Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

The thread actually goes back more than a decade.........Lots of things can change for people over that amount of time, regardless of that, participation isn't mandatory, just if you want to.

Yeah. At least one of the members is dead.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Don't you use a preamp fed into the Mesa? Could you just get a nicely priced power amp to power the preamp?



His son is the bass player for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. He is a Gibson bass player, just not a Bird player.

yes! great band…. you and I like same stuff Andy…..

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I will not resolve the force vectors,
I will not resolve the force vectors,
I will not resolve the force vectors...

Yes, you will. If you haven't already.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Exactly. I had a '66 beetle with a rusted out floor. The floor is the frame. I never knew exactly where it was going to go and the sides would flex visibly according to friends who saw me drive it. The battery fell through the floor and fried the electrical system, so it was strictly a push-start car. It didn't have seat belts, not that they would have done much in that car anyway. It's a miracle any of us survived to full adulthood.

In '65, Dad bought our first second car, a Renault doodle bug well on its way to the level of your VW, but not there yet. I called it the Flintstones car from day one, and - being nine years old - tried to put my feet down through the floor to stop it, which froke Dad clean out. But it did just fine in El Paso flash floods, because water came up through the floor holes into the passenger compartment, whereas normal cars just started trying to float and had to follow the water flow if the drivers weren't smart enough to park until the flood receded. So Dad got home very wet from work a couple of times, but he got home much earlier than almost anyone else!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

This Chrysler 300 Hurst wouldn't have that problem. (Another dream car.)
View attachment 4783431

If yer gonna go Hurst, you might as well go Hairy Olds.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Briefly, they are from Jacksonville and were more of a hard rock band from the south. Ronnie Van Zant and Rick Medlock must have lived not far apart as the Skynyrd song Curtis Loew is roughly based on Medlock's grandfather Shorty. (Largely bluegrass player.) Medlock started playing drums for Skynyrd but knew there were better drummers so he backed out. (He's actually a great musician and can play a number of instruments crazy good, and has/had a tremendous voice.) He and the bass player Greg T. Walker played on early Skynyrd demos. Greg was a top notch player as was Jason Thunderfoot Spires, the drummer. On a few songs they showed they were incredible players.

They were popular regionally and had a fair amount of air play in the late 70s and early 80s. They attempted to modernize around 82(?) and should have stuck to who and what they were--a hard rock band from the south. I saw them twice and they were as good as anyone I've ever seen. High energy on crack. They started out powerful and built from there. You left exhausted and got your money's worth.

Likely a better history.
Blackfoot (band) - Wikipedia

Their first "hit" was this, from their third album. One of those start slow and take off songs.
Not so great live recording, which is more interesting to watch. I remember the first time I heard this on the radio and thought, I've got to figure out who this is. Starts out kind of haunting and turns up the heat as it goes.


Covered a song most will know.


A crowd favorite. (Written by Shorty)


Different for them but a carefree fun song I always thought clever that fit the title "Summer Days." (Not the cover, which could seem inappropriate.)

Actually, a good, brief intro to them. And same with Highway Song!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It's Tuesday.......... Turning Japanese Tuesday.

I've never understood why I don't hear this covered much. Great job by all of you. You and the guitar player, especially, just owned it. <3 <3 <3

 

[Miles_ONeal]

whoa!……we should all go in….
For Sale: A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Project Plane: $9 Million USD

I'd prefer a 29, but those are scarcer than wheel ants these days. You gonna put us all up so we can work on it? Please?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Welcome to the club . Been this way in N. Texas for more than a month now. We get a cool down this week, and hopefully much needed rain.

We got close to an inch both here in Round Rock and downtown in Austin!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Wow, I had no idea one of those even existed at this point. A true, extremely rare B-17. Needs a museum!

BTW none of the 5 flyable '17s actually saw combat.

The ones that survived combat tended to be beat to snot.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

They have made it much more difficult here, including multiple stages of licenses, rules about passengers for new drivers etc.

I wish we'd do that. But it's Texas, so they'll probably start issuing driving permits with birth certificates.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

View attachment 4784292

So many people don't believe me when I tell them about love bug season...

 

[Miles_ONeal]

We're going metric. It's only a matter of time. (My teachers said.)

Truth. We've been going metric for decades. We'll always be going metric. Apparently here it's about the journey, not the destination. Except for bass. Thunderbirds are the destination. As well as the journey. Thunderbirds are GO!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

So I did a thing with my T-Bird,, Anyone else replace the 3 point bridge on their Bird? I also moved the controls to the right place.
Hipshot replacement,, My string action and height went from 8/64th's with the stock bridge decked to 5/64th's with the new hipshot bridge,, Best playing bass I own.. Great upgrade.. View attachment 4784653

Several Supertone lovers in the TC!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I haven't replaced the 3 point on my NR yet.

YET.

I have replaced all my other 3 point bridges and I will on my NR. It is a matter of preference. There is nothing wrong with the 3 point, but I like the Hipshot and I like having everything standardized.

Thinking alike.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

White Wed…..
View attachment 4784786

Billy Idol!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Apparently, not wheel ants.

Coke ants. They're from Colombia. Or Atlanta.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The trouble is that doing the same thing over and over can get boring; both for the fans and for the band.

Doing the same thing over and over has worked for AC/DC, but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. The bands I have followed for decades have all progressed in their music. Had they not, I probably would have gotten bored and they may have to.

Consider Rush. They have had distinct periods, each punctuated by a live album (first album being the exception - an era of 1 album). The first period was the side long epics. Great stuff, but I wouldn't still be listening if they hadn't gone beyond that. Then there was the new wave era. Very interesting at the time, but again I would have gotten bored. Certainly throughout all the eras, you could hear what they were listening to in their music, but their music always came through. Progress while being true to themselves.

Even Metallica, after doing 4 albums essentially the same, they found a need to move on. They lost some fans because they "sold out" (friends don't let friends cut their hair) but they probably gained more than they lost.

I know. I'm with you. But the average pop fan is usually fine with more of the same.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

So you never weren't a really good photographer?

The number of Renaissance men and women in this group is astounding.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Neither of those basses would work very well for me. Not only do they have no controls, they don’t even have any strings! What a goofy design.
Also noticed you don’t show the headstocks, I assume it’s because they’ve already fallen off.

Sometimes when he's pulled out all the frets, he just can't stop. Kind of like Binkley playing rock and roll.