The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Other Bass Brands => Topic started by: TBird1958 on May 18, 2010, 11:09:15 AM
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I've long wanted one ( Thanks to George ) and now this one is on it's way to me!
A buddy on TB was looking at this but passed due to lack of funds, so it'll be here next week ;D
This is the seller's pic, obviously it needs the company of a Blue Subaru.
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/ibanez.jpg)
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Nice! Now that I see how that sits in the case (like my Epi) I'm not so worried about it. :)
What kind of pups are in that?
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Nice! Now that I see how that sits in the case (like my Epi) I'm not so worried about it. :)
What kind of pups are in that?
Their (Ibanez') design, I'm hoping George (Old Man C) will chime in later - I think he's got one.
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The feel of these wonderful basses is more Greco than Gibson. The nut width is the same as the Greco, as well as where the neck meets the body. The pickups sound great. My Ibanez records really well. There's a slight compression that helps it cut through a mix, and the tone is pure bird but maybe not as blurry as some can get. The bridge is a two point, but it's the early 70's Gibson two point style (ever -tilt), and mine has plastic saddles. The tail piece takes care of anchoring the strings though, so there's no problem with any tilting. The bolt neck is the only thing that might cause these basses to get less respect than their Greco cousins, but if so, it's only in the eye of the beholder.
BTW, I've heard that there are set neck Ibanez Thunderbirds, and I saw an auction for one once (though it could have been a Greco with an Ibanez TRC), but I've never played nor seen one in person.
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Very cool! Congratulations! Pick ups look like mini-humbuckers....
I hope to score a one pick up copy once...
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Sweet bass Mark. The guitar player in my band has 3 of the lawsuit Ibanez Destroyer guitars all from 1976.
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Who else has made Thunderbirds (quality stuff, not bargain bin) ...?
Edit: Kenny, I meant to reply to this but hit the wrong button and edited your post instead. Sorry!
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Nice find- congrats, Mark! You hardly ever see those for sale.
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Who else has made Thunderbirds (quality stuff, not bargain bin) ...?
Most of these are pretty rare to find (other than Greco, Epi, and Orville), as most weren't ever regular catalog items. The popularity if the body style led many brands to build them for their endorsing artists in the mid 80's to early 90's, so that's where most of these come from:
Epiphone
Epi Japan
Orville
Orville by Gibson
B.C. Rich
Jackson
Hamer
Spector
GMP
ESP
I'm sure there are more... What am I missing, guys?
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I just posted some photo's of a Roscoe T-Bird on your other thread.
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I have played Dennis Kipridis from the Streamliners Ibanez. I admit to becoming enamoured by it. It sounds fantastic. Those pups are very sweet sounding. It has in my opoinion an almost perfect neck (for me).
(http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/16/l_7803ec4e721f45e1a8bdfb453223bb83.jpg)
http://www.myspace.com/thestreamliners (http://www.myspace.com/thestreamliners)
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Nice score Mark!!!
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That's a good-lookin' bass, Mark. We'll look forward to the obligatory Subaru pix.
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Awesome!
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Wait, what is going on here? I know about the Greco's and Orville's but I never knew that Ibanez made a Thunderbird. That's crazy. Of course I know that Ibanez and other big guitar manufacturers have made Jazz bass, P. Bass, Les Paul, Strat rip offs but I never knew Ibanez made a Thunderbird. I feel like other rip offs by major companies at least tried to change the headstock shape or something in an attempt to not get sued but that T-bird looks pretty much like an exact rip off. Did it actually come with the T-bird logo on the pickguard like that or did someone add that at some point? Crazy.
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No problemo, George... (pesky moderators... ;))
Any of the brothers or sister out there with any of these (other) clones...?
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Wait, what is going on here? I know about the Greco's and Orville's but I never knew that Ibanez made a Thunderbird.
Greco is basicly just Ibanez for the domestic (Japanese) market.
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George has started a thread on Ho's
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Yep this was the one that I was going to buy but man I couldn't raise the funds quick enough so I tipped off Mark about it and now it resides in the NorthWest, I'm happy he got it and bummed that I didn't at the same time. Another one that got away but that's a story for a whole nother thread lol.. Good luck Mark and I hope it's what you been looking for.
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Well???????????? Did the bird land yet???
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Well???????????? Did the bird land yet???
Maybe today Henry.
Patience isn't amonsgt my virtues either ;)
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Man I hear that, When I'm waiting for the Brown Truck I have no patience either 8)
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Bird... land...?
(cue song)
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Bird... land...?
(cue song)
As in, "The Lull-a-bye of..."?
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:sad: Not today
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As in, "The Lull-a-bye of..."?
"... With a dick-see melody...?"
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"... With a dick-see melody...?"
I predict this will end badly.
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End...? :o
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LOL :mrgreen:
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My Ibanez 'Ho is here! ;D
I'll come up for air in a day or two........... Japanese Thunderbird sexy goodness!
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Very cool! Can't wait to see a group shot.
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Awesome! can;t wait for the review!
