Thunderbird Club

[RedVee]

Ok, something weird has been happening on and off the last few days. When I think people are posting videos I just get a blank space.
But later on there will be something there.
It’s getting flippin’ confusing

 

[RedVee]

I believe Greco birds are 33 1/2, Rickenbacker scale for whatever reason.

Same as my 60’s Challenge (Japanese) bass. I wonder if there is a relationship there?

 

[Count Bassie]

Set neck? Or through?

Epiphone Thunderbird Bass 2013- Set Neck Sunburst Version with Case | eBay

Same year as mine, similar good deal too.

 

[Count Bassie]

Didn't Kenny Aaronson use 360 stacks with Dust? I love his sound on "Hard Attack" and the solo in "Suicide" is a classic.

He was in Dust?

 

[Instagator]

Can anyone in the club provide feedback on the fretboard "inlay" decals sold on eBay? I was thinking about adding the abalone type to my SpectorBird but don't want to if they are trash. Any experiences good or bad?

I’ve used them with great success..the really do look great from a foot away..
I may change out the double dot decal at the 12 fret on the red T-Bird..They do send extra decals in the strip so you can chose options..So far,no issues with wear and tear. The brand of stickers that I used were Creative Cuts.

 

[KaraQ]

Can anyone in the club provide feedback on the fretboard "inlay" decals sold on eBay? I was thinking about adding the abalone type to my SpectorBird but don't want to if they are trash. Any experiences good or bad?

I’ve used them with great success..the really do look great from a foot away..
I may change out the double dot decal at the 12 fret on the red T-Bird..They do send extra decals in the strip so you can chose options..So far,no issues with wear and tear. The brand of stickers that I used were Creative Cuts.
View attachment 4502352

I also used Creative Cuts, for my thunderbird stickers. Been about a year & a half, no issues

 

[PhR75]

He was in Dust?

He was.

 

[Engle]

I believe Greco birds are 33 1/2, Rickenbacker scale for whatever reason.

I did not know that. I like that scale.

 

[Count Bassie]

He was.

My bandmate had a dust album. Maybe I'll go find it...

 

[Count Bassie]

I did not know that. I like that scale.

I am also starting to gravitate toward a shorter scale. I'd like to find one of those Grecos... maybe in the coming year.

 

[Engle]

I also used Creative Cuts, for my thunderbird stickers. Been about a year & a half, no issues

View attachment 4502405

Nice! Was that a stock item?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Nice! Was that a stock item?

They are listed on their ebay store in two variants:

thunderbird | eBay

 

[Engle]

They are listed on their ebay store but "almost gone".

Just curious if they do custom orders.
I could make them (or any other shape). I just need to source some MOP or Abalone looking material.

 

[Engle]

I’ve decided I need a red and chrome reverse Gibson. I’m going to place some local ads looking for a damaged/worn project Thunderbird.
I image-searched “Thunderbird broken headstock” and ironically a snapped Pbass headstock came up
Anybody have some damage pics of Gibson Tbirds?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Awesome, that thing looks pristine!


LOL - that reminded me of recess in the third grade where one of my female classmates always wanted to play I Dream of Jeanie. Wish I met her in high school, would have made an interesting school year.


I have Boomers on one of my Greco basses, earth shaking lows.
The scale is 33-1/2”

you asked some time back about Boomers on a Greco….not to beat the dead horse but the iPhone mic does not do the lows any justice and even then….this bass is getting a whole lot of use and attention…literally paid for itself over and over…

 

[BklynKen]

They are listed on their ebay store in two variants:

thunderbird | eBay

Hmmm.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Split-Diamond-MOP-Fret-Markers-Vinyl-Inlay-Set-Sticker-Decal-for-BASS-and-GUITAR-/150712405989

 

[WillyW]

I have Boomers on one of my Greco basses, earth shaking lows.
The scale is 33-1/2”

I’m not certain where I want to go with this one…

I’m almost exclusively EB extra slinky roundworms on most of my fretless.

and either cobalt or pyramids flats on my fretted.

I do have a fretted 5 string Ric with EB roundworms, and I am kinda liking it. (5 string flat set I like would be too much trubble)

In the pics it looks like it has some kind of roundworms on it, I’ll give them the usual 20 minutes of play time before I decide to strip them off.. maybe if they are not grungy or too fat I’ll attempt to keep them.

 

[GBassNorth]

Same as my 60’s Challenge (Japanese) bass. I wonder if there is a relationship there?

I did not know that. I like that scale.

I am also starting to gravitate toward a shorter scale. I'd like to find one of those Grecos... maybe in the coming year.

The Greco scale is about a half inch shorter than a Gibby bird but it feels nearly identical to me. Reach can be just as important as scale on any given bass. Two 34” scale basses would feel very different if one neck was set two inches further into the body than the other.

So just for giggles I decided to see what the reach is on a few of my basses. Since I play mostly sitting these days I decided to use the center cut out of the lower body wing of each bass (which would typically be resting on my right thigh while sitting) as the starting reference point.

The distance or “reach” from the center cut out of the lower body wing to the G string tuner and the first fret is:
34 inches and 26.5 inches on the 35” scale Spector Rex5 Pro Tbird (2+3 headstock, A tuner)
36 inches and 26.5 inches on the 34” scale Gibson Anniversary bird
36 inches and 26.5 inches on the 33.5” scale Greco
38 inches and 27.5 inches on the 34” scale VP
38.5 inches and 28 inches on the 34” scale BaCH NR

for comparison…
33.5 inches and 24.25 inches on a 34” scale 1968 Fender P bass
35.75 inches and 26 inches on a 34” scale American Deluxe Jazz bass 5 (4+1 headstock, D tuner)
32.5 inches and 24.5 inches on a 34” scale 1979 preEB Stingray (3+1 headstock, D tuner)
31.25 inches and 24 inches on a 32” scale SG Supreme bass (2+2 headstock, A tuner)

Interesting observations:
My longest scale bird, the Spector, has about the shortest reach of the birds.
A Full size P bass and a full size Stingray are right down there with the short scale Gibson SG Supreme on reach to the first fret.
The BaCH bass has a noticeably longer reach to the first fret than the other birds.

 

[Engle]

Not sure if you need Instagram to see this, but I noticed there’s a bit of footage with my VP from a block party I played in September. (I’ve left this band)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CT_HBWUF5eV/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

[Count Bassie]

Not sure if you need Instagram to see this, but I noticed there’s a bit of footage with my VP from a block party I played in September. (I’ve left this band)
Login • Instagram

I've been locked out of Instagram.
This is something of a point of pride for me, actually. Sorry I can't see it though.