Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

Nicely modded Bird on Reverb - No affiliation.

Gibson Thunderbird 2013 Ebony | Reverb

"The tone is very bright and doesn’t break up like a typical thunderbird. It’s also sporting a Malory capacitor as well." ... ??? break up ??? ...and the "Malory capacitor"... pa-lease... Even using "sporting" is a tip-off to BS.

 

[Engle]

For now, I get away with quite a bit actually. My wife is pretty good about my hobby. I have the little Rumble in the corner of the family room, a Marshall combo in my home office with six basses on the wall, a room upstairs with an amp and more basses on the wall and the master bedroom where for now I’m allowed to have my Mesa rig and a couple of basses (but a bit of grumbling about that is beginning). I keep three or four basses at the mountain place and a Hartke combo (surprisingly great tone with Thunderbirds) in the upstairs loft area with my cds, some vinyl, the turntable and a Blu-ray player. But it all goes to the basement in a couple of years. That has been made very clear. The basement is basically finished with plastered and painted ceiling and walls, carpet, lights, etc., but it will need some work to make it my “studio.” I’ll be asking for advice on that when the time comes.

I’d be happy to share how I built my acoustic treatment panels when you’re ready Marshall.

 

[PhR75]

Like all rounds they lose some brightness. But they gain some nice thick punch with more low mids than most rounds, at least in my applications. Some think they go dead quick, but I'm never looking for really bright so they work well on one of the VPs and a G&L.

I just put Boomers to the fretless Aria SB700. The string supplier had only two sets of Daddario EXL's left so I decided to use the fretless as a guinea pig.
But good to know, I may try them for the T-Birds the next time. The Pro Steels in the VP have just been driven in so they sound great. They felt overtly harsh when brand new but I've been so accustomed to the EXL's so it might be only that.
I might try the Boomers for those Tele basses too. The dual SCPB and the double-reverse-P (though it looks like it has two Music Man pickups) are very bright basses.

 

[Mvf]

Repeat after me. Never sell a Thunderbird.

Never sell a Thunderbird!
Never sell a Thunderbird!
Never sell a Thunderbird!
Never!

 

[JIO]

As our daughter says, "You can't forget what you can't remember." -Esther

Never sell a Thunderbird!
Never sell a Thunderbird!
Never sell a Thunderbird!
Never!

I did sell one - to Rudy Rock (Zwick) in Hamburg!

 

[GonePlaid]

Yes, it’s definitely the fragilest* of the two.

* if enough people reinforce the wrong use of a word it eventually becomes the new norm.

 

[GonePlaid]

In August 2018 I had a Bilateral Lung Transplant. The 9 hour surgery had my arms bent into a bad position that often results in ulnar nerve damage. I couldn't even spread the fingers on my right hand, and my pinkie on that hand felt like it was bring cut open if you touched it with a string. I couldn't write, and could barely hold a fork. Here's a picture of me two weeks later in the hospital playing my uke bass. It took me at least a year to get close to the speed and accuracy that I used to be able to play sixteenth notes with alternating fingers. I started dabbling with pick playing but I'm still a hack at that. Don't lose hope. I'm back to full strength playing-wise.
Unfortunately, I'm writing this from my hospital bed. I spent 19 day in the hospital with pneumonia and a possible fungalinfection, only to be discharged then bounce back in 10 days later with low blood pressure induced fainting and a different infection in my lungs.
View attachment 4646917

Dang, man! Take care.

 

[GonePlaid]

I've never seen a band go on with grass skirts, I'm sure it has happened, maybe with watermelon helmets. Nothing would surprise me. In the event anu band did, I would hope they have sox on just incase.

Nah. Gotta go 'regimental'.

 

[GonePlaid]

I strongly dislike all of the Fender & Fender-ish headstock & body shapes

It's why I don’t have any, don't want any.

Well, that, and the ergos are atrocious, imo.



One of the many, many, advantages of living alone (just a couple of nuisance cats......), there's nobody around to try & tell me what I can & can't do

OK! Totally agree with both sentiments(OK, only one cat, and I did own a Squier VM Jag SS-for awhile. Neck profile f---ed* up my fretting hand)

*oul

 

[GonePlaid]

Bridge looks the same as my 65.
I thought that changed bridges by 67

Only if they ran outta the others.

