Thunderbird Club

[RedVee]

And the front for good measure:

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Love that colour on the T’Bird

 

[JJR58]

Love that colour on the T’Bird

Me too!

 

[Mvf]

Very interesting. Thanks for the pics and history. I'm guessing the hippy bedroom is from the Jimi era.

That was his bedroom, living room, party room There was also another room, a combined guest room/storage for all his guitars. Unfortunately that room was empty now, I guess all the gear is spread out in various Hard Rock cafe’s..
Well known party guest/overnighters included George Harrison, Eric Clapton and many more of the stars from those days.
There was also a small kitchen, but that was rarely used. Jimi used to order food from a restaurant in the same building. Or just go out on town.

 

[MCF]

I really enjoyed college football and basketball, but the powers that be are doing everything possible to ruin those, and doing a great job of it. One state labor board ruled athletes are employees and can unionize. There is a lot of discussion that could get us in trouble, but I just think they should remain "student" athletes. Otherwise the consequences. Which should be obvious to all enforcing drastically change college sports for the worse IMO. Our first Hall of Fame coach, Denny Crum (San Fernando native, UCLA grad and assistant), said for years that they should get some kind of stipend given that they cannot really hold down the job while being a student at an athlete at top levels. But it is clearly gotten out of hand.

I was a huge Denny Crum guy. My teams were the Bruins and the Lakers. Sadly, college BBall isn’t worth my time anymore. At the elite level, it’s a bunch of one and outs. Most of whom never make it at the next level. So I watch skiing, swimming, marathons and track when I want a sports fix these days. And baseball.

 

[RedVee]

Pink is touring atm. Still very popular with many concerts planned for OZ & NZ over Feb & March. Anyway Her first Sydney show the other night had to be stopped as a fan went into labour to allow the ambo’s to get her out.
I hadn’t heard of that happening before!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Also meant to post this, as I picked it up a while back.
@Chucky Stiletti looks to be Champ style amp but powered by and EL34.

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Thx bylar!…Gibson? looks fairly recent or refurbished….a single ended EL-34 has got to sound heavenly….

 

[bylar13]

Thx bylar!…Gibson? looks fairly recent or refurbished….a single ended EL-34 has got to sound heavenly….

It is new-ish. The person I bought from said he bought it at a guitar show about 10 years ago. He could not remember who built it.
It looks more homemade than a production piece.
It came with that NOS GE tube (currently has a JJ EL34 in it) as part of the asking price.
It sounds absolutely fantastic with a Les Paul. I am guessing it pushes about 18w but man it feels loud!

 

[GonePlaid]

If one could be found, we would have got it for you as a token of our appreciation for you Mike.

Appreciate the thought. TBH, between the CoffinTM Case and the Dean/Rockbag gig bag, I'm pretty well set.

 

[GonePlaid]

I was a huge Denny Crum guy. My teams were the Bruins and the Lakers. Sadly, college BBall isn’t worth my time anymore. At the elite level, it’s a bunch of one and outs. Most of whom never make it at the next level. So I watch skiing, swimming, marathons and track when I want a sports fix these days. And baseball.

I'll watch the "Stupid Bowl" during commercial breaks of any hockey game I can find. Also like Baseball. I have no use whatsoever for bassettball.

 

[ectoflanger]

Well, there goes the neighborhood! Helga and Freja, the twin sisters of chaos have come to call, looking for some EL84 action-

Hope to satisfy then with the Vox AC4TV and the Mesa Boogie 525 Express-

Will mate the Vox to the 12 inch Celestion in the Orange cab via the Two Notes Torpedo Reload attenuator to keep things from getting out of hand-

So the sisters have had their share of the EL34, but once they went EL84 via this Marshall 4 X 12’s Celestion Greenbacks and even the little Vox’s 10 inch Celestion, they ain’t inclined to go back-

Here you see the Vox and the Marshall mated via a 16 Ohm Two Notes Torpedo to tame the decibels- cuz that little 4 watter is loud, turned all the way up-

 

[GonePlaid]

Seconded. Dobie was a lucky guy.

I don't recall him ever getting anywhere with the lovely Miss Menninger. 'course it was the late 50s/early 60s.

 

[Bent77]

Not much woodshed action yet today. Car was running this morning. The other built short block is awaiting the heads and intake

 

[Engle]

Made a little more progress on the Orville. It’s a mix of nickel and chrome at this point. I’m going to get a nickel cover.

