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Thunderbird Club

#213,082
Miles_ONeal said:
The smart ones have read the handwriting on the wall and are planning and looking. Hopefully that covers the great ones and generally those who need it the most.
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I guess I’m not smart. I’ve been hounded by recruiters for the last two years. But my plan was to ride it out to 03/01/2024. I would have been fully vested in the company match to my 401k. Oh well. I have a couple weeks to sign their separation agreement. Or not. Maybe I’ll sue the MFers.
 
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#213,086
4BBFE8EB-3BD6-4809-B60E-A4876FC8F1C0.jpeg
Here’s that piece of fresh Sockeye some potatoes and onions and a bit of salad. 72 degrees and no humidity, West Coast!
 
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#213,087
MCF said:
I guess I’m not smart. I’ve been hounded by recruiters for the last two years. But my plan was to ride it out to 03/01/2024. I would have been fully vested in the company match to my 401k. Oh well. I have a couple weeks to sign their separation agreement. Or not. Maybe I’ll sue the MFers.
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Companies do have liability when they start laying off older folks within a couple years of vesting. A friend was in that position with AT&T and after one call, they saw the light. Good luck.
 
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#213,090
MCF said:
Thanks Geo. Rifs (the HR term for reduction in force) suck. Geico laid off approximately 25% of the legal department a week ago Tuesday. Absolutely no warning. And they don’t have the guts to announce it publicly. And the way it was handled was demeaning and unprofessional. I was the low man on the totem pole.

I have plenty of prospects, so I’ll no doubt find something for the next couple years until official retirement.

They probably did me a favor. Geico is an awful company to work for.
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So sorry, Marshall. That's pretty cruel.
 
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#213,091
MCF said:
I guess I’m not smart. I’ve been hounded by recruiters for the last two years. But my plan was to ride it out to 03/01/2024. I would have been fully vested in the company match to my 401k. Oh well. I have a couple weeks to sign their separation agreement. Or not. Maybe I’ll sue the MFers.
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I meant the people left after seeing how this round was handled. You strike me as a smart guy.
 
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#213,092
MCF said:
Thanks Geoff. It’ll be ok. Corporate America is brutal. Geico is a Warren Buffet owned company. He couldn’t care less about his employees. I went through this before when I worked for Allstate. They gave me plenty of notice. And they gave me options to move to Seattle to run the office there or Phoenix. My wife nixed Seattle and who in their right mind would want to live in Phoenix? Flagstaff sure. A nice town. It’s close to skiing, fly fishing, etc. Geico couldn’t offer anything.
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I live in Phoenix, but I'm not in my right mind so that might explain it.
 
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#213,093
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#213,094
GBassNorth said:
That’s exactly the information I’ve been trying to get for months now (should have come to you first)!

I have EY pups in my BlingBird and chose to go with stacked V/T pots for each of the three pups for maximum tone control. Out of curiosity and in the name of experimentation I figured what the heck, let’s try 1meg ohm stacked volume and tone pots with .047uf caps. It actually sounds pretty good but there’s a bit too much top end for my liking.

I’ve been debating with going 500k/500k stacked pots thinking that might still be a bit high on the tone knob, or alternatively 250k/250k stacks but figuring that might be too low. You’ve confirmed what I suspected with the EY pups - they need a 500k vol and a 250k tone stack.

Unfortunately, for thru body (vs control plate) mounting there is no supplier of a 500k/250k stack. Fender has a CTS pot that will do it, but the threaded collar is too short to pass through the body and still get a nut on the threads. So what the frick I’ll just do it myself!

Start with a few of these…
View attachment 4741983

Do a bit of this…
View attachment 4741986

End up with this…
View attachment 4741985

Pour a bourbon on the rocks and repeat a couple more times to get these…
View attachment 4741984
…and that’s that!
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Installed the modified pots in the BlingBird today. Sounds better than ever. A noticeable shade darker with less sizzle on the top end. Thanks for the idea @Thumper.

The EY pups do sound fuller. Still not Greco territory but certainly Epiphone territory, not quite as creamy as my modern Gibby pups, close in sound to my VP with a tad less grit. Any further fine tuning of the overall tone of this bass will be easily accomplished with various string selections. Keep in mind this is a semi hollow body with a maple top and poplar back and maple neck so it will always have a slightly different sound than a standard Tbird.

The three pup layout with individual volume and tone controls for each pup is exceptionally flexible. Solo any pickup and it sounds great, or max out the bridge volume and tone then roll in the neck volume with the tone off to thicken things up and fine tune with the center volume and tone for a very full (and loud) sound.
 
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#213,095
GBassNorth said:
Installed the modified pots in the BlingBird today. Sounds better than ever. A noticeable shade darker with less sizzle on the top end. Thanks for the idea @Thumper.

The EY pups do sound fuller. Still not Greco territory but certainly Epiphone territory, not quite as creamy as my modern Gibby pups, close in sound to my VP with a tad less grit. Any further fine tuning of the overall tone of this bass will be easily accomplished with various string selections. Keep in mind this is a semi hollow body with a maple top and poplar back and maple neck so it will always have a slightly different sound than a standard Tbird.

The three pup layout with individual volume and tone controls for each pup is exceptionally flexible. Solo any pickup and it sounds great, or max out the bridge volume and tone then roll in the neck volume with the tone off to thicken things up and fine tune with the center volume and tone for a very full (and loud) sound.
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That’s really interesting George. I’ll be interested in what your favourite combinations end up.

Question without notice: so what are better? Goth pups after your pot change Or EY pups after your pot change?
 
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#213,096
RedVee said:
That’s really interesting George. I’ll be interested in what your favourite combinations end up.

Question without notice: so what are better? Goth pups after your pot change Or EY pups after your pot change?
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Good question.

I have three Goths. The first one ended up being a FrankenGoth with Bart pups and an Aggie preamp installed. It is good but comes at a steep price (the mods cost more than the bass).

The second one I kept the stock pups and pots but ran through about 10 different cap values before I found the perfect one, it’s a .022uf cap. So for about a buck I transformed that goth into an absolute beast. The new cap completely changed the character of the Goth, the original cap was choking the super hot pickups. I highly recommend this change for any goth owners, it’s night and day.

The third Goth I just got a few weeks ago and was planning on loading it up with four pups, but not so sure I want to do that now. It’s in pristine condition so I hate to chop it up. Instead I might keep the pups as is but install a vol,vol,tone,tone layout along with a cap change to .022uf. Kind of taking a page out of the BlingBird control layout and combining it with learnings from the other Goth cap mod.

As for the EY pot change, 500vol/250tone pots and a .047 cap is the way to go. The change is noticeable and for the better, fairly inexpensive (about $20 in parts) and if you’re ok with modding pots and soldering caps and wires it’s a pretty easy job. But the change isn’t as drastic as the simple cap change was on the Goth.

Which brings us back to your original question - Modded Goth or Modded EY - which is better? Very tough call, I’ll need more time with the BlingBird over the next couple of days playing it along side the Capped Goth in various genres of music before I can make that call. But I will say, in my previous (pre modded EY) tests the capped Goth beat the BlingBird. It will be interesting to see if the tables have been turned.
 
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#213,097
JJR58 said:
And now it’s my turn to thank
@Chucky Stiletti and fam.

Welcomed a complete stranger to be with them, let alone our little group of TBird lovers having a little shindig.

People who have not met each other and
a family inviting them all into their home
is a pretty big deal.
That’s a sign of trust.
Not to be taken lightly.

And this I will not forget.
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:)…travel safe bud.
girls asking about you..
upload_2022-7-8_4-42-35.jpeg
 
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