A refinished stage bass - but nice looking nonetheless:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Thunderbird-Bass-made-1967-kerry-green-Case-/270598371571?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Guitar&hash=item3f00eb78f3
(http://i.ebayimg.com/13/!Bwcg+7QCGk~$(KGrHqMOKiEEwOHzS7tyBMI8vvN6BQ~~_35.JPG)
Oh My! I wonder if Uwe will be rethinking his prohibition for this one? :mrgreen: What a beautiful bass. That's the color I want to refinish my SB350 in.
I like it......................But I'm poor now. Working on my house. :-\
I was drooling over that this morning, but it will go far beyond what I could ever pay for it!
to me, this is the ULTIMATE colour for a NON REVERSE THUNDERBIRD IV. PERIOD. The last one I painted like this is now on tour with Mr. Petersson.
I think for me the ultimate color for an NR would be an Inverness Green one. A photo of one was posted here a while back, but I can't find it. Glenn Cornick had one when he played with Wild Turkey.
Here's a B/W pic I swiped from Fly Guitars...
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l111/bigtreebluesea/glenncornick1971.jpg)
And an Inverness Green Firebird.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l111/bigtreebluesea/InvernessGreenFirebird.jpg)
Well, I am going for it. Let's see if I can bring to my house.
AWESOME!!!!!GOOD FOR YOU!!!!! Good Luck!!! They're sweet basses!!
Great looking bass.
That is the very bass that I bought out of the local trader paper in 1974 for $200. I owned that bass for 30 years! It was originally Pelham Blue and was horribly abused. It had the biggest neck I have ever seen on a bass guitar, and the neck had a crack in it from the 3rd to the 5th frets. Also, the control cavity was almost broken off of it! I stripped it as the checking was so bad that it would almost cut you if you ran your hand over it.
It sat till 1977 when I took it to Lay's and they fixed the neck crack and shaved the neck down to '76 Reissue size.
I then got some Cardinal Red at the local auto paint store and painted it so I could use it as a backup to my all original '66 Polaris White IV.
I retired from touring the bass in 1981, and it sat under my bed till 2002 when I got it out and decided to refin it Kerry Green. In 2004 traded it to fellow member Bionic Joe for a '64 Fiesta Red P-Bass. Joe traded it to Scott Silver and Scott I believe sold it to Kevin Borden. Kevin had it for sale at his original store. Either he or Scott refinned it again the same color. Kevin was the last owner that I knew of. He may have been the one who sold it to the guy selling it now in Germany, I don't know.
At any rate it is a nice, nice, player bass. All the parts, except maybe the pots are original when I owned it. The headstock was never broken in the 30 years I had it. In spite of the repairs,which were done correctly and for the right price it would make somebody a fine bass. It's got the growly grand piano tone that some 'Birds dont have.
BTW, I have no idea who the seller is now. Just relaying the history of the bass to anyone here who may want to pursue buying it. I would buy it back in a second if I already didn't have one. ;D
Now that is a nice story... 8)
This one?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Fenderbird/decobird.jpg)
That's it. I remember posting those pix here on the old Dudepit. Notice the extra hole on the pickguard for the handrest on the right side. That picture was taken at the same time I had the '67 Polaris white IV that I sold to member Dave Garrity. I'm sure I have pix of it in my archives too.
Also, the serial number 540557 could be any number of years, but the pot dates were 1966 when I bought it in '74 and the joints were untouched, so I originally dated it as a '66, not that it matters all that much. I have no idea weather the same pots are in it now.
This one?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Fenderbird/articno.jpg)
Probably the best looking T-bird I have seen. It was that picture from the old pit that got me to love the NR.
Yes, that's the one I sold to Dave. He still has it AFAIK, but I think he plays his Fenderbirds mostly now.That is probably the nicest restoration I have ever done.....absolutely gorgeous. Wish I still had that one too!! The '64 reverse IV I did Polaris came out killer too.....I'll see if I can dig up some pix of that one. You have all these pix of my basses....do you have a pic of my wife naked too? LOL LOL Just kidding.
