Thunderbird Club

[GBassNorth]

First thing I gotta say is wow you guys sure know how to move this thread! I didnt check in ine day and the thread had mived eight pages!

Now i have never really been a fanboy of the SG style, the last year or so it is warming up to me with some of the other color swatches besidrs the red cherry i believe @GBassNorth you also have one of the yellow burst?? I do like how that looks. And this Maple is completely blowing my mind! inthink I'm going to be a convert, she's ansolutly georgous.

Thx - yes, I also have a lava burst (which I actually like even better). The picture I posted of the blonde was a close up high gain photo to show the detail in the maple flame. Here's a regular shot of the two SG's together. The book match on the lava burst is more in line with my vintage Les Paul...

I'd love to see a TBird build with some highly flamed or other figured wood. I'm not as fond of quilt (although I have a couple of basses with it) it always looked a bit to feminine to me (says the guy with the pink paisley Tele). Basically I'm a sucker for good wood.

 

[GBassNorth]

That's just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! It should be jello.

A roll in the Marmite, jello or crisco - it's all good clean fun as long as it's just the TBird clan here.

Edit - with butt bows!

 

[GBassNorth]

Got it. Overall it's stunning!

To nitpick: match below the 3 point is off, mineral stain line above the pickups, and a hinky band between them .

I'm the kid who came home with a 98 and his father wanted to know why he didn't get 100...can't help myself. Mea culpa.

And this is why I would come to you first for a custom build Bird! It's that attention to detail and OCD like mindset that instinctively rules out short cuts and "that's good enough" type thinking when creating a new instrument. There's a difference between a builder and an artist. They both create things but the artist autographs his/her work with excellence. I have yet to see a Cataldo bass that isn't excellent.

 

[TBird1958]

A lot of people living with a lot of things at the moment. Next thing you know, someone will break out the industrial-sized Marmite and we'll all be rolling around in it...

Yummy! Let's!

 

[TBird1958]

Basically I'm a sucker for good wood.

What a great straight line............................

Just having a gay moment here.

 

[Dadagoboi]

And this is why I would come to you first for a custom build Bird! It's that attention to detail and OCD like mindset that instinctively rules out short cuts and "that's good enough" type thinking when creating a new instrument. There's a difference between a builder and an artist. They both create things but the artist autographs his/her work with excellence. I have yet to see a Cataldo bass that isn't excellent.

Many Thanks! I said a few years ago if I ever built a 'perfect bass' I'd keep it and quit. I do try to make the next one better than the last and can see incremental improvement...even very slightly in people skills.

 

[Gaolee]

What a great straight line............................

Just having a gay moment here.

I was kinda wondering how long that line would go unused. Not long. What a relief! And just for the record, it didn't turn out to be a "straight" line after all. Just saying.

 

[Gaolee]

Many Thanks! I said a few years ago if I ever built a 'perfect bass' I'd keep it and quit. I do try to make the next one better than the last and can see incremental improvement...even very slightly in people skills.

Why would you want to improve people skills if you can improve bass building skills?

 

[Korladis]

Many Thanks! I said a few years ago if I ever built a 'perfect bass' I'd keep it and quit. I do try to make the next one better than the last and can see incremental improvement...even very slightly in people skills.

I think that's a good attitude for any kind of artist/artisan/craftsman to have. There's always more to learn. Every project gives me ideas for the next one.

 

[GBassNorth]

What a great straight line............................

Just having a gay moment here.

My good wood sucker comment was intended to be tongue-n-cheek.
Oh my, I think I've done it again

 

[Dadagoboi]

Why would you want to improve people skills if you can improve bass building skills?

Some people actually manage both...or so I hear.

 

[Gaolee]

If things got too "normal" around here, we would all be lost.

For what it's worth, I put Cobalt Flats on the 2015. I'm not sure I like them on that bass. For some reason, it is being a string challenge. The EB with the same electronics sounds phenomenal with DR Sunbeams. That didn't work quite right on the 'Bird. Then I tried Sadowsky flats and those were way too muddy. Maybe it's time to try TIs or something. I'm going to end up spending a fortune on strings for that bass to figure it out. Some people might decide they weren't bonding with it and sell it, but that's not how I operate. It's a challenge now.

 

[Marial]

Try stainless steels.

 

[woodyng2]

If things got too "normal" around here, we would all be lost.

