De Gier Lowlander

[Basvarken]

Dutch luthier Sander de Gier had a go at the Thunderbird.

Here's the result:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqslYFrHoAE

[uwe]

Sounds nice and looks like a cross between a Bird and an RD.

[Chris P.]

He made several designs and I had to get used to the Tbird meets SG looks. Now, after seeing it a lot of times, I like it. Sander de Gier went quite far. He already makes the Firebird-style Volt-guitars and now this undder his own name. He tried several old ones and I made a gazillion pics of mine and I used a caliper to give him all the exact dimensions of my '76. Curious about this one in real life!

[Basvarken]

Uwe measured his 64 Thunderbird too for Sander.

[Basvarken]

I wonder if the bridge combination is the same as the ones on the new Epiphone Vintage Pro Embassy and Thunderbird.
They look exactly the same. I wonder if Sander has found the supplier of that specific hardware?

Lowlander bridge set


Epi Vintage Pro Embassy/Thunderbird bridge set

[uwe]

Uwe measured his 64 Thunderbird too for Sander.

And man, that was hard work! He was very specific.

I like the look of that DuB (Dutch Bird) too, but there is something that reminds me of ESP about it. Not that I mean that as an insult, ESPs are fine in my book and even where they emulate classic models of other brands, they have their own "cut".

[Alanko]

Epi Vintage Pro Embassy/Thunderbird bridge set

That barrel jack is a bit disappointing!

[Basvarken]

Why?

[Alanko]

Why?

It isn't period correct for the type for one thing, and I personally don't like working on them. They seem more sensitive to heat than a conventional jack, and you have to install them from outside the instrument, then solder them in, then tighten up the mounting nut in a cramped electronics cavity. Once they start to fail they are basically useless as well.

[Basvarken]

The elongated upper horn bothers me more in terms of period correctness.

All the installment trouble you describe wouldn't be an issue for me since it is already installed... 

[uwe]

Anti-Design-Revisionism-Rant:

I don't get it - why should this thing be "period correct"? It's a 2017 De Gier, it has as much to do with a 60ies TBird as a modern day Levi jeans has with the work trousers they once wore in the gold mines or while they were dig. Are you now all stark raving mad, something that isn't the real thing - and likably doesn't aspire to be (I credit De Gier for not aping the original) - needs to be "period correct" and forfeit technical development of decades in the process?

There is nothing wrong with looking over your shoulder into the past for inspiration as long as you continue going forward - there is everything wrong with trying to slavishly replicate it. I can't stand architecture that pretends like it was from a different age either, that is phony nostalgia-drenched kitsch.

Your taste concepts are archaic!

[Basvarken]

Alan was talking about the Embassy Uwe

[uwe]

[uwe]

Now that I have recovered ... anybody who has an original Embassy (like yours truly) with its horrendous balance and the hazardous front jacket just waiting to tear out the entrails of the poor thing will profusely applaud the changes made by Epi.

When did learning from mistakes go out of fashion again? Is that a new trend?

[Basvarken]

I don't have any problems with Epiphone changing the design a little bit.
I just meant to say that changing the shape of the bass is far more invasive than changing the jackinput...


Now back to my question:
Are the bridge combinations on the Epiphones and the De Gier the same, and where can we get these?