Thunderbird Club

[GonePlaid]

I am familiar with a couple. Unfortunately, over the last two years of house arrest, several have closed.

My bigger issue is figuring our some home decorating and selecting lighting to complement.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I have my original brass mute plates from my '63 & '64 II's (and the whole felt mutes from the '64) and don't recall the bridge being screwed to the thin brass plate. I separated the mute plates both from the bridges when I got each bass ('74 & '78 respectively) and recall (this was decades ago) they were riveted on and I had to cut the rivet to separate them. But I can see in your pic what looks like a flat slotted screw-head. (?) Was the brass plate screwed on?

mine’s riveted as well..

 

[Engle]

Both of my uncles were John. No Bob in the family on either side. No brass fabricating for me.

I had an Uncle Henry who had a sheet metal shop. He would fabricate car parts for me.

 

[GonePlaid]

mine’s riveted as well..

Mine's...I never looked. It's handy for laying a piece of felt-or something-across.

 

[MCF]

that's what I do -

1967 WEM/Watkins 24 fret ss - before: basket case - what you see is what you get. Original bridge cover but no original bridge - string stop only. (bridge it came with was a cheap beat-up Hofner type)
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neck glued in the pocket... possibly original white poly finish.
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full-length body crack sloppily glued together...
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stripped the thick degraded clear-coat - frets needed a lot of work to be playable...
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truss-rod was very hard to turn - had to do some surgery to free it up. (note zero-fret)
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After:
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That is stunning Geo. Love your choice of color for it!

 

[Engle]

Wireless cables! That should be a perfect fit.

Wireless actually takes a lot of wire to implement

 

[JIO]

mine’s riveted as well..

Oh good! I was not as versed in all-things MacGyver'd back then... but know if it were a simple screw I could have 'figured that out'. Both my '63 and '64 were both riveted.

 

[JIO]

That is stunning Geo. Love your choice of color for it!

Thanks! I can't recall if I saw a pic of one in that shade/colour, but it looked suitable. The fade-hs/neck transition was a Watkins standard.

 

[JIO]

I had an Uncle Henry who had a sheet metal shop. He would fabricate car parts for me.

"fabbed" (fabricated) is a great term that describes creativeness/innovativeness. It's what drives progress.

 

[MCF]

It looks like a 2015 to me.

It is a 2015 with non-original knobs. Now all @Robi needs is a black pickguard and hr can join the cool kids club.

 

[MCF]

View attachment 4564290

We’ll, Gibson serial numbers are always a mystery. Unless like @Gaolee says, it’s a prototype. Either way, they’re rare birds becoming increasingly harder to find. I call mine the Tone Monster. My ‘15 is the best Thunderbird I have.

 

[Gaolee]

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That is amazing. It is either modified to 2015 specs or a really early prototype. Either way, you landed a good one.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Wireless actually takes a lot of wire to implement

Not this kind. Just an outer skin with three empty lines of insulation. Think regular mic cable that Minerva McGonagall transfigured the copper out of.

 

[Gaolee]

Not this kind. Just an outer skin with three empty lines of insulation. Think regular mic cable that Minerva McGonagall transfigured the copper out of.

The pipes for the magic smoke have less resistance when there is no copper to get in the way.

 

[Gaolee]

Running the serial number on my '15 might be interesting. But the chances of me getting around to it are about the same as getting around to anything else.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Mine's...I never looked. It's handy for laying a piece of felt-or something-across.

is yours still on the bridge? don’t think i’ve ever seen your bass without the trays. did you ever leave them off?…

 

[JIO]

Running the serial number on my '15 might be interesting. But the chances of me getting around to it are about the same as getting around to anything else.

The most important question is - does it matter?

 

[GBassNorth]

Running the serial number on my '15 might be interesting. But the chances of me getting around to it are about the same as getting around to anything else.

Just ran mine…

…she be a sweet 15.

link…
Gibson Guitar/Mandolin Serial Number Decoder - GuitarInsite

 

[RedVee]

2011 for me. Which means at a guess that it probably got to Aussie early in 2012. So a 50th Anniversary model (for me)

 

[PillO]

I think the lamp in your font room looks nice.
















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Not a lamp. It's a major award!