John Birch Thunderbird Bass on Gumtree

[W1_Pro]

Apologies if this has been done before, but I just came accross this on Gumtree. https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/1970s-john-birch-fretless-thunderbird-bass-handmade-in-the-uk/1504913094

Its apparently a John Birch build from the 70's but the only thing that I can see on the bass that looks remotely genuine is the bridge. That looks like Birch in house hardware. The pickups the seller says are non orignal, in fact they seem to be guitar pickups, so thats a bust, and the machine heads could be anything. There is also no Birch branding at all on the thing, which is unusual in my experience, John normally got his name on every single piece of hardware on an instrument and the headstock too. Anyone have any thoughts as to what this might be?

[BigRedX]

It was discussed in this thread back in August.

 

The general consensus then was that the bridge is by John Birch, and the rest could be anything. If it was a genuine JB it would have had John Birch pickups on it when it was originally made, and I can't think of any sensible reason to replace them.

[Steve Browning]

A shop in Chichester currently has one of his Rik-a-like basses. Looks normal but for 6 controls instead of 4.

[W1_Pro]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

It was discussed in this thread back in August.

 

The general consensus then was that the bridge is by John Birch, and the rest could be anything. If it was a genuine JB it would have had John Birch pickups on it when it was originally made, and I can't think of any sensible reason to replace them.

Thanks Red, I had an idea this had been covered before but I could not remember where..

[W1_Pro]

3 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

A shop in Chichester currently has one of his Rik-a-like basses. Looks normal but for 6 controls instead of 4.

Which one Steve? A proper Birchenbacker is a rare and wonderful thing....

[The fasting showman]

3 hours ago, W1_Pro said:

Which one Steve? A proper Birchenbacker is a rare and wonderful thing....

There used to be loads of them kicking around Birmingham in the early '80s....my ignorant 13 year old self used to be quite sniffy about them! There was always a few in Musical Exchanges

 

The Broad St Musical Exchanges had a Super Yob in the window for a while in 81/82.

[Steve Browning]

11 hours ago, W1_Pro said:

Which one Steve? A proper Birchenbacker is a rare and wonderful thing....

It's Guitars to Go in Guildhall St

 A proper old fashioned guitar shop.

[W1_Pro]

Thanks Steve, it is indeed old fashioned. Unless I'm missing a trick they don't seem to have a website....

[Kev]

On 25/11/2025 at 09:32, Steve Browning said:

A shop in Chichester currently has one of his Rik-a-like basses. Looks normal but for 6 controls instead of 4.

 

Do you catch a price? Most decent Ric copies are selling for completely daft money now, but perhaps an old school shop may be more realistic...

[Steve Browning]

3 hours ago, W1_Pro said:

Thanks Steve, it is indeed old fashioned. Unless I'm missing a trick they don't seem to have a website....

 

Hi. No, there's no website. I don't believe it was very expensive. It didn't strike me as such. Trevor is also up for a chat on prices and is very fair.

 

He also has a luthier made Rik-a-like with a Precision pickup but the scratchplate is much bnigger (I had though of buying that myself).

[prowla]

On 25/11/2025 at 09:32, Steve Browning said:

A shop in Chichester currently has one of his Rik-a-like basses. Looks normal but for 6 controls instead of 4.

I posted a pic of it in the FB Rickenfakers group back in August; it wasn't cheap.

 

 

[Kev]

Just seen, £2k?!

 

#triptochichestercancelled

[W1_Pro]

Its a nice looking bass, two grand is quite a lot of cash though. But then again, look what they are charging for real Rickenbackers....sigh...

Interesting. This has six knobs. My one only has five.

Edited 59 minutes ago by W1_Pro

[Steve Browning]

Was it 2K? Blimey. Not sure where I'd got the different impression. Sorry if I raised hopes there.

[W1_Pro]

My one - and I'd be interested to hear from anyone else that has one to compare notes- has very little mass around the heel of the neck, consequently the neck can be pulled forward making the action a bit high. I've ameliorated  this a little by using low tension flats but it is definitely an issue with my bass, I'd be interested to know if anyone else has experienced anything similar?

[Bassassin]

Found a scan of an old JB catalogue from 1977. Interestingly there is a TB (page 10) but I'm not completely convinced the Gumtree fretless is the same. Body shape & control positions look a little different - although considering pics of both are pretty terrible, it's hard to be sure.

 

http://vintage.catalogs.free.fr/johnbirch.pdf

 

Worth a look for the plethroa of curious & downright bizarre stuff John did back then!

[Bassassin]

Actually - just did what I should've done when the original thread was posted - and look:

 

https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/catalogue/lot/882974bf7db6720157926c6e60ceb460/63b778f7668dabe928d3800924a99077/the-guitar-auction-four-day-sale-including-guitars-e-lot-267/

 

Sold for £620 (exc. fees) in March last year. So - did the buyer whip out the original Superfluxes, spend £5 on some plastic for a cover plate & then try to flip it for a profit - or are there two black fretless JB Tbirds with no logo out there, turning up within 18 months of each other?