Epiphone Thunderbird - disuade me, please. TONESTYLER and SANDBERG CONTENT

[mcnach]

The wait... is almost over!

I got today The Email. Production according to plan, I should be able to have it in my hands in a couple of weeks!

[prowla]

I like a Thunderbird, but they are just too big for me and I'd need an arm extension to play one.

The Epis are hugely variable in price.

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

I like a Thunderbird, but they are just too big for me and I'd need an arm extension to play one.

The Epis are hugely variable in price.

 

If they put the bridge further towards the end of the body it would help somewhat, but as it is, I agree, the neck feels too long. It's playable, and I have the same exact issue with a Telecaster shaped bass (a copy of an ASAT by Shine, it's actually a very nice bass) but I would not want to use that every day.

 

There are a few different Epi models, neck-through/bolt-on, different look/specs... hence the differences.

 

They do look good, 'though.

[mcnach]

Trip to Glasgow tomorrow morning! 

[krispn]

Good stuff! A NBD is always a wonderful thing! 

I was over in GG Glasgow at the start of the week. Some nice bass gear to try it through in the shop before you get it home 

[FinnDave]

There's a Sandberg Thunderbird just been advertised on Facebook. It's in Yorkshire, I think I it's only on his personal page at the moment. I can put you in touch if anyone's interested.

[mcnach]

57 minutes ago, krispn said:

Good stuff! A NBD is always a wonderful thing! 

I was over in GG Glasgow at the start of the week. Some nice bass gear to try it through in the shop before you get it home 

 

Nice stuff to try? Oh sure there is... but as soon as I get that bass in my hands I'm running back to my car and back home with it!!! There may be some reports of an unidentified object seen as a red blur on the M8 today.

Besides, I should not be tempted for a while now. I've got a couple of little projects on the go right now to keep me away from serious gas [1] and I don't want to be spending more money. I funded the Sandberg by selling a Fender Stratocaster, my Classic 50 Precision, and the Maruszczyk Jake (The P/JJ one which the Sandberg is kind of a straight replacement for... I wanted to be able to own both for a while to ensure the Sandberg was the one to keep but the Maruszczyk received enough attention and the right offer was made, so I sold it... yesterday!)

I'm just going to finish my coffee and I'll be on my way.

 

[1] The little little projects, just because there's Tonestyler content

1.) Put that Tonestyler on my Squier Mike Dirnt Precision, FINALLY. Yes, I bought it months ago and it's still sitting there...

2.) I'm so disorganised and/or busy... I forgot that over a year ago I bought a wiring loom for a Jazz. It has a 6-position Tonestyler type of control. I bought it because I was curious and it only cost around £30. It's meant to go into my old Matt Freeman Precision, which now has 2 Jazz pickups close together at the bridge position. The plan is to use flats on this one, I've got a set of TI Jazz flats for it.

3.) One Maruszczyk left... the reverse P one. Slightly closer to the bridge than normal, but it doesn't make a LOT of difference. I meant to ask for it at the MM position, because I tried that and liked it, but I thought it sounded too much like a Stingray, so I figured I'd try it somewhere in the middle... and ended up not sounding like either, but much closer to a Precision than anything else. I'm installing a John East MMSR preamp that I had in my magic parts drawer... I need to remove a little bit more wood (the finish on this bass is the strangest thing that flakes so easily, and I damaged it a little bit, although it's largely covered by the metal plate (Stingray style) I am using on it... 

So that's 3 sort of new basses to play with, coming soon, to keep me away from temptations. Oh, no, there's a fourth one:

4.) Fretless precision! I want to put a piezo bridge on it. I just found a suitable buffer for it, and I'll have to make space for it under the pickguard, with a battery, and install a blend control. I love piezo bridge pickups on fretless. I use black tapewounds on this one and it's a lovely sound but miss that slightly 'woodier' sound you get from a piezo sometimes. With the buffer I'll be able to blend the magnetic pickup and use the passive controls.

Too many ideas, too many bands, and not enough time, as my girlfriend keeps reminding me! (But I don't abandon her at all, which is why these projects never get done... and she's sort of invaded 'my workshop' with her art projects...)

 

Aaaanyway... coffee over. 

Back in a few hours

 

 

[mcnach]

I lied.

I didn't rush. There was a car crash on the M8 near Edinburgh, but that wasn't me. The weather is beautiful so I drove gently doing 60-65mph, windows down and calm jazz playing (well, at times blasting to compensate for the wind noise  but it was actually a nice fun drive, just under one hour to get there). 

