The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: sniper on June 03, 2012, 07:34:42 PM
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i was on this site on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1964-GIBSON-THUNDERBIRD-II-BASS-PROJECT-PARTS-REPAIR-90-COMPLETE-w-OHSC-/251077482687?pt=Guitar&hash=item3a756258bf&BackToListReferer=http%3A%2F%2Fmy.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FMyEbayBeta and when i went back to my page, the seller had posted another three hundred on this. it was listed for 699.95 originally. it was also riginally posted as a 74 and no mention of it being a T-Bird 2.
the head is a mess!
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Such a beautiful piece! Though I'm not gonna bid on it, I can't help but wonder what colour it will end up in. Guess I would choose Inverness Green or Cardinal Red, if the choise was up to me... But the financial situation says "No deal, son"!
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Someone must have pointed out that it's a 64 and he realized that it was worth more.
"The neck is straight" with no strings. Could be okay, I wouldn't count on it.
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No doubt he'll get some decent money, as it really is a nice project. The break sucks, but who hasn't seen that on a Tbird before? What scares me is the overall munge-iness of this one. That corrosion on the screws, frets, and the way the grain is raised makes this one reek - maybe literally - of musty wetness. Like a Katrina Surfboard. You don't get any good shot of the pup lid, but it looks corroded too. The cover and tailpiece look shiny. Replacement or buffed out maybe. I am hoping it is illusion, but this one could be more than meets the eye and nose.
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No doubt he'll get some decent money, as it really is a nice project. The break sucks, but who hasn't seen that on a Tbird before? What scares me is the overall munge-iness of this one. That corrosion on the screws, frets, and the way the grain is raised makes this one reek - maybe literally - of musty wetness. Like a Katrina Surfboard. You don't get any good shot of the pup lid, but it looks corroded too. The cover and tailpiece look shiny. Replacement or buffed out maybe. I am hoping it is illusion, but this one could be more than meets the eye and nose.
Genuine (Honduras) Mahogany is impervious to swelling or grain raising due to water, unlike a lot of "African" mahogany or other wood species. Those pictures look like a chemically stripped finish that hasn't been sanded yet , the edge routes on the body are nice and sharp. Nickel corrodes fairly quickly but also buffs back well.
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Carlo, you are not the first wood master I have heard this from. Rick Penta told me the same thing about Honduran Maho and said the reason it is so poplur among template/pattern makers is because of what he called "torsional stability" or the none twisting, swelling of the Honduran Maho due to weather changes.
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Carlo, you are not the first wood master I have heard this from. Rick Penta told me the same thing about Honduran Maho and said the reason it is so poplur among template/pattern makers is because of what he called "torsional stability" or the none twisting, swelling of the Honduran Maho due to weather changes.
Anyone who's ever worked with the real stuff knows it's special. Price keeps going up as the supply diminishes.
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that look's like a NR Case to me
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Early NRs may have used that case, but most of them have the neck brace closer to the other end of the neck.
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I have 237120
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I sure wish I had more time, but alas, I don't need anything else on my plate. Besides, I have plenty of reverse birds to keep me happy! And my wife would kill me...........
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I'd do it if I only had a job.....
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Whats with the edges on the lower bought of the body? Sanded? Routed? Looks weird.
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Whats with the edges on the lower bought of the body? Sanded? Routed? Looks weird.
Those look exactly the same as on my '64 and '65 (though it's been refinned and smoothed out). Done either by a router or shaper and blended by hand. Bicentennial bodies are very different including sharper top/side edges and the angled reveal on the through neck/wing join.
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What are SG/EB0s made of?
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What are SG/EB0s made of?
By the time the first SG-shaped EB-0s came out, Cuban mahogany was on the way out due to embargo. So the original issues were probably all Honduras mahogany.
I don't know about the current issues. Now Gibson just says mahogany. That could be Honduras/big leaf but not necessarily from Central or South America -- some is apparently now plantation grown in the Pacific or far east, and the same species in a far different location doesn't produce the same wood. Or it could be African mahogany, which is from the same family but not a true mahogany.
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By the time the first SG-shaped EB-0s came out, Cuban mahogany was on the way out due to embargo. So the original issues were probably all Honduras mahogany.
I don't know about the current issues. Now Gibson just says mahogany. That could be Honduras/big leaf but not necessarily from Central or South America -- some is apparently now plantation grown in the Pacific or far east, and the same species in a far different location doesn't produce the same wood. Or it could be African mahogany, which is from the same family but not a true mahogany.
Judging by the quality of the tuners and knobs they're currently using I'd guess it was the cheapest wood they could legally call mahogany.
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Was it anyone of us, in this here crowd, that got the crashed T-bird for $2 126?
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What are SG/EB0s made of?
S'posed to be Mahogany. Some of the lower end bodies may be laminate with Mahogany top.
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What are SG/EB0s made of?
Back when SGs were EBs this is what they were made of...soon to be covered in LPB.
(http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae241/cata1d0/Project%20JAEbird/P1060185.jpg)
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Was it anyone of us, in this here crowd, that got the crashed T-bird for $2 126?
That kind $$$ for a carcass boggles my mind............ :o
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That kind $$$ for a carcass boggles my mind............ :o
I agree, Mark...but have you ever played an old one???? It's like having a P bass, a Jazz bass, a Ric 4001 an EB-1 all in one!!!! Even Tom Petersson said there is absolutely NO difference between a broken and unbroken..Just cheaper to get a busted one and fix it....
And they sound so good...you don't even need a Hiwatt!!! (but someday...I will get another one....)
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S'posed to be Mahogany. Some of the lower end bodies may be laminate with Mahogany top.
Not on a Gibson EB-0/EB-3. Some Epis may have a mahogany top over laminate, but AFAIK no Epis have had genuine mahogany bodies anyway since production was moved overseas about 1970.
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One of my two Embassies were broken at some point, right at the saddle. Someone fixed it, don't know when. The repaired one looks nice, feels good, and there's almost no difference between the necks of these basses (I've learnt that the non-fixed one's neck been sanded down, and therefore is a bit slimmer).
As I've played rev Birds from the 60's, and owned a 76 Bird, I know I would never lay any kind of money on a Bird from the 70's. With the old Bird it's another story. I think the price of the Ebay crashed one was really good. If I'd had the money, there's no question were they would go.
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Everything Baz says is true, I'm sitting here right now with a 64 II hanging around my neck w/ a rather Fugly HS repair & it's a GREAT Bass! Very light, pretty much stays in tune & has a nice thin neck & very resonate body much more so then my ’77, the other ’64 I have the neck is just a tad wider and was turned into a IV for some reason I like the single pickup more I even caught myself turning down the bridge pup, that one that just sold was very temping even at 2K, I one time bid on a ’64 II that belonged to Steven Stills & while clean it’s hardware was removed & it needed a HS repair I stopped bidding at $1000 I think it went for $2000, I would have bid more but I contacted 3 guys about getting it fixed & it closed before I heard back from them I think Mike Dolan said it would have been a $125 HS repair,
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The main cause of difference in sound between 60's and Bicentennials is THE PICKUPS. Completely different designs. The Bicentennials are sidewinders and have weaker output. Sound more Fender single coil to me compared to the 60s. 'Live At Leeds' single coil maybe.
The neck on my '65IV is chunkier than my '64II. Maybe Gibson realized by then they had a problem with breakage. The '65 is .6 lb lighter than my '77.
$3K total outlay on that bass will be a fine investment for whoever bought it.
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That is a bargain even in it's condition. I thought about bidding but they really are not my thing, NRs are.
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If I had a job...I may have bid on it....But damn....I already have 2 of those and one NR....next would be a IV or an embassy....No wait...I think I want to get an EB-1 reissue and/or a 50-ebo to make a Gene simmons bass!!!
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Actually...I am VERY satisfied with what I have...I would probably make a Fenderbird or buy a cheap reissue USA Fender for crappy gigs...
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Not on a Gibson EB-0/EB-3. Some Epis may have a mahogany top over laminate, but AFAIK no Epis have had genuine mahogany bodies anyway since production was moved overseas about 1970.
Dave has this unseemly habit of being right. Zounds!
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"The Bicentennials are sidewinders and have weaker output. Sound more Fender single coil to me compared to the 60s."
Amen. Finally someone says it.
TB Plus roolz!!!
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"The Bicentennials are sidewinders and have weaker output. Sound more Fender single coil to me compared to the 60s."
Amen. Finally someone says it.
TB Plus roolz!!!
I was with you there until that last line...actually I sent SlinkP's Bicentennial pup directly to Steve Soar for analysis and his opinion (after basically, 'what the hell is this') was the same. He's a guitard so he has no dog in the hunt. That's why I like to have him build bass stuff. The bicentennial series electronics circuit also acts to enhance that single coil feel.
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"The Bicentennials are sidewinders and have weaker output. Sound more Fender single coil to me compared to the 60s."
Amen. Finally someone says it.
TB Plus roolz!!!
That's it!
Heretic! I'm flying over there to discipline you ;)
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"The bicentennial series electronics circuit also acts to enhance that single coil feel."
Parallel or in series ... whatever. At least on mine the bass sounds loudest and fullest with both pups on in stark contrast to all sixties and modern day Birds where taking away the treble pup heightens phatness of sound.
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I never seem to recall this exactly right......'76s are stock wired parallel? Or series?
Between my three I do notice a fair bit of difference in tone, with the green one being the most nasal, least bassy, highest output, the purple being a happy medium with a more balanced tone overall. The black '77 is a bit bassy and slightly less output.......
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Series. Legendary Gibson QC probably accounts for the wide differences in the three. They never got around to putting counters on their winding machines and the variation in pup output is more noticeable in a series setup.
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That's pretty much what I'd thought about the pickups, the end result is 3 different sounding basses - not wildly different but different in a pleasant way. Thanks :)