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Allright!
So I've had a chance to play my new sweetie a bit, I really like it ;D
As George mentioned early on the kinship to my Greco is more than just passing as the pics will show. Soundwise it's parentage is there too, but more refined than the Greco ( which is a Holy Terror!) with a little less bite and growl coming thru overall. I spent a little time cleaning it up with a dry toothbrush as it was quite dirty, with lots of unidentifiable detritis all over! It does have an Evertilt type of bridge with plastic saddles and is a bolt on neck construction bass as well. As I played it some I found the pickups were too close to the strings which lead to a lot of distortion and uneven sound reproduction -a few turns of the height adjustment screws fixed that in short order.
Playing it thru the Traynor it is nice, warm, growly and evenly balanced with both pick ups up full especially with pick. Rolling the bridge pup down a bit gives you the classic almost P kind of tone using your fingers, and taking the neck pup back some gives you a little more definition almost like John Taylor's tone. Pretty simple to get nice workable pleasing sound out - I like that
Here's some pics of it and a few extra's alongside it's Japanese cousin.....
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH081.jpg)
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH083.jpg)
Note the TRC without the Ibanez logo, George (Old Man C, you'll alway be '69vette to me! ) was very kind and sent me a scan of one with an the logo so I can make an new one. Thanks George!!!!
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH084.jpg)
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH085.jpg)
Ms. Greco
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH088.jpg)
Kissin' cousins ;)
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH091.jpg)
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Looks great! Next time you record, try it out and see if it records as well as I think it will. I LOVE how mine sounds in recordings.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/gcarlston/parts/IbanezTRC2-1.jpg)
I've always loved the old Ibanez logo. Gotta love these birds!
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Oh My very nice write up and I'm completely jealouse! Congrats on a wonderful score. 8)
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Looks great Mark! A rare "bird" indeed! I've never seen one in person, and I've seen a lot of basses.
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Very nice, Mark; very nice...
The pups look tiny when she's beside your Greco... new covers coming up or will you leave as is...?
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Very nice, Mark; very nice...
The pups look tiny when she's beside your Greco... new covers coming up or will you leave as is...?
I like this bass as it is.........there's a kind of a fun kitchy vibe to it, yet it's a great player that I won't hesitate to take out to shows. I started a new TRC this am, (again thanks George!) the only other thing will be the addition of a strap pin at the neck heel.
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Cool bass Mark ! I have only seen one once before when they first came out !
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Thanks Scott!
I'da thought you guys were gonna ding me on my wall color! ;)
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Close match to the Hamer I just bought ! Being a painter (among other things) for 30 plus years there is not such thing as a bad color. ;)
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Thanks Scott!
I'da thought you guys were gonna ding me on my wall color! ;)
....As long as it's not purple, we cool!
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Not very girlie... ;)
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A little truss rod cover post script.
Again a very big "Thank You" goes out to George (Old Man C) for the scan of his Ibanez Bird TRC, that's what makes LBO the best forum around anywhere! I made this one from a bit of polystyrene and then masked and painted it with some laquer ( I love the smell of Dupont 3602 in the morning!) and my Iwata double action airbrush. :)
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH092.jpg)
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Wow, that looks GREAT!
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Seconded... 8)
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That's Slick !
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Sweet!
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Thanks guys.......... ;D
It's those crazy model train skills, I'm finally putting them to good use.
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Thanks guys.......... ;D
It's those crazy model train skills, I'm finally putting them to good use.
I still miss the Caboose on the trains I see today.
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Bravo!...Brava? I'm new here.
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awesome. is that or silver paint??
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Bravo!...Brava? I'm new here.
Both work... ;D
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awesome. is that or silver paint??
This really took about an hour total time to do, I used the orginal TRC as a template. It was taped down onto a small piece of styrene and with a new #11 xacto blade I traced it's shape into the plastic using mild pressure on the blade. and the mounting holes were drilled at this point too. After that I removed the tape from the sheet and had the TRC's outline scored into the piece, it can simply be broken free with slight hand pressure resulting in a nice clean break along your scored lines - scribe and break. Clean up the edges with the backside of your #11, this gets rid of the "lip" made as the knife scores the plastic.
I have a small professional spray booth with a squirrel cage fan next to my modeling desk so painting is easy, I use a glycol based paint called Accupaint cut with Dupont 3602, it dries very quickly so the part got a coat of Stencil White. While it dried I the put George's scan of the TRC on a lighbox and taped down another sheet of styrene over it and then a single large pice of Drafting tape. So basically I could see the Ibanez logo thru the tape, again using a new #11 xacto blade I traced the letters out and placed them on the white painted TRC using a second copy of the scan and the lighbox to mantain good placement. With all the letters in place I shot a coat of Stencil Black on follow by a very thin coat of of mostly lacquer with a little black paint in it to reheat the paint and makeit both smooth and glossy. - Viola!
:)
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(tilt...)
Did you get permission from the squirrel first... ;)
I bow down before a detail perfectionist... 8)
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obviously needed a woman's touch