and uploaded it to my YouTube Channel. You can see my side table lamp and my ceiling fan lights in the darker scenes. :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
 
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#188,780
MCF said:
I need a vacation too. I’m taking next week and going to the beach. It’s been a heck of a stressful week with work and buying a house to retire to…got to decide where the Thunderbirds will go.View attachment 4455856View attachment 4455849 View attachment 4455857View attachment 4455858 View attachment 4455859View attachment 4455860
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Super nice place! Congrats!

Good planning on your part. Looks like there's going to be enough room for all of us! But clearly not enough room for all the Thunderbirds and the Mesa. You'll just have to sell a few to club members, no two ways about it.

Be sure and let us know when you move in. We'll come and trash the place have a new house party for/with you. Thunderbird Nest seems like a appropriate name given it's soon to be contents and it's attitude and view.
 
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