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Thunderbird Club

#230,005
Bassmike62 said:
Briefly test-drove one of'em G2 Thunderbirds on the lunch hour. Looks great, sounds great, weighs a ton and quite a beefy neck for my hands, so not for me. Beefy price tag to match.

Haven't seen one here tho ?





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I got mine this year as my first bass in two decades. Didn’t expect to have such a big smile on my face from the first note; it’s been a few months and I’m here now and deeper down the Thunderbird rabbit hole.

The Bird made me think I could’ve been a bassist all along rather than a guitar player, but after having a few basses through my hands, I realize that had it not been for picking up a Thunderbird, I probably would’ve carried on in my ignorance about the awesomeness of BASS.

What surprised me is how comfortable I am with it even though how I can see all the awkward quirks of the design as valid. That said, the neck size on the Simmons model is about as large as I’d like to go with my smaller hands.
I was able to get my hands on another Thunderbird from circa 2000 and they are very different, and to my surprise, equally awesome. The Simmons model sounds very deep, dark and round compared to my other one. It also has a very strong fundamental, which is probably what made me so drawn to it. My 2000 model is like it’s leaner scrappier, grungey brother. It feels lighter, sounds more open and the neck has me miss it every time it’s not in my hands. I’ll be getting it back soon from my luthier after a pickup swap and compare once more.
 
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#230,007
dagrev said:
I just remember getting ready for school and Rain Drops, Bridge Over Troubled Water, (and any Neil Diamond from the early 70s) would be on the radio every morning. I already didn't want to go to school and then was tortured with those before leaving just to get the day off with a bang. There's another one that slips my mind as well. I'm pretty sure they are all that's played in hell to increase the misery. I can't believe I'm saying this, but give me Disco any day. At least it didn't make you want to find the nearest bridge or tall building.
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The set list from Hell…
Delta Dawn - Reddy
I Write the Songs - Mannilow
Seasons in the Sun - Jacks
Tie a Yellow Ribbon - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Ironic - Morisette
Stayin Alive - BeeGees
Copacabana - Mannilow
Sweet Caroline - Diamond
Sweet Gypsy Rose - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Close to You - Carpenters
I Am Woman - Reddy
Master Jack - Four Jacks and a Jill
Kung Fu Fighting - Douglas
Muskrat Love - Captain & Tinnille
McArthur Park - Harris
….repeat indefinitely and insert any Rap song for variety.
 
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#230,009
AlexMG said:
I got mine this year as my first bass in two decades. Didn’t expect to have such a big smile on my face from the first note; it’s been a few months and I’m here now and deeper down the Thunderbird rabbit hole.

The Bird made me think I could’ve been a bassist all along rather than a guitar player, but after having a few basses through my hands, I realize that had it not been for picking up a Thunderbird, I probably would’ve carried on in my ignorance about the awesomeness of BASS.

What surprised me is how comfortable I am with it even though how I can see all the awkward quirks of the design as valid. That said, the neck size on the Simmons model is about as large as I’d like to go with my smaller hands.
I was able to get my hands on another Thunderbird from circa 2000 and they are very different, and to my surprise, equally awesome. The Simmons model sounds very deep, dark and round compared to my other one. It also has a very strong fundamental, which is probably what made me so drawn to it. My 2000 model is like it’s leaner scrappier, grungey brother. It feels lighter, sounds more open and the neck has me miss it every time it’s not in my hands. I’ll be getting it back soon from my luthier after a pickup swap and compare once more.
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Would love to see a pic of the Simmons!
 
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#230,010
GBassNorth said:
The set list from Hell…
Delta Dawn - Reddy
I Write the Songs - Mannilow
Seasons in the Sun - Jacks
Tie a Yellow Ribbon - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Ironic - Morisette
Stayin Alive - BeeGees
Copacabana - Mannilow
Sweet Caroline - Diamond
Sweet Gypsy Rose - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Close to You - Carpenters
I Am Woman - Reddy
Master Jack - Four Jacks and a Jill
Kung Fu Fighting - Douglas
Muskrat Love - Captain & Tinnille
McArthur Park - Harris
….repeat indefinitely and insert any Rap song for variety.
Click to expand...
I think Kung Fu Fighting is the winner there. But yes, we used (different configuration) to do Sweet Caroline. Great response though.
The other surprising sing a long response was/is Que Sera Sera (yes still do it). That could go into your list.
:laugh:
 
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#230,011
JIO said:
Hah! I remember the "shreds" vids! Here's another from back when they were big! Interestingly enough - it lays bare the difference between mere mortals playing (even on the same bass) from a gifted phenom like Jaco was. It's only funny if you are fully aware of his other-world talent.



And to remind anyone who is unaware of his immense talent - this is from his 1st tour with Weather Report, of which I was lucky enough to be in the audience. (not this show specifically, but this tour) Regardless of how you feel about WR or Jaco - note his insane ability to groove w/o missing a beat while holding down "the one", no matter how he strays from it - playing a fretless! And Jaco wasn't "all about flash", although he could pull that off - because Austrian Joe Zawinul was a bass player in his early days and was very hard on any bass-player who he brought into his band. Jaco was every bit as talented/gifted as someone like jazz piano virtuoso Oscar Peterson, but IMO far more interesting as a player and personality musically and dynamically as a performer. Oscar Petersons extrapolations put me asleep. Jaco? never - he was a groove-machine.

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Why does his bass sound farty?
 
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#230,014
GBassNorth said:
The set list from Hell…
Delta Dawn - Reddy
I Write the Songs - Mannilow
Seasons in the Sun - Jacks
Tie a Yellow Ribbon - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Ironic - Morisette
Stayin Alive - BeeGees
Copacabana - Mannilow
Sweet Caroline - Diamond
Sweet Gypsy Rose - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Close to You - Carpenters
I Am Woman - Reddy
Master Jack - Four Jacks and a Jill
Kung Fu Fighting - Douglas
Muskrat Love - Captain & Tinnille
McArthur Park - Harris
….repeat indefinitely and insert any Rap song for variety.
Click to expand...
:roflmao:

Thanks for the added memory trauma.:smug:
 
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#230,015
dagrev said:
Does that explain the blurry pics?
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giphy.gif
 
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#230,017
GBassNorth said:
The set list from Hell…
Delta Dawn - Reddy
I Write the Songs - Mannilow
Seasons in the Sun - Jacks
Tie a Yellow Ribbon - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Ironic - Morisette
Stayin Alive - BeeGees
Copacabana - Mannilow
Sweet Caroline - Diamond
Sweet Gypsy Rose - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Close to You - Carpenters
I Am Woman - Reddy
Master Jack - Four Jacks and a Jill
Kung Fu Fighting - Douglas
Muskrat Love - Captain & Tinnille
McArthur Park - Harris
….repeat indefinitely and insert any Rap song for variety.
Click to expand...
There are 8 in there we didn't do(restaurant/lounge-75-80).
 
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