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Thunderbird Club

#243,402
dagrev said:
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.
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Most alcohol is generally weird. I think I can safely say that one version of alcohol over another is truly an 'acquired taste'. But really, the better quality - the better the taste experience. All cheap alcohol tastes bad. Different than cheap beer, where at lease it can be cold & refreshing on a hot day...
 
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#243,404
Ringhammer said:
Is there any, or rather, what are the differences between a 1997 and a 2001 Gibson Thunderbird.

My ‘97 has clear/yellowed witch hat (I think that’s what they are called) plastic knobs, but I don’t know if they are original. The one I just bought has black knobs with silver tops.
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Did you buy your '97 new? My guess is that they are aftermarket knobs. All the "modern" ones I've seen have had the black knobs with silver tops.
 
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#243,408
dagrev said:
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.
Click to expand...
I have never knowingly had Gin. I think I have avoided it since I hate Tonic water. I think it is the quinine since I also hated the Schweppes Bitter Lemon drink that also contained a quinine.
My Dad had quinine during WW2 as a preventative or reliever? for Malaria. He still got a (mild I think) dose of malaria for his troubles. He served in Morotai and Balikpapan, Borneo at the end of the war.

So, I hear g & t and think of the tonic water flavour and get something completely different.
 
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#243,411
KB5 said:
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!
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“It pres. Then it amps. What part of preamp do you not understand?!?”
 
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#243,413
GBassNorth said:
@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?
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from the Sweetwater site:
To begin with, you get a separate volume knob for each pickup, giving you access to blended pickup tones you can't achieve with a traditional 3-way pickup selector. You also get a master tone control for dialing in the perfect amount of top-end snap. And lastly, a push-pull pot on the Rex Brown Thunderbird's tone knob toggles between active and passive operation.
 
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#243,415
dagrev said:
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.
Click to expand...
Drinking a Gin and Tonic mixed properly does taste crisp and refreshing. Drinking one mixed wrong or drinking straight Gin is like drinking hairspray. It was my mixed drink of choice up until about a year ago, now I find it difficult to drink any alcoholic beverage without tearing my stomach up.
 
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#243,419
PillO said:
We need to supplement @Gaolee with a taste/colour synesthete who can tell us if the colour matches the taste.
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Yes, we do. I cannot tell you what that color tastes like. I cannot tell you what that color sounds like, either. It only goes the other way and only with sounds.
 
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#243,420
Ringhammer said:
Is there any, or rather, what are the differences between a 1997 and a 2001 Gibson Thunderbird.

My ‘97 has clear/yellowed witch hat (I think that’s what they are called) plastic knobs, but I don’t know if they are original. The one I just bought has black knobs with silver tops.
Click to expand...
As a practical matter, they should sound and feel the same. It wouldn't be a surprise if you find that one is just better somehow. Probably the 2001 if it is like my 2001.
 
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