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Brooks Telebird


Basvarken
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Here is my latest build. The Brooks Telebird.

It is my take on the legendary Fenderbird that was built by Peter Cook for John Entwistle.
However I decided to combine the characteristics the Thunderbird body with a 51 P (aka Telecaster bass).

The specs are as follows

- Two piece Swamp Ash body
- Allparts Maple 51 P neck. Bolt on
- Vintage blonde finish
- Jess Loureiro 51 P split coil pickup
- 34" scale
- Tusq nut
- Wide travel Thunderbird bridge plus tailstop. Nickel
- Matte black single ply pickguard
- Gotoh GB528 lightweight tuners. Nickel
- Allparts push/pull Volume pot
- CTS Tone pot
- Silver reflector cap knobs
- Telecaster jack cup. Nickel
- GHS Brite Flats 49-108

brooks-telebird-full-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-telebird-body-angle-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-telebird-back-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-telebird-bridge-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-telebird-body-1500_orig.jpg
brooks-telebird-body-back-angle-1500_ori
brooks-telebird-headstock-back-1500_orig

I'll post pics of the build process in several answers below.

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Stained the neck into a vintage colour
neck-stained_orig.jpg

After the first coat of clear finish
stained-neck_orig.jpg

Positioning the waterslide decal. Made in Velp!
telebird-sn-close_orig.jpg

Positioning the Logo and name decal
telebird-logo-and-name-close_orig.jpg

In the meanwhile I did some shopping:
Jess Loureiro pickup, Gotoh tuners and a wide travel Thunderbird bridge set
pickup-tuners-bridge_orig.jpg

Drilled the bridge stud holes and tail stop holes
bridge-stud-holes_orig.jpg

Drilled the neck pocket holes
neckpocket-holes_orig.jpg

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Laser engraved pick guards. (Eventually I opted for the single ply black)
pickguards_orig.jpg


Thin coat of sanding sealer prior to filling the pores
first-coat-sanding-sealer_orig.jpg

Filled the pores with Rustins Grain Filler. Mahogany colour to enhance the contrast (in order to keep the grain visible after the upcoming paint process_
pores-filled_2_orig.jpg

Sanded the grain filled body smooth
sanded-smooth-plus-primer_orig.jpg

After several coats of white blonde (nitro)
white-blonde-back_orig.jpg

Exactly the opacity I was looking for
white-blonde_orig.jpg

After a few thin coats of Amber the body looks yellowed with age
yellowed-body-flat_orig.jpg

After several coat of clears the body was ready for assembly
body-telebird-back-1500_orig.jpg

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Here is a quick video that I made to show you how the Brooks Telebird sounds. The bass is plugged into my MarkBass SA 450 with Eden D210XLT cabs. Mic is a DAP PL01. Via my Minidisc recorder into my iMac. Video recorded with Photobooth.
 
Edited by Basvarken
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35 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

That bass looks like a lot of fun!

I'm intrigued by all the headstocks to the side in the video. You seem to have a lot of Gibson-esque stuff there. 

Sharp eye. Yes, I do have a kind of a Gibson fetish 😉
Hey, I even wrote a book about it! (www.thegibsonbassbook.com)
All my builds are related to Gibson in one way or another. I always look for a combination of classic basses. Such as the LP Jr DC shaped Gibson EB-0 with a 51 P.  Or - in this case- the Thunderbird with a 51 P.

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@Basvarken

Hey Bas, are you the Dutch guy that had a website dedicated to Rob Kearns ?   I seem to remember many years ago talking about Rob to someone with a name just like yours,  discussing his music with C.O.L.  and his Gibson Triumph  ( or Les Paul ) bass.

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29 minutes ago, fleabag said:

@Basvarken

Hey Bas, are you the Dutch guy that had a website dedicated to Rob Kearns ?   I seem to remember many years ago talking about Rob to someone with a name just like yours,  discussing his music with C.O.L.  and his Gibson Triumph  ( or Les Paul ) bass.

I think that has to be me. 😉

But I never ran a website about Robert Kearns. But I really am a big fan of Robert and Cry Of Love. I used to frequent the COL website run by Oliver Woodall a lot. And the Gibson Triumph that Robert used to play during his COL days  was really the start of my love for Gibson bass guitars. I remember vividly seeing them live In Hengelo (NL) and thinking Robert P Kearns had the best bass sound I had ever heard in my life.
Took me years to find a Gibson Les Paul Bass myself.

My name is Rob by the way (Basvarken means Bass Pig)

Edited by Basvarken
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Ha !

Yes,  then it is  you i have been talking to in the past. I wasnt sure if the website was yours or not, but you posted on there a lot, and have great knowledge of the band and Kearns.

I've seen many COL videos on Youtube, some of which you posted , like some unreleased tracks.  I fell in love with Brother when it was released  many years ago, and Kearns Triumph bass.  I never ever had the money for one, though i would love a Triumph.

Funny that i have only just seen you on here and yet you have been a member for  7 years  :)

 

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@Basvarken

Robert P Kearns is so underrated / overlooked in my opinion.  His bass lines are right up there with Andy Fraser, Tim Bogert and Jack Bruce if you ask me.

I don't post an awful lot here. But I do nose around quite frequently 😉

Couldn't agree more.

Can you remember the website where we were chatting many years ago, Rob ?  Is it still alive ?

Edited by fleabag
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