mayfly
Epic Member
- Messages
- 8,720
So ByteFrenzy's Thunderbird bass got me excited about building a thunderbird for myself.
I had always wanted one, but the non-availability of a thunderbird headstock on a warmoth neck held me off.
But then I realized that John Entwistle used to play thunderbirds, but disliked the neck - so he had a bunch made with fender necks.
Enter the Fenderbird! I remembered that I had a warmoth Jazz Bass neck on an old project that didn't go so well. The project was to rescue an old Vantage Bass body with a new neck. Unfortunately, the tone sucked and it hung really neck heavy. The Bass sat around for a few years, then I banished it to a used guitar shop for another few years. Today I collected it, and here it is:
I took the neck off and took stock of the situation. I had originally finished the neck myself and seeing it again I was reminded of why I now get Warmoth to finish stuff for me - I suck at finishing. However I had forgotten that the neck has some nice flame on it! Also, I had used quality Schaller tuners on it. Things were looking up.
The little guy still looks pretty good, even after 12 years...
So now, what to do about that thunderbird body?? I'm not really a bass player, so I'm appealing to the group for input on this one. Any thoughts about wood, finish, pickups, active vs passive, etc would be most welcome.
I had always wanted one, but the non-availability of a thunderbird headstock on a warmoth neck held me off.
But then I realized that John Entwistle used to play thunderbirds, but disliked the neck - so he had a bunch made with fender necks.
Enter the Fenderbird! I remembered that I had a warmoth Jazz Bass neck on an old project that didn't go so well. The project was to rescue an old Vantage Bass body with a new neck. Unfortunately, the tone sucked and it hung really neck heavy. The Bass sat around for a few years, then I banished it to a used guitar shop for another few years. Today I collected it, and here it is:
I took the neck off and took stock of the situation. I had originally finished the neck myself and seeing it again I was reminded of why I now get Warmoth to finish stuff for me - I suck at finishing. However I had forgotten that the neck has some nice flame on it! Also, I had used quality Schaller tuners on it. Things were looking up.
The little guy still looks pretty good, even after 12 years...
So now, what to do about that thunderbird body?? I'm not really a bass player, so I'm appealing to the group for input on this one. Any thoughts about wood, finish, pickups, active vs passive, etc would be most welcome.