Thunderbird Club

[MCF]

Must...resist...saying...what...I...want...to...say...

Ahem.

 

[dagrev]

Man, I’ve tried so many strings across my T birds, they each need something different than the other, but for flats on a Tbird I can’t imagine anything outdoing the Daddario chromes.

Several flats sound great on Thunderbirds in my experience.

 

[MCF]

Second gig on the Epi Embassy tonight. I'm also providing/running the PA, so I may be concentrating mostly on that, plus I'll be using a different amp(R100 instead of R200c). Still, my impression after the first gig-last Saturday-was TBird-y tone for less $$$ and no risk of flying HS.
ADDENDUM:
View attachment 4942199


On another note(B):

We have got to get you a better camera.

 

[dagrev]

I know you have a holo-finished bass - but this G&L multi-colour sparkle finish is cool.
View attachment 4942406

Yes it is!

 

[dagrev]

I heard somewhere white is the best sounding finish, followed by sunburst, blk and pelham blue…

You heard correctly, sir! You can probably even put a white bass on one of those fancy thingamajigs you have and prove it scientifically. But sunburst isn't on the list....

 

[MCF]

I haven't checked, but don't think I have ever "ignored" anyone either. If someone says something I find really foolish and you can gather they are a hardhead, I don't reply. No point. Can't reason with someone who is either childish or irrational, even if they use big adult words. Life is too short for that kind of nonsense. But I really tend to spend little time in the GP unless I'm wanting more info to read up on something. This asylum is safe.

I’ve ignored a few. I usually chalk a bad post up to someone having a bad day. But there are a few out there I blocked. And guess what? Two of them have been banned.

 

[MCF]

Well, how does one describe inspiration, I always loved Paul Weller and both The Jam and the Style council. He's bar none one of my favorite songwriters.

So yesterday, while watching a documentary about The Jam, I decided to see if I could write something which could have been from the "In the city" album, while also recalling songs like "Peacock suit"

The instruments used were my Yamaha PSR 1700 keyboard, my Acoustic from that same brand, my Vester Telecaster copy and my self-made bass, with a set of very dead and rubbery sounding strings.

As for the lyrics, I guess anybody who goes through a midlife crisis will recognize what they're saying.

Do as your father and grandfather did
walk in line with all the other kids
I always thought that I knew better
Escape from the mould
Break out into the big wide world
Pay no heed to what I was told

I'm just ordinary, I'm only normal
Just a man living in a miner's town
Doomed to the status quo
Of repeating what my father did
Working myself to death to support my wife and kids

And I see the man I don't want to be
I see the man I don't want to be
I see that man in my looking glass

No, I would never grow up to be one of them
I was sure I could run away and explore the land
But reality caught up with me
My destiny was so clear to see
There was no way for me to run
From what I would be from day one.

I'm just ordinary, I'm only normal
Just a man living in a miner's town
Doomed to the status quo
Of repeating what my father did
Working myself to death to support my wife and kids

And I see the man I don't want to be
I see the man I don't want to be
I see that man in my looking glass

I see the man I don't want to be
I see the man I don't want to be
I see him there in my looking glass

Destiny is a cruel mistress
She grabs you by the throat
As soon as the gray hairs appeared
I'm sure she enjoys to gloat
I hoped for better, it was impossible to achieve
As the years caught up with me
I can only sigh in grief

And I see the man I don't want to be
I see the man I don't want to be
I see that man in my looking glass

I see the man I don't want to be
I see the man I don't want to be
I see him oh so clearly...

You came up with and recorded that in one day? You have talent my friend. A lot of talent. And the bass sounds awesome.

 

[Engle]

Andy Field of Mesa, who was the designer at Genz-Benz, and Jeff Genzler co-designed the new pedals. Andy solicited opinions over in the Mesa thread and received some good suggestions.

For in your face distortion, this is a nice, reasonably priced option.
View attachment 4942110

That’s what I use when I need more distortion than I can get by digging in.

 

[MCF]

Strings! We finally headed back to the rehearsal space after a long break, and I got to test drive my new Non-Reverse. It's still got stock strings, I have no idea which strings Gibson use, and I was slightly underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, it's hot and sounds great, there's a whole lot of treble, but lacking lower mids (I'm guessing). Missing the thickness if you will. It reminded me of what I experienced when putting a set of cheap strings on my P. Turning down the bridge pickup and the treble a bit brought me halfway there. Have you had the same experience? Any suggestions for strings that will bring out the full spectre? And perhaps tame the highs a smidge?

