Thunderbird Club

[Hondapunk]

One site would cost about $175 a person with fees. In another site it was under $100 per person. I would do $100 to see them, but much more than that I will pass. Just returned from my daughters wedding and that was a kick to the financial crotch.

The financial crotch is very close to where most people keep their wallet.

 

[JIO]

a serious contender for our set-list -

 

[GonePlaid]

a serious contender for our set-list -

Good tune.

 

[JIO]

Good tune.

I love it. Conceptualized "call & responce". I feel the same about 'Some Velvet Morning' - which we already do - this version (sans full orchestra...)

 

[D.M.N.]

this just came up for sale….kinda need a Sunn for July?….probably borrow it..
View attachment 4691108View attachment 4691106View attachment 4691107

As the head of the Sunn Club on TB, yes, you need it.

 

[BklynKen]

Billy Sheehan has a YouTube channel. Pretty cool. I like how someone in a comment likened him to the Bob Ross of the music business.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdIZB4Gtg42_M4-nkV6iYvA

 

[factory presets]

Check with Mike Lull and Thunderbucker Ranch. They may make pickups for Thunderbird 5ers. And welcome to our wonderful world.

Thunderbucker Ranch pulled the plug on the 5 string model due to lack of interest. And Mr. Lull don't seem to have any pickups on his website at all. Even saw a couple of resellers with T4 and T5 pickups marked "out of stock." Or maybe it's just my web skills. I believe Epiphone have discontinued their T-bird 5er and all. Could be a sign that birds and b's don't get along, after all.

 

[tyohars]

Are we getting a new Thunderbird?

 

[PillO]

We’ve tried talking @PillO to fly in and he tried playing left handed for awhile…

I had plans to come in for the GTG. However, raising investment funds into one of the new companies is not as fast as I had planned, so it is looking unlikely.

@BklynKen and the other lefties have my respect. I tried it and it is much harder than it looks. They are certainly doing things the hard way.

Actually, I think the trouble I had playing lefty was that I assumed that skills were very transferrable from right handed to left handed. If I had gone right back to square one, I may have had more success.

 

[PillO]

I use the Beethoven method.

I haven't heard of that...

 

[PillO]

Anyone here good with Thunderbird wiring? I'm getting 60 cycle hum when I have both volumes below full with the T-Bird in an amp I use at a weekly gig. The power out here is 220 with one hot wire and a neutral, no grounds. I'm doing a weekly gig with a Markbass rig and have brought four basses there, and the T-Bird is the only one that hums

Maybe you need to teach it the words???

Playing without a dedicated ground can be dangerous. If you touch something that is on another circuit, one that has the other side neutral/ground, you can have 220v running through you. [/safety lecture]

if I turn the neck volume on full with the bridge volume lower it stops, didn't think to try the opposite.

Try the opposite. It is entirely possible that the pickup(s) are not correctly wired - that you have only one coil connected, losing the humbucking capability. Shielding is always good too.

 

[dagrev]

It’s a real beauty.
I’m still a sucker for an early 70’s J.

Thanks, Jeff. I was hoping it would help me to sound more like Geddy Lee! Needless to say that didn't work.

 

[PillO]

Thunderbucker Ranch pulled the plug on the 5 string model due to lack of interest. And Mr. Lull don't seem to have any pickups on his website at all. Even saw a couple of resellers with T4 and T5 pickups marked "out of stock." Or maybe it's just my web skills. I believe Epiphone have discontinued their T-bird 5er and all. Could be a sign that birds and b's don't get along, after all.

How tight do you like your string spacing? The EMG TBHZ (Passive) thunderbird pickups have maximum recommended string spacing up to 2.5"
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[GonePlaid]

Did someone say Acoustic?







Busted out the newly picked up Acoustic 300 to run the 360 into my Sunn 2000s cab last night, first time running an all SS rig live in years. It sounded great, ran the T-bird for most of the set, switched to the Precision for Rush since we dropped it a whole step. The Thunderbirds and Acoustics pair really well together, there's just something that works in the low mids and low end with the Acoustics, big and full without and flub or rumble, and the T-bird takes full advantage of that.

