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Thunderbird Club

#194,761
dagrev said:
For me, knowing how much I love my '64, that price isn't far off for me personally. Let's face it, they are all crazy in price because they sound fantastic and there are so few of them around. In that respect they're all too darn expensive. But you should be able to sell it for what you paid just about any time you want. If you ever did. It's really a personal judgment call. Obviously depends on the bass, but how much you want one. I would personally pay more for a IV.
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Or you could buy aprox 10 VPs and load all manner of stings and have an awful lot of variety! Buy a few less and refin a few to your liking. Get good deals on VPs and you can also generally sell them for what you paid. If I couldn't have my '64, I'd want my VPs to use live.

Or... You could wait and see what Gibson comes up with that's in the works. They may have talked to the folks at Epi and might darn well get a Thunderbird right. Seriously, that may be a really good option. I have to say that as much as I'm (not) playing these days, I couldn't really justify around $7k for a bass. Well, I could, but could and should are very different and varies in this matter from person to person. If you can comfortably afford it, go for a 60s if that's what you really want. They won't get any cheaper and what you get won't likely be go down in value.
 
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#194,762
dagrev said:
For me, knowing how much I love my '64, that price isn't far off for me personally. Let's face it, they are all crazy in price because they sound fantastic and there are so few of them around. In that respect they're all too darn expensive. But you should be able to sell it for what you paid just about any time you want. If you ever did. It's really a personal judgment call. Obviously depends on the bass, but how much you want one. I would personally pay more for a IV.
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Agree, and for reasons I've already stated. I have nothing against a one pu bass - my 1pu (Guild Darkstar single-coil) Teiscobird is my mainstay TSC's bass at rehearsals and occasionally live. Bass pu's either one or two (or three!) have everything to do with where they are located, what type of pu, active or passive, and what body wood they are in. Many incremental nuanced differences resulting in many different sounding basses.
upload_2022-1-14_19-30-33.jpeg

recorded with my Teiscobird -
 
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#194,765
JIO said:
Agree, and for reasons I've already stated. I have nothing against a one pu bass - my 1pu (Guild Darkstar single-coil) Teiscobird is my mainstay TSC's bass at rehearsals and occasionally live. Bass pu's either one or two (or three!) have everything to do with where they are located, what type of pu, active or passive, and what body wood they are in. Many incremental nuanced differences resulting in many different sounding basses.
View attachment 4542970
recorded with my Teiscobird -
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I love that bass.

I use both PUs most of the time I'd say (70/30?). If I don't want the bridge PU, there's handy thingy I can turn and it disappears like magic! I also just like the looks of the IV much better. When I see a II it just looks to me a acre of wood that's clearly missing something and messes with the proportionality to my eyes. Even the knob positions look off to me. That's not to say I wouldn't like one.
 
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#194,767
dagrev said:
I love that bass.

I use both PUs most of the time I'd say (70/30?). If I don't want the bridge PU, there's handy thingy I can turn and it disappears like magic! I also just like the looks of the IV much better. When I see a II it just looks to me a acre of wood that's clearly missing something and messes with the proportionality to my eyes. Even the knob positions look off to me. That's not to say I wouldn't like one.
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Yes, the redundant/dead-horse debate of a one pu bass vs a two pu bass. (Gibson, Fender, whatever) You are absolutely correct about the simplicity of magically transforming that pesky 2 pu bass into a 1 pu bass, but you'd never know if if you spend any time on a P/J related thread. But, I get the look thing - it's like a track bike vs a multi-speed road bike... there's an elegant simplicity to a 1 pu bass (and especially if it sounds killer!)

I also use both pu's most of the time, favoring the bridge pu by a varying degree. (depending on the song) I also use finger-style when appropriate, but mostly favoring a pick. I arrived at this after many years playing the opposite (occasional pick - mostly finger-style) and again - these days in servitude to the songs we play in my band. (where Carol Kaye is queen) Please google and watch YouTube vids of the East Bays very own Bobby Vega - the hands-down master of funky pick-playing if you have any doubts about the effectiveness of the mighty plectrum!

