'65 NR T-bird II on the 'bay - in metallic green... it's back

Denis · June 21, 2010, 06:12:57 AM

Hubba hubba!!! Expensive, but dang is it beautiful! Is this Inverness Green?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1965-Gibson-Thunderbird-II-vintage-bass-guitar-/270596627338?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Guitar&hash=item3f00d0db8a#ht_631wt_1139

godofthunder · June 21, 2010, 06:18:24 AM

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm The bass is not all original. Just for starters the control cavity cover is not original, the control cavity sheilding is missing, the knobs are wrong. Whats up with the pickguard I don't know but something is wrong. My gut feeling is that it is a refin.

godofthunder · June 21, 2010, 06:20:53 AM

The more I look at that pickguard the more it makes me think the neck has been reset, It's screaming refin now.

Bionic-Joe · June 21, 2010, 07:08:56 AM

I do know that some of them had 2 different style pickguards. On the early Non-Rev's the neck didn't have an angle pitched down. it was set straight so the action could only go so low. But you're right on the cavity shielding and backplate.

godofthunder · June 21, 2010, 07:14:57 AM

Don't forget the knobs Joe ! From the last fret to the end of the fingerboard there should be about 3/8" of finger board, there is much less than that on this bass. Either it is a factory screw up or there is something amiss.

Dave W · June 21, 2010, 08:10:25 AM

Something is definitely amiss. Not a factory mistake.

godofthunder · June 21, 2010, 08:15:29 AM

My problem with this auction is that the seller lists it as all original, clearly that is not the case.

Bionic-Joe · June 21, 2010, 08:52:34 AM

The one thing that i just noticed is that if it were original, the control cavity would be Pelham blue while the exposed areas would be greenish. Plus... the wiring in the cavity appears to have been redone, a little sloppy.

godofthunder · June 21, 2010, 09:02:21 AM

The shape of the neck heal looks to cresant or c shaped. On all mine the have a "flater" top. I sent him a message with my concerns lets see what he says.

Denis · June 21, 2010, 10:06:11 AM

If you look closely at the headstock photo, there appears to be chips in the green paint, exposing a much more bluish tint.

Basvarken · June 21, 2010, 10:15:48 AM

Quote from: Denis on June 21, 2010, 10:06:11 AM
If you look closely at the headstock photo, there appears to be chips in the green paint, exposing a much more bluish tint.

That just looks like the clear finish chipped off. Nitro clear finish tends to yellow over time. The blue that is exposed now is the color it was (re)finished in id you ask me.

Dave W · June 21, 2010, 02:42:22 PM

In the control cavity photo, if you look closely at the wood on the back outside of the cavity, you can see that the pores are only partially filled. That means it was refinished without refilling the pores. If it were an original solid color finish you would not see the pores.

dadagoboi · June 21, 2010, 07:38:12 PM

"Never been damaged/repaired, modified, salvaged or messed with in any way!"

Then a lot of people were having a very bad day at the Gibson factory.

It's gone.

godofthunder · June 22, 2010, 04:46:28 AM

I bet I wasn't the only one to point out some of the basses issues.

dadagoboi · June 22, 2010, 08:04:38 AM

Quote from: godofthunder on June 22, 2010, 04:46:28 AM
I bet wasn't the only one to point out some of the basses issues.

By the time I got a look at the thread everything I saw had been covered. Re the lacquer topcoat possibly chipping off color on the headstock: Unlike modern basecoat/clearcoat systems nitro and acrylic lacquer layers melt into each other It's highly unlikely clear lac would chip off leaving color, looks more like a crappy touch up attempt.

I just completed a refin on a modern maple headstock. All four layers of "paint", sealer, primer, base color and clear came off in separate layers. It took aircraft stripper and a lot of scraping.