Thunderbird Club

[Gaolee]

Thanks guys for all informations and tips.
Another one appeared, refinished in White, built in July/2013, the value reasonably lower than the Pro Oil Natural finish.

View attachment 4519589
View attachment 4519590

That appears to be a Classic Pro. It may not be a refin. Jump on it if you can.

I take it back - that is a bolt-on model. Both that one and the oil finished one are a little different from the usual Thunderbird. Between them, I would take the white one. The passive electronics sound a whole lot better.

 

[MCF]

Not sure if this is old news or not, but I thought I’d pass along that the price for black pickguards with gold birds has dropped dramatically over the past month or so. I used to see them on eBay and Reverb for $70+ all the time. They are now in the $20-30 range. They’re still coming out of China and have a long lead time, but that’s a huge price cut! Ordered mine yesterday for my 2015 Gibby.

Excellent! You’re one of the cool kids now!

 

[bobyoung53]

My EB-2 didn't have a mud button from the factory. It was one of the few. It is a bit of an enigma, but it sure sounds good.

That's weird, incidentally the mud is built in, the button is to get rid of the mud, when it's pushed in it's supposed to be a baritone sound, it cuts all the bottom out. I think it's kind of useless, when it's out it's full mudbucker but it cuts down the low mids for some reason and these is no definition, they almost sound like an upright with dead staccato high notes, with the thing completely out of the circuit it's more like an EB-0.

 

[Gaolee]

That's weird, incidentally the mud is built in, the button is to get rid of the mud, when it's pushed in it's supposed to be a baritone sound, it cuts all the bottom out. I think it's kind of useless, when it's out it's full mudbucker but it cuts down the low mids for some reason and these is no definition, they almost sound like an upright with dead staccato high notes, with the thing completely out of the circuit it's more like an EB-0.

I got my EB-2 in the early 80s as essentially a straight trade for a bass I got for free. It was a little more complicated, but that is the essence. I don't know it's history. It already had a Dimarzio One and no covers and no pickguard. And no case. But it was in excellent shape otherwise. The baritone switch was not there. The hole was filled by a metal plug that I have seen on only one other EB-2. It was factory on that one, so I assume it was factory on mine. I was told mine was a '65 wheen I got it. It has an intonatible bridge, so it has to be a '67 or later. It has cloverleaf tuners, which make it more likely to be a '69 or earlier. '68 is even more likely than '69. The serial number turns up different info depending on where you look. It could be a '72 or several other years depending on who has the serial number data. It is transparent cherry and has two pickups from the factory. So I don't know what year it was built, whether the mud button delete was factory (probably, but who knows), when the pickup was swapped (probably early on) or much else about it. Bit it is my bass and has been for almost 40 years.

 

[KaraQ]

So a very special thanks to @Miles_ONeal and @KaraQ they are extra special TBers and truly awesome FireBird bassists!

The Greco now has non crunchy saddles and an epomophoam 3 point, and tunas that won’t move a whole step by breathing on them.

changed the knobses too..

A chunk came off near the “E” when pushing the bushings out. (Superglued and will polish some other time). It looks like the black part of the headstock is a plastic veneer on top of what looks like maple.

I’ll probably fill the holes from the old tunas with bamboo skewers at some point.

I do have some pyramid flats on the way, I just can’t do the roundworms thing…

before…
View attachment 4519470

After

View attachment 4519469
View attachment 4519468
View attachment 4519467

Looks good

Glad I could help

 

[Miles_ONeal]

You meant amen, correct?

Ah hem.
Ahh hem.
Aaaa Aaaah Aaah Aaaah hem!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

So a very special thanks to @Miles_ONeal and @KaraQ they are extra special TBers and truly awesome FireBird bassists!

The Greco now has non crunchy saddles and an epomophoam 3 point, and tunas that won’t move a whole step by breathing on them.

changed the knobses too..
...

That's lookin' raht purdy... And yer most welcome! Happy ta help. (Doffs hat)

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Thanks guys for all informations and tips.
Another one appeared, refinished in White, built in July/2013, the value reasonably lower than the Pro Oil Natural finish.

View attachment 4519589 View attachment 4519590

View attachment 4519640
View attachment 4519641

As Gaolee noted, that's the basic bolt-on. It will sound like a modern Thunderbird (lots of low end, not as much highs). The Pro (the one that needed body work) will sound like other modern, active basses, but not really like any other Thunderbird.

I love a white bird.

 

[GonePlaid]

EMG 35 is similar in size, but not the same. Also, Thunderbird pickups have rounded corners whereas the EMG 35 have very square corners.

"It's hip to be square"-H. Lewis

 

[GBassNorth]

Thanks guys for all informations and tips.
Another one appeared, refinished in White, built in July/2013, the value reasonably lower than the Pro Oil Natural finish.

