The Thunderbird

[fullerbass]

I purchased this piece of Queensland Maple from the esteemed gents at Gilet Guitars a few weeks back – Thanks so much for the advice you guys provided on staining this type of wood : ) No doubt I will be asking for more!! : )
Thought I would post a couple of pics…
This is my first attempt at building a guitar so I am going for a solid body bass...and this may take some time!!
I purchased a Thunderbird template to get me going but hope to move onto my own designs after a few builds
So far I have only completed the band sawing. The next step will be to rout the wings of the body to create the raised centre, which is the through neck on Gibson Thunderbirds. I'm using a bolt on neck but want to keep with the aesthetic of the raised centre : )
I initially had some bandsaw troubles but adjusted the blade guides so they were much closer to the blade and I slowed right down too and stopped pushing the job. After the body was roughly cut I went around the edges a few times again with the band saw and neatened it all up...Cheers!

[Dominic]

Cool, I just pulled out a thunderbird bass project that had taken a back seat for a few years. I have a nice neck made but need to do the body. I have the same templates as you. But I am going to do a bolt on neck though. I have some nice EMG pickups for it. Better get going on mine as well then. Got my inspiration from SOAD.
Cheers
Dom

[fullerbass]

Awesome : ) I am just going for a bolt on neck too...when you made the neck did you use a single piece of wood or multiple laminates like Gibson does?
I am tossing up between these two pickup manufacturers, who have apparently emulated or reverse engineered the original Thunderbird pickups -

http://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/mercha ... t_Code=270

http://www.thunderbuckerranch.com/

...But on second thoughts maybe I should stick to a more proven product like EMG : )
I'm kind of regretting not going for a Mahogany body as per Gibson but apparently QLD Maple is 'similar'...do you know what wood you will be using for your body?

Cheers,

[Dominic]

Hey, the neck is laminate with maple and walnut and NGR. Plus carbon fibre deep into the neck. I have some mahogany blanks but I might make the centre section out of laminates as well then add the wings and make the step in the body.
Qld maple would be fine. You'll want to make another one anyway so don't worry too much about wood just yet. I like the electric guitars I have made so far but I always see a way to fine tune them a bit more on the next one to make my perfect axe. Like a carrot on a stick, never quite get there. But its fun anyway.

Not really sure about bass pickups so I went for active EMGs as I use them in my electrics. No other info than that. I assume they will be nice.
Cheers
Dom

[Lillian]

Awesome : ) I am just going for a bolt on neck too...when you made the neck did you use a single piece of wood or multiple laminates like Gibson does?
I am tossing up between these two pickup manufacturers, who have apparently emulated or reverse engineered the original Thunderbird pickups -

http://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/mercha ... t_Code=270

http://www.thunderbuckerranch.com/

...But on second thoughts maybe I should stick to a more proven product like EMG : )
I'm kind of regretting not going for a Mahogany body as per Gibson but apparently QLD Maple is 'similar'...do you know what wood you will be using for your body?

Cheers,

FWIW, I don't know anything about ThunderBucker Ranch, but I know Jason's work. Jason Lollar was the spark the ignited the boutique pickup business. He wrote a how to manual for designing and making your own pickup, complete with winder that was going for 10 times its original purchase price, when you could find it on eBay. I have never heard anything negative said about a Lollar pickup.
I scored a copy of his book about 5 years ago and I'm glad that I did. It has a ton of information written so the layman can understand it. It's a great resource as well as being a very clear how to guide.

[fullerbass]

Thanks Lillian!

It's great to get some insight into Jason's work and his background. Excellent stuff! I certainly need to gain as much knowledge on these topics as I can so thanks again : ) I will also keep my eyes out for his book but sounds like I won’t have much of a chance there…

[fullerbass]

Hey, the neck is laminate with maple and walnut and NGR. Plus carbon fibre deep into the neck. I have some mahogany blanks but I might make the centre section out of laminates as well then add the wings and make the step in the body.
Qld maple would be fine. You'll want to make another one anyway so don't worry too much about wood just yet. I like the electric guitars I have made so far but I always see a way to fine tune them a bit more on the next one to make my perfect axe. Like a carrot on a stick, never quite get there. But its fun anyway.

Not really sure about bass pickups so I went for active EMGs as I use them in my electrics. No other info than that. I assume they will be nice.
Cheers
Dom

Hey Dom,

Sounds nice ! So will the carbon fibre remove the need for a truss rod? Have you used it before?

[J.F. Custom]

*snip* I will also keep my eyes out for his book but sounds like I won’t have much of a chance there…

Jason Lollars' book did go out of print and fetched very high prices online thereafter.

However you can purchase the book direct from his website again now - $60 for the 3rd revised edition. You do need to agree not to harass him with questions post purchase however

He decided to reprint and re-release it due not to the high prices on his original prints, but to fraudulent copies appearing on ebay and selling for anywhere between 300 and 600 each as well. He said he noted one guy sold five copies...

Jeremy.