Jump to content
Why become a member? ×
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt

Thunderbird is go

T-Bay

By T-Bay,
in Build Diaries

 Share

Recommended Posts

T-Bay Grand Master

T-Bay

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have been bouncing ideas around for a while for a headless Thunderbird and have finally bitten the bullet and started ordering stuff. I don’t have the tools to make a neck so I have ordered a Jazz style neck off eBay which will eventually have the head chopped off. A headless bridge and end plate is also on its way. I have found a local wood yard that does decent blanks and have fired off an email to them. A wanted ad has gone up for some thunderbird pick ups but if the worst happens I will buy some decent ones from the states. As soon as bits arrive and work starts I will get some pics up. It will be a slow process as life is pretty busy at it is but I am in no rush.

Edited by T-Bay
Link to comment
Share on other sites
T-Bay Grand Master

T-Bay

Posted
  • Author
Posted
23 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

Thanks, it was a very useful read. I am starting from scratch as opposed to a donor bit the process will be similar if a bit more involved. So far I have a neck, headless system and pair of pick ups on the way. After putting up a wanted ad last night I was nosing around The for sale sections when I saw a pair of pickups come up for trade only for a pedal I had going spare. What are the odds of that?

 

I am still unsure what I will do exactly, as with most of these things I guess it will evolve over time. At the moment I have three trains of thought- 1, a straight copy of the thunderbird, probably with a bit more rollover at the edge like my studio model, 2, similar but with heavily chamfered wings to take a bit of weight out but keep it looking normal, 3, skeleton the wings with big cut outs - I like this idea but not sure how stable the wood would be so feel this could be a bit risky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
anzoid Proficient

anzoid

Posted
Posted
On 18/11/2017 at 18:28, AndyTravis said:

You seen this on eBay, headless Precision by Cort!

D993C34F-B01A-4A0A-B40E-9596599C1F17.jpeg

I messaged the seller about this one as I was quite interested (note the "was") - apparently it is rather on the heavy side and a bit of research suggests that the body may be plywood. It's still up for £250 but I think that is possibly a bit overpriced. Also didn't like how the jack socket had been modified - if you wanted to put a normal P-bass scratchplate back on it you'd be left with some mess to sort out, shame really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SpondonBassed Grand Master

SpondonBassed

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'd be interested if it was a five... and it wasn't on EB... and the seller was open to a haggle... and it was local so I could try before I buy...and if I wasn't reminded of Leo every time I looked at the body shape... and it...

Nah, forget it.

I bought my five string Steiny for that sort of money new.  I have a B2A as well.  I think I've had 'nuff of headless bass for a bit.  Funny enough, I never wanted to progress to a composite version or a Status.  I like the sound of wood and these days I am mostly tending towards the full bodied guitars with compact heads.

@T-Bay I'd like to try the headless Thunderbird still.  Making the body from scratch should make it interesting when it comes to hanging it off the strap.  "The sit" as @Andyjr1515 describes it.

Are you keeping a book as to whether the nut will end up at ear, shoulder or elbow level?  I'll have a punt on it floating nicely at the shoulder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Yippee!  I finally got how to tag other members into the conversation.  Er, did I really just admit to that out loud?)

Edited by SpondonBassed
Link to comment
Share on other sites
SpondonBassed Grand Master

SpondonBassed

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, charic said:

I'm not sure why that turned up in the search... it doesn't for me xD maybe you got lucky!  I'll be trying to roll it back again shortly

I didn't use any fancy terms just "headless thunderbird" in the advanced search panel with all the defaults checked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SpondonBassed Grand Master

SpondonBassed

Posted
Posted (edited)
25 minutes ago, charic said:

You may have got in the slight window where I had allowed for all content (prior to it crashing the site), I'm just trying to turn it back again :)

Nippy aren't I?

It's a pity you aren't an incandescent light bulb.  You've nearly got enough Watts to dimly light a pantry!  Let me make it 59.

Edited by SpondonBassed
Link to comment
Share on other sites
T-Bay Grand Master

T-Bay

Posted
  • Author
Posted
7 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

I'd be interested if it was a five... and it wasn't on EB... and the seller was open to a haggle... and it was local so I could try before I buy...and if I wasn't reminded of Leo every time I looked at the body shape... and it...

Nah, forget it.

I bought my five string Steiny for that sort of money new.  I have a B2A as well.  I think I've had 'nuff of headless bass for a bit.  Funny enough, I never wanted to progress to a composite version or a Status.  I like the sound of wood and these days I am mostly tending towards the full bodied guitars with compact heads.

@T-Bay I'd like to try the headless Thunderbird still.  Making the body from scratch should make it interesting when it comes to hanging it off the strap.  "The sit" as @Andyjr1515 describes it.

Are you keeping a book as to whether the nut will end up at ear, shoulder or elbow level?  I'll have a punt on it floating nicely at the shoulder.

 

 

(Yippee!  I finally got how to tag other members into the conversation.  Er, did I really just admit to that out loud?)

 I don’t understand why the balance point is such an issue for a lot of makers, it’s a fairly simple thing to calculate after all. I messed about with ways of improving the balance on the scrap EB0 I refurbished, even small changes can make massive differences. My Gibson T-bird has no issues at all. This one will be lighter in the body but that should be countered by the lack of head. The headless tuner/ bridge also shifts the weight that way so it isn’t one of my worries (plenty of other things are!).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SpondonBassed Grand Master

SpondonBassed

Posted
Posted
34 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

 I don’t understand why the balance point is such an issue for a lot of makers, it’s a fairly simple thing to calculate after all. I messed about with ways of improving the balance on the scrap EB0 I refurbished, even small changes can make massive differences. My Gibson T-bird has no issues at all. This one will be lighter in the body but that should be countered by the lack of head. The headless tuner/ bridge also shifts the weight that way so it isn’t one of my worries (plenty of other things are!).

No book then...?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...