Thunderbird Club

[PillO]

That's how Gin tastes to me - PineSol!

I have never tasted PineSol, so I don't know...

Gin, to me, tastes of juniper berries. I suppose that since juniper is a conifer, pine is fitting.

 

[PillO]

Does anyone know what the Rex Brown Thunderbird preamp does? When engaged does it provide any tone shaping like a mid cut or any other frequency cut/boost? Gibson really sucks at providing information about their bass products.

Gibson: Hey check out this new Thunderbird. It's got a preamp!

Potential buyer: What's the preamp do?

Gibson: It's got a preamp! It pre-amps

Potential buyer: Yes, but what does it do?

Gibson: It goes before your amp, thus the name.

Potential buyer: But what does it sound like?

Gibson: It sounds like a bass.

FTFY. The conversation would be far longer and far less useful.

 

[PillO]

TB enables again.
Just got this for all totaled, slightly over his asking in after shipping and tax. Shipping and tax sure can kill what is otherwise a great deal.

Thunderbird = worth every penny

But taxes suck. Shipping is just a necessary evil.

 

[PillO]

No, they use a subliminal message disguised as "Add To Cart".

Because adding it to thte cart isn't really buying it, it is just putting a hand on it. But them they tell you that others also have it in their cart, upping the pressure to checkout.

 

[MCF]

Now I’m confused, I definitely do not want a set neck if I think I’m getting a neck through. And is $1400 a good deal for a studio? What are the differences between a studio and a IV?

I will likely cancel the sale if it is mislabeled, and I can prove it.

If you bought the one from Ken’s original link, that was a regular Gibson 2001 Burst Thunderbird. Not an ebony studio. And $1400 for what looked to be a very nice one is good for these times.

 

[MCF]

Yes, and that is a neck through IV, not a studio?

Yep.

 

[Nocturnal]

Because adding it to the cart isn't really buying it, it is just putting a hand on it. But then they tell you that others also have it in their cart, upping the pressure to checkout.

They are very clever that way. Kind of like us with enabling.

 

[TBird1958]

I like Gin, this tastes good. Bombay Sapphire and Hendricks are on the shelf at my home as well.

Makes an excellent Gibson.

 

[PillO]

They are very clever that way. Kind of like us with enabling.

They are way better at it than us. They practice more and they have (probably) paid some big bucks for behavioural psychology consulting.

 

[BklynKen]

I like Gin, this tastes good. Bombay Sapphire and Hendricks are on the shelf at my home as well.

Makes an excellent Gibson.

Hmmm, which came first, that drink's color or your Thunderbird's?

 

[PillO]

I like Gin, this tastes good. Bombay Sapphire and Hendricks are on the shelf at my home as well.

Makes an excellent Gibson.

I too have Bombay and Hendricks on the shelf. I like the Bombay East for its lemon grass notes. I also have a little bit of Aviator (the Ryan Reynolds gin) lying around; it is quite good and was appreciated by my friend the gin connoisseur last summer.

 

[PillO]

Hmmm, which came first, that drink's color or your Thunderbird's?

We need to supplement @Gaolee with a taste/colour synesthete who can tell us if the colour matches the taste.

 

[BklynKen]

We need to supplement @Gaolee with a taste/colour synesthete who can tell us if the colour matches the taste.

I'm happy to do all the tasting, but TBD if I can match it to a color.

 

[GBassNorth]

@KB5 brings up a good point. A passive bass with only three knobs (not stacked) would normally mean…
Knob 1 - volume
Knob 2 - volume or blend
Knob 3 - tone

On an active bass without a preamp (basically active pickups) it would be the same.

On an active bass with a preamp I would expect to see 4 knobs minimum (non stacked)…
Knob 1 - volume
Knob 2 - blend
Knob 3 - bass
Knob 4 - treble

G&L has a three knob layout on their active bass (vol, treb, bass) but it requires a three way toggle to select neck, both, bridge pickups which I don’t see on the Tbird. And I don’t think you can control the volume level of each individual pickup when in the “both” pickup position, they’re both the same volume.

So that does raise a very valid question - does this bass really have an onboard active preamp, and if so, what’s the control layout?

