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Thunderbird Club

#228,022
EDIT: I noted this has been posted. Seems so odd. I know it's difficult see below you close up when flying, but I'm still at a loss how the heck you don't see the only other big thing in the sky in front of you.

Sad story...
south of downtown Dallas.
David Sentendrey at Fox 4 Dallas Fort-Worth posted on Twitter a statement reportedly from the FAA claiming that it was "unknown how many people were on both aircraft."

The planes involved were a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, according to the FAA's statement.
 
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#228,023
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#228,026
GBassNorth said:
While we’re talking bags and hard cases - a funny but tragic story…
On one of my business trips to Japan I had some time to kill so went out and about looking for a guitar store to see if I could score a good deal on a bass of some kind. One of the stores I was in had a couple of Alembic Darling basses that looked pretty sweet. Big sign in the window said “No Touch” the sales persons were the only ones allowed to take a bass off the wall. You could hold it and look at it, but it was stretch wrapped, so you couldn’t play it unless they cut the wrapping off. There were basses and guitars every where in the store, to the point of actually being over crowded.

I had heard they are heavy basses and wanted to see for myself, so I asked the rep to take one down for me. Yep it was easily over 12 pounds, wayyy to much for my liking. I told him I wasn’t interested, but his barter and let’s do a deal personality took over. He dropped the price by 25%, I still wasn’t interested (@50% off I might have been). So I told him no. Then he started offering to throw in stuff for free, tuner, cables, string, cleaning supplies… I still wasn’t interested. So I told him I was there on business and had no way to get it home to the States safely and didn’t want to pay shipping fees. He quickly ran to the back room and came out with a metal flight case.

This case was built like a tank and probably weighed 25 pounds empty. Spring loaded handle, cam latches, huge metal corner bumpers, corrugated panels, locks, keys, thick thick foam interior that could be custom cut to match the bass and a silk bag to put the bass in. Certainly a very nice case, probably retailed well over $500 and he was going to throw it in for free. I still wasn’t interested and told him I had to leave. He wasn’t happy about the no sale and kinda stormed back to the back room with the metal case. On the way, he smashed the corner of the case into the face of a $20,000 PRS dragon guitar, knocking it off the rack and snapping the headstock. I figured I better leave quick before he blamed me!

Life Lesson - owning an indestructible metal moose of a bass case to safely house your precious gear only works when the precious gear is inside of it, until then anything and everything that is less robust than the case (including your precious bass) is at risk of catastrophic destruction if the two connect.
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Oh my!!!

It's interesting, in some cultures if you ask about an item you are considered interested and are not to ask if a reasonable deal can't be had. The problem is...you may not know which culture holds those views when there. I don't know if that is true in Japan or not, but is in some places. Either way, I suspect he thought lowly of you and your whole family tree! :roflmao:
I like the Western approach better--we don't have a deal till we have a deal, and no one is obligated until we have a deal.
 
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#228,028
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#228,033
PaleAngel_90 said:
Just some food for thought,: the Gator case being lighter than the Epiphone one does that mean that it offers less protection to the T-Birds? Does the exterior material hold up better on the Epiphone or the Gator case?
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Weight isn’t a good measure of protection or strength. The Epi surface is smooth, so shows more scuffs and dings. The Gator has the pebble surface, which I think is less likely to show the scuffs.
 
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#228,035
PaleAngel_90 said:
Just some food for thought,: the Gator case being lighter than the Epiphone one does that mean that it offers less protection to the T-Birds? Does the exterior material hold up better on the Epiphone or the Gator case?
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All I can say is I have a (thanks to a fellow club member here), Gator Icon case for my ‘97 T-Bird. It fits really well, and I feel 100% confident that it is protected. It’s absolutely easier to deal with than the stock, massive, heavy, unruly beast that Gibson hard case is. I AM grateful to have the original case, but it is stored and will only come out when I move, store the bass long term (unlikely to ever happen), or sell (also unlikely).
 
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#228,036
69'Vette said:
Thank you! I've kinda gone overboard in searching for the exact amps I wanted the past couple years. I blame this place!
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I feel ya, I have WAY more amps (and cabs) than I have any right to have, all Ampeg. I definitely have an amp/cab(s) for any situation. Happy to have many vintage tube amps. I just need to be the player that deserves the amps!
 
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#228,038
Ringhammer said:
All I can say is I have a (thanks to a fellow club member here), Gator Icon case for my ‘97 T-Bird. It fits really well, and I feel 100% confident that it is protected. It’s absolutely easier to deal with than the stock, massive, heavy, unruly beast that Gibson hard case is. I AM grateful to have the original case, but it is stored and will only come out when I move, store the bass long term (unlikely to ever happen), or sell (also unlikely).
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Great to hear. The top has gotten slammed into low-hanging stuff in the NYC Subway more times than I'd like to remember (the smacks have turned heads) and neither the Icon (or ProGo before it) nor the Thunderbird is any worse for the wear.
 
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#228,040
TBird1958 said:
Nice place that! Have an awesome show!
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thank you your Highness!….
Jackson on guitar is a 17 year old prodigy who just got a scholarship at Juilliard…..
round 2…..LETS DO THIS!…
CDE5E4A5-3BAE-4D1A-A90C-FB3ED21D212D.jpeg
 
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