Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

One of my fav fretless players is Eberhard Weber. OK, he plays an upright but it's clearly an electric bass. Anyway, the tone he gets is just amazing and his compositions too. Here on a Kate Bush song:

This cat right here on fretless.
Another live show at Central Park in the 70's with Brand X.

 

[RedVee]

Agree. Some are so strict that even a few seconds is too much. I get you don't ideally want to put whole albums on youtube, but you are right, many are missing out on exposure. Kids find things on youtube and get interested in them. If nothing else they might go see a show if the artist is still performing even if they won't buy a CD or download.

A thing now is young folk on YT ‘reacting’ to old* songs that people suggest (often paying to get the song on the list). I would think that would be useful to bands and record companies but a lot block usage. Madness.

not old really, just songs I like from my youth

I think he was also the first well known person I knew that played one. Fender made their first ones in late 1969, that CAR '68 P bass I always talk about had a rosewood fretless P neck on it when I first got it in 1977, the owner said he bought it new with a fretted neck and got the fretless when they were first available, course I ruined it with Rotosounds and lousy technique very quickly.

Bill Wyman would qualify as an early rock fretless player ?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

You just can't avoid those ads these days. I find it quite obnoxious that local retail has been obliterated and every vacant storefront (and there are a lot of them) are being replaced with 'dispensaries'.*

* I don't care what people do/put in their bodies. But I hate the monoculture of retail that is developing. I also hate walking through clouds of smoke (intoxicating and otherwise)** everywhere.

** For those that are subjected to drug testing at work, casual exposure like that can result in a positive test due to the long half-life of metabolites, and test reliability and sensitivity. Although it may not result in immediate career implications (but for some it does), it can be incredibly inconvenient.

so you’re saying you owe the watermelon fetish to the lack of controlled substance intake? that would explain it all…

 

[bobyoung53]

A thing now is young folk on YT ‘reacting’ to old* songs that people suggest (often paying to get the song on the list). I would think that would be useful to bands and record companies but a lot block usage. Madness.

not old really, just songs I like from my youth


Bill Wyman would qualify as an early rock fretless player ?

I didn't even think of him. He was one of the first if not the first, I can't think of any factory made fretless electric bass made when he pulled the frets out of his bass. Coincidence as I just saw a good documentary on Bill made last year. Very interesting film. I think @JIO turned me on to this here a few weeks ago.

Bill Wyman’s The Quiet One – Streaming Now On Demand – Bill Wyman

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

This cat right here on fretless.
Another live show at Central Park in the 70's with Brand X.

View attachment 4686617

as you would say; Heck Yeah! love brand x with collins on drums!….what a power rhythm section! that pic was from the Wal advert in guitar player…… so lusted for one of those…

 

[PhR75]

This cat right here on fretless.
Another live show at Central Park in the 70's with Brand X.

View attachment 4686617

Percy Jones is brilliant! And love Brand X! They avoided cheese when it was almost mandatory to cheese up the fusion. In late 70's that is.

So who played the drums when you saw them? Phil or Kenwood Dennard or Chuck Burgi or Mike Clark?

 

[bobyoung53]

NHOP, check this out, this guy was faster on upright than most electric players are, freak of nature.

 

[Stealth57]

Ser kosztuje dodatkowo

Cheese is cheap.

 

[JJR58]

Percy Jones is brilliant! And love Brand X! They avoided cheese when it was almost mandatory to cheese up the fusion. In late 70's that is.

So who played the drums when you saw them? Phil or Kenwood Dennard or Chuck Burgi or Mike Clark?

Wasn't Phil, that much I know.
In those days, I was being exposed to so many types of music and different bands.

I never knew some of them, till I saw them.
And Percy was actually playing fretless Precision now that I think k of it.

 

[JJR58]

as you would say; Heck Yeah! love brand x with collins on drums!….what a power rhythm section! that pic was from the Wal advert in guitar player…… so lusted for one of those…

Just knew you'd totally get that pic Chuck.

 

[BklynKen]

One of my fav fretless players is Eberhard Weber. OK, he plays an upright but it's clearly an electric bass. Anyway, the tone he gets is just amazing and his compositions too. Here on a Kate Bush song:

David J always played fretless.

 

[WillyW]

So the NR thunderbird treble geetar selection was sparse, and just a touch out of reach…

my consolation prize…

 

[PillO]

so you’re saying you owe the watermelon fetish to the lack of controlled substance intake? that would explain it all…

If you outlaw watermelon, only outlaws will use watermelons.

 

[PillO]

Cheese is cheap.

Not for from me...

 

[Engle]

26432345[/URL], member: 309672"]Transistor Tues….
Link Removed

Yep. Their "weakness" is they lack some of the bigness of the 60s. But amps have knobs and the type of string makes a huge difference. I think one issue some people have with any bass is they slap their favorite string on it and it's not an ideal match and conclude the bass doesn't sound good. Then there's the whole amp and cab thing to factor in as well. Also, a couple of us have the neck PUP really low on our '64s. Counter intuitive I know, but they sound amazing for us so we won't touch them. I might try that on a VP next time I use it out.

