dc2009 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 (edited) Hi all, I have just become the proud owner of this beauty: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320708013971&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_590wt_1139"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...T#ht_590wt_1139[/url] Hopefully will arrive here soon. Should complement my regular Epi TB reverse body pro-V very nicely. This one is an overdue birthday and xmas present from my old man, so I haven't actually splashed out on two thunderbirds in a week! Anyone got any experience of these? I'd be really interested to know if anyone has any information on them too, there's none on the Epiphone or Gibson sites! Thanks, Dan Edited June 17, 2011 by dc2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 very nice indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 Thank you, Mark. Proper photos will be uploaded as and when she arrives. I've heard suspect things about the pickups on these so I may be looking for an upgrade at some point. That and I think I'll learn how to use a jigsaw accurately so I can fashion myself a new pickguard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 what pickups are you thinking of ? something more gibson-style ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 [quote name='ahpook' post='1266278' date='Jun 12 2011, 04:38 PM']what pickups are you thinking of ? something more gibson-style ?[/quote] Well it's PJ, so maybe something more fender p lyte/special? Fender pickups may yet be a cheap option, failing that I'd just like to give it some oomph, I've already eyed up some EMGs, or maybe even nordstrands.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 If it was me, I'd be looking at a pair of [url="http://www.thunderbuckerranch.com/"]Thunderbuckers[/url]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I had one of those for a while, Loved the sound of the P pickup on it's own, a great, grinding tone. Sadly, mine had a 4-string J pickup, so the A string missed the poles and was very quiet. As ever with 5 strings, it just wasn't for me and I sold it in the end. That early line of Epi Thunderbirds were excellent basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 13, 2011 Author Share Posted June 13, 2011 [quote name='BigRedX' post='1266759' date='Jun 12 2011, 10:48 PM']If it was me, I'd be looking at a pair of [url="http://www.thunderbuckerranch.com/"]Thunderbuckers[/url].[/quote] They look nice, but not my kind of thing at all I'm afraid, they sound thin and and a bit average to my ears. I also wouldn't want to remove the PJ set up on this bass. I have twin buckers in my other thunderbird, and my warwick can be set up in in various configurations, meaning PJ is the only configuration I'm missing from my three main basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 [quote name='dc2009' post='1267191' date='Jun 13 2011, 12:25 PM']They look nice, but not my kind of thing at all I'm afraid, they sound thin and and a bit average to my ears. I also wouldn't want to remove the PJ set up on this bass. I have twin buckers in my other thunderbird, and my warwick can be set up in in various configurations, meaning PJ is the only configuration I'm missing from my three main basses.[/quote] Which is why on the whole I find sound clips on the internet pretty pointless. They always say more about the tastes and style of the player and their recording equipment/abilities then showing any actual potential of the equipment they are supposed to be show-casing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Here are some pics I've just taken, apologies for the pisspoor light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 She arrived this morning, and what can I say, she plays beautifully, and personally I love the look of her. The sunburst is the very deepest red at the edges in decent light. The neck is a bit thicker than on the reverse body Pro-V, but a damn sight less wide. The string spacing seems to tangibly decrease as you look at the basses from left to right, but I'm prepared to be completely wrong on the matter, though certainly, the nut width feels different. I think I will consider a pickup upgrade for this new bass, the P sounds meaty and full, but I don't like the sound of the J particularly without EQing it to give it some oomph (which I'm not averse to), but that will be some time in the future if it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 [quote name='dc2009' post='1272954' date='Jun 17 2011, 05:01 PM']Here are some pics I've just taken, apologies for the pisspoor light.[/quote] That takes me back. Wish I had never dismantled it now! Can you check to see if the A string is particularly quiet with the J pickup solo'd? Mine was, I would be interested to know if mine was iffy or if it was an inherent design flaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merello Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Great looking bass. Think the colour scheme is stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' post='1273920' date='Jun 18 2011, 05:17 PM']That takes me back. Wish I had never dismantled it now! Can you check to see if the A string is particularly quiet with the J pickup solo'd? Mine was, I would be interested to know if mine was iffy or if it was an inherent design flaw.[/quote] You dismantled it? o.O I just checked, and my A string is perfectly even with both pickups soloed and when mixed, sound like you just had a bit of a duff magnet, which is a shame. Mine sounds pretty nice, though the J pup is a bit weak as I said before. And thanks for the kind words merello, I do love the look of it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaver Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Thought I'd sold mine without realising when I saw this thread. May well be converting mine to a Fenderbird if it doesn't sell over the summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 [quote name='deaver' post='1274718' date='Jun 19 2011, 01:58 PM']Thought I'd sold mine without realising when I saw this thread. May well be converting mine to a Fenderbird if it doesn't sell over the summer[/quote] Lol I wish you all the best with the sale, I would highly recommend the bass to anyone who is interested. Our headstocks are different (in terms of the logo/truss rod cover), does anyone know if this indicates anything about the two basses? Conversion to a fenderbird, by putting a J neck on it or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaver Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 [quote]Our headstocks are different (in terms of the logo/truss rod cover), does anyone know if this indicates anything about the two basses?