50th Anniversay Thunderbird sighting!

[mc2NY]

I've read somewhere that some extra weight on the headstock helps eliminate dead spots, thats why some people like Sheehan put this weight thingie on their headstocks.

Like the old "FatHead" brass plates they were made to fit on guitar and bass headstocks for years. The newer version is a bolt-on hunk of metal called a Fat Finger. They do make a difference. Satriani uses one. I've read that the plate version on one Fender Bass actually moved the dead spot on his neck around six frets up from the old spot and got it out of the way from the main area of his fretboard.

[JZumbro]

  "neckdives like Stuka over Poland"

That dead spot elimination thing always struck me as vodoo acoustics. Any scientific defenders?

I don't have science, but I used to have a Fender with a really bad dead spot, and I put one of the Fat Finger devices on it and it made a huge difference.

That said, my back can't take neck heavy basses any more, so I want a smaller, lighter headstock whenever possible. I've even gone to using a weighted strap on my '76 bird because of the neck dive, so weights on the headstock are out.

[uwe]

That's enough empirical evidence for my scientific standards, danke. Good to know. I never had a bass with a dead spot so bad I had to do something about it, but now I at least know what can be done.

[Dave W]

That's enough empirical evidence for my scientific standards, danke. Good to know. I never had a bass with a dead spot so bad I had to do something about it, but now I at least know what can be done.

It won't necessarily work. It does work in some cases.

[TBird1958]

 I don't happen to have any photoshop skills...........
Could anyone do one of a "proper" Anniversery 'Bird so when Gibson trolls us they'll come closer to getting it right 

[4stringer77]

I'd like to see a golden mist Tbird II like this minus the black guard and with a wider saddle section on the bridge to achieve accurate intonation.

Wonder if the sunset yellow one is a replica. The headstock faces the wrong way.

[Bionic-Joe]

No, that's my friend Jon Maye's...It's a  real 60's Bird... FREAK of Nature!! But real, nevertheless!!!

[uwe]

 So they stuck a Non Rev headstock on a Rev neck-(thru)?  Only with Gibson! 

[the mojo hobo]

That's not an NR headstock, it's a lefty.

[TBird1958]

 I don't care....It F*&$%^# COOL!

[Denis]

Did Gibson make lefty T-birds in the '60s?

[uwe]

I like the way it looks, too.

[godofthunder]

  The reversed headstock on that yellow Bird does look cool but as I understand the bass has a replaced headstock and the owner had it purposely redone it the configuration it is in now.

[uwe]

I was thinking about that as an explanation too.

[mc2NY]

Gibson made a number of 1964-65 reverse Firebirds with non-reverse headstocks, like that Thunderbird.

I've seen four or five Firebirds like that for sale over the last year alone. I think there are a couple on GBase right now like that. I've heard rumors of 1964/65 TBirds like them out there.


http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/mc2NYNO/media/1964-65Reverve_NonRevHedFB_zps2fa07e2a.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/mc2NYNO/media/1964-65Reverve_NonRevHedFB_zps2fa07e2a.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0&_suid=136452368747105480388493471493


Some better pics of that Sunset Yellow Reverse/non-rev TBird here:

http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/mc2NYNO/media/Guitars/64TBirdII_SunsetYellowRevNR_zpsc8bce50c.jpg.html#/user/mc2NYNO/media/Guitars/64TBirdII_SunsetYellowRevNR_zpsc8bce50c.jpg.html?&_suid=136455963022205121129842814083

..or more Tbird pics here:

http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/shareereg/p=973311364739109551/l=5225145027/g=15090808027/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER/pns/snapfish/share/p=973311364739109551/l=5225145027/g=15090808027/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER/retusr=true