For what it's worth, I put Cobalt Flats on the 2015. I'm not sure I like them on that bass. For some reason, it is being a string challenge. The EB with the same electronics sounds phenomenal with DR Sunbeams. That didn't work quite right on the 'Bird. Then I tried Sadowsky flats and those were way too muddy. Maybe it's time to try TIs or something. I'm going to end up spending a fortune on strings for that bass to figure it out. Some people might decide they weren't bonding with it and sell it, but that's not how I operate. It's a challenge now.

I've had largely the same problem with my Rick Cii that i defretted. I'm on my 5th string change in less than 2 years,and it's been an interesting journey.
(I Started with Labella white coppercore tapewounds,Labella classic black tapes,ghs pressurewounds,labella LTF flats,and have settled on Optima RB flats recently.)

 

[veebass]

I don't much care for SG shaped bass guitars. I would like an SG with six strings. Those look right, and having played one now and again, I can say that they generally feel pretty good, too. They are usually lightweight, compared to a Les Paul or ES335. I'm not sure why ES335s are heavy, but they often are in my experience. My EB-2 is fairly heavy as well.

My ES 335 Bass is 9.5 lbs and my LP Double Cut is 9 lbs. The ES335 Bass is slightly heavier than my Gibson TBird and the LP is slightly lighter.
As has been said there is a centre block running up the middle of the ES 335, but there is a lot of air inside the body as well.

Out of interest, here's a bathroom scale weigh in of my Gibson Basses.
1974 Ripper- with cover- 4.2K 9.25 lbs
G3 70s Tribute- 4.2K 9.25 lbs
2006 Les Paul Double Cut- 4.1K 9.0 lbs
Memphis ES 335 Bass- 4.3K 9.5 lbs
RD Standard- 5.4K 11.9 lbs
RD Artist- 5.4K 11.9 lbs
Victory Standard 5.0K 11 lbs
Victory Artist 5.3K 11.7 lbs
TBird- 2008 4.2K 9.25 lbs

 

[Christine]

A roll in the Marmite, jello or crisco - it's all good clean fun as long as it's just the TBird clan here.

Edit - with butt bows!

Yummy! Let's!

You're a pair of perverts!! More worryingly it appealed to me too

 

[Gaolee]

RDs are beasts! I didn't realize Victorys were that heavy. I'm surprised that your 'Bird is as heavy as it is. Thunderbirds feel lighter than they are for some reason, at least to me they do.

 

[veebass]

RDs are beasts! I didn't realize Victorys were that heavy. I'm surprised that your 'Bird is as heavy as it is. Thunderbirds feel lighter than they are for some reason, at least to me they do.

Yes, big thick maple bodies.
RDs are indeed beasts as are Victorys but both balance very well and I really don't notice the weight, even though I am 60 next month and have a niggling back issue- just wear and tear causing a bit of occasional sciatica.
I used the RD Standard for the whole of a 3 hour rehearsal (one 5 minute break in the middle) last Sunday and no problem whatsoever.
By the way, the RD Standards sound superb. Like a Jazz Bass with plenty of b@lls or maybe a TBird with a bit more clarity. I am not good at describing sounds but that is as close as I can get.

The TBird has a bridge cover and one of Scott's tail pieces so it is probably about 9 lbs without the additions. The upside is all the extra weight is at the bridge end and she balances very, very well.

 

[GBassNorth]

If things got too "normal" around here, we would all be lost.

For what it's worth, I put Cobalt Flats on the 2015. I'm not sure I like them on that bass. For some reason, it is being a string challenge. The EB with the same electronics sounds phenomenal with DR Sunbeams. That didn't work quite right on the 'Bird. Then I tried Sadowsky flats and those were way too muddy. Maybe it's time to try TIs or something. I'm going to end up spending a fortune on strings for that bass to figure it out. Some people might decide they weren't bonding with it and sell it, but that's not how I operate. It's a challenge now.

I have not tried them on my TBird or EB13 yet but my go to string for my Stingray basses is DR Black Beauties. If you play finger style and don't use a pick much they last a good long time. On the Ray they tamed the top end, boosted the bottom end and balanced the mids. Might be worth a try.

 

[veebass]

I have not tried them on my TBird or EB13 yet but my go to string for my Stingray basses is DR Black Beauties. It you play finger style and don't use a pick much they last a good long time. On the Ray they tamed the top end, boosted the bottom end and balanced the mids. Might be worth a try.

That is precisely why I got rid of my StingRay, maybe I should have tried those strings. I could never get on with it and when I played it I thought it sounded like someone dropping some pots and pans- I put it down to my heavy handedness and gave up. Interestingly, I always got comments about how good it sounded even though I didn't like the sound of it.