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Thunderbird Club

#241,101
Stealth57 said:
Beat me to it.
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What will they go in, the Epi IV? I really like the Epi IV pickups. I have them in the Epi PB Custom Shop, the RED Custom Shop and the GOTH. Easy to get great Thunderbird tone from them with the right amp/effects tweaks.

The PB bird won’t be touched. Too rare. And it plays and sounds great. The red Custom Shop and the Goth are up for pickup mods for something different. Lollars for sure in one of them.

And I swear that I won’t buy another Thunderbird until I’m dome modding what I have. At least that’s the story I tell my wife…..
 
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#241,103
bobyoung53 said:
Don't forget about the Beau Brummels or The Byrds.




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I won’t! Or Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Or the Byrds. And those who were around before like the Four Seasons, The Beach Boys, etc. And countless others. I only mentioned the Springfield out of my admiration for Neil.

The book title and college course title are to good to make public.
 
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#241,106
MCF said:
I won’t! Or Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Or the Byrds. And those who were around before like the Four Seasons, The Beach Boys, etc. And countless others. I only mentioned the Springfield out of my admiration for Neil.

The book title and college course title is to good to make public.
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Makes me wanna go back to school!
 
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#241,107
JIO said:
I wonder how long they've made them - they certainly weren't around in '86 or that's probably what I would have used. Having said that, no way would I consider changing mine at this point as I'm very content with the way it sounds and have been for.., a lot of years! :)
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There are many Thunderbird pickups available. I listed them in a post a long time ago. Others have too. I’m too lazy to look. But There are Bart’s some from Europe, and the pedestrian EMG’s along with others.

IMO, you don’t gain much by trying to upgrade TBird+ pickups. Adjust EQ and use a dirt pedal/ or different preamp if you are chasing a specific tone. And that works with the standard Epi IV pickups too.

Some of us like to tinker. And that is where it gets fun. But in reality, you can get pretty much everything you need out of stock pickups and EQ tweaks. I’ve learned a lot from messing with the humble Artec pickup in my BaCH. It has a ton of different tones depending on the setting in the two channels of the Mesa Tt800.
 
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#241,109
Ok, so I’m cheating on a TT.

I like to mix and match.

58121986-1C57-4FED-AA57-E5D148941988.jpeg
 
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#241,110
MCF said:
There are many Thunderbird pickups available. I listed them in a post a long time ago. Others have too. I’m too lazy to look. But There are Bart’s some from Europe, and the pedestrian EMG’s along with others.

IMO, you don’t gain much by trying to upgrade TBird+ pickups. Adjust EQ and use a dirt pedal/ or different preamp if you are chasing a specific tone. And that works with the standard Epi IV pickups too.

Some of us like to tinker. And that is where it gets fun. But in reality, you can get pretty much everything you need out of stock pickups and EQ tweaks. I’ve learned a lot from messing with the humble Artec pickup in my BaCH. It has a ton of different tones depending on the setting in the two channels of the Mesa Tt800.
Click to expand...

I'm one to set my amp once and measure/access any bass I play through it based on that set-up - not much of an amp-tweaker. I'll sometimes adjust my d.i.+ and/or BBE Sonic Stomp and the V & T controls on the bass - but usually not much or ever. So pu differences are pretty distinct to my ears and I'll gravitate to one or the other when recording to achieve a specific sound character/tone. Live, I use a bass that is versatile as our sets are very eclectic. It's why I don't use a P-bass, and honestly why I don't use my T-bird. It's just what works best for me in my bands.
 
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#241,112
MCF said:
Awesome! And stop rubbing it in!

I’m 85% - 90% remote. My main office is in Sherman Oaks. in “The Valley.” 77 miles from the mountain house. I rarely go there. But I have to go to downtown L.A. three or for times a month. Sometimes it requires an overnight. Unless I have a trial, which means down and back or crummy hotels over multiple nights. Which is a total PIA. At least I get paid. Other than Dodger Stadium, which overlooks downtown, downtown L.A. totally sucks. We have a place in Whittier, which is about 20 or so miles to the east, but it’s easier to commute from the places up north than from there. Traffic totally sucks. It’s crazy that it is easier to drive 80 miles with moderate traffic than 20 miles in stop an go traffic. Who ever thought this was a good idea? I’ll stop. Don’t want to get banned.

And, please, get off of my lawn.
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When I get work in the LA area, one of my selling points is flying in to the nearest airport and driving from there. It is often faster for me to do that than for a local to cross LA.
 
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#241,115
MCF said:
What will they go in, the Epi IV? I really like the Epi IV pickups. I have them in the Epi PB Custom Shop, the RED Custom Shop and the GOTH. Easy to get great Thunderbird tone from them with the right amp/effects tweaks.

The PB bird won’t be touched. Too rare. And it plays and sounds great. The red Custom Shop and the Goth are up for pickup mods for something different. Lollars for sure in one of them.

And I swear that I won’t buy another Thunderbird until I’m dome modding what I have. At least that’s the story I tell my wife…..
Click to expand...
So buy something else. I bought a Japanese Ric clone. Irv is a professional level enabler, one of the best we have around here. That's all I can say for now. The bass is still in Canada for the time being.
 
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#241,118
Well, my band played our second show with me on lead guitar.
Lei stage 3.jpg

I'm the one with the Rasta get up.

And that show, once again, pressed it into me that I need to start using some proper guitars. As the Yamaha APX I'm brandishing in this picture has some serious feedback issues and my old eighties Washburn, while looking cool, has issues with actually staying in tune.
20230106_213625-1024x461.jpg

Using my Washburn on our previous show.

So, I have been busy scouring proper replacements and here they are.
ebony and Ivory.jpg

A Fender Mexico Player strat which I bought for Squier money and an Epiphone Chet Atkins steel string. Both will see a lot of use.
 

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#241,120
bobyoung53 said:
Some of their early tunes were just Hammond bass pedals, the guitarist also played bass on some of their stuff, they had studio players play later on. They never had a bass player as a member.
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Much like the Doors.
 
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