Hell - here's one to watch right here! (no slap)



I've seen and met Bobby on a couple of occasions - a super sweet guy!

upload_2022-1-14_20-25-33.jpeg
 
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#194,768
RedVee said:
Looks great! As Blake said:

Tyger Tyger burning bright
In the forests of the night
What Immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry
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That’s pretty cool, don’t know who Blake is. Regardless, your post just gave me a fantastic idea!
I’m gonna put my Art and Graphics scholarship to use tonight. Might post something creative tomorrow that you’ve been the impetus for, stay tuned.
 
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#194,769
GBassNorth said:
That’s pretty cool, don’t know who Blake is. Regardless, your post just gave me a fantastic idea!
I’m gonna put my Art and Graphics scholarship to use tonight. Might post something creative tomorrow that you’ve been the impetus for, stay tuned.
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William Blake - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake My undergraduate art school major was lithography so I was well aware of WB at an early age. Some metaphysically surreal shït.

upload_2022-1-14_20-36-15.jpeg
 
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#194,770
BklynKen said:
So is "Will this dress go with one of the Thunderbirds" always part of the shopping criteria?
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Ken, of course it is, these sorts of things cannot be left to mere chance ( at least not if you're a bit of a Queen) :laugh:
 
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#194,771
dagrev said:
LOL- yeah, not exactly what I had in mind. But I'll settle for being a source of a good laugh!

I think ratified (not confirmed), might well be used for "distressed" finish. Some do look rather ratty.
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There's a whole genre of "rat-rod" ... people who "get" the look -

upload_2022-1-14_20-41-33.jpeg
 
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#194,773
icefly said:


First cover, maybe many will come, but I seriously need to improve my left and right hands a lot :meh:
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You're doing fine here! Creedence is great stuff to play along with, tap your foot a little and it'll come together real quick.
 
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#194,774
Nocturnal said:
That looks fantastic!! The wood grain is beautiful.
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Thanks.

I found the flame maple capped body on eBay with the neck and control cavity routes already done. In mid build I stumbled across the used Fender neck on eBay and it ended up taking the build in a very different direction (the original plan was a transparent blonde finish that wouldn’t have highlighted the maple figuring nearly as much).

Originally the neck was a standard Fender finish and shape but I saw a hint of a lot of figuring in the headstock and all along the back. I suspect the seller was offing it because of the horrendous fret sprout. Took a chance on it, corrected the sprout, rolled the edges, sanded it to bare wood, reshaped the headstock to my standard North shape, filled the screw holes and handed it (along with the body) to a legend in the LA area for refinishing in Tiger Eye burst. I’m really pleased with how it came out.
 
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#194,778
Andii Syckz said:
Was scrolling through old note drafts i had going on, & stumbled upon what i had for the collective thunderbird idea.

Which got me thinking about it again. & so i'll try to make this easy to pin point certain aspects of it throughout a voting. Quote this post to input your vote (itll help if im notified to keep track xD)

Let the polling begin!

Body style: Traditional, or NR

Body type: flat, or raised mid section

Construction: Bolt on, set neck, neck through

Number of pickups: 1, 2, 3

Type of pickup: thunderbird traditional, other (be it split p, j, mm style, or any other type of pickup)

Hardware color: nickel, chrome, black, gold.

Guard: definitive, none, or optional.

Colour: personal preference, however i'd like to hear.

Thanks for chiming in :)
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NR, whatever, whatever(as long as it's mahogany), 1, TB traditional, nickel/chrome, none, Emberglow(Chrysler/ Mustang).
 
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#194,780
JIO said:
For sure - please do! I did notice the tr cover being rounded out at the top. And judging by where the screw is (centered) makes me think it is a replacement as you can see the screw on mine is near the curve point. Was the hs repaired? Usually when they are all black front & back this is the case. So many '63-'65 II's & IV's have been repaired.

View attachment 4542374
I used a scotch pad to dull the gloss on the neck - I do this on most all my basses.
View attachment 4542377
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And a certain 67 NR.:bag:
 
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