neepheid

Overuse and inappropriate use of the adjective "vintage"

Agreed - loose frets is an absolute no-no, at any price. I'd say return it - and because it's faulty not because you've simply changed your mind.

No, not everything is getting through QC. Recently bought an Epiphone Embassy in the same price range as this and its fit and finish were excellent - never mind loose frets, the fretwork was competent with no snaggy ends and the only dirt on my fingers was whatever nickel poisoning I'm going to get from whatever cheapass strings it came with The only niggles were a loose knob - easily fixable with split shaft pots and the tuners are poor quality - I will likely replace them. That's not because they're faulty, they do the job but they're just cheap and a bit jumpy with play in their movement. I'm not bothered about these things at the £300-350 price bracket.

Big box shifters won't do anything to an instrument before handing it off to you. I would guess they don't have the time/staff to do it. So you're relying upon whatever was done at the factory - however long ago and however different the environment was in that time zone. That's why learning to do your own setups is an absolute must as far as I'm concerned. It's the second thing I do after the initial look over for any fit/finish issues. Then I play it.

Almost every maple boarded black Gibson? It's not their fault they almost always have a black headstock, it's the Gibson way so it's pretty much colour matched by default.

Beats me why G&Ls aren't more prevalent than they are. Can't all be down to headstock hate, can it?

Ungigged might be a more accurate word as it has been to one band rehearsal but I'm looking forward to giving my new Epiphone Embassy a run out at a gig soon.

I had to replace the headphone socket on my amp as the breaking connectors had lost their spring and were lifting by themselves, randomly muting the amp. Took a while to diagnose that one Replaced it myself, it was pretty easy. I see you've already done the most annoying part - removing the old socket, so it should be a breeze as long as you're replacing like for like.

The Embassy has a set neck, not a through neck. Also, the Embassy's neck is one piece mahogany vs. the Thunderbird's 7 ply mahogany/walnut. Is the Thunderbird worth the extra £183? It is if you want something Thunderbird shaped. If you don't mind having the Thunderbird's less cool brother then save yourself some cash (and the latest metallic finishes do go some way to making the Embassy a more attractive bass) FWIW I had a Thunderbird Vintage Pro and I now have an Embassy. Ergonomically it's night and day different and better IMHO - even better balance, lighter weight, less reach to the first fret despite being same scale length.

I've had the same drummer since 2009. He's mine and you can't have him!

The 'Spoons had their first rehearsal in 14 months this week. I cheated and had a sighter session with my drummer the week before. It went pretty well, a few rusty bits and not as tight as we usually are but I forgot less than I thought I would. All in all, it's great to be back. Got a mate's wedding to play in October but dunno what's going to happen with gigs this year yet. Cover band likely to get started again week after next - a lot of swotting to do before I tackle that! Just great to be playing with other people again, I've really missed it.

Give an Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro (now called Thunderbird 60s Bass) a try? Closer to the original Thunderbird than anything Gibson has done for a long time. Or save a chunk of change and get an Epiphone Embassy. Same pickups, same bridge, same scale length, same body wood. Set neck vs. neck through, mahogany neck vs. mahogany/walnut 7 ply, better ergonomics (smaller body, less reach to fret 1, better balance, lighter). But it's not quite as rock 'n' roll as a Thunderbird...

Aaaand that's the price back up to normal. Hopefully someone got a cheeky discount while it was at £299.

Found this oddbod on eBay... not mine. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114827589616

Unless you got gifted the only bass you have and had no say in it then why would you be playing any cards other than the ones you have up your sleeve, metaphorically speaking?

It's a pity you're anti wide strap - the wide, grippy strap is your #1 weapon against neck dive, so much easier to implement with no changes to the bass. Then it's tuner replacement - get some Hipshot Ultralites or some other lightweight tuners on there. At least that's a mostly a direct replacement, apart from maybe having to add some screw holes which would be covered up by the back plates of the originals if you ever reverted. Moving the strap pin to my mind looks a lot more naff than a wide strap, and I don't know if it'll do you much good - the top horn isn't much closer to the headstock than the neck heel. But I've never done it so I can't say for sure what the effect would be. Also, I don't know that there's a whole heap of wood to screw into there - if it's just the side wood in the horn with no block at the back of it then it might be a bit risky to go screwing things in there that take weight. FWIW, I use a Neotech Mega strap with my JC. Have also used the strap which came with my 20th Anniversary JC - a wide leather type and found that to be tolerable (the Neotech is better though). But it's your bass, so do what you like

Phew.

I just think you've been unlucky. I arguably live in a more isolated, remote place than you and I've managed to end up in two bands, one doing a wide gamut of rock covers and the other doing original music that no-one likes And I started in my 30s. Back then, local music web forums were the way to go - these days I guess that Facebook groups are the modern equivalent.

Am I being oversensitive if I pick up a sanctimonious "if you don't take a spare bass (and whatever else) to the gig then you're an inferior bass player" vibe in threads like these? Some of you might just want to rein that in a little - some people can only afford one bass. Some of us don't take it as seriously as you - I regularly play in an originals band which hasn't "made it" and therefore gets a derisory token gesture of renumeration for our troubles, so excuse me if I lift a finger to that in my own lazy way because I don't particularly feel "professional" in this scenario.

Just save your "I told you so"s until after I fail, kthx.

As long as you've achieved stability, that's the main thing. 3/4 to a whole turn is a lot but hopefully that's it. At least you were having to loosen it - I'd have been more concerned having to tighten 3/4-1 turn in one go...

I don't take a spare bass with me. Spare strings, spare batteries, spare leads, sure but I'm confident in the quality and maintenance of my basses. I'm not playing at a level where it would be a disaster if I had to change a string/battery/lead.

That is a lot of change, but it's not clear over how long. When did you last play it and it was fine? The climate has changed quite suddenly though - an unusually crap May. Did you recently switch off your central heating? In the last few weeks, our dehumidifier has suddenly decided it has work to do after months of just sampling the air then going "nope, nothing to do here". Dunno how much that means.

If the strings were flat to the board then I'm surmising the neck was bent back and there was less than no relief? If so, to fix it I presume you had to loosen the truss rod. How much did you have to loosen it (in terms of number of turns)?

They have done "modern" remakes in the past - Grabber - 2009 as the Grabber II Ripper - 2009 as the Ripper II G-3 - 2012 as the Grabber 3 '70s Tribute I can't imagine you'll ever see the Victory again - it wasn't a great success when it was out and unlike the Grabbers/Rippers/G-3s, no subsequent artists of note were seen with them to generate the kind of nostalgia buzz required. That plus right now you'd need to stick some dynamite under Gibson's behind to get them to do anything interesting in the bass sphere right now...