Thunderbird Club

[Gaolee]

Playing a Thunderbird is what made me learn to play pick. It's an instrument that beacons that call

Now I'm primarily a pick player. And there is a pretty distinguished list of pick players








Me not being one of them of course!

I play with a pick or with fingers, depending on the song and the sound it should have. I don't slap and pop. Yet. I do slap the upright, but that's a very different technique, and I'm a bit rusty at the moment.

 

[Gaolee]

So this came home with me yesterday.
View attachment 5263566

That's a rare beast.

 

[Gaolee]

Tried out an Epiphone 4-String 60’s new Thunderbird bass yesterday. A lot to like - but two things that took it off of my potential bass-upgrade candidate list. I really liked the playability, sound and component quality. The two things I didn’t like were:

Relatively less important; No bevel where picking arm drapes over body.

More important; Neck Dive, Stood with neck maybe 30/40 degrees above horizontal, hands off and neck went to 30-40 degrees below horizontal. Not sure whether my strap & flannel shirt were too slick and allowed this to happen. I felt bad about the neck dive, and a little about the lack of the body bevel - because otherwise I liked the bass as much or more than the others that I played.

Guess it didn't pick you. That's how it works. They generally don't dive for me. No matter where I put the neck, it stays pretty much right there. That's when you know you were chosen by a Thunderbird.

 

[Gaolee]

I put Hipshot Ultralights on mine. It makes a substantial difference. Of course then you have extra screw holes on the back of the peghead - that doesn't bother me.

Once you start drilling holes in a Gibson, you experience true freedom.

 

[Count Bassie]

Once you start drilling holes in a Gibson, you experience true freedom.

This is true. Had an EB-0 as a kid, and it wasn't truly mine, and I wasn't truly free of the brand mojo, until I put a DiMarzio Model One in it and threw on a Badass bridge.
Testimony.

 

[Gaolee]

Yeah, pups is what most people out here seem to call them too....to me it's less confusing (in CA anyways, where trailer sizes are somewhat limited/standard) to just go with short (28') and long (53').
I guess people must think it's a weird TN thing, but they seem to generally understand what I'm talking about


Other western states though, they use a wider variety of sizes & combinations. I get to see a lot of those when I make my daily trip into NV.

On a construction site, a pup is the dump trailer towed behind a dump truck. So you figure how many round trips with a truck and pup to estimate how long and how expensive a big hole will be. At least getting rid of the dirt, anyway.

 

[Gaolee]

Try singing the “Fred” parts of Love Shack while playing bass… I’m almost there

I'm impressed. I did that song with a couple of stellar women. They were so good I almost forgot to play a couple times, just listening to them sing. They made all the hair stand on end, not just on the back of my neck.

 

[BklynKen]

Once you start drilling holes in a Gibson, you experience true freedom.

Don't I know it.

 

[MCF]

Pop.
As it turns out, it's difficult to sing 867-5309 as a call back while playing the bass.

Happy Monday!

I have that in line to work out on an upcoming day in the shed.

 

[MCF]

Gibson Thunderbird IV 1967 Used Electric Bass | eBay

Hambucker pu's...

And this one -

Gibson /1964 Thunderbird Vintage 3.97Kg 194853 Electric Bass Variant Type | eBay

Oh for God’s sake. I’m all for over valuing Thunderbirds to a degree. But this recent trend is silly. On that same page there is a ‘13 and an ‘18 with the ask over 2K for each. Weird times.

 

[GonePlaid]

Gibson Thunderbird IV 1967 Used Electric Bass | eBay

Hambucker pu's...

And this one -

Gibson /1964 Thunderbird Vintage 3.97Kg 194853 Electric Bass Variant Type | eBay

Mine would go for less than that. If...

 

[MCF]

It’s a big country; some people do, some don’t.

I love Scottish bands!

 

[TBird1958]

I have that in line to work out on an upcoming day in the shed.

It's pretty straightforward I end up playing an open "A" a lot, which I don't commonly do, but it works well for me.

 

[Stealth57]

I love Scottish bands!

Back at ya.

 

[GonePlaid]

I love Scottish bands!

?

 

[JIO]

I love Scottish bands!

Yah, I liked that song when it came out. My favorite Scottish band -

 

[GonePlaid]

Back at ya.

 

[JIO]

Oh for God’s sake. I’m all for over valuing Thunderbirds to a degree. But this recent trend is silly. On that same page there is a ‘13 and an ‘18 with the ask over 2K for each. Weird times.

Asking prices like that are fishing expeditions hoping for that big fish to eat the bait.

 

[MCF]

It's pretty straightforward I end up playing an open "A" a lot, which I don't commonly do, but it works well for me.

Open A is fine on a Thunderbird. But not on certain 7enders. It can be Buzz City, depending on the strings. At least if you crave low action that is.

 

[Stealth57]

Yah, I liked that song when it came out. My favorite Scottish band -

Not one of the twins.