Reverse Fenderbird (1/2) ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Reverse Fenderbird (1/2)

Solid poplar body, lightly stained and finished in polyurethane. Korean Squire neck, active electronics. Is it a reverse, or a non-reverse? Since this is a reverse of the original Thunderbird body ( more-or-less ) I say it is a reverse. If this is a non-reverse, then the original would have to be the reverse. Reverse of what? Makes no sense.

look close

Well, I left the two Fenderbirds alone in the woodshop when I went on vacation, and when I got back, this is what I found. I should have known. This is what happens when you leave your guitars unsupervised.

He's a cute little guy though. Not really little at all - 10 pounds, and he's got a full 34" scale already. No finish yet, the body looks like a piece of poplar that I had from the lumber yard, and the neck says Squier Korea. His mini-humbuckers are wired to the switch and jack, but the rest of his electronics haven't dropped yet. I'm guessing they will be active bass and treble like his parents. I wonder who he will take after in the pickguard and finish.

The proud parents are understandably protective and haven't let me play with him much, but he seems like a winner already. I guess I'll just have to go get him his own stand and make the best of it. The damn Stratocasters have been breeding like crazy too.

( Looking at the picture, it appears the bridge and pickups are crooked. That is an artifact of the wide-angle camera lens. I assure you, the baby is completely healthy, and LOUD. )

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Basses, Body - Built, Body - Poplar, Body - Solid, Electronics - Active, Gibson, Long-Scale Basses, Neck - Bought, Projects,

Gibson Projects

Gibson Fenderbird Bass 1

Gibson Fenderbird Bass 2

Gibson Reverse Fenderbird Bass

Samick SG450 Guitar

The "Fenderbird" is a mash-up of a Gibson Thunderbird body and a Fender neck. You'd expect such a thing to be a mutt, but this mutt comes with a great pedigree - invented by no less than John Entwistle of The Who.

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Long-Scale Basses

Basses built with the standard scale length of 34 inches.

Long-Scale Basses

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January 10, 2023

More Variations on a Theme

January 10, 2023

Danelectro Silvertone 1443 Bass

Fender Jazzmaster Bass 1

Fender Jazzmaster Bass 2

Fender Jazzmaster Bass 3

Gibson Reverse Fenderbird Bass

Harmony H617 Bobkat

Danelectro Silvertone 1450 Guitar

Harmony Silvertone 1478

Danelectro '67 Hornet Guitar

These all share the same 'melted' body style pioneered by the Fender Jazzmaster in 1958.

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RetroBrite

"RetroBrite" is a name for a process that restores old yellowed plastics to new. Many plastics yellow or darken over time. RetroBriting can reverse this aging, but with a number of caveats that, in my opinion, make it pretty useless. While the process actually does work - it reverses the discoloration - the effect is temporary. After a few months, the plastic will return to its yellowed state. When this happens, you can repeat the treatment, but at some point the chemicals involved are going to start to degrade the plastic.

My first experiment was whitening some yellowed tuner knobs, and it did work. With nothing more than sunshine and hydrogen peroxide, the knobs lightened considerably. That was several years ago, and today the knobs are as yellow as ever.

What causes this yellowing? It is variously attributed to sunlight, oxygen, bromine content, and other causes. While all of these things can contribute to it, none of them are necessary. Some plastics simply turn yellow with age, and nothing will stop it. In my experience, the real culprit is simply bad plastic, and the only real solution is replacement.

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