Thunderbird Club

[dagrev]

Carmine Appice, right outta the Dina Dinelli school of drumming:

Most of these guys were in Joey Dee and The Starlighters at one time. I know, shut up gramps.

It's interesting how not only looks and musical styles happen at certain times, but so do certain movements by players fit defiant times as well.

 

[Stealth57]

He needs a proper set with a snare!

He built out his kit over the last 18 months but is more into keyboards now.

 

[bobyoung53]

Add another "A" to that abbreviation and you get...









View attachment 4715483

I was never a big ABBA fan but I always thought this was a great tune and still do.

 

[JIO]

Carmine Appice, right outta the Dina Dinelli school of drumming:

Most of these guys were in Joey Dee and The Starlighters at one time. I know, shut up gramps.

The Young Rascals/Rascals were also a fave if mine when new. The Lovin' Spoonful too.

 

[bobyoung53]

It's interesting how not only looks and musical styles happen at certain times, but so do certain movements by players fit defiant times as well.

They were both from NY although VF were from Long Island but I'm sure they saw each other play and influenced each other, he was a Gene Krupa protégé which i just found out.

 

[bobyoung53]

The Young Rascals/Rascals were also a fave if mine when new. The Lovin' Spoonful too.

Oh yeah, I bought a Lovin Spoonful CD set a few years ago, I have most of the albums but hadn't played them in years, it was really good to hear that stuff again.

 

[KaraQ]

Looking for a experienced advise. I have to change the pups on my 18 gibson t bird. Its just too damb muddy, even compared to my 13.

I do not want to go the thunderbucker route, I like a modern tone. Im not getting crappy China buckers.

I'm looking at emgs. I have emgs pjs in every bass other than my thirds. Maybe the passive ones or the PJ thunderbird pups? I like the idea of staying passive.

Anyone here tried these ?

I think EMG's T-bird shaped pickups can be had with pretty much any insides, their pickups are all made to order anyways.

But, iirc, their "standard", passive, Thunderbird replacement (TB HZ, maybe?) is made to be closer to modern Gibson pickups than most other available offerings.

You may also want to check with Seymour Duncan, I think they also still have Thunderbird pickup replacement options? Not sure how they compare Vintage vs. Modern though.....

AFAIK, all the other available aftermarket pickups are trying to be some variation of the original 60s pickups

 

[Nocturnal]

Looking for a experienced advise. I have to change the pups on my 18 gibson t bird. Its just too damb muddy, even compared to my 13.

I do not want to go the thunderbucker route, I like a modern tone. Im not getting crappy China buckers.

I'm looking at emgs. I have emgs pjs in every bass other than my thirds. Maybe the passive ones or the PJ thunderbird pups? I like the idea of staying passive.

Anyone here tried these ?

Here are a couple clips with EMG TB-HZ passive pickups. They seem pretty clear.

 

[JIO]

Oh yeah, I bought a Lovin Spoonful CD set a few years ago, I have most of the albums but hadn't played them in years, it was really good to hear that stuff again.

...and that Guild guitar was off the charts cool - at 9:30 was a song by them I really liked - essentially a hippy C&W song! Followed by one of their biggest hits.


This wasn't a Top 40 hit, but on one of their LP's (Hums of The Lovin' Spoonfull) - one of my faves.

 

[bobyoung53]

...and that Guild guitar was off the charts cool - at 9:30 was a song by them I really liked - essentially a hippy C&W song! Followed by one of their biggest hits.


This wasn't a Top 40 hit, but on one of the LP's (Hums of The Lovin' Spoonfull) - one of my faves.

They made a bass like that too, I think Peter Tork had one.
Oh yeah, Rain on the Roof, that was a hit in Mass, great tune. Joe Butler sang that second tune, he always got in one or two per album, then when Sebastian left he took over lead vocals but the album bombed. I always really liked Zal Yanovsky's guitar playing and thought it was a big mistake to get rid of him.

I always liked these two also:

The album these are from is kind of fractured though, this was after Zal was thrown out, some of the stuff is good (Sebastian's ) some of it's kind of strange

 

[JIO]

They made a bass like that too, I think Peter Tork had one.
Oh yeah, Rain on the Roof, that was a hit in Mass, great tune. Joe Butler sang that second tune, he always got in one or two per album, then when Sebastian left he took over lead vocals but the album bombed. I always really liked Zal Yanovsky's guitar playing and thought it was a big mistake to get rid of him.

I always liked these two also:

The album these are from is kind of fractured though, this was after Zal was thrown out, some of the stuff is good (Sebastian's ) some of it's kind of strange

Two I wasn't familiar with - the 2nd one reminds me of the Turtles, and of Brian Wilson.

And yes - Peter Tork played one - the Guild Jet-Star bass -

I had a later (2000) De Armond JS RI - a very decent MII full-scale bass - just not a '65.

...but I want a '66 Guild like this one - DarkStar pu/2X2 tuner version -
Sean Lennons bass-player

 

[GonePlaid]

Two I wasn't familiar with - the 2nd one reminds me of the Turtles, and of Brian Wilson.