Over the years I've saved every picture I've seen of basses that I thought looked cool, with a large number of those being birds. It wouldn't surprise me if I had pictures of every bass owned by the denizens of this place and a few others. :)
I had zillions of pix of my old guitars and basses that I lost when my computer got stolen back in '03. My fault for not putting them onto disc. All my files since then are backed up. I lost all my restoration pix of all the 60's Fender basses, Firebirds, my Hiwatt collection, and a lot of irreplacable stuff prior to '03. Guys, BACK UP YOR FILES~~~~
Tore00, don't let what I have posted here scare you off the bass. IMO, Any refin solid color 60's T-Bird should be suspect for hidden 'undisclosed' repairs. The seller was only told what he was told, and the seller before that what he was told, and so forth.
It's better that you know it's real history like this one from '66 to '04, rather than having it represented as 'never broken' and find out later that it has a replacement headstock or some such situation the previous owner didn't know about either..... I have seen a lot of broken/repaired 60's T-Birds and Firebirds in my 40 years of collecting, restoring them, and playing them and this is one where you know the issues. I can't speak for it's history after 2004, but like I said, I would love to own it again if I was looking for one. I wish I knew what the reserve was..... Given what I have told you about the history of this bass, what do you all think it is worth? I got my number...Let's help our Bro Tore00 make an informed buy here, IF he is still interested......Chime in, 60's 'Bird lovers!!
That Kerry Green bass was my first Non Reverse bass. Like Tony said, GREAT BASS!!!! Tony also got both of those white NR and Reverse carcus's from me. He does great work. Well...I just took the NR Basket case I bought to my guitar tech today. He said it's got a nice straight neck, solid headstock repair, a few little repairs needed and paint and I should be back in business!!! Oh..my old boss at work made some new saddles for the bass because I couldn not find any ANYWHERE!!!! Exact Killer duplicates of the originals!!!! Dimensions are dead on!!!
Joe has an uncanny ability to find 'restorable' 60's T-Bird basses. The '64 reverse IV I eluded to also came from Joe. Unfortunately for me, LOL, he has learned how to do his own killer restorations and has created some incredible 8 and 12 string T-Bird NR basses as well. Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick is touring with one of Joe's creations as we speak! 8 string NR in Coral Pink!!!
Good to hear Joe echo my thoughts on this Kerry Green NR. Joe is a Trade-A-Holic and I know he wishes he had it back too! If we only knew then what we know now!
Great background, Tony. Always good when you can let someone know what he would really be getting if he buys it.
If it's priced reasonably, I wouldn't be scared of it. OTOH if the seller doesn't know the history, he might be asking too much.
I agree that the percieved value is based on the known history of the bass. I'm not intending to undermine the seller of the bass, but the potential buyers of the bass need to know it's history if it can be documented...if it is indeed the bass in question, I truly know it's history....for good and for bad. A great bass regardless of it's history. I'd rather know than not know where it has been over the decades. Makes it worth more IMO, knowing it's true history. More than some nameless, faceless, sanded off serial number solid color refin possibly hiding who knows what under that purdy custom color finish.
My restoration partner recently took on a perfectly unbroken '64 Firebird III with beautiful grain, killer 9 ply laminations, and a PERFECT candidate for a 60's 'burst. Highlite the unbroken beautiful mahogany, right? The client wanted it done in Frost Blue...PERIOD. It was such a shame to do that guitar a solid color... Turned out great.... but would have been KILLER with a great 'Burst showing off the unbroken and rare gorgeous mahogany and laminations..... The customer is always right? IMO not in this case! Nothing we could say could sway him.
Tony, actually Tom P has another Kerry Green Non-Reverse, the first bass I ever painted (17 coats PPG Acrylic Lacquer!!!!) Mark Hills has the Tahiti Coral 8 string and Jon Maye has the Korina 8 string. I only have my 2 '65's , the 12ver T bird and now a raped and beaten but restorable NR IV. But...I ALWAYS have gears rolling...A Korina NR Bass??? Or a Korina Futura 4 or 8 string bass???? I'm really sick. But MANY Thanks for your compliments!!!
"Mark Hills has the Tahiti Coral 8 string and Jon Maye has the Korina 8 string."
Shhhhhhh......Joe ;) I like being Ze Fraulein ;D
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd306/veronicasteed/TECH070.jpg)
I just pulled up Gibson Thunderbird on Ebay and don't see the Kerry Green '67 Bass. But, it still comes up in the link that started the thread, and is recieving bids....Shows July 4th as end date. What gives? Any ideas what this beautiful Bird will go for?
My saved search for Thunderbird in musical instruments finds it. It shows up low on the first page searching descriptions and sorting by newly listed.
Quote from: TBird1958 on July 03, 2010, 01:07:39 AM
Shhhhhhh......Joe ;) I like being Ze Fraulein ;D
A rose, by any other name... ;)
Quote from: OVERDRIVEN66 on July 02, 2010, 01:20:30 PM
I stripped it as the checking was so bad that it would almost cut you if you ran your hand over it.
I then got some Cardinal Red at the local auto paint store and painted it
refin it Kerry Green.
Either he or Scott refinned it again the same color.
And it still has a serial number?
SORRY, Fraulein Rommell!!! I like being Baz Cooper myself.
Quote from: the mojo hobo on July 03, 2010, 06:42:30 AM
And it still has a serial number?
Yes, I purposely taped off the serial number to preserve it. It looks like it has survived the third refin in good shape. It was clearly visable when I refinned it Cardinal Red , and I
never sanded over the SN, just got all of the old finish out of the numbers when I finished it in Kerry Green in 2002. I did a total re-strip to bare wood, not just a respray over the Cardinal Red. The numbers looked nice and crisp. I taped off the SN when I finished it Kerry Green in 2002. Looks like whoever did the third refin just sprayed the color and clear over them and they are still clearly visable. I hope this bass finds a good home. I modified the original case with a 3/4" X 3/4" riser under the neckrest to keep the tuners from bottoming out on the case and cracking the headstock. Most of you know that the reason why these basses were broken (Firebirds too) was because of the
case, not because of the nature of the structure of the instrument. I made sure the SN was clearly preserved while I owned it.
That is cool. The serial number on mine was milled off to add a reinforcing back of some light colored wood and lost forever. I never thought to write it down before taking it in for repair. I still have the receipt from when I bought it but Farmers Music didn't write down the serial number either.
Three hours to go, and the old girl is 'SMOKIN !!!
Went for $4500.
Tore, did you get it?
No, my budget was 2000 Euros
I got scared away from this bass with the added comments at the bottom by the seller, saying that the two NR wings had been sawed off...the bass converted to a Reverse model...and later converted back to a NR with the wings reattached?!?!?!
From some of the other comments here by other former owners of this bass...is the above even true or just additional info?
You email me and I will tell you the story, Buddy. It was my first NR.
Quote from: Bionic-Joe on July 05, 2010, 09:46:38 PM
You email me and I will tell you the story, Buddy. It was my first NR.
Oh, GEEEEZZZZZ!!!!!! It was one of your's???
Now I KNOW that could be true.
You are one of the only people I know who would not think twice about sawing off the wings of a NR 'Bird to make it a Reverse :)
Didn't you saw off the wing of a mint '64 'Bird and glue on the top wing of a Flying V, so your son had a wooden "shark" to play with in the bathtub?
Yes, I converted the bass to a reverse body when I painted it Cardinal Red. I cut the center section 4" just like a 'real' reverse and made reverse wings from mahogany and put them on. Looked pretty damn good except the upper horn where it meets the neck was a little higher than a real one. I don't think I have any pix of it, but I'll look.
I kept the NR body wings for all those years in my shop and re-attached them when I pulled it out from under the bed when I refinned it Kerry Green after it's long retirement. I see Joe mailed the seller to tell him about the 'conversion'.... I purposely left that out of my 'history' of the bass because I thought it would deter someone from buying what I knew was a killer bass. After the wings were re-attached, it was as good as original. And it is a killer 'bird....checkered past or not. What a history, huh??? Great bass!!
An interesting sidenote on the deal I made with Joe. We had an aggrement that if he ever wanted to sell it, that it would go to me. Two weeks after our trade, he calls me to say 'dude, you are giong to kill me'... I knew what happened. He traded it to Scott Silver at Chicago Music Exchange for I can't remember what. He talked me out of that bass, but I knew I would get it back if he wanted to sell it....Scott said it 'wasn't for sale' because he had already promised it to Borden, so I'm told. I just wrote it off and got over it.
