Thunderbird Club

[dagrev]

I’d be interested to hear what other 2022 Gibby NR owners are stringing their basses with. I liked the stock rounds that came on it. Hated the GHS Precision flats I put on it. Replaced those with EBCFs and like those but still thinking the stock strings sounded better. At this point I’m thinking the new NR really wants bright strings to open up the pickups, which seem to be voiced a bit darker than my VP pickups. Maybe some David Ellefsons?

The seller of my NR hated Gibson strings and put D'A SS on it. Didn't care for that, so they lasted one live use. I too thought Precision Flats would thicken up the tone, but didn't work at all. My NR is kind of "dark" in the way modern Thunderbirds sound to me, but not exactly the same. The tone knob doesn't make a lot of difference compared to other basses. I tried to go bright with Rotos and that didn't do it for me. SIT Power Steels sounded best until it put some Boomers on it just for the heck of it. I think those sound best for my tastes. They have a lot of mids in the right place that seem to help the NR with the wider pickup spacing sound more full, at least to me.

I'm interested to see how the SIT Power Wounds do. I also have some NPS SIT Foundations, which supposedly have more fundamental and are a little brighter, according to an email from SIT.

 

[GonePlaid]

Is the Eppi EB3 a 34” full scale, or is it a 32” short scale? The Short scale Gibby SG balances ok, I’ve heard the regular scale EBs are pretty neck heavy.

I had an Epi EB-3L. Dove worse than anything else I've played. Sounded great.

 

[dagrev]

Saturday night gig, ‘76 Bicentennial. Ignore the weird purple light on my face.

View attachment 4887879

Nice!

We all know it's a bruise the young lady put on you after you played over her singing.

 

[dagrev]

Looks like you and your guitarist got into a nasty fight and you both have some nasty bruises to prove it.

We seem to think a like.

Sorry to insult you!

 

[godofthunder59]

I had an Epi EB-3L. Dove worse than anything else I've played. Sounded great.

The Epiphone EB3 is a good version of this bass, I think it would be great if they went to short scale like the limited edition they did. Would you believe that the Epiphone headstock is 2" longer than the big 70s headstock? Crazy.

 

[dagrev]

So 2022 was a bust for me gig wise, one Who's That show in early summer. Then our drummer left so I just put WT on the back burner and looked for other gigs, the landscape was pretty barren and any offerings sub par. A few weeks ago Who's That decided to move forward and search for a new drummer. We got very lucky and found a great match right away, I swear he sounds just like Moonie and even better yet first rehearsal he played through the entire set list with barley a glitch. Hopefully we will be ready in January.
It also looks like I will be playing in a Sabbath/Ozzy tribute, I just landed the gig. Everyone has done this type of gig before so ramp up time should be minimal. I'm excited about this gig mainly because I get to cop Bob Daisley riffs and sing his praises. He's one of my favorite bassists and doesn't get the recognition that he deserves. Unfortunately I can't find any evidence of Geezer or Bob using a Thunderbird. Both Geezer and Bob used stripped natural 60s Fender Precisions so I'll probably go with that and various EB3 type basses. I built this stripped 60s style P with a mudbucker, it really sounds great in the band mix. I'll probably use my two Marshall stacks for the gig. Here's to 2023!View attachment 4888005 View attachment 4888006 View attachment 4888007

Fantastic news all around!

 

[GBassNorth]

We seem to think a like.

Sorry to insult you!

No insult taken. At least now I know I’m not the only inmate in the asylum.

 

[GonePlaid]

No insult taken. At least now I know I’m not the only inmate in the asylum.

But are you running it?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Saturday night gig, ‘76 Bicentennial. Ignore the weird purple light on my face.

View attachment 4887879

Nice! What kind of rig do you go through?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

and, for Tube Tues….(drum roll)…..

 

[Goatrope]

I’d be interested to hear what other 2022 Gibby NR owners are stringing their basses with. I liked the stock rounds that came on it. Hated the GHS Precision flats I put on it. Replaced those with EBCFs and like those but still thinking the stock strings sounded better. At this point I’m thinking the new NR really wants bright strings to open up the pickups, which seem to be voiced a bit darker than my VP pickups. Maybe some David Ellefsons?

Yes, it does want bright strings.

I’ve been using Dunlop Super Bright Nickel. The 045-105 round wound set.