And yes - Peter Tork played one - the Guild Jet-Star bass -
View attachment 4715541
I had a later (2000) D'Armond RI -
View attachment 4715555
...but I want a '66 Guild like this one 2X2 tuner version -
Sean Lennons bass-player
View attachment 4715544

There was one for sale on ebay awhile back(1-3 years?).

 

[JIO]

There was one for sale on ebay awhile back(1-3 years?).

Yah, like all 'vintage' basses/guitars ... priced off the charts ...

 

[bobyoung53]

Two I wasn't familiar with - the 2nd one reminds me of the Turtles, and of Brian Wilson.

And yes - Peter Tork played one - the Guild Jet-Star bass -
View attachment 4715541
I had a later (2000) D'Armond RI but want a '66 Guild like this one 2X2 tuner version -
Sean Lennons bass-player
View attachment 4715544

I like the one with the dark star too but don't like the headstock.

I grew up with a great AM station, it was only a 1000 watt station but it had impeccable taste, those last two were the Lovin' Spoonful's last two real hits and from their fourth album, "Everything Playing". One more tune from that album hit the top 40 "Money", I don't remember it though. It was WORC 1310 AM, they even played The Beatles before they hit here. They played 'Tell Me', the second single off of the Stone's England's Newest Hitmakers and their first semi-hit. When bands like The Canned Heat, Hendrix etc. came on the scene they had a little jungle: "Worcester-town Underground!" that used to play before they'd play their stuff.

 

[JIO]

I like the one with the dark star too but don't like the headstock.

I grew up with a great AM station, it was only a 1000 watt station but it had impeccable taste, those last two were the Lovin' Spoonful's last two real hits and from their fourth album, "Everything Playing". One more tune from that album hit the top 40 "Money", I don't remember it though. It was WORC 1310 AM, they even played The Beatles before they hit here. They played 'Tell Me', the second single off of the Stone's England's Newest Hitmakers and their first semi-hit. When bands like The Canned Heat, Hendrix etc. came on the scene they had a little jungle: "Worcester-town Underground!" that used to play before they'd play their stuff.

BTW... the Guild guitar that Zal played was called a (wait for it...) Thunderbird.

 

[RedVee]

Two I wasn't familiar with - the 2nd one reminds me of the Turtles, and of Brian Wilson.

And yes - Peter Tork played one - the Guild Jet-Star bass -
View attachment 4715541
I had a later (2000) De Armond JS RI - a very decent MII full-scale bass - just not a '66.
View attachment 4715555
...but I want a '66 Guild like this one - DarkStar pu/2X2 tuner version -
Sean Lennons bass-player
View attachment 4715544

I tried one like the Peter Tork one. I liked it a lot, 35” scale 4 string though. Oh and it was called a DeArmond (sp?).

 

[JIO]

I like the one with the dark star too but don't like the headstock.

I grew up with a great AM station, it was only a 1000 watt station but it had impeccable taste, those last two were the Lovin' Spoonful's last two real hits and from their fourth album, "Everything Playing". One more tune from that album hit the top 40 "Money", I don't remember it though. It was WORC 1310 AM, they even played The Beatles before they hit here. They played 'Tell Me', the second single off of the Stone's England's Newest Hitmakers and their first semi-hit. When bands like The Canned Heat, Hendrix etc. came on the scene they had a little jungle: "Worcester-town Underground!" that used to play before they'd play their stuff.

The vintage Jet-Star 2X2 hs shape is way cool... a-sym - my De Armond RI was a standard (boring) 2X2 hs shape. The other one looks like... a Thunderbird hs. (OMG! where's the lawsuit when you need it!)

This is a full-scale bass using a late '90s De Armond T-bird guitar body I made many years ago - it popped up on a search! A friend in Madison WI owns it now. (note Gibson pu-cover used as a bridge cover) I bought it as an attempt to learn to play guitar... and when that failed I made it into a bass.

 

[JIO]

I tried one like the Peter Tork one. I liked it a lot, 35” scale 4 string though. Oh and it was called a DeArmond (sp?).

A vintage one at 35"scale? My RI De Armond was 34" scale.

 

[bobyoung53]

BTW... the Guild guitar that Zal played was called a (wait for it...) Thunderbird.

View attachment 4715562

I just saw that while looking him up, weird. That's a cool looking guitar, probably rare and expensive now.

 

[bobyoung53]

The 2X2 hs shape is way cool... a-sym - my De Armond RI was a standard (boring) 2X2 hs shape. The other one looks like... a Thunderbird hs.

View attachment 4715563
This is a full-scale bass using a late '90s De Armond T-bird guitar body I made many years ago - it popped up on a search! A friend in Madison WI owns it now. (note Gibson pu-cover used as a bridge cover) I bought it as an attempt to learn to play guitar... and when that failed I made it into a bass.
View attachment 4715564

I've always liked 4 in a line headstocks although I like the Ric headstocks (really like the reverse tuners) and Gibson 2 by 2 headstocks. I like the headstock on that too.

Here's one more Spoonful tune I've always really liked: