Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

All this talk of punky fun makes me wonder if these guys made much of a splash outside the UK? If they made any music you enjoyed raise a glass to Geordie who passed away last Sunday. I loved them, could've been my friends and I in the vid (tho it wasn't, was some other fans). If these guys are new to you there's a whole catalogue of fun for you to unearth.
This riff sound reminiscent of anything?

Great song & vid. Very '80s Is that a Wal bass?

 

[JIO]

I had heard The Wait in the midwest but I had a hard time getting much british stuff, I had working knowledge of the UK subs, Buzzcocks, Exploited, Adverts etc...

Here's another group I didn't get to hear enough of....

I like that style of bass-playing - ska influenced, tight and tonally defined. As usual there was only about 2 seconds of film showing the bass-player...

 

[Gaolee]

I played with some guys who need a bass player last night. I didn't feel especially prepared, and felt even less prepared when I found out that the versions of the songs were different from what I worked on. They were happy though. I guess that means I passed the audition. It was rough around the edges, but it was fun. Playing is always fun.

 

[The EDP]

Great song & vid. Very '80s Is that a Wal bass?

It's hard to see - I was wondering the same!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Yep, apparently Kurt Whatshisname "borrowed" the main riff for Come as You Are.

I got to know Killing Joke a bit when some young lads covered a different song of theirs way back when. I prefer the KJ version these days though.

Also, "The Big Takeover magazine's Jack Rabid reported that Captain Sensible's "Life Goes On", recorded by The Damned for their 1982 album, Strawberries, "features the exact same, extremely unique riff as both 'Eighties' and 'Come as You Are'".[9] Coleman and Paul Ferguson separately claimed to have no knowledge of this.[10][9]" (Wikipedia "Eighties" song page)

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I was in a bit of a strange musical place back then. I wasn’t a fan of hair/glam metal and while I’m not stupid enough to ignore the impact and importance of Van Halen, I didn’t own any of their albums. Nor was I into straight ahead punk when it was new and vibrant. Nor was I a big prog fan with the exception of Beat-era King Crimson. Besides consistently re-visiting the Allman Brothers’ Live at Fillmore East, the John Coltrane Quartet's Live at Birdland, and Miles Davis’s Pangaea, I really liked Keith Richards’ Talk is Cheap, Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road, Midnight Oil (punk influenced), INXS, GnR, and Iron Maiden (sort of a dual guitar substitute for the Allman Brothers + horror movie lyrics).
We were living in Japan from 1982-1991. One of the many great things about that was the availability of records that were out of print and largely unavailable in the US such as the entire discographies of the Ventures, the Meters, Booker T and the MGs, etc., so in many ways, I spent more time living in the musical past than the present.

I love bringing the past into the present. That's a fun way to hack the future.

 

[JIO]

It's hard to see - I was wondering the same!

The hs looks Wal and what I could see of the body shape also looks Wal.

Wal Pro 2E | Reverb

 

[Miles_ONeal]

OK, y'all. No one asked for it, but here it is, anyway. It chose you, just like Thunderbirds did.

Thunderbirds Club FAQs n Stuff

 

[GonePlaid]

We had that discussion.

Yeah, but how else are we gonna keep Lenscrafters, et al, in bizness?

 

[GonePlaid]

Oh, Marshall...(N/A=no affiliation)
Gibson Modern SG Standard Bass Pelham Blue w/Tortoise Pickguard

 

[Tooned]

The hs looks Wal and what I could see of the body shape also looks Wal.

View attachment 5269739

Wal Pro 2E | Reverb

You can see his bass in this old vhs recording. Audio isn't too bad. (5:03 you see the bass clearly)

 

[Nocturnal]

The hs looks Wal and what I could see of the body shape also looks Wal.

View attachment 5269739

Wal Pro 2E | Reverb

I've always thought it looked like a Wal as well.

 

[Thumper]

I'm going to start looking for a short scale Epiphone Thunderbird (Gibson is too much $), what model should I keep an eye out for? Sure wish a 32" scale was possible!

 

[JIO]

You can see his bass in this old vhs recording. Audio isn't too bad. (5:03 you see the bass clearly)

confirmed! Aside from the extra-heavy price tag of the black one I posted (and this one in the vid) - Wal's appear to go for a lot of money, usually hovering around $10K. I knew they had a cut following but I didn't realize they were that sought-after.

 

[BklynKen]

LET'S DO THIS!

 

[Ringhammer]

correction : a '90s Gibson T-bird w/ebony fb ... black is beautiful. (can I say that Paul?...)



View attachment 5269519

Yes, that was my 1997 Gibson. And you guys asked what strings and I had said SIT Rock Brights/nickel, but that not right. Those are Ken Smith Metal Masters, SS 110-50.

We had a great time taking in @Ringhammer *s amazingly tight hard rock trio Bad Lemon at Hotel Utah in S.F. last night. His playing and Thunderbird through his Orange rig sounded great!
View attachment 5269597 View attachment 5269598
There is so much talent in the Thunderbird Club!

Thanks for coming out and for the compliment! Yes it was fun meet you guys and overall it was a fun night for us!

 

[The EDP]

LET'S DO THIS!

View attachment 5269788

An underwater gig?

 

[BklynKen]

An underwater gig?

Of course. I played a bass.

 

[dagrev]

We had that discussion.

I'm starting to feel unsafe with all flip phone phobia and disenfranchisement of Mike because of his phone.

 

[dagrev]

I played with some guys who need a bass player last night. I didn't feel especially prepared, and felt even less prepared when I found out that the versions of the songs were different from what I worked on. They were happy though. I guess that means I passed the audition. It was rough around the edges, but it was fun. Playing is always fun.

Nice. Think this might turn into something somewhat long term?

Did you mention you can double as Merch Boy? That would have no doubt sealed the deal.