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Thunderbird Club

#229,562
Two gigs in two nights. Hadda use substitutes(both our regular guitarists outta town). Was not fun. A lotta "what song/what key" raggidiness. At least one venue was a bit disappointed that we were unable to do some of our 'normal' [stuff]. Plus the guitar man was too loud. Very good player, but... If it had been up to me(it wasn't), I'd have cancelled both gigs rather than-potentially-pi$$ing off the one venue. Oh, well.
Used two different basses, same amp-see pic. Couldn't seem to get the tone I wanted out of either set up.:banghead:
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#229,563
GonePlaid said:
Two gigs in two nights. Hadda use substitutes(both our regular guitarists outta town). Was not fun. A lotta "what song/what key" raggidiness. At least one venue was a bit disappointed that we were unable to do some of our 'normal' [stuff]. Plus the guitar man was too loud. Very good player, but... If it had been up to me(it wasn't), I'd have cancelled both gigs rather than-potentially-pi$$ing off the one venue. Oh, well.
Used two different basses, same amp-see pic. Couldn't seem to get the tone I wanted out of either set up.:banghead:
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Sad stuff. When that happens, the playing part of playing music is not so much present. Hopefully your next gigs will make you forget the last ones.
Cheers.
 
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#229,566
GonePlaid said:
Two gigs in two nights. Hadda use substitutes(both our regular guitarists outta town). Was not fun. A lotta "what song/what key" raggidiness. At least one venue was a bit disappointed that we were unable to do some of our 'normal' [stuff]. Plus the guitar man was too loud. Very good player, but... If it had been up to me(it wasn't), I'd have cancelled both gigs rather than-potentially-pi$$ing off the one venue. Oh, well.
Used two different basses, same amp-see pic. Couldn't seem to get the tone I wanted out of either set up.:banghead:
View attachment 4893105
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Sounds like the show we (TSC's) did with a sub drummer we never met/rehearsed with before. (our drummer then had Covid) I don't think he even bothered to listen to our set that we sent him recordings of. Should have just canceled - lesson learned.

Oh, and "very good player" ? The too-loud part for me negates how "good" a musician is if they don't 'get' playing at a compatible volume in any ensemble. The bands I play with dealt with a guitarist and drummer who didn't 'get' that. Both were 'very good', but both are gone from our bands.
 
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#229,567
PaleAngel_90 said:
Share a picture of the bass, we'd love to see it!
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will do, it’s a 2004 VS modified with gold hardware. I got it here on the classifieds but the pickups were microphonic so it’s at my tech getting some Lollars installed. Still it was in my hands at all times, and I’ve been missing it a ton each day. Will post a pic when I get it back.
 
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#229,569
GBassNorth said:
I made it about a year ago. It was a Gluff Flame Maple cap on an Alder semi hollow body blank with a Fender flame maple and rosewood bolt on neck. The tuners are Hipshot ultra light lollipops and the bridge and hard tail are from Philadelphia Luthiers. I designed the control layout as three independent Vol/Tone stacks and custom built the pots. The pickups are thunderbird style EY Bass humbucker pickups with the bridge and center pickups in traditional P/J locations and the neck pickup in the Mudbucker location. Strings are Optima Gold round wounds. It has an incredibly broad palette of tones available and is a dream to play.

Here’s what the rest of the bass looks like…
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Pat did the finishing correct?
 
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#229,570
GBassNorth said:
Come on down, you can jam on all the basses in the house, plenty to choose from.

Now that I’ve had the BlingBird for about a year I’m finding that I go about dialing it in almost completely opposite from all my other birds. On my other Tbirds I have a tendency to solo the neck pup with the tone at half up or less and maybe tweak in a bit of the bridge pickup if needed for clarity or for the mix.

However, on this bird I usually dial the bridge pickup tone to full bright and vol near max, then blend in the neck pickup volume with tone full off to thicken it up nicely and add heft, finally I use the middle pickup volume and tone to fine tune the overall sound and add mid range richness and punch to the mix. The finished product is an exceptionally rich, complex and full sounding tone, more high fidelity than I’ve ever achieved with a passive bass.

I’d love to hear somebody else with more talent and skill than I have play it.
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Sounds cool - someday! How much does it weigh?
 
