Does anyone think that a Thunderbird fretless (Gibson or Epi) could be viable for a rock-oriented group? Or would this be a "mud bath?" I was thinking of getting a Thunderbird and having it defretted, but I was wondering what you all thought.
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Thunderbird Fretless?
- Thread starter PRUNEFACE
- Start date
Hi.
The standard Epi T-Bird did get my vote.
Why? They're plentiful and cheap so if something goes wrong, no great loss, just buy another neck.
A better option IMHO would be to buy a cheap chinese fretless neck and make a fenderbird. Would possibly be the cheapest route too, if the hockey headstock isn't a must
.
Regards
Sam
The standard Epi T-Bird did get my vote.
Why? They're plentiful and cheap so if something goes wrong, no great loss, just buy another neck.
A better option IMHO would be to buy a cheap chinese fretless neck and make a fenderbird. Would possibly be the cheapest route too, if the hockey headstock isn't a must
.Regards
Sam
Wouldn't mahagony be a good wood for a fretless? And if it was assumed that the defret job would be done by a pro would that change your mind?
Hi.
The standard Epi T-Bird did get my vote.
Why? They're plentiful and cheap so if something goes wrong, no great loss, just buy another neck.
A better option IMHO would be to buy a cheap chinese fretless neck and make a fenderbird. Would possibly be the cheapest route too, if the hockey headstock isn't a must
Regards
Sam
I agree. I own a EPI-TB4, and if I wanted it fretless, I would butcher that thing in an instant, or do what T-Bird suggested, and save that neck, and find another one to attach that has been defretted (or one already fretless that will fit the TB4 pocket )
Does Warmoth (or any other quality parts manufacturers) make a neck that fits a Gibson Thunderbird? I know Entwistle had his Fenderbirds, but I believe they have to be modified to accept the Fender neck. (Right?)
This looks pretty sweet (doubt I'd defret it though)
http://cgi.ebay.com/1976-Gibson-Thunderbird-Bass-Cherry_W0QQitemZ220290692311QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item220290692311&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A16%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
This looks pretty sweet (doubt I'd defret it though)
http://cgi.ebay.com/1976-Gibson-Thunderbird-Bass-Cherry_W0QQitemZ220290692311QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item220290692311&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A16%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
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Don't defret your bass. I wanted a fretless and my budget was tight, so I built my own. First off, I got a squire bass free b/c it had been in a flood and the electronics were shot. You can find squires cheap on craig's list, etc. (Look for broken necks...) I bought a generic fender style fretless neck (with a Fender logo) off ebay for around $85 (no tuners). I chose active electronics and got active p-bass emg's on ebay for $75 (with wires and pots). I cleaned up the tuners and string tree from the squire and installed them on the new neck. Because of the emg's, this bass rocks. With a little patience and some elbow grease you can build a cool fretless for cheap.
Well my idea was maybe get a gibson and be able to simply swap necks, keep the original fretted and swap when I feel like a fretless.
You can get a thunderbird body from Warmoth, with a Fender neck pocket and get a fretless neck from them also.
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I'd go for the Goth 'bird, because it look cool, and has a maple neck, though they're is nothing wrong with a mahogany neck.
The Gibsons are set-neck, aren't they? Or neck through? I don't think swapping is a viable option with them.
- Mar 13, 2008
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if you've got to have a T Bird body, I'd use an Epiphone as a starting point. This one one was a *relatively*simple project using an inexpensive J bass neck. I reshaped the the neck heel to fit the Epi's neck pocket.
if you've got to have a T Bird body, I'd use an Epiphone as a starting point. This one one was a *relatively*simple project using an inexpensive J bass neck. I reshaped the the neck heel to fit the Epi's neck pocket.
Not so much the T-Bird body as it is for the sound... I thought a fretless one could potentially sound pretty sweet.
If you're going to de-fret one, go with the Epi. Its easier, cheaper, and reversable (bolt on neck vs. set neck). The only thing is that the Epi sounds different than the Gibson, so if you want the Gibson sound its going to cost a lot more and be more difficult to do. Hope that helps,
-Joe P.
-Joe P.
That was also one of my questions. Would it necessarily ruin the bass if it sounded good?
you beat me to it... if I found someone who did that to their Gibson, and was VERY happy with the way it turned out, with the extra costs involved since you couldn't take the neck off to give to someone to do it on...AND I wanted my Bird to be fretless, I would also do it to a 2000.00 bass, as it would not matter to me, since when it was done, I would have what I wanted....
but as an "experiment" just to do it on a Gibson?...hell NO!
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