Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

Very cool story on the return. That sucks when gear gets stolen by some low life and to think someone still has that ‘63 II. The 2nd inlay looks like very colorful MOP! You do nice work!

I'm certain it was an "inside job" done by my next door neighbor. I just was helpless to prove it. My new Fender MusicMaster tube amp (ok practice amp - nothing special) and a fairly invaluable turntable was also stollen. As early T-birds are known to go down in flames - who know the fate of that '63 II. It's either still out in world... or not. I'll never know, and even if I did... nothing I could do about it now.

 

[JIO]

sure does….
View attachment 5342378

Love you man! I hung out with my dear friend Haroon today who is a musician (guitarist) and singer/songwriter. He asked if I had a bass he could borrow/use for recording and I said - for sure! He has a very cheap (?) bass that makes bass sounds, but I offered him a few from my collection. A couple short-scales (solid & hollow-body) and a full-scale solid body. He went back & forth on a couple and chose my 34" scale P-bass clone/parts bass (that I call the "Dano P") as he is a dedicated Fender (Strat) guitarist but he also has a nice SG style Gibson. He was drawn to the way it sounded - the tone. It's basically a P with a Dano 'lipstick' B pu - you can get a variety of tones. Very light ash body, maple neck/maple fb - bass weighs about 8lbs. I devised a built-in tuner for it - the chrome stomp-knob switch on the upper pg. I am happiest when what I do translates to who I do it for being happy!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Are there Thunderbirds at the end of a rainbow?

View attachment 5342225

We’ll never know.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It's tucked away - can't see it from the road. I worked on the faux-bois (fake wood) in the living room. It's made of wood, was painted white somewhere along the line, and we made it 'appear' to be wood using a Decorative Arts painting technique. Faux bois - Wikipedia

The Western White House in Hillsborough, CA — Francis York

There’s a gorgeous wooden ceiling in Dunvegan castle - that isn’t. The wood panels they wanted would have cost too much so it was done by artisans with plaster and paint.

 

[Thumper]

Pics from this weekend were of a ‘99 Gibson.

This is the VP:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

What brand gig bag is that? I'm getting tired of using the hardshell case.

 

[JIO]

There’s a gorgeous wooden ceiling in Dunvegan castle - that isn’t. The wood panels they wanted would have cost too much so it was done by artisans with plaster and paint.

That is/was my world. I've made many painted things (furniture, panels, beams, cabinets, shelves, doors/frames, windows/frames) to look like "fine" natural wood. It's like being an artisan "illusionist".

 

[JIO]

What brand gig bag is that? I'm getting tired of using the hardshell case.

It appears to be a fairly cheap T-bird gb* that I also bought on eBay years ago. (still have it) not super protective, but it'll get your "reverse" T-bird to the gig.

I only use a HSC for a 34" scale hollow-body that I can't find a gb for. Overall, I've never had a problem transporting basses to a rehearsal/gig in a gb. My Mono gig-bag is the best one I own for standard shaped basses.

*I think this is the one.
Heavy Duty 20mm Gig Bag for Thunderbird Bass TB20 | eBay

 

[RedVee]

Yeah, but a 340 would have been awesome. But at 16, that reads trouble. A 318 would have been nice. After a year I sold it and bought a ‘73 Duster with a 318. The guy before me shoved a huge cam, 4v and headers in it, and limited slip diff, and my teenage inner car guy thought it was awesome! I only learned later that in order for the headers to fit, the guy had to remove that pesky kick down linkage, which eventually fried the little 904 automatic. I found a 727, stuck it in and after some professional tweaking got it to run OK for awhile until I sold it after about a year and a half.

Here’s something I thought of. When I bought that ‘73 Duster, it was only 10 years old and it was considered a pretty old used car.

my 2011 Charger is 13 years old and is still a really nice car, with dated but still sophisticated gadgets (touchscreen, cruise control, AWD, Hemi), and has plenty of life left, even at 99k miles.

Thought you might be interested in this one. The Aussie Valiant Hardtop, this variant is the Pacer.
@dagrev ive already shown these to Donny.
Chrysler Oz imported Dodge Dart rears to stitch onto local built Val sedan fronts. Very popular these days.

 

[Blazer]

Nice multi-tracking! Do you use ProTools?

No I use Ableton

 

[Roger W]

Sadly, they are all coming down. This development dates to the mid nineties. Water wasn’t an issue. And we had lots of fog. So someone got the “brilliant” idea that ornamental redwoods were the perfect tree. Fast growing, minimal maintenance, etc. Then the drought happened. And bark beetle infestations happened. We had eight of them throughout the property. We now have three. And have to relandscape in order to keep the HOA off our backs and sell the place. I’d rather live on a boat.

Early in my Navy life, we, the lovely bride and I, thought it would be cool to buy an ocean going tug and steam around the Pacific. That was prior to learning that she could get sea sick sitting on a surfboard in minimal swells.