View attachment 4519589 View attachment 4519590

View attachment 4519640
View attachment 4519641

Jump on it! That’s a sweet looking bass and more in line with what one would expect a Tbird to sound like.
Besides, nothing rocks like a white bass. One of the best on stage colors out there.

That appears to be a Classic Pro. It may not be a refin. Jump on it if you can.

I take it back - that is a bolt-on model. Both that one and the oil finished one are a little different from the usual Thunderbird. Between them, I would take the white one. The passive electronics sound a whole lot better.

Yes!

Excellent! You’re one of the cool kids now!
View attachment 4519653

Welcome to the club…

 

[Gaolee]

Jump on it! That’s a sweet looking bass and more in line with what one would expect a Tbird to sound like.
Besides, nothing rocks like a white bass. One of the best on stage colors out there.


Yes!


Welcome to the club…
View attachment 4519699

Putting a black pickguard with a gold logo is required on a '15. It corrects the factory mistake of putting a white one on them.

 

[MCF]

If you give me the distance from 12th fret to the centerline of each pup, and if the bass isn’t a 34” scale indicate what it is, I’ll include it in the pup location listing. I assume the one you posted is a short scale, correct?
Looks like we still need info on a Studio bird. I think our Queen has one. Maybe Veronica can chime in with some numbers.

I’ll get them to you in a few days.

 

[MCF]

I'm falling in love with mine.

Me too. It’s wonderful. I love my ‘13. But the different pickups in the ‘21 are addicting.

 

[MCF]

NRs?

Studios and the Short Scale too .

 

[Gaolee]

That's weird, incidentally the mud is built in, the button is to get rid of the mud, when it's pushed in it's supposed to be a baritone sound, it cuts all the bottom out. I think it's kind of useless, when it's out it's full mudbucker but it cuts down the low mids for some reason and these is no definition, they almost sound like an upright with dead staccato high notes, with the thing completely out of the circuit it's more like an EB-0.

Yeah, that is what the button does. I have always heard it referred to as the mud button. I don't think mudbuckers are near as wooly as their reputation. It is partially placement, partially how hot they are wound. And in any event, my bass doesn't have a factory neck pickup anyway.

 

[BklynKen]

Studios and the Short Scale too .

But not currently in the factory.

 

[TBird1958]

Studios and the Short Scale too .

But not currently in the factory.

The Gene Simmons is very similar to a Studio.

 

[BklynKen]

The Gene Simmons is very similar to a Studio.

Oh, right. Forgot about that one.

Jim DeCola mentioned in the tour something interesting. He said some newer projects are delayed because of all the backorders and such. He said it wouldn't be fair to resellers to start sending new items when they're still waiting for one they've ordered.

 

[dagrev]

No. In case and insured.

The last bass I bought was the '06 Thunderbird. Prior to that I sold a bass and sent it far West and it was about $70 (a few years before Covid). When I bought the '06 the seller and I tried to find the best shipping which we were going to split from AZ to KY. The best rates we found was around $160 or $170 for ground. The seller was telling me shipping had gone up and I kept thinking, "Sure, but not that much." But once we looked int it, it sure did. Of course that is about a big as bass cases come, so it was no small and light weight strat being shipped. JIO will recall I was going to ship him a nice gig bag, but the shipping was only slightly less than a new one from Bezos, so it wasn't worth it. I think it was around $60+ to ship to SF. I used to ship basses around and under $70 all the time. I think those days are long gone.

 

[bobyoung53]

I got my EB-2 in the early 80s as essentially a straight trade for a bass I got for free. It was a little more complicated, but that is the essence. I don't know it's history. It already had a Dimarzio One and no covers and no pickguard. And no case. But it was in excellent shape otherwise. The baritone switch was not there. The hole was filled by a metal plug that I have seen on only one other EB-2. It was factory on that one, so I assume it was factory on mine. I was told mine was a '65 wheen I got it. It has an intonatible bridge, so it has to be a '67 or later. It has cloverleaf tuners, which make it more likely to be a '69 or earlier. '68 is even more likely than '69. The serial number turns up different info depending on where you look. It could be a '72 or several other years depending on who has the serial number data. It is transparent cherry and has two pickups from the factory. So I don't know what year it was built, whether the mud button delete was factory (probably, but who knows), when the pickup was swapped (probably early on) or much else about it. Bit it is my bass and has been for almost 40 years.

I would have liked an EB2-D as I own several EB-3s but I'll use it for blues and old rock and roll, Americana, that type of thing and it sounds great, I have La Bella DTB on it, it's got a nice feeling neck as has almost any Gibson I've ever played. Mine's red but I don't think it's cherry unless it darkened over the years which is pretty much unheard of, it seems more like sparkling Burgundy but it too is kind of transparent so who knows? Mine has the bar bridge but it intonates nice.