[/quote] Yes, it means mine's worth £50 more than yours. Only kidding, I've no idea really, I didn't think they made these for very long so I'm surprised that there is any difference [quote]Conversion to a fenderbird, by putting a J neck on it or something?[/quote] It will be a maple boarded 4 string P, haven't figured out the best way to go about adding a 4 string bridge without having to drill too many holes yet though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 [quote name='dc2009' post='1274198' date='Jun 18 2011, 10:19 PM']You dismantled it? o.O I just checked, and my A string is perfectly even with both pickups soloed and when mixed, sound like you just had a bit of a duff magnet, which is a shame. Mine sounds pretty nice, though the J pup is a bit weak as I said before. And thanks for the kind words merello, I do love the look of it too.[/quote] The close string spacing was always a bit much for me, I had the idea of turning it into a 'Fenderbird' with an old Encore P-style neck I had knocking around. Turns out the necks were the same width, so Epiphone clearly just squeezed an extra string onto a standard sized neck. Never got round to completeing it and sold the parts on Ebay, doubtless to another Fenderbird enthusiast. Sounds like I must have had a duff pickup then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Deaver has my old T-bird for sale on here - a dead ringer for this one. I thoroughly enjoyed mine. I slipped my disc and it was a tad too heavy whilst I was recovering, so mine went on it's way. I'd have no regrets about having it back, or picking up a 4-string, as it was a very lovely bass. The string spacing is very narrow. Definitely something which takes some getting used to. Congrats on the new bass! They are ever-so cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Thanks for the kind words gust0o and guys. I'm hoping this bass will re-teach me to slap properly, owing to the very small string spacing, then hopefully I can take that technique to my warwick and make it sound good! I do love the look of this bass, one of the best looking basses for the money IMO. Don't think she's going to get gigged either, so will be a nice bedroom instrument for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 Sorry for the old bump. But just found out she was made in June 1997 in the Samick factory in Korea, and was number 26 off the run that month. FWIW this is the latest I have seen any of these produced (all I've seen on TB, Gibson and various other forums are 95 latest), also, there is talk of them also being made in seafoam green, as well as the sunburst I have. So I want to know, does anyone have any idea how many of these were made (4 and more ideally the 5 variant), and from when and until when? I saw one guy on a forum was told there were 750 shipped to the UK ever but no idea where he got this figure from! @ Cosmo Valdemar, one or two posts of former owners also repeated the exact problem you had, which some reckon was caused by a 4 string pup being put in to do the 5 string, and the A being the string that missed out on the J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 [quote name='dc2009' post='1283628' date='Jun 27 2011, 05:20 AM']@ Cosmo Valdemar, one or two posts of former owners also repeated the exact problem you had, which some reckon was caused by a 4 string pup being put in to do the 5 string, and the A being the string that missed out on the J.[/quote] I'm sure it was that. I remember now the guy in the shop telling me this was normal practice in bass manufacture and that it couldn't be helped. He also convinced me that the P pickup (which had no issues) was the only one you really needed for my kind of music (at that age I probably had a Fear Factory shirt on). Being utterly naive, and already in love with the bass, I took it. First person to guess which reputable London bass trader that was wins a peanut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 [quote name='deaver' post='1274755' date='Jun 19 2011, 02:34 PM']Yes, it means mine's worth £50 more than yours. Only kidding, I've no idea really, I didn't think they made these for very long so I'm surprised that there is any difference It will be a maple boarded 4 string P, haven't figured out the best way to go about adding a 4 string bridge without having to drill too many holes yet though[/quote] Deaver, yours is the older of the two - c.1995, which explains the costmetic differences with the headstock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' post='1284089' date='Jun 27 2011, 01:50 PM']I'm sure it was that. I remember now the guy in the shop telling me this was normal practice in bass manufacture and that it couldn't be helped. He also convinced me that the P pickup (which had no issues) was the only one you really needed for my kind of music (at that age I probably had a Fear Factory shirt on). Being utterly naive, and already in love with the bass, I took it. First person to guess which reputable London bass trader that was wins a peanut. [/quote] Bass cellar, perchance? Yeah, it seems like this either happened by mistake every once in a while, or perhaps a certain run for a short amount of time had this problem with the basses. Which is a shame, because it is a beautiful instrument, I've rather bonded with mine over the past week or two as well. That's quite interesting on the year differences gust0o, do you have any idea how many of them were made, particularly the fiver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 (edited) [quote name='dc2009' post='1284352' date='Jun 27 2011, 05:15 PM']Bass cellar, perchance?[/quote] Congratulations! Now, simply send me your address and your FREE peanut will be on the way to you! Bloody villain that man was. Reprehensible liar. Still, I'm glad your bass doesn't suffer form that unfortunate issue! I remember it was a wonderful, grunting beast. Don't know if you're familiar with the band 3 Colours Red, but their album 'Revolt' was recorded with the 4 string variety, and it sounds excellent, a big influence on me buying one. If I ever see a 4 string version for sale I'll be straight on it! Edited June 27, 2011 by Cosmo Valdemar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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