The pickups on my ‘21 NR were dark as expected, but not as dark as what came on my ‘18 Gibby Reverse (which I replaced with Lollars).

The Dunlop SBN work well for me. My subjective description of tension would be higher than medium. Not taught like some flats, and not too springy. Maybe tight spring feel. I play a lot harder than I should, but I can get a really good growl from these strings with my setup having more relief than some (.012), and probably higher action.

The Dunlops seem to hold a bright tone for about 8 gigs, unless more than a few are outside in the heat. But even as they dull, they still have nice definition and growl.

Also, earlier this year I switched to the Babicz bridge. Same as on my Reverse. I did this for the consistency of setup and faster string changes. The unintended consequence of the change was some weird harmonic overtones. In isolation, they’re not a pleasing sound, but they do add a little midrange push that helps me stand out better with my band.

Maybe it’s all in my head, but I like the Dunlops and the Babicz combination, with the OEM NR pickups.

 

[TBird1958]

My fancy tuner..........
The battery is held in with duct tape, it's so old I don't remember when or where I got it.

 

[Engle]

Solid point. Guitarists never have a tuner (or a cable). Maybe I should get a cheap clip-on.

Yup I lend my Snark more than I use it myself.

 

[JIO]

Played this at rehearsal with the band for the first time last night...............
Suffice to say it's glorious.

Glad to hear your back to rehearsing - have you found a new singer?

 

[TBird1958]

Glad to hear your back to rehearsing - have you found a new singer?

Yes, she's really quite good too, she belts it out quite nicely and has a lot of enthusiasm - the whole band vibe is very different than before in that we all like each other and want to go have fun. We've managed about 5-6 rehearsals and have 24 songs put together.
Here's one of her promo shots.

 

[JIO]

Yes, she's really quite good too, she belts it out quite nicely and has a lot of enthusiasm - the whole band vibe is very different than before in that we all like each other and want to go have fun. We've managed about 5-6 rehearsals and have 24 songs put together.
Here's one of her promo shots.

So happy for you Mark! Both bands I play with have a new drummer and it does re-shape the group. A band that gets along is a happy band!

 

[Gaolee]

I prefer pedal tuners over clip-ons, I find those annoying 'cause they look back at me .
Haven't tried a whole lot of tuners honestly, but out of the various Boss, Line6, Zoom and Snarks I've tampered with, I'll go with a Boss TU-2 anyday. Mine's been on every bass pedalboard since I started playing bass in 2008 (the only pedal that survived whatever moods or desires over the years) and I find it much easier to dial in than the TU-3 I use for acoustic guitars.

At one point, I had a clip on tuner on my bass and forgot to turn it off. About halfway through a song, it caught my eye, and I started watching it to see how far out of intonation any given note was. That led to a train wreck when I got completely distracted. Fortunately, it was a rehearsal, not a show. Moral of this story is, .... oh! shiny!

 

[Gaolee]

I'd go with Hipshot.
I have a Babicz on my silver FenderBird and I'm honestly not crazy about it, but in all honesty it might not be installed in the best of manner. I installed Hipshots on pretty much all the Jazz basses I've had and recently installed my 1st Supertone one the FenderBird I'm having assembled/refinned. Direct fit, no hassle, easy intonation.

I have never had a Hipshot bridge. The Babicz on my 2013 EB convinced me that I needed a Babicz on all my Thunderbirds as well. The P-Bird also has a Babicz. They aren't the most user friendly of devices, but once you get the hang of them, they work really well. Of course, the much maligned three point also works very well once you figure out how it works. It's all just personal preference.

 

[Gaolee]

not to toot my horn but I can tune down to D on the fly (and be in better tune) than using a Hipshot…it’s just faster than using tuners for me…

I use an x-tender because I can flip to D for one note here and there and then flip it back up to E for the rest of the song. I could just use drop D tuning, but being lazy means I don't feel like figuring out the fingering and practicing enough that I don't have to think about it.

 

[JJR58]

Yes, she's really quite good too, she belts it out quite nicely and has a lot of enthusiasm - the whole band vibe is very different than before in that we all like each other and want to go have fun. We've managed about 5-6 rehearsals and have 24 songs put together.
Here's one of her promo shots.

I'm guessing you all will be ramped up for gigging soon.
Which means, comes summer time.
I need to make a visit for some shows.
Chuck, Geo. Lets gets some gas in the cars and hit the road.