I don’t know for sure, but I assume they’re these:

Took them off the day after I got my ‘21 NR. Replaced with these which along with SIT Power Steels are my favorites:

Im a happy camper.

 

[MCF]

OCD will have my sprayer of cleaner and micro fiber towel at the ready

Gibson Pump Polish. Good stuff.

 

[Stealth57]

I don’t know for sure, but I assume they’re these:
View attachment 4942496
Took them off the day after I got my ‘21 NR. Replaced with these which along with SIT Power Steels are my favorites:
View attachment 4942504
Im a happy camper.

Decided to order the SIT Power Flats for the VP. Only $31 delivered.

 

[MCF]

I'm sure they sound good if that's the plan, but would be way more than I would ever want. What I like about the 4 On The Floor is it can be a clean or driven as you want, and the nice thing is the overdrive doesn't sound like a second sound on top of the bass signal, which seems to be an issue with some such OD and distortion. This sounds really organic and not at all like an effect added into the signal/tone mix. They really did a great job. You can even use just the clean vol as a boost to overdrive the pre in an amp. Haven't tried or needed to try that yet. The only complaint/wish thus far is it would have been nice if it had a way to save a couple settings to switch between or in case a knob accidentally got moved. But it's not that important. I'm actually shocked how much I love this pedal.

Four on the Floor was designed by two tone masters. I understand there will be more to come in addition to the three pedals they did over the last couple years.

 

[MCF]

Decided to order the SIT Power Flats for the VP. Only $31 delivered.

Should be a good choice. But there’s nothing wrong with a bit of finger noise.

 

[Stealth57]

Gibson Pump Polish. Good stuff.

I have the Nomad ONE cleaner polish for gloss finishes.

 

[Stealth57]

Should be a good choice. But there’s nothing wrong with a bit of finger noise.

Add that to my OCD, ball ends, fingerprints, and string noise

 

[MCF]

I have to exercise restraint of pen and tongue here once in a while. Thank God for the ability to delete posts. A few days ago I had to delete a couple of posts and report someone, I don't think it would have led to a ban but probably would have riled up the thread. I like it here too much to get banned. I've had trouble with that particular poster before so I finally 'ignored' the second person here in eighteen years, my first I un-ignored and we get along fine, this one will stay blocked.

It depends on the Mod. I think Veronica is ours in the Mesa Club. At least she’s popped in there to stop some nonsense once or twice. But it’s a tame group over there.

 

[MCF]

We have an ancient wall phone in the basement. It works and has a crank. You talk to a speaker that is on the front of the wooden box and listen through a separate piece that's attached to the box with a brown cloth covered cord. We also have a 1930s phone like in a Bette Davis movie and a later Western Electric dial phone. Those are all left over from when you didn't actually own the phone. You had the phone service, and the phone company would put one in your house. As I recall, the one in the house where I grew up had a big four prong jack, not a clip like they have now. When touch tone came out, it was an additional expense, so of course we didn't go for it.

All of the old phones we have work just fine, except we don't have a land line any more. I might get one put back in someday, just to be ornery.

You can convert your service to cell or cable and use the same phones. Just put it on the project list.

 

[MCF]

Correct on the mahogany. Which is why I wasn’t leaning to that finish as my first choice. Ash, Alder and Pine all have long grain lines and relatively closed pores vs Mahogany which is short grain and open pore. It wouldn’t look the same but might still look nice. I’d be doing a rattle can test on a sealed and filled mahogany plank before committing to the body. The Wenge neck will remain unfinished, love the feel of raw Wenge and raw rosewood in my left hand.

Got plenty of pine here. We’ve been ordered to at least knock it down. We’re on the local arborist’s list to get it done. Just knocking it down is the average price of a Thunderbird. To have it completely removed is about what V paid for her ‘63. It’s on a steep slope…Once it’s down, bring your saw and cut as many slabs as you want.

 

[MCF]

That’s what I use when I need more distortion than I can get by digging in.

My son got it for me for Christmas a few years ago. It was my first pedal. They’re still less than $100.00. Can’t get much more old school. Straightforward to use. I like it.

 

[Instagator]

We have got to get you a better camera.