 

[godofthunder59]

Long story as short as possible - I had a woodworker friend who helped me make an ebony pg for my '63 II in about 1976. I had never done abalone inlay before (yes, way before CNC laser-cutting) and went to a gem/rock shop and bought some abalone shells. I was in KC/Mo then - nowhere near an ocean! I wasn't aware that fine abalone dust is very toxic and sanded the shells flat w/o mask or gloves. (still alive...) I used an #11 exact knife to recess the ebony and it came out ok for my first attempt. In '78, that bass was stollen. I used rental-insurance money to buy my '64 II and the same friend helped me cut another ebony pg. My second attempt a inlay was better and I still have the bass w/that pg today.

A number of years ago, a tb member saw a pic of it posted and sent me a PM. He had bought a box of parts and included was the 1st ebony/abalone pg! He asked if I made it and I told him the story and asked how much he wanted for it? He said - "nothing - I'll send it to you"! (gotta love good people) The top left corner was missing - ebony can be brittle when thin. I cut a piece to replace it and it is an iconic reminder of that bass.

That stollen '63 II (verified by Gibson) if I still had it - was one of only 3 II's produced that year. (learned this much later) You can imagine what it would be worth. At least my pg was retrieved. Crazy right?

View attachment 5342256

That's just amazing all the way around!

 

[PhR75]

"Been Away So Long" (to quote Chris Judge Smith) so...
did they reveal all the future custom colours for VP's yet?

 

[dagrev]

Sadly, they are all coming down. This development dates to the mid nineties. Water wasn’t an issue. And we had lots of fog. So someone got the “brilliant” idea that ornamental redwoods were the perfect tree. Fast growing, minimal maintenance, etc. Then the drought happened. And bark beetle infestations happened. We had eight of them throughout the property. We now have three. And have to relandscape in order to keep the HOA off our backs and sell the place. I’d rather live on a boat.

The weather issues are one thing. HOAs are often another form of disaster. They are double edged swords. Often in the hands of the seemingly blind.

 

[dagrev]

Yeah. They suck.

Not all. The profession gets a bad wrap. Sadly, like my profession it's the few wack jobs that get all the attention and everyone knows about. The vast majority do about doing good work and on one knows, and they are fine with that lack of attention. Like you, I haven't heard about you being flashy and saying nutty things. You do the best you can for your clients and no one knows about it because you're not on the news.

 

[MCF]

The one here isn’t terrible. But I’m sure we’ll be getting a letter that we need to landscape where we once had three large trees.

 

[dagrev]

‘59 Volvo 544. Solid in ‘76 to a teacher of mine who wanted to restore it 185k. ‘76 Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi) sold in ‘86 to a family friend for $300.00. 220k on the clock. ‘78 VW Scirocco sold in ‘88. just over 120K. That thing was a money pit. ‘85 Volvo ‘240 sold in ‘96 with just over 200k on the clock. ‘87 Volvo 240 turbo wagon sold in 2000 with 210k miles on it. Best car ever. Buyer was a high school girl who needed it to haul her drum set around. ‘98 Lincoln Navigator Absolutely the worst car ever made. Total money pit. Gave it to the Honda dealer in ‘05 when we bought a Pilot. Only 98k miles on it. It was worth zero when we dumped it. It had to be towed just to get rid of it. I will never, ever own another Ford as long as I live. 2000 Volvo S80. My son totaled it in ‘15. It had just over 200k on it. Great car.

You either keep cars a long time or drive a lot, possibly both!

 

[dagrev]

P.S. on the “Western White House” my wife went to Notre Dame HS with the owner’s daughter.

This is the Louisville White House. Most don't know anything about it, but it was designed by the guy that did the real White House, after this house IIRC. At one time is was all alone on the outskirts of town (South end), but is within even the old city limits before merger making the whole county "Louisville." Not even what would be called a nice part of town any longer. It's not a very big place. I read about book about the South End of town which was kind of where I did my running around. I always thought it was odd and out of place but didn't know the history of it till a few years ago. As Kentucky was being settled, that part of town was a place some of the well to do had first or second homes. Nothing like that these days.

 

[dagrev]

That is/was my world. I've made many painted things...to look like "fine" natural wood. It's like being an artisan "illusionist".

But you haven't done that any of your basses? They are real wood, right?

 

[Ringhammer]

What brand gig bag is that? I'm getting tired of using the hardshell case.

I’ll sell this to you for $575 and throw in a ‘22 VP for free!

It’s the one that @JIO put the eBay link to.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Thought you might be interested in this one. The Aussie Valiant Hardtop, this variant is the Pacer.
@dagrev ive already shown these to Donny.
Chrysler Oz imported Dodge Dart rears to stitch onto local built Val sedan fronts. Very popular these days.

View attachment 5342437

gotta love orange with black trim….. 340s in those?….