Thunderbird Club

[dagrev]

I'm hoping something like this doesn't turn up after the Chuck and Larry meeting up tonight...

 

[icefly]

Sheriff GoneP will bust him, for two charges: drunk and no TBird.

 

[Larry V]

It’s just after 9 and unfortunately there was no Detroit meet-up of the Thunderbird Club today.

As with anyone on here, if you’re ever in town, let’s try to make something happen if you have some downtime to fill. @Chucky Stiletti and me couldn’t make it happen today but maybe next time we can plan something more solid.

 

[dagrev]

It’s just after 9 and unfortunately there was no Detroit meet-up of the Thunderbird Club today.

As with anyone on here, if you’re ever in town, let’s try to make something happen if you have some downtime to fill. @Chucky Stiletti and me couldn’t make it happen today but maybe next time we can plan something more solid.

Bummer. Time spent with any member of the Thunderbird club is time well spent.

 

[MCF]

Definitely, short haul for me from the East Bay. Plus, @Chucky Stiletti offered to look at my Sunn amp. Can’t turn down two offers now

Great! Looking forward to meeting you.

 

[Stealth57]

Is there any real difference between VPs and 60s other than a few years?

 

[PhR75]

Is there any real difference between VPs and 60s other than a few years?

From the 12th fret to the centerline of each pickup:
Epiphone VP 27.94 cm and 37.78 cm
Gibson 1964 Tbird 27.62 cm and 36.51 cm

Close, but there's a difference. If one uses just the neck pickup the other factors contribute more to the difference than the pickup location only.

 

[JIO]

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:

Love Kate Bush - and EW's playing was perfect for her songs. Who knows who is credited for initiating 'that sound' (him, Jaco?, Tony Levin?, Pino?...) but it was thee bass sound then.

 

[JIO]

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

Man - what a great solo/player! I had to listen to it a few times just to get it all in! Thanks for posting!

 

[JIO]

Bond Girl Cherie had covid the last couple of weeks and we were supposed to rehearse tonight for an upcoming show in July. (luckily still a ways away) but... our drummer Steves' wife Susan now has covid so the rehearsal was cancelled. It feels like this phase of the pandemic is like musical chairs; game in play, but at the end of each round - someone gets covid. (everyone's responsibly vac’d/boosted) Just have to stay responsible in a world of covid irresponsibility.

 

[Stealth57]

From the 12th fret to the centerline of each pickup:
Epiphone VP 27.94 cm and 37.78 cm
Gibson 1964 Tbird 27.62 cm and 36.51 cm

Close, but there's a difference. If one uses just the neck pickup the other factors contribute more to the difference than the pickup location only.

Thanks but I was referring to the new models of the VP where they changed the name to 60s.

 

[Nocturnal]

David J always played fretless.

Bauhaus will be playing in Tempe in late May. I think we are going to go see them if the prices are reasonable.

 

[JIO]

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.

He certainly knows where he's going and is going for it.

 

[GonePlaid]

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.

I drove 18 wheelers for 23 years(84-07), while still playing in bands on weekends(good driving schedule). Whenever anyone would 'light up', I hadda leave to avoid second hand "smoke".

 

[PhR75]

Thanks but I was referring to the new models of the VP where they changed the name to 60s.

Aa, Ok. I bet there's no difference but don't quote me on that. Somebody here must have both.

 

[GBassNorth]

A pretty good price on a Bicentennial…
Gibson Thunderbird SB 1976 Free Shipping From Japan | eBay
in Japan but free shipping and a case. I’m no Bicentennial expert but I assume it’s all original and legit. Looks to be in pretty good shape as well.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

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.

my original point exactly….an SVT won”t do this…

 

[PhR75]

I don't have any ambitions to be Jaco -style player but when I first downloaded and loaded an IR of the Acoustic cab (301 model) its very sound inspired me to do this Jaco-ish thing (take it more as a tribute than a parody).
Yes, you can get close with using just a bridge pickup and playing same kind of stuff etc. but to me it was the cab's sound that made it all click.

 

[godofthunder59]

Thanks but I was referring to the new models of the VP where they changed the name to 60s.

I've been wondering that myself. I hope they haven't messed with the specs in it's rebranding.

 

[dagrev]

Is there any real difference between VPs and 60s other than a few years?

While the VP is about as close as you can get sound wise any where near that price, they do not sound identical. VPs are very well made and intonation is better. (If only in lacquer!) The neck is a few mm larger. The neck on the 60s and my '06 feel the same to me. In fact, the '06 plays and feels as good as the '64, just doesn't sound like a Thunderbird from the 60s. The VP gets there. Just not as big and magical sounding, but there is something about the mids that seems more correct than even the new NR. The PUP placement it a huge part of the magic and is why the VPs sound as good as they do--with the right string. Even my '64 doesn't sound great with anything. If I could have only one bass, and it couldn't be the '64, it would be one of the VPs. That's just me. The white one seems a little more aggressive, so like any bass, they are not identical.