NancyJohnson Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Here's my newly arrived 2013 Gibson Thunderbird Non-Reverse. I have done a couple of tweaks...I have no love of the Gibson three-point bridge, so that's a Hipshot Supertone bridge. I've installed Dunlop Straploks and swapped the output jack/tone control around so the controls are in one line. Plays nicely enough. I'd say muddier and less aggressive than any of my regular Thunderbirds, but that may be down to the current setup (which I'll tweak during the upcoming days). P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I really, really wanted one of these when I first heard about it. It had faded, but I've just trumped a bit due to excitment - What a lovely thing! I'd do the same mods... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocco Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirmuppet Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Nice bass. I too think the Hipshot is a vast improvement over the stock one. I'd like to see your opinion once you've got it setup fully to your liking against your other T-Birds. I have thought about one but I on't think I'd use it anywhere near as much as my reverse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 V nice, will be interested to hear how your first gig with it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 I used it last week...a four hour jam without a break. Two concerns. I need to find the correct sweet spot for the pickup height; I adjusted a couple of times during the rehearsal - I suppose once I'm there, I'll leave it set at that. Second, when my hands are dry and the back of the neck is dry, I get a slight static crackle when I got up and down the neck, but this disappears when I get a bit sweaty. I checked it out on some other forums and it seems quite common with mahogany and whatever formula Gibson use to nitro the guitar. I'm not going to be doing much playing for the next week or so as I have to endure another hand operation (seconds out round three) on Thursday to correct another trigger finger problem. Boo. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricksflynn Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Absolutely stunning set up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChickenKiev Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 It's beautiful! Thunderbirds are yummy, but there is something about the non-reverse versions. They're kinda ugly, but in a really cool way. Is anyone else getting a Jazz/Jaguar vibe from them? I wonder if there will ever be an epiphone version..hm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 [quote name='ChickenKiev' timestamp='1361485290' post='1986585'] I wonder if there will ever be an epiphone version..hm. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChickenKiev Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1361490398' post='1986656'] [/quote] Yeah I saw that. I know old epiphone versions exist, but they are so rare that they're impossible to find. I was wondering if hey were going to reissue the epiphone version in 2013 alongside the Gibson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsmokebass Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 For a moment I thought you had the SWR Marcus Miller EQ Rack Nice Gibson though. May look into one of these some day soon when I retire my TBird BSB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Well, a minor update here. I'd been using the NR almost exclusively since it arrived and had set up my gear accordingly. You'll see that I used the term 'muddier' in my original post. Following my surgery, my band got back together for a low key jam earlier in the week and clearly something is awry. I swapped basses mid-rehearsal, going back to my '04 TB. It was a shock realisation - all I'm getting from the NR is a horrible mid-low tone, no mids/highs. I spoke to the guy who does my soldering...he asked for a comparison. If the '04 had a tonal output of 1-100, where would the NR sit in this? I guessed at 20-40. I desoldered the tone control and that made little difference, so it's going over to the tech on Tuesday for a rewire. Hopefully this'll sort things out. I'm obviously somewhat disappointed! P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 interested to see how this pans out. Gibson's QC often receives poor press, hopefully it won't be anything too serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 OK, what do you want to know? It's back from the tech...bad pots, bad wiring. Pots were 300K (which I'm assured elsewhere are what Gibson are currently using), so these have been upped to 500K units, and the wiring all new. Now it sounds fanblummingtastic; hotter than my others, so I'll do some adjusting in a live setting. All good! P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1363203840' post='2009826'] OK, what do you want to know? It's back from the tech...bad pots, bad wiring. Pots were 300K (which I'm assured elsewhere are what Gibson are currently using), so these have been upped to 500K units, and the wiring all new. Now it sounds fanblummingtastic; hotter than my others, so I'll do some adjusting in a live setting. All good! P [/quote] Gibson's less than stellar QC then. glad it's sorted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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