Could it possibly be Volume, Bass, Treble and zero control over pup selection or any blending of the pickups?

Lifted this from an ad in the classifieds section…
Neck pickup: Rexbucker Thunderbird
Bridge pickup: Rexbucker Thunderbird
Controls: 2 Volume, 1 Master Tone with Push/Pull for Active/Passive Switching (Pull Up for Passive)

So I’m guessing the only knob for tone control is active in the down mode and probably has a center detent with a boost only function. Center detent is flat, turn down from the detent to boost the bass and up from the detent to to boost the treble, or pull up to deactivate the preamp and use the tone knob as a standard tone knob. Makes sense and is an interesting design concept that retains the traditional three knob Tbird look.

 

[Bassmike62]

We're filling in the schedule a little, definitely some fun shows ahead for us.

5/19 The Metta Room Pt. Angeles, WA
5/20 " " " " " "
6/3 Burien, WA Pride
6/28 Concert on the Pier, Pt. Angeles, WA
10/28 Halloween @ 7 Cedars Casino, Sequim, WA.

What basses to play?

We should have a peak at the whole collection, if we're going to call it.
Maybe a poll, even ?

 

[KaraQ]

Lifted this from an ad in the classifieds section…
Neck pickup: Rexbucker Thunderbird
Bridge pickup: Rexbucker Thunderbird
Controls: 2 Volume, 1 Master Tone with Push/Pull for Active/Passive Switching (Pull Up for Passive)

So I’m guessing the only knob for tone control is active in the down mode and probably has a center detent with a boost only function. Center detent is flat, turn down from the detent to boost the bass and up from the detent to to boost the treble, or pull up to deactivate the preamp and use the tone knob as a standard tone knob. Makes sense and is an interesting design concept that retains the traditional three knob Tbird look.

Sounds a bit like the functionality of the Sadowsky VTC (Vintage Tone Control), except for the center detent part, which the VTC doesn't have.
It works as a tone control in both active & passive modes, passive mode just disables the pre-amp and stacked bass/treble knobs.

 

[TBird1958]

Hmmm, which came first, that drink's color or your Thunderbird's?

The Thunderbird!

 

[Adriblues]

I’m gladly to announce the resurrection of my old band “Soultonics” (stuck without singer since the covid poopie) we have 2 now and the Thunderbitch is ready for the gigs
Cheers guys!

 

[GBassNorth]

Lifted this from an ad in the classifieds section…
Neck pickup: Rexbucker Thunderbird
Bridge pickup: Rexbucker Thunderbird
Controls: 2 Volume, 1 Master Tone with Push/Pull for Active/Passive Switching (Pull Up for Passive)

So I’m guessing the only knob for tone control is active in the down mode and probably has a center detent with a boost only function. Center detent is flat, turn down from the detent to boost the bass and up from the detent to to boost the treble, or pull up to deactivate the preamp and use the tone knob as a standard tone knob. Makes sense and is an interesting design concept that retains the traditional three knob Tbird look.

Sounds a bit like the functionality of the Sadowsky VTC (Vintage Tone Control), except for the center detent part, which the VTC doesn't have.
It works as a tone control in both active & passive modes, passive mode just disables the pre-amp and stacked bass/treble knobs.

Ok, @KB5 I dug around and found out a bit more.
The new Rex Brown does in fact have a preamp, so it’s not just active pickups. The preamp has a trim pot so you can boost the active effect when in active mode. The control layout is Volume, Volume, Tone. The push/pull tone pot does not appear to have a center detent and does appear to act exactly like a standard passive tone pot when in active or passive mode. So from the sounds of it the real difference between the active and passive mode will be the db increase that you dial in on the trim pot and maybe some attack, decay and sustain differences highlighted by the active boost as well.

 

[dagrev]

The 1st time I tasted gin I thought it tasted like perfume... not that I ever drank perfume!

Kind of my experience. Wished I had something horrible and bitter to make it more drinkable that what we had. I found it nauseating. Only drank it because the ladies that evening liked it. It was kind of like cuddling a porcupine. Once was enough.