T-Bay Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 (edited) I have been bouncing ideas around for a while for a headless Thunderbird and have finally bitten the bullet and started ordering stuff. I don’t have the tools to make a neck so I have ordered a Jazz style neck off eBay which will eventually have the head chopped off. A headless bridge and end plate is also on its way. I have found a local wood yard that does decent blanks and have fired off an email to them. A wanted ad has gone up for some thunderbird pick ups but if the worst happens I will buy some decent ones from the states. As soon as bits arrive and work starts I will get some pics up. It will be a slow process as life is pretty busy at it is but I am in no rush. Edited December 1, 2017 by T-Bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 Something to look forward to. Good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 You seen this on eBay, headless Precision by Cort! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 I hadn’t spotted that one. Doesn’t look bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 Didn't we have a headless Thunderbird in these pages a while back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said: Didn't we have a headless Thunderbird in these pages a while back? Possibly but I haven’t seen it, a link would be cool if anyone can find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: Didn't we have a headless Thunderbird in these pages a while back? Yeah, I’m sure it worked wonderfully too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 To be honest I don’t like headless basses but this does look good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 (edited) @charic the search engine works. I'm not sure why I can't tag your name like everyone else seems to. Fixed Edited November 20, 2017 by SpondonBassed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted November 19, 2017 Author Share Posted November 19, 2017 23 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said: Thanks, it was a very useful read. I am starting from scratch as opposed to a donor bit the process will be similar if a bit more involved. So far I have a neck, headless system and pair of pick ups on the way. After putting up a wanted ad last night I was nosing around The for sale sections when I saw a pair of pickups come up for trade only for a pedal I had going spare. What are the odds of that? I am still unsure what I will do exactly, as with most of these things I guess it will evolve over time. At the moment I have three trains of thought- 1, a straight copy of the thunderbird, probably with a bit more rollover at the edge like my studio model, 2, similar but with heavily chamfered wings to take a bit of weight out but keep it looking normal, 3, skeleton the wings with big cut outs - I like this idea but not sure how stable the wood would be so feel this could be a bit risky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 30 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said: Sadly the thread doesn't have any real closure. Neeph, get on it, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted November 19, 2017 Author Share Posted November 19, 2017 Always interesting to read others experiences though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Sorry. I'm only halfway through reading it. Hahahaha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzoid Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 On 18/11/2017 at 18:28, AndyTravis said: You seen this on eBay, headless Precision by Cort! I messaged the seller about this one as I was quite interested (note the "was") - apparently it is rather on the heavy side and a bit of research suggests that the body may be plywood. It's still up for £250 but I think that is possibly a bit overpriced. Also didn't like how the jack socket had been modified - if you wanted to put a normal P-bass scratchplate back on it you'd be left with some mess to sort out, shame really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Yeah I’d said to my mate who likes headless gear, if it was £150, I’d have purchased it for something to do...but £250 I’d want a bit more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) I'd be interested if it was a five... and it wasn't on EB... and the seller was open to a haggle... and it was local so I could try before I buy...and if I wasn't reminded of Leo every time I looked at the body shape... and it... Nah, forget it. I bought my five string Steiny for that sort of money new. I have a B2A as well. I think I've had 'nuff of headless bass for a bit. Funny enough, I never wanted to progress to a composite version or a Status. I like the sound of wood and these days I am mostly tending towards the full bodied guitars with compact heads. @T-Bay I'd like to try the headless Thunderbird still. Making the body from scratch should make it interesting when it comes to hanging it off the strap. "The sit" as @Andyjr1515 describes it. Are you keeping a book as to whether the nut will end up at ear, shoulder or elbow level? I'll have a punt on it floating nicely at the shoulder. (Yippee! I finally got how to tag other members into the conversation. Er, did I really just admit to that out loud?) Edited November 20, 2017 by SpondonBassed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 22 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: @charic the search engine works. I'm not sure why I can't tag your name like everyone else seems to. Fixed I'm not sure why that turned up in the search... it doesn't for me maybe you got lucky! I'll be trying to roll it back again shortly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 20 minutes ago, charic said: I'm not sure why that turned up in the search... it doesn't for me maybe you got lucky! I'll be trying to roll it back again shortly I didn't use any fancy terms just "headless thunderbird" in the advanced search panel with all the defaults checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 You may have got in the slight window where I had allowed for all content (prior to it crashing the site), I'm just trying to turn it back again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) 25 minutes ago, charic said: You may have got in the slight window where I had allowed for all content (prior to it crashing the site), I'm just trying to turn it back again Nippy aren't I? It's a pity you aren't an incandescent light bulb. You've nearly got enough Watts to dimly light a pantry! Let me make it 59. Edited November 20, 2017 by SpondonBassed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 7 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: I'd be interested if it was a five... and it wasn't on EB... and the seller was open to a haggle... and it was local so I could try before I buy...and if I wasn't reminded of Leo every time I looked at the body shape... and it... Nah, forget it. I bought my five string Steiny for that sort of money new. I have a B2A as well. I think I've had 'nuff of headless bass for a bit. Funny enough, I never wanted to progress to a composite version or a Status. I like the sound of wood and these days I am mostly tending towards the full bodied guitars with compact heads. @T-Bay I'd like to try the headless Thunderbird still. Making the body from scratch should make it interesting when it comes to hanging it off the strap. "The sit" as @Andyjr1515 describes it. Are you keeping a book as to whether the nut will end up at ear, shoulder or elbow level? I'll have a punt on it floating nicely at the shoulder. (Yippee! I finally got how to tag other members into the conversation. Er, did I really just admit to that out loud?) I don’t understand why the balance point is such an issue for a lot of makers, it’s a fairly simple thing to calculate after all. I messed about with ways of improving the balance on the scrap EB0 I refurbished, even small changes can make massive differences. My Gibson T-bird has no issues at all. This one will be lighter in the body but that should be countered by the lack of head. The headless tuner/ bridge also shifts the weight that way so it isn’t one of my worries (plenty of other things are!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 34 minutes ago, T-Bay said: I don’t understand why the balance point is such an issue for a lot of makers, it’s a fairly simple thing to calculate after all. I messed about with ways of improving the balance on the scrap EB0 I refurbished, even small changes can make massive differences. My Gibson T-bird has no issues at all. This one will be lighter in the body but that should be countered by the lack of head. The headless tuner/ bridge also shifts the weight that way so it isn’t one of my worries (plenty of other things are!). No book then...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Feel free..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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