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Thunderbird Club

#277,885
From this:

IMG_5637.jpeg
IMG_5638.jpeg


To this:

IMG_5640.jpeg

IMG_5641.jpeg


I just love the nickel pickup covers, rings and hardware instead of the black on black look. And I prefer the black pickguards (thanks @Engle ) This is the ‘99 I just got a few weeks ago.

It’s twin, a black ‘97 with the chrome Gibson re-issues, chrome hardware, and PG and TRC from Engle with shiny silver logos, is getting a lot of playing time, in Eb tuning.

This new one is for E standard.

First impressions on the Dunable D-birds is good, and although I won’t know for sure until I play it in the studio at rehearsal. I think they are going to be what I was hoping for. They seem like a bit less dark version of the TB+. Same character, but different. 8k neck and 11.1k bridge. Ceramic magnets. Different than my other ‘birds vintage style pickups with A5 mags in the various flavors.

This one’s going to the shop first, I can’t quite get it set up to my liking. It had high action when I got it and I did a quickie adjustment on the stock bridge to lower as much as possible, but it was still high. But it was playable without a lot of fret buzz. Now that I have swapped the bridge with the Babicz, I have the intonation set but the E saddle is almost max, still with high action, but slightly less than before, and the E is buzzy. Neck relief is typical, maybe a pulling a touch more forward than necessary. I’d like to avoid putting a spacer under the bridge, and I’m thinking it’s in need of at minimum, a fret leveling. I can get lower action on the other strings without buzz. So I’ll have that done first. All of the pre-‘01’s I have, have had less than flat neck/frets. Hoping to avoid an refret, so hopefully a good leveling and pro setup will get it. Also gonna get a brass nut on this one.
 
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#277,886
Ringhammer said:
From this:

View attachment 5340238 View attachment 5340239

To this:

View attachment 5340240
View attachment 5340241

I just love the nickel pickup covers, rings and hardware instead of the black on black look. And I prefer the black pickguards (thanks @Engle ) This is the ‘99 I just got a few weeks ago.

It’s twin, a black ‘97 with the chrome Gibson re-issues, chrome hardware, and PG and TRC from Engle with shiny silver logos, is getting a lot of playing time, in Eb tuning.

This new one is for E standard.

First impressions on the Dunable D-birds is good, and although I won’t know for sure until I play it in the studio at rehearsal. I think they are going to be what I was hoping for. They seem like a bit less dark version of the TB+. Same character, but different. 8k neck and 11.1k bridge. Ceramic magnets. Different than my other ‘birds vintage style pickups with A5 mags in the various flavors.

This one’s going to the shop first, I can’t quite get it set up to my liking. It had high action when I got it and I did a quickie adjustment on the stock bridge to lower as much as possible, but it was still high. But it was playable without a lot of fret buzz. Now that I have swapped the bridge with the Babicz, I have the intonation set but the E saddle is almost max, still with high action, but slightly less than before, and the E is buzzy. Neck relief is typical, maybe a pulling a touch more forward than necessary. I’d like to avoid putting a spacer under the bridge, and I’m thinking it’s in need of at minimum, a fret leveling. I can get lower action on the other strings without buzz. So I’ll have that done first. All of the pre-‘01’s I have, have had less than flat neck/frets. Hoping to avoid an refret, so hopefully a good leveling and pro setup will get it. Also gonna get a brass nut on this one.
Click to expand...
Black pickguard looks great
 
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#277,887
Having note that there are Firebird fans in the club, I wanted to share one of the unlikeliest Firebird players- a long time fan, I had known him to play SG's in the early-70's and Strats upgraded with humbuckers in the mid-70's and custom Strat shaped Charvels with humbuckers in the bridge position- but never knew of a Firebird until I saw this video-

 
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#277,889
ectoflanger said:
Having note that there are Firebird fans in the club, I wanted to share one of the unlikeliest Firebird players- a long time fan, I had known him to play SG's in the early-70's and Strats upgraded with humbuckers in the mid-70's and custom Strat shaped Charvels with humbuckers in the bridge position- but never knew of a Firebird until I saw this video-

Click to expand...


I thought that looked/sounded like Bruford! :thumbsup:
 
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#277,890
GonePlaid said:
If I got one, it'd hafta be a little one. A 'baby sitar'.:smug:
Click to expand...

The Dano Sitar's are fairly small. We shared a night with a band who had a guitarist who played one. Sounded great. The sitar 'sound' comes from the bridge, which has an extended 'platform' very close to the strings that the strings vibrate against. His wasn't a Dano vintage or RI - some other off-brand version.

I'm not trying to convince you to get one, just describing what they are.

IMG_7617.jpeg
 
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#277,891
GonePlaid said:
Kinda funny: drove 23 years; never in snow.
Click to expand...

When I did cross-country snow/blizzard drives many years ago, a jackknifed semi-rig was a common sight. There was also those uphill gravel-lined run-offs after a long decent for semi-rigs that lost their brakes. I was always respectful of semi-drivers and did the 'flashing lights' thing when passing to show I was clear. I haven't done a night-time cross country drive for many years now, but I used to do them a lot when I was younger. It was another world and it always felt that I was traveling though space - watching tail-lights up the road and guessing what type of car/truck it was to stay alert.
 
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#277,897
JIO said:
Yes, I guess I was specifically referring to middle-class Americans when we were growing up in the '50s/'60s (those of us being of that vintage that is) :) The other thing was grocery stores having a coffee-grinder next to the coffee section where you could grind in-house whole-beans sold there. My favorite grocery store in Pacifica, Oceana (independently owned/operated) still offers that.
Click to expand...
The ones in stores by us went away during Covid.
 
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#277,899
Miles_ONeal said:
So I know the Beatles are geniuses. I tried playing some of their songs years ago when I was a mediocre guitar player and eventually gave up. So I never considered playing bass lines for their songs. Last night I decided to punish myself and try to learn a line. I chose “Help”, and was reminded why Paul was a genius[1]. At the same time, I realized this is a song I can learn. And that makes me happy.
[1] He also didn’t get the memo about the “money frets”. Just like Jack Casady, Jack Bruce, John Entwhistle, Leon Wilkeson, Nikki Monninger, and most of my favorite bass players. I’m really glad for all the times I ignored “conventional wisdom” unless it was proven true, but wish I’d ignored it even more.
Click to expand...
You’ll get there with Help. Most of the lines up to Revolver are fun, but not so difficult that you can’t pick them up pretty quickly. I think maybe because he had to perform them live while singing and he was still developing as a player. Try tackling I Want You from Abbey Road. That one is pretty tough.
 
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