If I didn't already have the Frost Blue NR in my avatar, I would have bid on it to get it back. Props to the seller for disclosing it after Joe mailed him with it's history. I think 4.5K is all the money for it, it's history notwithstanding. The color is what sold that bass for that kind of money. Oh well, somebody got a fine bass. This is the classic case that you never know what could be going on under that Firebird or Thunderbird solid color refin!!!!!!
Quote from: OVERDRIVEN66 on July 07, 2010, 08:10:48 AM
An interesting sidenote on the deal I made with Joe. We had an aggrement that if he ever wanted to sell it, that it would go to me. Two weeks after our trade, he calls me to say 'dude, you are giong to kill me'... I knew what happened. He traded it to Scott Silver at Chicago Music Exchange for I can't remember what.
Ahhh...so it IS true!
THAT's why I was busting Joe's ballz...both my Hamer 8-strings that I sold/traded to him he traded/sold shortly later...and then called asking if I had another, saying he missed it :)
No basses ever seem to gather any dust at Joe's house :)
Great guy...and amusing!!
The odd part about sawing off the wings is that about six months back I called Joe to tell him that I was thinking of doing exactly that to a Hamer 8-string to add TBird reverse wings to it. We talked about if it would be easier to steam out the set neck and glue it into a new setneck body.
Hence, Joe's new Hamer 12 TBird creation.
But he never mentioned anything about that NR one with the clipped wings.
Joe and the many Thunderbirds ;D
I *think* there's some regret at letting me have the big pinkie 8 string NR, on a regular basis my buddy Joe will phone me up to see if I'll let it go back to him...........He's persistant but I haven't caved in yet.
Joe, you're the best! :thumbsup:
Yup, Joe is a real character and I'm glad to have him as a friend. When we did the NR deal I stayed at his house and his family was just great to me, even having never met me before. The next day, he took me on a tour of all the Chicago guitar shops. He's one of those kinda guys that can aggrivate you at times, but you gotta just know that he will be there for you if need be. And he has been for me.
If there was a 12 step program for 'Trade-A-holics' , Baz would be committed! LOL Great guy, and a great bass player as well. I'm still pissed at him as well for scoring a 'holy grail' flatback SVT cabinet for a few hundred bucks just recently. Good thing it didn't get trashed in the flood as well as his basses.
I've made some mistakes.....biggest one wa when I was 18, I traded a white p bass with a beautiful Bird's eye Maple neck (broken truss rod) to a vintage guitar dealer who was a known crook (I think He's dead now-Guitar Slim) plus $150.00 for a PERFECT Sunburst reverse II 1963/4 Thunderbird bass. A month or 2 later, while under the influence of POT, I traded it for a Billy Sheehan bass (p Bass Body-Tele Bass neck) with a Kahler whammy bar. I have kicked myself in the ass for the last 22 years about that one. I know, If there was a 12 step program I would be the founder!!!!!! Bass trader-a-holic. However...I have calmed down a bit. I do have my 2 Blue II and white IV 65' birds that I have had for a few years now. And now the Hamer Thunderbird 12. Now it's time to restore that Non-Reverse that I scored. Hey Jon...I thought you said that the Non-Reverse birds looked ugly...like Gumby??? Now you all of a sudden like them??? OK. Anyway, Jon and Tony are both great guys. The best!!! Although I do want my Red Cheap Trick thunderbird 8 sting bass back from Jon.
QuoteYes, I converted the bass to a reverse body when I painted it Cardinal Red. I cut the center section 4" just like a 'real' reverse and made reverse wings from mahogany and put them on. Looked pretty damn good except the upper horn where it meets the neck was a little higher than a real one. I don't think I have any pix of it, but I'll look.
Any pictures of it?
Quote from: Kenny's 51st State on July 07, 2010, 11:54:52 AM
;D
Taken in the context given I feel dirty just reading that.. ;D
Quote from: Barklessdog on July 07, 2010, 01:59:04 PM
Any pictures of it?
I will have to check my big box of pictures in the basement. I have some pix of my Polaris IV, but not sure on the 'conversion'