neepheid Posted Friday at 09:51 Posted Friday at 09:51 Well, technically it was NBD yesterday, but I drove to Inverness after work to get this bad boy and didn't get back home until late, so I couldn't be bothered filing the report until today. I have assembled a flock (?) of Thunderbirds - saw this guy up on FB marketplace for a most agreeable price and couldn't pass it up. It's even redder in person than these pics suggest - it's almost redburst rather than sunburst, and I really dig it. Here it is with its rather more outgoing sibling... Got a lot of extras with this one - Hipshot bridge (as you can see), the official hard case, strap locks (Schaller), a strap, a spare set of strings. And the bonus of all bonuses, the slightly longer Vintage Pro/60s/64 T-bird fits in the hard case - just! Happy, I am. Except that because the Hipshot bridge is chrome, I really want to replace the tuners with chrome ones to match... Jamais contente 14 Quote
HeadlessBassist Posted Friday at 09:58 Posted Friday at 09:58 Congrats Neepheid. Looks really nice. Is that the through neck/set neck model? 1 Quote
neepheid Posted Friday at 10:03 Author Posted Friday at 10:03 4 minutes ago, HeadlessBassist said: Congrats Neepheid. Looks really nice. Is that the through neck/set neck model? Through neck, Gibson USA TB+ pickups. 1 Quote
JJMotown Posted Friday at 10:05 Posted Friday at 10:05 What is the difference in sound between the two birds? Quote
neepheid Posted Friday at 10:07 Author Posted Friday at 10:07 Just now, JJMotown said: What is the difference in sound between the two birds? Not had had a chance to do a comparison yet. Watch this space. At work the now, going to a gig tonight (as a punter), so probably won't have any answers until Saturday... 2 Quote
Skybone Posted Friday at 15:41 Posted Friday at 15:41 5 hours ago, neepheid said: Well, technically it was NBD yesterday, but I drove to Inverness after work to get this bad boy and didn't get back home until late, so I couldn't be bothered filing the report until today. I have assembled a flock (?) of Thunderbirds - saw this guy up on FB marketplace for a most agreeable price and couldn't pass it up. It's even redder in person than these pics suggest - it's almost redburst rather than sunburst, and I really dig it. Here it is with its rather more outgoing sibling... Got a lot of extras with this one - Hipshot bridge (as you can see), the official hard case, strap locks (Schaller), a strap, a spare set of strings. And the bonus of all bonuses, the slightly longer Vintage Pro/60s/64 T-bird fits in the hard case - just! Happy, I am. Except that because the Hipshot bridge is chrome, I really want to replace the tuners with chrome ones to match... Jamais contente Should have waved when you were in Snecky. 1 Quote
TbirdnTalman Posted Friday at 17:10 Posted Friday at 17:10 I have one of these, it's great. Managed to get the PUs out of the plastic covers and fit chrome covers 🙂 1 Quote
neepheid Posted Friday at 17:15 Author Posted Friday at 17:15 1 hour ago, Skybone said: Should have waved when you were in Snecky. If I'd known, I'd have invited myself round for a cup of tea 1 Quote
jd56hawk Posted Friday at 20:50 Posted Friday at 20:50 The new Thunderbirds are very good...not to mention they have more than two or three finish options...but I still think the Classic Pros are number one. Not to mention, I'm a big fan of the black hardware and pickups...had a Alpine White one years ago. (Yeah, one of those basses I should've never sold.) 2 Quote
TbirdnTalman Posted Friday at 21:23 Posted Friday at 21:23 yeah a white n black is on my wishlist, I like the black hardware too but at the time you couldn't get a chrome one and just wanted that look 🙂 1 Quote
TbirdnTalman Posted Friday at 21:30 Posted Friday at 21:30 7 minutes ago, TbirdnTalman said: yeah a white n black is on my wishlist, I like the black hardware too but at the time you couldn't get a chrome one and just wanted that look 🙂 1 Quote
neepheid Posted 5 hours ago Author Posted 5 hours ago On 27/06/2025 at 11:05, JJMotown said: What is the difference in sound between the two birds? This is just an initial take, in headphones, and it might be slightly unfair on the Classic Pro as I have not had a chance to change the strings yet (not doing that until I get chrome tuners). To my ears, the Classic Pro is darker sounding, much more prominent in the low mids, whereas the Vintage Pro has a somewhat fuller range of sound, a bit more top end and a more balanced (but still very aggressive) attack. The difference might close up a little when I fit fresh strings to the Classic Pro, so may revisit this question again. But it is broadly as I expected. The Gibson TB+ pickup, love it or hate it is a growly, mean sound, with that emphasis on the low mids, but retaining a full bottom end and a (possibly only perceived) lack of top end as a result. The Epiphone Probucker 760 is more balanced - it's hardly "hi-fi", but it's an honest-to-goodness passive humbucker which is a tad easier to work with as an all-rounder. It's all EQ-able of course - you can make the two sound like each other more or less by tweaking some EQ. I don't like one better than the other, I know both work great in a live setting (because I played them both last night) and that's all that chiefly concerns me - I don't tend to evaluate basses predicated upon how they sound on their own much, hence my lack of vocabulary for describing such things. But you asked, and that's the best I can tell you right now. 3 Quote
BillyBass Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago 2 hours ago, neepheid said: The Epiphone Probucker 760 is more balanced - it's hardly "hi-fi", but it's an honest-to-goodness passive humbucker which is a tad easier to work with as an all-rounder. But surely, when you buy a T Bird, you aren't looking for an all rounder are you. I've been gas free for over 6 months, but I would love one of these. Quote
neepheid Posted 2 hours ago Author Posted 2 hours ago 7 minutes ago, BillyBass said: But surely, when you buy a T Bird, you aren't looking for an all rounder are you. I've been gas free for over 6 months, but I would love one of these. Not at all - bought purely for looks, I'm not ashamed to admit it. But the Epiphone Probucker 760s are easier to make work in contexts other than rock music, according to my ears anyway - just a bit more open/even sounding. It's all in the EQ though. With enough knob twiddling you can make most basses bend to your will, which is why I don't really care what bass I play, as long as it makes me feel happy and distracts punters from my bag of spanners face... 1 Quote
Jackroadkill Posted 2 hours ago Posted 2 hours ago 28 minutes ago, neepheid said: my bag of spanners face... Could be worse; mine's like a welder's bench. It's so bad I use a Precision to make me look good. 1 Quote
Jonesy Posted 15 minutes ago Posted 15 minutes ago Congrats on the new bass! I loved my classic pro and it's the only bass I regret selling. Those pups are just the epitome of a Gibson bass tone - mean and massive with a dark growl that'll put hair on your ball sack. Love em. That purple vintage pro is gorgeous too, what a fine flock you have there! 1 Quote
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