 

[Bent77]

Made a little more progress on the Orville. It’s a mix of nickel and chrome at this point. I’m going to get a nickel cover.
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Ah, wilwood…

 

[Ringhammer]

I would start with one of the mullards at the phase splitter location of the tube amp (since they are identical, hence well balanced for a splitter) and the Amperex at the gain stage.

Based on this statement, the preamp tubes being “matched” to each other in these amps is essentially not important.

 

[Engle]

Ah, wilwood…

I used a Wilwood pedal for the hydraulic clutch in my Ghia.

 

[JJR58]

Made a little more progress on the Orville. It’s a mix of nickel and chrome at this point. I’m going to get a nickel cover.
View attachment 5347954 View attachment 5347953

 

[D.M.N.]

So when you hear of my demise, you’ll be on the list of potential buyers. You’ll have to deal with my wife, or worse, my daughter. They’re tough. It ain’t going anywhere before then.

BaCH Thunderbirds are great basses. The Artec pickup they came with was a way to save on cost as the backers of the project realized those who got them would be seeking different tones and would mod accordingly with Thunderbuckers, Lollars, etc. Sadly, there are only 90 of them. Three runs of thirty each. The first run had a more slab-like body (think Epi IV). The second and third runs had a wonderfully contoured body with belly cuts. Some don’t care for the heavy handed looking claw and have changed them. I actually like the “industrial” look of the stock claw.

Bottom line. If anyone here ever sees one come up for sale, buy it. Or at least tell the rest of us if you’re not interested. That are very special.

It kinda boggles my mind to think there's so few of them, very glad I have one, even if it still is in pieces waiting for funds to be freed up. IIRC, the BaCH variations are as follows:
Series I: Thicker body, contouring, and sandwich construction for the body. Available in white
Series II: Same as above, but with solid body construction
Series III: Thinner body, contoured, solid mahogany. Available in white, black, and blue
Series IV: Slightly thicker body, no contouring. Available in II and IV in Cherry.
Series V: Similar to above but with neck volute and forearm contour. Available in Honeyburst.

Mine is a IV that I had a belly cut added to.

Great live basses…
View attachment 5344257

Having not had two BaCH's back to back, who much thicker is the Cherry version? Is the overall shape that different, or is it just a bit thicker in the body and lacking in contouring?

 

[D.M.N.]

P.S. the dude has a BaCH NR Bird running through a Hiwatt into what looks like an Ampeg 115.

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Looks pretty similar to one of my rigs!

Here's an interesting Thunderbird find I came across.

I played a show with some crazy Bulgarian guys and that was one of the songs. One of them played a Bulgarian instrument that looked like a recorder but sounded like a flute. We threw it together in a week, which means I didn't play anything like Glen Cormack. I didn't even attempt the solo. Nobody threw anything at us, so I guess it was OK.

I would love to be able to play that......Great job!

I whack away at "Living in the Past", kinda getting there.

It's a tough solo, and a pretty tricky song. Glenn Cornick was a fantastic bass player, in Tull, Wild Turkey, and Paris. I had the whole thing transcribed somewhere, did it for a college course, I'll have to see if it's still around somewhere. Still use Bouree when auditioning new basses, lots of movement and precision and gives a great idea of how the bass will play overall. And Living in the Past is a favorite of mine, I often use it as a warm up!

Has it chained to his wrist. Said he saw it in a music store, drove half way home, called himself an idiot, and drove back. He’s looking for another 412 16 ohm cab. Are Hiwatts only 8 ohm?

My DR-103 has 4/8/16/100v. Looks like his is a post-77 (I believe it's 77 when they switch to the two input, and slightly higher gain on the front end), so it should be 4/8/16, no 100V line.

 

[GonePlaid]

Forgot* to post last night(Friday,2/9): gig at semi-local Elks Club. Used the Epi Embassy 'cos we've played there B4 and I know that the 67NR's neck will overhang the dance floor by ~1.5 feet based on my position to the drummer's left. Two more gigs-w/ 2 different bands-this coming weekend. Should be able to use the 67NR for both(Yay!)[might hafta use the Embassy for Friday's gig-I'll take both, leave one in the gigmobile].

* OK, I was too effing tired