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#229,572
JIO said:
Sounds like the show we (TSC's) did with a sub drummer we never met/rehearsed with before. (our drummer then had Covid) I don't think he even bothered to listen to our set that we sent him recordings of. Should have just canceled - lesson learned.

Oh, and "very good player" ? The too-loud part for me negates how "good" a musician is if they don't 'get' playing at a compatible volume in any ensemble. The bands I play with dealt with a guitarist and drummer who didn't 'get' that. Both were 'very good', but both are gone from our bands.
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Good move on dealing with band conformity. Nothing worse than a heavy hitting drummer which compels the guitarist to turn up, followed by the bassist, keys and singer. The BL should drive the overall volume level and each player should be mindful of how they are supposed to sit in the mix on any given song.

I’ve been in more than one bar situation as an audience member where the music was so incredibly loud you flat out could not converse even when practically yelling to the person you’re sitting at the bar with. Just got up and left, never went back to those venues.

Dinner music settings are even more volume critical. In the majority of those settings (at least early in the evening when dinner is on the table) the band is supposed to be background or mood music. Later in the evening when it’s just drinks on the tables the volume can go up a bit to encourage dancing and drinking. A good BL will know when to turn up and when not to, and a good band will follow that lead.
 
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#229,573
GBassNorth said:
Thanks!

Tbirds are fantastic basses and come in many flavors. I can’t think of a genre that I wouldn’t use one in. You picked a great bass to start with.

I wish I had discovered them early on, it would have saved me a bunch of money chasing the tone in my head.
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For sure! Pretty glad I found about them now but had I played one earlier in life I may have laid down the guitar and become a bassist. I bought a cheap bass to record with over a decade ago and sold it shortly after, thought I didn’t care for it, silly me. Needed a bass this year and ended up getting a G2 Simmons in my hands and I was hooked. The sound kicked off my quest for P basses, Jazz basses and a couple of boutique ones but in the end the Thunderbirds give me everything I’m looking for.
I ended up getting a second one here on the classifieds and love it even more due to the neck being slimmer —a better fit for my hands. It also sounds quite different from the Simmons model. It’s in the shop now getting the microphonic pickups retrofitted and there hasn’t been a single day I haven’t missed it.
In the meantime, I’m trying to learn more about them here and through others collections/experiences as they’re the only bass that really make me curious of all the makes and models. I wish there was an in depth book or resource about Thunderbirds exclusively. If you happen to know, please point me in the right direction! :) Thanks!
 
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#229,575
KaraQ said:
Never understood the smuggling?
Or the lack of catheters?


The smuggling was largely/allegedly because Coors:
a) didn't want to try and transport it that far (unpasteurized at the time), so they
b) didn't market it east of TX, and because of that,
c) hadn't gotten license(s) to sell it in those areas.


So, anybody that wanted it, had to get it from an area where it could be sold legally, and transport it quickly because:
1) being unpasteurized it expired quickly without refrigeration, and
2) like anything else where the local/state gov't don't get their cut (e.g., sales taxes and regulatory fees), law enforcement types could become a problem.

:)




The catheters.......well, imo, that seems an in-advisable way to transport illegal booze? :bag:
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Coors was awful. Why anyone would want to smuggle that stuff was beyond me. I’d rather drink club soda; it tastes better. $5.00 a case at the BX when we were in high school. I wouldn’t drink it then and don’t drink it now.
 
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#229,579
GBassNorth said:
Actually I want to hear more about your avatar. I do enjoy a nice Corvette!
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haha. My avatars are sometimes more of a vision board. I’m not really into cars but have had a chance to drive many nice ones through the years and the only apple of my eye—much like a Thunderbird—is a C1 Corvette, I can’t make my mind up between a ‘57 or ‘59. These rare cars happen to pop up in my life at interesting moments, so I like to play into the idea that I’m meant to have one someday. It also helps that the local (Monterey) annual car show keeps my dream alive :)

Check out the restomod that Kevin Hart bought in an auction a couple of years ago…

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gorgeous!
 
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#229,580
GBassNorth said:
I’d be a nervous wreck with that tripod leg that close to the door and walkway. Other than that - Knock ‘em dead!


I do like the Babicz. They’re built to last a lifetime, I’ve never had any problems with either of mine. I think this witness thing has only been an issue because of the minimal break angle, any other bridge most likely would have the same problem.
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You and I like fairly low action so that comes into play too.
 
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