As I arrive there, Teo sees me and smiles, but then his face changes and he says "Yes, the bass is here, but unfortunately..." and my heart sunk. What happened? Someone sat on it and broke it? They sent the wrong bass, what???

There was a problem with the finance. I took the 0% over 10 months finance option because I was going to sell a couple of things and that way it buys me time and I don't have to touch my wallet. It seems that Barclays was only paying if they deliver the bass to me, not if I collect it 

However, by now I've sold one guitar and two basses that alone more than cover the cost of the Sandberg, so all is good. I asked to cancel the finance and I'd just pay straight. Teo looked very relieved, and we proceeded to look at the bass and give it a quick run through some amp I didn't even pay attention to. 

The bass is really nice. The colour is better in person than I was expecting from the online pictures, and the ageing is practically non-existent... so very very very pleased with the finish. The neck is just right although the edges of the fingerboard could have been a little less sharp (I guess the more aged ones are a bit more rounded off?) but that's nitpicking, it really feels nice... The bass balances very well, it's 8.1 lbs, so nice and light, yet it *feels* solid. I can't describe it. Really happy with that.

Sounds... early days. I like the basic sounds I'm getting, but those strings are not the ones I'd have chosen and they're far too bright, so I'll reserve my judgement until I have some of my favourite strings on it. I nearly returned a Schecter Model T once but I completely changed my mind after I put a set of DR Sunbeams on it...

The preamp, I need to experiment and see how the controls interact to find my sweet spot, we'll see. If it bothers me I'll either make it passive or put a John East U-Retro that I already have in my drawer (was meant to be for the Maruszczyk Jake I just sold, but I ended up leaving it passive). Having said that, I am pleasantly surprised as I expected to dislike it like I dislike most 2-band preamps. The treble control does a good job at cutting just the amount of top end that I want. Many preamps just operate way too high or take too much off the mids. This one is nice. The bass is... BIG. I don't see myself boosting much here, but a quick try allowed me to see that I can treat it much like I treat the Stingray's 2EQ to get to the right amount of mids that I want in my sound, but turning down the bass a tiny bit and leaving treble flat or reducing it a bit too I seem to get a nice thick well defined sound with both pickups on. I'll have to play.

I like that with the preamp EQ set at the centre detent it sounds just like it does in passive mode, and it's a good sound. The P pickup in particular I am enjoying. It's got a really nice bark, when you dig in it growls, but it can be mellow if you play more gently. The MM may be lacking a bit of 'oomph' on its own but when both pickups are together they sound very good, so I'm not inclined to change anything. I may investigate to see if it's wired in parallel, and see if I can wire it in series for a thicker sound... but I wanted this bass for the P and P/MM sound, and those are good. I have no idea what pickups are these, they are whatever Sandberg uses by default these days and they're good.

Anyway, here is the beast...

 

[Cuzzie]

Those are sandberg in house pick ups which veer towards the more vintage sound, unless you ordered black labels which are punchy as hell

[mcnach]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

Those are sandberg in house pick ups which veer towards the more vintage sound, unless you ordered black labels which are punchy as hell

 

It certainly does a nice traditional Precision type of sound, I like the P type. The MM is not as nice but it's fine. I was supposed to be playing at a beer festival tonight but there was some misunderstanding and the organisers booked more bands than they needed... and we drew the short straw. So I'm at home alone while my girlfriend is in Malta. It's been a noisy evening here

Preamp is fine too, nothing amazing but no urge to change anything. The more I play it, the more at home it feels. I loosened up the truss rod a little bit and now it's got a pretty low action. The fretwork is excellent. 

I've got a MarkBass SuperBooster pedal, the one with the VLE and VPF controls. It does a good job of emulating what a passive tone control does so I should give it a try.

[Cuzzie]

What one possibly could think of as a weakness in the Preamp can actually be a strength IMHO , it allows the natural bass to shine, then sculpt as you wish 

[edstraker123]

Late to the party but I picked up a standard Epi Thunderbird a couple of weeks back and it's absolutely sweet.( Original owner put a Gibson truss rod cover on it and just playing it I was sure it was a Gibson till I was told otherwise.) The white one in the earlier posts - to die for !

[mcnach]

Three months on...

I love the bass.

The pickups are great. 

Preamp... nah. It's got to go. Lately I've been playing it more and more in passive mode and there's just a quality there that becomes... hidden under a blanket the minute I engage the preamp. I didn't notice it at first but it's one of those things that once you realise it, you can't ignore. I was noticing something not quite to my liking on the higher bass/low mids, and it goes away when I bypass the preamp.