The Phoenix... the restoration of a rare custom-made "Thunderbird"

[Pilgrim]

...she is Mudbucker and Mahogany...

That's quite a name for color!  It speaks to me!

[Highlander]

Posting some pics later... polishing done... new gold machines are fitted, as is the original gold bridge and tail... mudbucker has been split and has belden coming out of her for the wiring games... still trying to figure out how I'm going to secure the T'bird pup cover... what's left of the TRC is back in place... I opted for black straplocks as they look less obtrusive... The amber controls look spot on for the body... I may have obtained a gold (that looked amber in the pic) chicken-head for the four pos. switch but am awaiting delivery... some of the switches, if fitted, will be black...

... and yes, I've managed to damage the fin not once, but twice...
(nothing critical, thankfully...)

Henry... did I say welcome before now...? I presume you are one of the "old" crew as most of the guys know you, so hi from the UK... this rebuild is penance for years of abuse and neglect to the old girl but she's looking good now...

Al... Bucker-Burst...!   the more I look at the fin, the more she looks like she's FLAME-ON...

[Highlander]

Well, I was sad enough to want to know what was inside the sealed RD pup, so I put it through an x-ray machine and found two coils and a blade in the middle...



Anyway, assembly started yesterday...



... with me stripping the Mudbucker down to split the coils...


... using four-core screened twisted pair Belden (thanks to Chromium Joe for the tip) for the connections I soldered the earth at the normal position and looped the remainder on one of the lower fixings... 2 x 15.3k coils...


... and did the final checks re pup heights... the usual chaos of my workbench is apparent...


... Ramone mentioned about the pole pieces, so I "blued" them...

[sniper]

Kenny, That T-Bird is looking soooooooo nice!

[Highlander]

Cheers Bill...

The T'bird pup cover presented me with a number of complications due to the depth (not as deep as an RD pup, even when stripped), the lack of anything to support it, and how to secure, so the temporary fixings are old pole-pieces from the original (RIP) Peter Cook pup...

So... the state of play at the end of the 2nd day...


... strings are D'Addario's for the moment - Rotosound 66's being my prefered choice for this 'bird...




... the repaired TRC...

Tuned up and ready for her sound tests... better shots when I can...

ah... just remembered... haven't finished the cab... 

[sniper]

is this wired direct or are you using the new invisible type kanobs?

[Highlander]

Nope... I've fitted a black XLR in the lower edge and intend to play with the potential sound configuration before fitting your 4 position switch; also 2, or maybe 3, pots for volume control (maybe 2 seperate controls for the Mudbucker now with split coils), and possibly a variety of other switch-gear - this is fluid at the moment - what works will get wired in, what does not is history...

[sniper]

this last batch of plates is so much better than the first batch ...  wish i made gold letter ones!!!! i'll check into it and see if Sandy can get some black painted over gold anodized aluminum blanks or could make some. i'll almost bet a buck she has some .020 material!!!

[Lightyear]

That looks fantastic! 

Please tell me you're bringing her in for the evening and not keeping her in the shed!

[Funkster]

Henry... did I say welcome before now...? I presume you are one of the "old" crew as most of the guys know you, so hi from the UK... this rebuild is penance for years of abuse and neglect to the old girl but she's looking good now...

Al... Bucker-Burst...!   the more I look at the fin, the more she looks like she's FLAME-ON...

Yes sir Kenny been around longer than Dirt,, It's good to be here, You guy's have a great sense of humor, Don't mind a little fowl langauge, Don't mind some bad grammer and hijacked threads this is my kinda place!!!

[Hornisse]

The old gal looks great Kenny!

[drbassman]

Looking lovely!  Nice colors on that veneer!

[Highlander]

wish i made gold letter ones!!!! i'll check into it and see if Sandy can get some black painted over gold anodized aluminum blanks or could make some. i'll almost bet a buck she has some .020 material!!!

Now that may be of interest, "SD" Bill...

The gold "amber ish" chicken-head turned out to be dull gold and I'm not sure I'll go with that; splined shaft fitting - could have converted, but the colour doesn't go... anyone know of tru amber type - no luck finding yet...

Still work to be done, Robert... and yes, Buzz, she's back in her (mock) fur home, not in the shed...

"Doc" Bill... the veneer is as much a curse as a thing of beauty - there are areas that look almost scaly at some points, but to me, not in a bad way; I may get this out by further polishing, or by further top coats... not sure... one of our new guys (Dadagoboi) commented on the "two-foot rule", which she would pass with ease, but this is one of those "flaws" that I think I like, sort of "organic" for want of a better word... I pointed out months back that the veneer was "raw" so would not pass a "QC" check for a pro - it would get passed over as too much like hard work, to get "just... so..."

There is a part of me that remembers that birds are descended from reptiles, and with the colours looking so flame-like in sunlight, Phoenix kinda fits...

I'll post pics of this issue...

... and Henry, this is an eccentric kinda place, and the Brit's and eccentricity...?

[chromium]

Kenny that came out great.  Nice work!

...and another USB-compatible mudbucker is born!      (that was the source of my shielded quad cable)

[Highlander]

Recognised it as soon as I saw it in your original pictures, Joe... commonly in use in the alarm industry, so I had access to a few hundred thousand kilometres of the stuff... 

Forgot to note - the fin on the pups is not going to go the distance with the covering I have used - the screws securing the MB twisted the top-coat, somewhat it was like a "plastic" of some sort... I like the effect so intend to experiment with a tougher top-coat...