I think I have all the vinyl up to Sabotage which is when I lost interest in them. I’ll have to look this evening. All were bought close to their release so I assume they’re Warner first pressings.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
It's amazing how few pictures there have been. Part of that is that I haven't played out much at all since before the pandemic. It was getting to be a bit much. Now I'm finally ready to play out more.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
That is action. Like smiling, only different.Looked to me like he was standing still.
We did a purge of our vinyl in 96 or 97. We knew we were going to move at some point from the wilds of northwest Wisconsin and the cost of the move would be on us (spoiler: we did and it wasn’t) and maybe 75% of our stuff was records and books. So, we went through our records and sorted by things we weren’t listening to that much or at all and things we thought would be available on cd. For some reason I kept all the Allman Brothers except Fillmore East. I had no real clue that the economics of cd release were as different from vinyl release as they are. I got an idea in 2006 when I could buy all the recordings, including alternate takes, by Charlie Christian in a cd set. Back in 1978, I bought a a single, limited release vinyl with a total of 30 minutes.Why I sold them…. Yeah, good question, don’t know. But at that time I hadn’t touched the vinyls for years, and streaming was starting to happen… But now I regret that, as you surely can understand.. Stupid me!
I need to learn to solder so I can swap out pickups to mess around. What things should I be looking out for? And what should I be avoiding?
Almost all of my cd's and 40% of the vinyl collection:
Basically you want a soldering iron vs a soldering gun. Your solder needs to be made for electronics (resin core or no core) vs plumbing (acid core). I prefer to use a solder sucker vs a wicking braid, but other people like using the braid. At least 1 pair of needle nose pliers, a wire stripper/cutter (I mostly used a Buck 110 knife for stripping wires for a few decades, but a wire stripper made for the job is cleaner and better). A single tip - single temperature iron will work, but for a bit more money, you can buy an iron with changeable tips and temperature control.
No, I haven't. You might try StringJoy.com. They have steels if that's what you prefer and you can order a set and pick the size of each string at no extra cost. Basically create your own custom set. I know you can buy individual strings from a number of people, but I'm not sure if the cost is more or not. I have not tried their SS strings, but the NPS are good strings.
I've used the RBs. They might be slightly brighter, but I didn't notice any difference from the Power Steels, especially to justify the price difference. It's the same core and outer wrap I think. Only difference is the fusion process.
Every DR string I've tried was too tame-sounding for my taste.
I suggest a soldering station with adjustable temperature. Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/YIHUA-Solder...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
As an Amazon Associate, TalkBass may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
- Mar 13, 2008
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- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Flux, I would add, really helpful.
I posted this a couple of years ago, but still applies…
I’m no soldering savant but I do get around ok with an iron. Others can chime in with additional helpful info but there are at least three key facets to successful soldering of guitar components…
The right tools (can’t be overstated enough)
The right solder (makes a hard job much easier)
Practice (just a few minutes with a test piece can make a huge difference)
Tools
This isn’t 1965 anymore. If you have one of those black and decker soldering guns with the wire tip, just put it in the trash. You need a soldering station that has an iron with an assortment of tip sizes and shapes. The station should have a variable temperature setting that goes high enough to rapidly melt the solder and warm up the components but not so hot that it fries everything it touches. A nice one with all the assorted tips and extras will run between $50 and $100. A pro level for people that solder for a living can easily run well north of that. Weller is pretty much the industry standard for soldering stations. Ideally the soldering kit will have a wet sponge for tip cleaning, a brass steel wool pad for cleaning, at least 4 different tips (large chisel, medium chisel, small chisel and point end) and a desoldering tool to suck up wet solder. Radio Shack had a nice one (if they’re still around) or you can get one on Amazon. Buy a 12 pack of small copper alligator clamps to use as heat sinks. Buy a set of helping hands - a weighted clamping stand with flex arms and at least two alligator clamps to hold parts in place so you can easily use one hand for solder and the other for the iron.
Solder
You’re soldering fine gauge wire onto thin metal tabs and sensitive pot housings vs assembling copper pipe fittings, so use a solder designed for the job, not that roll of lead crap from Home Depot. I get mine from GFS or EBay. It’s a fine silver/lead solder with a rosin core so usually no flux is needed and it melts clean and quick.
Practice
Practice makes perfect and doesn’t really take that long. Go to GC and buy a spare pot or two. Practice stripping, twisting and tinning the wire. Practice tinning the lugs and the pot housing. Practice touching the tinned lug with the iron and inserting the tinned wire. Practice prepping the pot housing with a scraper or exacta knife. Practice pooling solder on the pot housing. Practice tinning a piece of wire mesh and then soldering it to the pot housing. Practice using the copper alligator clips as heat sinks to protect small parts from getting overheated. Just doing each of these things a few times can greatly improve your chance of success.
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I use a soldering gun because it's more convenient and easier to put down without burning the house down. When I finally build a proper workbench, a soldering station will be on the list of tools for it.
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I don't know if this was directed to anyone here....but whoever it is, you know who you are...
I think he's serious.
I think he's serious.
"Sabotage" is my favourite Sabbath album and has some great tones from Geezer. "Hole In The Sky" has a crunching distorted bass, "The Writ" has wah-wah and if I'm not mistaken, an 8-string John Birch which definitely pops up during the last part of the mini-epic "Thrill Of It All". "Symptom Of The Universe" almost single-handedly invented thrash metal (Priest's "Dissident Aggressor" helped out too) and how it goes into a semi-acoustic jam is so cool.
"Supertzar" is almost like Magma with the gothic choir.
Another fav is "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", especially "Spiral Architect". When Sabs went prog they did it very uniquely.
I also like "Never Say Die" very much. Some great songs on that one even 'though they might not sound like the Sabbath before. Luckily they didn't choose the AOR way but got almost weirder ( "Breakout" sounds like Nucleus on acid, or more like Nucleus drunk...).
Dio era is fabulous too.
I recommend avoiding the tip (Ahem!). It gets pretty hot.
But seriously, I recommend a variable temp model. I bought a single temp version once that really only made things messy. Part of that was my lack of skill, but the iron really didn't help.
I also love that they had subtitles for songs but only for the American market. Luke's Wall, Bassically, The Straightener, Elegy...
Stopped after "Vol4" but "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" sheet music still had those. I nicked one title myself for an instrumental...
The Secret Sabbath Songs: A Listener’s Guide
Stopped after "Vol4" but "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" sheet music still had those. I nicked one title myself for an instrumental...
The Secret Sabbath Songs: A Listener’s Guide
Not me. I don’t do PBR.
