My Thunderbird by Mike Lull!

TBird1958 · March 30, 2009, 12:46:54 AM

At long last my LullBird is done!
I picked it up from Mike on Friday afternoon before going out for the eve with my bandmate Ginger, so I didn't get a chance to play it until Saturday night's rehearsal with the band, it was really hard to go to work when I just wanted to be at home playing that bass!..............All can say is WoW! it's so nicely made, Mike's attention to quality just really shows in every detail. I really love the pick up, the tone is aggressive with a pick and it felt like fit in the mix with the band really well. I guess all of you that have 60's Birds know the sound, I can definately say I'll be getting at least one set of the pick ups to retro fit my Nikki Bird, they just sound so fantastic....

Here's a shot of the body in pretty strong afternoon sunlight, the shadow across the body is from a window pane and if you notice, it curves a bit where the upper bout has a nice arm carve. I need to note here that it was my original intention to use Scott Dasson's bridge on this bass, but because it's specifcally designed to fit the original Gibson Mike had trouble making it work, so we opted to use his instead. I'll likely be using mine for my Greco Thunderbird II now.

And a shot of the back showing the tummy cut ( I don't need that, no tummy on this girl!) the shaped neck heel and a nice cut on the backside of the lower bout to give better upper fret access.

Heres a shot of the upper bout, you can see both the arm carve and the tummy cut.

Of course it wouldn't be one of my basses without a shot posed by the Subaru...........

As I said I was on my way out for the evening when I picked it up from Mike's shop, so I was dressed appropriately. Mike was a really good sport! he took this shot

As you can see the color has shifted in this pic because of the poor fluorescent lighting........gotta talk to him about that

OldManC · March 30, 2009, 12:59:13 AM

All I can saw is WOW. What a beautiful bass... I'm really happy for you, Fraulein!

Basvarken · March 30, 2009, 02:48:33 AM

Congrats!

Looks good.

uwe · March 30, 2009, 03:59:14 AM

Darn, can't see pics. Our IT censorship is driving me nuts.

godofthunder · March 30, 2009, 04:07:27 AM

That came out so nice ! The color is great ! One pup 'birds rock

Freuds_Cat · March 30, 2009, 04:36:33 AM

That colour is amazing Mark. Does it change in different light as much as it seems to in the pics? (I really like paint jobs that do that) Or is it the pics telling fibs? The pearloid pick guard sets it off nicely. Also, was it your choice or Mikes for the bolt on neck?

ramone57 · March 30, 2009, 04:48:29 AM

looks great! bet it sounds great, too.

Barklessdog · March 30, 2009, 05:43:56 AM

Great bass Mark. It turned out so cool. Orange you glad you ordered it as a one pup bass?

Love the headstock shape. Do all Lull birds have the rear cut aways?

Chris P. · March 30, 2009, 05:50:52 AM

Hello, my Thunderbride, that looks stunning! Both of you! One pick up Birds are the best!

gweimer · March 30, 2009, 05:57:58 AM

Beautiful bass!

Nocturnal · March 30, 2009, 06:49:52 AM

That looks fantastic Mark!!

Dave W · March 30, 2009, 07:58:01 AM

Very nice. I like the headstock and the classic single pickup look. The color looks more copper than red to me. What is the "official" color?

shadowcastaz · March 30, 2009, 08:54:13 AM

Im not a fan of orange but that is an awesome looker!!! Nice bass too !

Rocker949 · March 30, 2009, 09:08:16 AM

It looks great and I'd be curious to hear what it sounds like.

TBird1958 · March 30, 2009, 10:05:09 AM

It's officially Metallic Orange the shots around my house were taken in pretty strong late afternoon sunlight in an attempt to capture its real color, and the pic at Mike's was taken under cool white fluorescent tubes - a light source that's very weak in the yellow thru red part of the visable color spectrum, thus it doesn't look so good there. It was always Mike's intent to make these bolt on neck basses as a concession to ease of construction, his shop would have a difficult time in making true neck-thru basses. I'm very glad I ordered it as a single pup bass, I play rock with a pick and I'll never be any sort of virtuoso player, so the idea was to have a simple bass that does that job well, so far I love it! And just like like the Gibson original single pup versions of Mike's are rare - mine is the only one out of 19 basses and yes, the cutaway on the lower bout is "stock".
Here's another pic of it outside and a shot of it's builder's cert.

My Thunderbird by Mike Lull!

Rocker949