 

[JIO]

Yes, it’s definitely the fragilest* of the two.

* if enough people reinforce the wrong use of a word it eventually becomes the new norm.

... most fragile...

 

[GBassNorth]

I recently picked up my first Thunderbird, an Epiphone T-Bird Pro 4 string in transparent black. Love the multi laminate neck and the stealthy appearance.

Sounds beautiful, you don’t see the trans black ones very often. Post a pic of your Tbird and our Queen will be by shortly to christen you with a member number if you’d like. In the meantime, get well soon so you can strap that Tbird back on.
BTW - there is a Tbird shaped UkeBass out there.

I strongly dislike all of the Fender & Fender-ish headstock & body shapes
It's why I don’t have any, don't want any.
Well, that, and the ergos are atrocious, imo.
One of the many, many, advantages of living alone (just a couple of nuisance cats......), there's nobody around to try & tell me what I can & can't do

No Fenders? You’re a rare bird, I thought everybody had at least one. Don’t worry, you aren’t missing much.
It’s been a long time but IIRC you’re right, living alone does have its advantages. However, I do find my significant other keeps my bass hoarding in check and gently reminds me to limit my purchases to something less than insane levels.

Telecaster headstock is my favourite Fender headstock. There, I've said it. And not reversed. Looks best on Tele or P style basses, not much on a Jazz or a T-bird body ('though that Brooks' TeleBird is an exception).
With them being so fragile I should except these popping off soon:
View attachment 4647207

That red one sure looks sweet!

 

[GBassNorth]

... most fragile...

Or is it …more fragile…
Ah heck, I’ll stick with fragilest and start a new trend in support of my Floridian brother.

 

[JIO]

Electric bass head-stock design, as with anything visual - is aesthetically subjective. I personally am very open to the myriad of versions even if (at the end of the day) I believe most are pretty incongruent to the basses overall gestalt. I think there is a tb thread covering the topic of hs's but I can't locate it. Like any visual language - the more you see, the more reference you will have to make a critical analysis.

 

[JIO]

Or is it …more fragile…
Ah heck, I’ll stick with fragilest and start a new trend in support of my Floridian brother.

Yes, more fragile if slightly less stable... most fragile if describing something ... very fragile. (unstable) Words and how they are used is important, and when they aren't - it's all downhill.

 

[GonePlaid]

Or is it …more fragile…
Ah heck, I’ll stick with fragilest and start a new trend in support of my Floridian brother.

Muchos Garcias. y Muchos Gonzales. y Muchos Perez, etc.

 

[PhR75]

I must also mention that the Tele-style neck is also my favourite Fender neck. For big hands it just feels right and strong...oh, sorry, brittle and prone to twist easily.
If we get these "rumours" going as strongly as the T-Bird ones nobody will want a Tele -style basses and I can afford a one or two (ok, three) Tele -projects. Something along these lines:

I'm sure I'll come up with the third version soon. Oh, the Chris Squire version, of course. The double SCPC does that sound very well but this is white!:

See the pic from the "Fragile" booklet. They named the album because of that bass.

 

[GBassNorth]

Muchos Garcias. y Muchos Gonzales. y Muchos Perez, etc.

Translated…
“Munching Garlic and munching olives and munching pretzels”
Sounds like an odd combination, but I’ll give it a try.

 

[GBassNorth]

Yes, more fragile if slightly less stable... most fragile if describing something ... very fragile. (unstable) Words and how they are used is important, and when they aren't - it's all downhill.

Got it.
(Sea what I did their)

 

[GBassNorth]

I must also mention that the Tele-style neck is also my favourite Fender neck. For big hands it just feels right and strong...oh, sorry, brittle and prone to twist easily.
If we get these "rumours" going as strongly as the T-Bird ones nobody will want a Tele -style basses and I can afford a one or two (ok, three) Tele -projects. Something along these lines:
View attachment 4647250
View attachment 4647251

I'm sure I'll come up with the third version soon. Oh, the Chris Squire version, of course. The double SCPC does that sound very well but this is white!:
View attachment 4647252

See the pic from the "Fragile" booklet. They named the album because of that bass.

Lower left pic - somebody teach that kid how to string a bass, my OCD is in overload!