Thunderbird Club

[ThaCoast]

I've decided to disconnect both deep sixx epi pickups from my treebird. Kept one mounted in the bridge, replaced the neck pickup with a generic ceramic magnet soapbar variant i had taken from my old custom guitar shop when we closed up & split tools/parts/projects amongst the 3man crew.

Only the neck pickup is connected, & after playing around for an hour i've two notes;

1- it has opened uo the sound a fair bit. Still darker around the top end, but less muddy than the deep sixx pickups.

2- i'd much prefer the more vintage angry piano tone than the modern depth grunt. Also would rather darken a bright pickup vs trying to get a dark pickup to be clear.

Edit: even though i've heard both vintage & modern tbirds in a mix of bands (mott the hoople, new york dolls, motley crue, marilyn manson, etc). I feel i could easily get those deep dark grunts with the vintage pickups, while also being able to have the bright clear agressive piano on the other end. & feels more in line with my other basses too, all with their own flavours if you will xD

 

[GBassNorth]

Isolated Bass Tracks
Our buddy John on his Fenderbird (which I assume had 1960’s Tbird pickups, a fender neck and a custom Tbird inspired body)…


Him again but on an Alembic

 

[Gaolee]

It’s not Canadian customs I’m concerned about.
I have to declare everything. My Nexus card is pretty important to me.

I always declare everything. It's easier that way. Besides, why court disaster when it's so easy to be completely honest at borders. I figured that I would have to pay some kind of import duty on the El Degas and was prepared to do that. The border agent didn't even look at it and waved me through when I told him exactly what was going on. I guess he didn't want to deal with it. Funny things happen at borders sometimes.

You already own the amp, and it isn't contraband to own an amp so far as I know. I can't see how it would be any different from any other musical instrument.

 

[Gaolee]

This is fake. She isn't clutching pearls.

 

[GBassNorth]

This is fake. She isn't clutching pearls.

It must just be a mild case of the vapors.

 

[Gaolee]

Isolated Bass Tracks
Our buddy John on his Fenderbird (which I assume had 1960’s Tbird pickups, a fender neck and a custom Tbird inspired body)…


Him again but on an Alembic

He gets a very similar tone on both basses and with both amps. I have always liked his sound, which only goes to make sense, because he's one of the reasons I became a bass player in the first place.

 

[Gaolee]

hey, don’t really care much for the look of Markbass stuff either….

Ok, then we are practically the same person. Who knew?

 

[Gaolee]

There were songs the tone fit. Some of the Joni stuff in particular.

It did fit certain songs. Another sound might have worked, too.

 

[Gaolee]

lotsa good lightweight stuff out there…..thing is, like guitar amp manufacturers building bass amps to stay competitive, many trad bass amp manufacturers are jumping on the Class D bandwagon to stay competitive….Markbass’ original focus was lightweight, very efficient Class D bass amps from the get go and they continue to excel (over other manufacturers) in that arena, they fit my needs perfectly……

I have not played through a MarkBass amp. It's probably a failing that needs to be corrected. I typically don't look at the amp when playing anyway.

 

[Engle]

exactly, you are talking about the VLE (vintage loudspeaker emulator) and the VPF (variable programmable[?]filter)…..trick is to set your EQ, and tone shape with those two after….don’t like Markbass “voicing”?…set both to 0…..my TBird settings…
View attachment 5218333

Yes VLE and VPF. I'm good with the cheat sheet in my bag, but you shouldn't have to look up the manual to use a bass amp IMO.

 

[BklynKen]

Yes VLE and VPF. I'm good with the cheat sheet in my bag, but you shouldn't have to look up the manual to use a bass amp IMO.

That's why I just use my own preamp (when an FX loop is available) so I don't have to worry about any of that.

 

[dagrev]

exactly, you are talking about the VLE (vintage loudspeaker emulator) and the VPF (variable programmable[?]filter)…..trick is to set your EQ, and tone shape with those two after….don’t like Markbass “voicing”?…set both to 0…..my TBird settings…
View attachment 5218333

That's pretty close to the settings on my little Ashdown RM 300. Which looks nothing like my Ampeg V4-BH head. I agree, if you have to turn a knob much more than "normal" to get where you want to be, so be it. It's the sound not what the head and knobs look like that matter.

 

[dagrev]

I only understood about a third of that, but cool.

Good. I don't feel so dumb now.

 

[dagrev]

How is that Kawasaki in snow?

Cold. Very cold. That was my useless first thought.

 

[dagrev]

Isolated Bass Tracks
Our buddy John on his Fenderbird (which I assume had 1960’s Tbird pickups, a fender neck and a custom Tbird inspired body)…


Him again but on an Alembic

I'm not a big Who fan, but there's no denying he was a great and very, very unique bass player.

 

[Engle]

flat response to 20kHz, huge dynamic range, extremely low damping factor, high power (800W for the “Little Markbass model), 12lbs….perfectly executed, very tall order….the trick on the preamp, is not to be apprehensive about diming a control, you won’t “break” anything….

I had one at a rehearsal space shut down when I was trying to play reggae with it. I think the head part of the combo was getting too hot. Then again who knows what abuse it suffered before I plugged into it?

 

[Engle]

I always declare everything. It's easier that way. Besides, why court disaster when it's so easy to be completely honest at borders. I figured that I would have to pay some kind of import duty on the El Degas and was prepared to do that. The border agent didn't even look at it and waved me through when I told him exactly what was going on. I guess he didn't want to deal with it. Funny things happen at borders sometimes.

You already own the amp, and it isn't contraband to own an amp so far as I know. I can't see how it would be any different from any other musical instrument.

The US border folks are fussy about bringing "tools" across the line because you may be working. I've heard of issues with Canadians bringing instruments over.
I'll stop in at the Point Roberts crossing at some point and ask.

 

[Gaolee]

The US border folks are fussy about bringing "tools" across the line because you may be working. I've heard of issues with Canadians bringing instruments over.
I'll stop in at the Point Roberts crossing at some point and ask.

I went up to Victoria on the ferry from Port Angeles to play at a friend's wedding. We had my Chevy van full of equipment - my upright, a PA, a couple guitars and amps, etc. I don't think we used drums. There were three of us in the van. Canadian customs asked why we were entering Canada, and we told them. She asked if we had alcohol. I told her only what we already drank. She said we would regret that, because the price is so high in Canada. Then waved us through. We thought it might be an issue that we were going to be "working" in Canada, even though we weren't going to be getting paid.

On the way back, we were told not to take anything edible. So we ate a couple bananas that were left from before we even got to Canada. We missed a pack of gummy bears. Entering the US, the car ahead of us got taken apart because they had an orange. We pulled up, and the guy asked if we had any food. The answer was no. It was only after we were through that I looked over and saw that the guy in the passenger seat had been munching gummy bears the entire time. I guess those aren't food. I didn't know we even had those in the van, since I don't eat that kind of thing. Go figure.

Weird stuff happens.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Yes VLE and VPF. I'm good with the cheat sheet in my bag, but you shouldn't have to look up the manual to use a bass amp IMO.

I just use my ear….

 

[Stealth57]

I just use my ear….

How do you turn knobs with your ear? Isn't that painful?