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Thunderbird Club

#195,601
I finally got around to pulling out the neck pickup on my VP and putting a shim under there so I could crank it closer to the strings. Holy moley, there's the beast! It has real low end and the growl I'd been looking for. Now I need to come up with a shim that angles it parallel to the strings rather than the body; when I had it as high as I wanted, strings collided crazily on the JAE frets. Then I'll do the same with the bridge just to see what that's like. Maybe I'd even use that p/u more. Who knows?
 
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#195,603
Seclusion Saturday[1]. Love my Thunderbirds. Slowly thinning the herd (of books).
rig-whitebird.jpg
rig-burstbird.jpg


[1] Sharon's away for a couple of weeks.
 
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#195,605
Chucky Stiletti said:
yep, as much as there are other killer Birds out there nothing comes close to a 60's.....hard to get this across if one hasn't played one...incredibly light, slim....BODACIOUS sounding.....FME, if anything comes remotely close it would be a Greco...(disclaimer; have never played a VP)...
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I told this story before.
But it needs repeating
Way back not long after I joined up over here.
When I was living in PDX.
Portland Music Company on MLK Blvd.
Had an all original, no breaks.
‘64 II.
And Chucks description matches it to the tee.
Extremely light weight and had a tone like no other bass.
 
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#195,607
TBird1958 said:
I think JAE just sincerely loved bass, and everything about it, amps, speakers, basses and performing.
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Chucky Stiletti said:
yep, a “bass player’s bass player”..
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I always think it’s funny how some peepholes get their panties in a bunch imagining their geetard hero’s playing more than one intrumink their entire careers….

Jaco with a BC Rich IronBird

Jamerson with the MothMan



icefly said:
Nice tone

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pelham blue and inverness green were very rare colours until the last 5 or more years, I can’t help but think Gibstone has overplayed those colours….. just kidding…. shaging love them…

ANYTHING beats burst, black and cherry…

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36648D81-B73C-4FDD-BB59-27BB9E0F79AB.jpg
 
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#195,610
GBassNorth said:
Status update on the BlingBird…

shielding complete, planned on using conductive paint because it looks more factory, but my 10 year old can of paint went bad so had to use copper shielding tape. Works just as good…
View attachment 4547272

did a bunch of the soldering and installed the pots, just need to solder in the pups, ground wire and output jack…probably tomorrow….(the black tape is temporary, to keep dust and debris out of the pots during construction, it’ll come off when done)
View attachment 4547273

started laying out the rings by eyeball, was getting dark so I’ll do all the alignment work and drilling when I have good light. Also set the pup wire lengths allowing slack for removal and trouble shooting (hate it when there’s not enough slack to lift a pup out of its route and set it aside without having to unsolder wires)…
View attachment 4547274

same thing at the other end, gotta get those pup wires to the right length for proper wire management and future repair work…
View attachment 4547275
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Pat Wilkins did a marvelous job on that finish!
 
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#195,613
TBird1958 said:
I think JAE just sincerely loved bass, and everything about it, amps, speakers, basses and performing.
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Just ordered a copy of the book on his collection. Not sure if it's an updated version of one I should have bought many years ago at a used bookstore as I don't remember that cover. Anyway, one that was missing from my guitar/bass book library.

upload_2022-1-22_15-41-11.jpeg
 
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#195,614
D.M.N. said:
You know, with these unsubstantiated rumors of more vintage spec'd 'Birds, I just had the realization if they do come out, while I'd want to grab one immediately, with all the exclusives Chicago Music Exchange does...I might have to wait and see if they put out some more ostentatious color options than Sunblurst. Though if they make a II I may need one in Sunburst and a custom color, I do love the look of the old 60s Sunburst ones (about the only instrument I like a burst one, at least the original Reverse, not as fond of it on the NR body style).


Also there's a 2013 NR down in San Diego for sale with Epiphone 760s in it...
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That is a nice Thunderbird. I bet it sounds awesome. Fair price IMO.
 
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#195,617
Stealth57 said:
I had the same issue with the original viper. Your head wasn’t meant to be a roll bar.
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We used to call the Viper the "Joe Camel" car, or the "Joe Scrotum" car because Camel billboards had the cartoon of "Joe Camel" (whose face/nose looked like a big scrotum) and a red cartoon car that looked like the Viper. Couldn't find that exact one, but this one gives you an idea of what it looked like.

upload_2022-1-22_16-7-36.jpeg
 
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