LOL, no I upset him enough anyway! Be my guest, besides I think I'm on his block listI'll give Colin the honor since he found the left hand thread.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- club thunderbird
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,895
- 142,214
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
My left hand technique is just different enough that it feels like someone else is doing it.
You'd be amazed what I can do with my stubby index finger!
@GBassNorth - re visuals/aesthetics of Gibson basses. I had something of an epiphany/epiphony on that score the other week. I have always considered the Bird shapes to be very modern or almost futuristic (the V and Explorer were so out there they are jaw-dropping) - echoing the cutting edge of industrial design in the post-War modernist boom.
The epiphony bit was the realisation that (to me at least and I'm not being sarcastic at all here) Fender basses more resemble the 1940s farm pickup truck - reliable and easy to work on yes, but lacking that modern sleekness. Quite why that should be is a mystery, as double cutaway asymmetric electric basses were not that common before the Precision, which is every bit as modern as a Bird or Explorer or V shape. Perhaps it's a matter of me associating the P with the 50s and the Bird with the 60s.
The epiphony bit was the realisation that (to me at least and I'm not being sarcastic at all here) Fender basses more resemble the 1940s farm pickup truck - reliable and easy to work on yes, but lacking that modern sleekness. Quite why that should be is a mystery, as double cutaway asymmetric electric basses were not that common before the Precision, which is every bit as modern as a Bird or Explorer or V shape. Perhaps it's a matter of me associating the P with the 50s and the Bird with the 60s.
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Now that right there is about the best tagline material I've ever seen on Talkbass I'm drinking ice tea right now, and I'm very glad I have an iPad with a touch screen, if I had been on the computer you'd have ruined my keyboard with that comment. As it is, I need to go put on a clean shirt now!
You guys are killin me!!!
I'll keep an eye out for ya, Larry! I adore my 2013 NR.
Mark hit the nail on the head!!You guys are killin me!!!
Your analogy is pretty much where I'm at as well.
The Fender designs have just always looked dated to me. There's nothing about the Jazz or Precision or Tele that screams current or in vogue to me - popular yes, utilitarian yes, but sexy, no. Honestly, I find the Gibby Flying V and Explorer designs to look a bit dated too but in a more fad sense than the utilitarian Fender farm tractor designs. Quite the opposite with the TBird. It just has a timeless beauty to it and it probably owes that feature to the automobile designer that came up with the original shape. Where a Fender is a farm tractor the TBird is a Ferrari. It has sleek timeless curves that will always look current.
And therein lies the rift - if you're a meat and potatoes kind of guy with a plain vanilla approach to life and focused on the anus of the lead dog then a Fender is probably the right choice for you. But if you fancy yourself as a bit of an outlier with a different tune in your head and a desire for a touch of flair and excitement in your playing then a thunderbird may be your better bet. Either bass can deliver most of what you need from a sound standpoint but like a farm tractor or a Ferrari, you decide which one you'd rather be seen in.
That would be great! You and Scott D. are the only two in the club that have them, right?
Ok, done in the most kind and gentile way I could. Feel free to jump in and reinforce the message.
Findings on the VT Bass DI for @Stevis and any other interested parties.
After spending some time with it plugged into GarageBand, it's fair to say it is a very useful little box. The passive tonestack on the Traynor is set more less flat with a low end boost (bass and mid @ 100% and range and treble at 0%) - set and forget. The VT sounds near enough with treble and mid @ noon and bass at around 1 or 2 o'clock and bite and speaker sim on. Drive was set at noon and the Character knob around 10 o'clock. Tried the character at noon (B15 emulation) but ended up with it back in the SVT range (10 o'clock). 'Sunshine of Your Love' sounded pretty decent. There's a bit of (good) clank but also fat Gibsonesque girthy-ness.
It does sound better with the compressor off. With the Traynor, the comp makes everything fat and shiny, running into the VT it kills dynamics. When I first had the VT plugged in the other day it was going into the Traynor and sounded pretty horrible actually. Must say I don't get how people do multiple dirt staging with bass.
Conclusion: I wouldn't run the VT as a preamp/OD in my usual signal chain. However as a backup or as a 'flyrig' it is more than acceptable. It's about 85% of the way there, but lacks the 3D 'present' quality of my 19kg valve head with 29kg speaker cabinet, but that's maybe just me - I'll put my hands up and freely admit to being a valve snob.
**NB: apologies for blathering on about control settings and 'signal chains' outside of the amps and pedals forums - I won't do it again**
After spending some time with it plugged into GarageBand, it's fair to say it is a very useful little box. The passive tonestack on the Traynor is set more less flat with a low end boost (bass and mid @ 100% and range and treble at 0%) - set and forget. The VT sounds near enough with treble and mid @ noon and bass at around 1 or 2 o'clock and bite and speaker sim on. Drive was set at noon and the Character knob around 10 o'clock. Tried the character at noon (B15 emulation) but ended up with it back in the SVT range (10 o'clock). 'Sunshine of Your Love' sounded pretty decent. There's a bit of (good) clank but also fat Gibsonesque girthy-ness.
It does sound better with the compressor off. With the Traynor, the comp makes everything fat and shiny, running into the VT it kills dynamics. When I first had the VT plugged in the other day it was going into the Traynor and sounded pretty horrible actually. Must say I don't get how people do multiple dirt staging with bass.
Conclusion: I wouldn't run the VT as a preamp/OD in my usual signal chain. However as a backup or as a 'flyrig' it is more than acceptable. It's about 85% of the way there, but lacks the 3D 'present' quality of my 19kg valve head with 29kg speaker cabinet, but that's maybe just me - I'll put my hands up and freely admit to being a valve snob.
**NB: apologies for blathering on about control settings and 'signal chains' outside of the amps and pedals forums - I won't do it again**
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
No pictures, please.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Valve snob! Until you have cranked up an Acoustic 360 and run a Thunderbird through it, I can forgive you for being a valve snob because you are really just deprived.
Valve snob! Until you have cranked up an Acoustic 360 and run a Thunderbird through it, I can forgive you for being a valve snob because you are really just deprived.
Have you seen this? Any Vintage Acoustic Control Corp Users?
Played through a solid state Marshall 100 once - sounded great, but was apparently heavily modded, so other examples are probably not so nice.
[update] 100 watts?! Yeah, 100 bipolar transistor watts with a real power supply, not weedy class D virtual watts = a Marshall 2099.
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I had not seen that. Now I have and 'fessed up to the pile of Acoustic Control stuff I use to subject the world to my noise. It works really well and is completely reliable, so I'll keep using it. It sounds better than most tube stuff to me. Especially Ampeg. I don't like the overbaked Ampeg sound. It sounds like it needs a glass of water to cool off it's throat. Acoustic Control amps sound big and meaty by comparison. You can do the scratchy Jaco sound with it, but you can do a whole lot better, too. Saying that ought to upset a few people.
Just noticed best bass gear has the babicz chrome 3 point bridge on sale for $105 if anyone is in the market.
Thanks, @kat888. This will give me a nice frame of reference when I finally get to mess with my VT DI. I am also glad that the manual comes with a variety of suggested settings, to ease me into exploring its capabilities. I usually hate any kind of instruction manual but these images seem useful in helping dial in a variety of tones.
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