The type of string makes a huge difference to any bass. Probably much more than many of subtle differences we obsess about.

 

[Engle]

there’s no fixing us…..around the corner from (my paesano) Larry V in Motor Town and we are texting about Harley motors….
what a cool place….old meets new…
View attachment 4686251

My company is working on some pretty cool new tech stuff for Ford in Detroit.

 

[Gaolee]

tweechy, tweechy……chances are the reason you haven’t played one in awhile is they just didn’t built as many as SVTs…..kinda like the Betamax, it became extinct (like Polytones and for similar reasons)….for the time the concept was excellent but the implementation suffered from a reliability standpoint….
they also had to be AC coupled (by way of a capacitor, not transformer) due to the fact that reliable opposite gender (NPNs I believe) bipolar transistors were not available hence an unbalanced power supply and need for a DC block….
on paper it’s a no contest
the SVT weighs almost 100 pounds more, boasts an extra available 100 Watts and pushes 80 inches of cone vs 18….

I don't know what any of that means. Except the fact that not so many were made. I have found ACC amps to be spectacularly reliable for about 40 years now. The early 360s had some problems, and mine is one of those. They were fixed by the factory early on and somehow mine kept on making noise until I got it. It still makes noise just fine. It's got a bit of hum, but it ain't rock and roll without a bit of 60 cycle hum anyway.

The big disadvantage of a 360 stack is that the power amp is in the bottom of the 361 cabinet, and you have to go through a fairly specific startup routine unless you turn the whole thing on at the same time with a power strip. There is no on-off switch to the power amp. It was intended to be powered by a line voltage outlet on the back of the preamp head. Another disadvantage is how directional they are. You can blow down the back wall of a building, but the people in the wings will be left wondering how that happened. They will hear the bass, but it won't be earth moving like in the back directly in line with the column of air that the folded horn makes.

It's rated at 200 watts. I guess an SVT is rated at 300 watts. I don't know how accurate either rating is. Both are generally overkill, and the 361 cabinet is efficient. ACC cabinets are all really efficient and turn a few watts into a lot of decibels. A 'fridge might also be efficient. I don't know.

According to my rusty high school geometry, a 361 has something like 255 square inches of cone. A 'fridge has about 785 square inches of cone, so there's that. It isn't as dramatic as 18 vs. 80, but it is still a little over 3 times as much cone in a 'fridge. But I haven't ever needed to turn up using a 360 stack, and usually have to turn down.

And then there's the sound. I just flat don't like the way an SVT sounds by comparison.

 

[Gaolee]

NHOP, check this out, this guy was faster on upright than most electric players are, freak of nature.

His technique is interesting. He's not using a three finger technique as much as most upright players do. Unless my eyes are deceiving me. His hands must be gigantic.

 

[dagrev]

Donnie, you're fine.

I mostly do everything by ear.
And hope the brain and fingers can match that hot mess.

Thanks Jeff! You're too kind. I did as well until doing different songs every week at church. Had chord sheets and it really hindered my learning a song by ear. Age could have something to do with it as well. And a lot more stuff going on! Few songs I have memorized. No need as you never know when you'll play them again. Used to have over 40 in set lists and never saw music for any of them. I think that helped me to remember when I have to learn a song the old way.

 

[dagrev]

I don't know what any of that means. Except the fact that not so many were made. I have found ACC amps to be spectacularly reliable for about 40 years now. The early 360s had some problems, and mine is one of those. They were fixed by the factory early on and somehow mine kept on making noise until I got it. It still makes noise just fine. It's got a bit of hum, but it ain't rock and roll without a bit of 60 cycle hum anyway.

The big disadvantage of a 360 stack is that the power amp is in the bottom of the 361 cabinet, and you have to go through a fairly specific startup routine unless you turn the whole thing on at the same time with a power strip. There is no on-off switch to the power amp. It was intended to be powered by a line voltage outlet on the back of the preamp head. Another disadvantage is how directional they are. You can blow down the back wall of a building, but the people in the wings will be left wondering how that happened. They will hear the bass, but it won't be earth moving like in the back directly in line with the column of air that the folded horn makes.

It's rated at 200 watts. I guess an SVT is rated at 300 watts. I don't know how accurate either rating is. Both are generally overkill, and the 361 cabinet is efficient. ACC cabinets are all really efficient and turn a few watts into a lot of decibels. A 'fridge might also be efficient. I don't know.

According to my rusty high school geometry, a 361 has something like 255 square inches of cone. A 'fridge has about 785 square inches of cone, so there's that. It isn't as dramatic as 18 vs. 80, but it is still a little over 3 times as much cone in a 'fridge. But I haven't ever needed to turn up using a 360 stack, and usually have to turn down.

And then there's the sound. I just flat don't like the way an SVT sounds by comparison.

A good 360 vs SVT video would be great.