Epiphone Rex Brown Thunderbird

[Ken]

It really just seems to be a CP with gold hardware and 760s.

[D.M.N.]

I remember when he said he was working on a NR with Epiphone. Alas...

[Ken]

NR = New Release?

[uwe]

 

 Like when your hair and bush don't match....

I thought you went out of your way not to have any, Amerikaner? Are we letting up in personal hygiene matters?

[D.M.N.]

NR = New Release?

Non-Reverse

[Ken]

Non-Reverse

I know. I was kidding.

[Basvarken]

Interesting, Scott.  I look forward to your review. The Epiphone web site says ProBucker 760.

Exactly. That is what it says in the specs.

Bicentennial pickups are very different.
They are sidewinder pickups. And sound nothing like the ProBucker.

[TBird1958]

I thought you went out of your way not to have any, Amerikaner? Are we letting up in personal hygiene matters?

   

 Alas, they don't match any more! I still have a very full head of hair, which at 66 counts for something I hope. It is, however, quite silver/gray, I keep the poodle trimmed short except for a little patch, it's still brown, so, I got that going for me 

[uwe]

As the old consoling German saying goeth:

And even as the mountain top's glaciers gleam ...
'Tis still springtime down in the valley ...

[Stjofön Big]

You guys are really funny! Get a lot of laughs reading your comments!

[TBird1958]

As the old consoling German saying goeth:

And even as the mountain top's glaciers gleam ...
'Tis still springtime down in the valley ...

   

 I haven't completely passed out of my Rumschpringe, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. 

[uwe]

Personally, I don't believe you'd even hear (much less feel) a Bicentennial sidewinder-equipped bass in a Pantera type band. Have fun, you might as well not plug in.

[Basvarken]

Maybe the folks at Epiphone/Gibson don't even know the bicentennial T-bird had completely different pickups than the sixties Tbird.

And they're not the only ones.
In november 2023 I got a phone call from a German pickup maker who had taken up the plan to make a Thunderbird pickup. He wanted to know where he could obtain pickup covers. You'd expect a pickup maker/electronics specialist would have done some research on what he was going to imitate. But he had no clue whatsoever. Hadn't even noticed the different screw pattern on the covers. Let alone that he knew the bicentennial humbuckers are sidewinder pickups.

And also Thunderbird players don't always know the difference. Two customers of mine have been playing a 1978 Thunderbird for years, but had no idea the sixties Thunderbird had completely different pickups until I told them they did.

I guess we are a bunch of trainspotters over here at the Outpost ;-)

[n!k]

1.6" nut width instead of the classic 1.5" Thunderbird neck. The Epiphone Embassy I have is 1.625" and it definitely took some getting used to. I suppose his Gibson has a bit wider neck too then?

[uwe]

All Epi TB variants I have ever played have had wider nuts than Gibbie TBirds. I always attributed this to Epi opting for more stability against neck break. Given that their customers often have a budget that only allows purchase of a good case if money from the bass acquisition is left over, I actually thought this a sensible policy. The classic TBird nut is visually elegant and nice to play, but it's of course also asking for a disaster to happen.