It looks best in the bottom pic.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- club thunderbird
The are great looking basses for sure - especially in Jet-Glo.
Its to bad cause I had put Joe Barden pups in there.
My Ric (copy) requires a light touch. If I dig in too much I can bounce the strings off the bridge PU. I’ve thought about lowering it, but I’m trying to develop a more “Geddy” style right hand technique and the present setup works well as a limiter.When I got my first thunderbird I played an awful lot of F#s when I wanted play an F.
When I got my first Ric I thought the spacing at the bridge was too narrow, thought it was too dainty and it was either all bass or treble, I couldn't find an in-between on it. It took me a LONG time to get used to the Ric. I came from a P bass and liked to dig in. I almost destroyed a Hofner, the four little pieces at the bridge for intonation were on the floor. I played so hard when I was a kid I destroyed the last couple of frets on a P bass, this with flat wounds.
The jack placement looks to be handy for thru strap routing, but pretty funky. Aesthetically speaking, I’ve never been a fan of bridges that are significantly narrower than the pickups, just looks off and mismatched to me, like somebody put a 4 string bridge on 5 string pups. The gig bag looks sweet though.
Yeah it’s not like you can cut off the neck and make a Fender-Ric out of it, like you can with a Tbird.
Gotta be honest.
The 2 Epi Bird necks are pretty solid. they move a little but not twisted, like me.
They could both use a little fret filing.
As far as 4 bolts go.
Seems like my luck was with all my old Fenders.
Those necks did not budge.
This statement will be complete heresy.
I love Birds.
But I’m a Fender guy.
I’m sure that’s grounds for banishment.
I haven’t been banished, and I post lots of stuff about other basses here
I seem to like Fenders with humbuckers. And side jacks
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
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- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Luthier Steve Azola made a Fenderbacker in 1974 but it was a Fender P/J body with a Ric neck. I've never seen the opposite. But, I saw a black Fenderbird once on eBay that was made removing the neck-thru neck off a gen1 T-bird and routed for a Fender neck. I was considering buying it but passed. It was in Florida and the seller said Jaco played it briefly. Anything's possible I guess.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,964
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
The jack placement looks to be handy for thru strap routing, but pretty funky. Aesthetically speaking, I’ve never been a fan of bridges that are significantly narrower than the pickups, just looks off and mismatched to me, like somebody put a 4 string bridge on 5 string pups. The gig bag looks sweet though.
more Strat-like - I use an L jack on it
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Honest enough, gotta admire that. Love my birds as well, along with most of my other basses. The most common feature in all the ones I like best - humbuckers. If you’re a fender guy and love the sound of thunderbirds you need to give one of the Telecaster Modern Player basses or possibly the Fender Starcaster bass a try.
I haven’t been banished, and I post lots of stuff about other basses here
The gang here is very forgiving of me.
Anything is possible, but the string spacing on a Fender neck is too wide for a Ric bridge and pickups. I think the scale difference could also be an issue.
Tbirds and Fenders are closer in geometry.
At this point in time it would be much smarter to repair a Gen1 Tbird, no matter how messed up the neck was.
I have a concept for a Thunderic, but not enough time to implement. I should find a local luthier to build a husk.
I haven’t been banished, and I post lots of stuff about other basses here
To my ear, I liked the way the 7ender Dimensions sounded. But that is probably because of the humbuckers. And because it appealed to me, they discontinued it.I seem to like Fenders with humbuckers. And side jacks
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,964
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Well yes, if I were going to do major modding like that many things would have to change.
I thought Geddy played hard?
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Rather than the Strat Jack, if I was to use Fender stuff in a build I’d possibly go for a Tele or Tele Bass control plate. I’ve seen the Tele Bass plate with 3 controls and a bit of chrome / stainless looks cool. Plug through the end or in the 3rd control hole on a VT or VV layout
