NGD: NS S-200 Thunderbird

[Quantum Strummer]

Has anyone who's familiar with the original, played one of these, and if so, can you compare?

My T-bird is a flat-out terrific guitar. I wouldn't give a second thought to it being made in Korea. (I know this does matter to some folks.) I have had my hands on a couple oldies, but that was some time ago so I can't compare 'em to the new one.

-Dave-

 

[2nevets]

Looks like I have one on the way

 

[kakerlak]

Looks like I have one on the way

Do we have an over/under on how long before it's for sale to fund another Thorn? ;-)

 

[2nevets]

Do we have an over/under on how long before it's for sale to fund another Thorn? ;-)

Nice!!
I have 12 of Rons Guitars so I am good at this point!!

 

[S100]

I know they're like art pieces, but I don't know how you decide which one to play.

 

[LenCat]

Wow this thread is full of great info! I got my flamed bird a few days ago and am loving the tones. The first thing I did was go through all the different switch combo's WITHOUT reading the instructions. The one I kept coming back to turned out to be straight neck pup. This is through a '57 Fender Pro (15" spkr). Then I spent some time learning the switches and plugged an Ethos OD at low gain and got some balls then clicked on an OCD and the spank was on!

The problem w/ mine is it wont stay in tune for more than 5min. Anyone else having this prob??? And FORGET about the whammy. A couple of good pulls on that and its WAY out of tune. Anyone else having these problems??

 

[kakerlak]

The problem w/ mine is it wont stay in tune for more than 5min. Anyone else having this prob??? And FORGET about the whammy. A couple of good pulls on that and its WAY out of tune. Anyone else having these problems??

Pinchy nut slot(s), or catchy saddle(s)? New strings need to stretch and settle? Those are always the starting points for me.

 

[LenCat]

Pinchy nut slot(s), or catchy saddle(s)? New strings need to stretch and settle? Those are always the starting points for me.

Right. I've played it for 3 days now so the string are well broken in. I'll try a little graphite in the bridge slots and saddles and see if that helps. What about the Whammy? Is anyone else having problems staying in tune after using it?

 

[Default]

Generally, if it goes sharp, it's the nut. You can also make sure that the screw holding the gear on the tuning machine is snug. Sometimes they aren't tight.

 

[Quantum Strummer]

My T-bird is very stable tuning-wise. I did remove the Tremar arm, but that's just me: if it's not a Jazzmaster or a hollowbody guitar with a Bigsby I tend not to get on well with vibratos. (Oddly, though, I do like the short-arm Maestro unit on my SG Jr. Stays in tune okay and feels real nice.) I did have some issues with the nut when I moved up to 11 gauge strings, but I'm used to dealing with that on modern guitars. Nut slots are typically cut too narrow. IMO all ~24.75" scale length guitars should leave the factory equipped to handle 11s without the need for nut/bridge filing.

-Dave-

 

[LenCat]

My T-bird is very stable tuning-wise. I did remove the Tremar arm, but that's just me: if it's not a Jazzmaster or a hollowbody guitar with a Bigsby I tend not to get on well with vibratos. (Oddly, though, I do like the short-arm Maestro unit on my SG Jr. Stays in tune okay and feels real nice.) I did have some issues with the nut when I moved up to 11 gauge strings, but I'm used to dealing with that on modern guitars. Nut slots are typically cut too narrow. IMO all ~24.75" scale length guitars should leave the factory equipped to handle 11s without the need for nut/bridge filing.

-Dave-

thx again for all the great info. "flossing" the nut slots and a little graphite seems to have helped w/ staying in tune. It's been 25 years since I bought a NEW guitar so i forgot they need to "break in". The whammy seems a little better as well but still not playable. That's a huge deal for me. I don't use it a lot but when I do I need to be able go "all out" w/out a problem. Any other whammy tips?

 

[txbumper57]

thx again for all the great info. "flossing" the nut slots and a little graphite seems to have helped w/ staying in tune. It's been 25 years since I bought a NEW guitar so i forgot they need to "break in". The whammy seems a little better as well but still not playable. That's a huge deal for me. I don't use it a lot but when I do I need to be able go "all out" w/out a problem. Any other whammy tips?

You might want to try and find a Roller Tun-O-Matic style bridge. I have them on all my Bigsby equipped Hollow and Semi Hollow guitars and they work wonders. You can achieve "All Out" usage of the Vibrato and still return to the "in tune" position when you release it. It is basically the same thing you have now but with rollers for the individual saddles instead of the wedge shaped blades. It will still allow you to dial in the intonation but the rollers will allow the strings to fully return to their original position after using the whammy bar. The Bridge you have on it from the factory has a tendency to Grab the strings if you dive too far with the vibrato and then not allow them to return to their original position. The key to consistency with any vibrato that is separate from the bridge like the Hagstom Design or Bigsby design is the least amount of Friction possible on the strings. The roller bridge should help you achieve that. Hope this helps!

TX

 

[2nevets]

I returned mine-liked it a lot but liked
this one better

 

[Zelja]

I'd almost be tempted to put a HB-1 in the bridge & leave the mini-hum in the neck. I always thought that would be a good combo in theory.

 

[matsickma]

That M80 must be one of the earliest built. It still has the trapezoid stop placed a good distance from bridge. Never seen a M80 with that distance between bridge and stop before.

 

[GAD]

I returned mine-liked it a lot but liked
this one better

Oh, I like that!

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

That M80 must be one of the earliest built. It still has the trapezoid stop placed a good distance from bridge. Never seen a M80 with that distance between bridge and stop before.

For comparison here's mine, I believe it's a '77. (I'm at work and going by memory)

 

[DrumBob]

I have a question about the trem. On the top part of the assembly, there's a screw on the left side. What is the purpose of that screw? is it meant to anchor the plate down if you want to block and deactivate the trem off? So far, I have found that the trem knocks the guitar right out of tune.

 

[kakerlak]

I have a question about the trem. On the top part of the assembly, there's a screw on the left side. What is the purpose of that screw? is it meant to anchor the plate down if you want to block and deactivate the trem off? So far, I have found that the trem knocks the guitar right out of tune.

I believe that's a spring tension adjustment.

 

[Quantum Strummer]

I'd almost be tempted to put a HB-1 in the bridge & leave the mini-hum in the neck.

Depending on the particular HB-1 you could end up with a brighter bridge pickup after doing this. At least if the p'ups in my S-100s are representative of the '70s norm and my T-bird's p'ups are typical of current manufacture. Compared to the HB-1s in my S-100s, at same amp settings (Vox Pacemaker & newer AC-4, Fender Princeton, Hi-Tone 50) the LB-1s are darker. Not by much but enough to make me turn the amps' treble pots up a hair to compensate. The HB-1s do have more midrange oomph, though, if that's your main goal.

I wouldn't sell the LB-1 bridge pickup short. The one in my T-bird has more cut-through power than I'd expected. Works excellently with mid-rich amps like the Voxes and big(ger) bass OD pedals like the Visual Sound Open Road.

-Dave-