Good stuff.

 

[GonePlaid]

If you ever see the rare 2 seater, go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's a guy with a 2 seater in Kissimmee that takes people up. Bring $$$$.

 

[factory presets]

How tight do you like your string spacing? The EMG TBHZ (Passive) thunderbird pickups have maximum recommended string spacing up to 2.5"
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Pushing 16mm would probably be doable. Slapping might require a bit of woodshedding. I understand real T-bird 5ers have the same size pickups as 4s. So I would expect narrow string spacing would be a natural part of the thunderbird experience.

The reservation I have with EMG is I've read that the sound leans more to EMG than thunderbird. I'd be interested to hear more opinions folks may have on this.

 

[bobyoung53]

Maybe you need to teach it the words???

Playing without a dedicated ground can be dangerous. If you touch something that is on another circuit, one that has the other side neutral/ground, you can have 220v running through you. [/safety lecture]


Try the opposite. It is entirely possible that the pickup(s) are not correctly wired - that you have only one coil connected, losing the humbucking capability. Shielding is always good too.

The whole city is wired like that, I don't like it either. I was actually a (lousy) apprentice electrician when I was a kid for about 3 years. When I started playing all amps and most outlets were like that but they also all had polarity switches which is the same as switching the plug. The way of least hum was the correct position, three prong plugs with an added ground didn't become common until the mid 70's.
The T-Bird is the only bass I have here that hums like that. I just reversed the plug on my amp at home, turning either pickup to full stops the hum, it only hums with both volumes below full. It's something internal as at the club there is no buzz or external noise with any of the basses, here there is and diming the volumes just increases the noise but stops the hum, at the club there is no noise at all just hum when both volumes are down. Most hum is 120 Hz, I'm getting 60 Hz hum with this thing which is odd.

 

[PillO]

Pushing 16mm would probably be doable. Slapping might require a bit of woodshedding. I understand real T-bird 5ers have the same size pickups as 4s. So I would expect narrow string spacing would be a natural part of the thunderbird experience.

The reservation I have with EMG is I've read that the sound leans more to EMG than thunderbird. I'd be interested to hear more opinions folks may have on this.

I think others here may have some experience with the passive TBHZ pickups; I do not.

They are the right size and shape and will cover a 5 string as long as you are OK with the spacing.

 

[PillO]

The whole city is wired like that, I don't like it either. When I started playing all amps and most outlets were like that but they also all had polarity switches which is the same as switching the plug. The way of least hum was the correct polarity switch position, three prong plugs with an added ground didn't become common until the mid 70's.
The T-Bird is the only bass I have here that hums like that, I will check diming the bridge with the neck down but it doesn't pick up any noise at all other than 60 cycle hum which is not usually what you hear, you usually hear 120 cycle hum and a lot louder. The neck sounds nice and fat and picks up no extraneous noise, those two things tell me the pickup is a wired correctly.
OK I just reversed the plug polarity on my amp at home, turning either pickup to full stops the hum, it only hums with both volumes below full. It's something internal as at the club there is no buzz or external noise with any of the basses.

I have a buzzing issue with amps only at home. I have worked out that it is actually the proximity of a computer CPU to the amps etc. It is fixable easily by moving the computer, but momentum has not yet allowed that correction to be applied...

 

[bobyoung53]

I have a buzzing issue with amps only at home. I have worked out that it is actually the proximity of a computer CPU to the amps etc. It is fixable easily by moving the computer, but momentum has not yet allowed that correction to be applied...

Yes, I have computer buzz at home too but this is not buzz, it's hum, turning the volumes up at home increases the buzz but stops the hum, and there's no computer anywhere near where the amp is at the club, just pure 60 cycle hum. I don't think the hum is caused by anything external.