Thunderbird Club

[Chucky Stiletti]

Can you two start speaking english?

 

[MCF]

As many here know, I’m a Sweetwater fanboy. Primarily because of the included two-year warranty and customer service. But I also like zZounds. They don’t have the extra warranty. But IME, the customer service is good.

zZounds has this scratch and dent on an Inverness Green NR. It’s a whooping $800.00 off. So for the NR curious, this could be a great buy. Dave? Anyone? Includes shipping and case. And the tax is reduced by 1/3 from new.
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[Stealth57]

As many here know, I’m a Sweetwater fanboy. Primarily because of the included two-year warranty and customer service. But I also like zZounds. They don’t have the extra warranty. But IME, the customer service is good.

zZounds has this scratch and dent on an Inverness Green NR. It’s a whooping $800.00 off. So for the NR curious, this could be a great buy. Dave? Anyone? Includes shipping and case. And the tax is reduced by 1/3 from new.
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If it was the correct color, sparkling burgundy

 

[dagrev]

I’m going with dry. Smells like a nut oil slightly. But, all it did was leave a white residue on the fretboard. I buffed it out and didn’t notice any improvement.

Unfortunately it does sound dried out. It will still work great to polish the frets. But might want to consider keeping your "refund."

I believe @BklynKen (Kenny G Money) has experience with it as well. He can likely add some helpful information. Might even know what was suggested to rehydrate the cloth.

 

[dagrev]

As many here know, I’m a Sweetwater fanboy. Primarily because of the included two-year warranty and customer service. But I also like zZounds. They don’t have the extra warranty. But IME, the customer service is good.

zZounds has this scratch and dent on an Inverness Green NR. It’s a whooping $800.00 off. So for the NR curious, this could be a great buy. Dave? Anyone? Includes shipping and case. And the tax is reduced by 1/3 from new.
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Good experiences zZounds as well.

 

[JJR58]

As many here know, I’m a Sweetwater fanboy. Primarily because of the included two-year warranty and customer service. But I also like zZounds. They don’t have the extra warranty. But IME, the customer service is good.

zZounds has this scratch and dent on an Inverness Green NR. It’s a whooping $800.00 off. So for the NR curious, this could be a great buy. Dave? Anyone? Includes shipping and case. And the tax is reduced by 1/3 from new.
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Mmmmmm, idk.
For 4 bills more I’d get that Ripper Dave posted from CL.

 

[GBassNorth]

Probably also built bombers in the 40s.

I was frequently bombed out when I was in my 40’s.

 

[Stealth57]

Unfortunately it does sound dried out. It will still work great to polish the frets. But might want to consider keeping your "refund."

I believe @BklynKen (Kenny G Money) has experience with it as well. He can likely add some helpful information. Might even know what was suggested to rehydrate the cloth.

Peanut butter whiskey?

 

[BklynKen]

Unfortunately it does sound dried out. It will still work great to polish the frets. But might want to consider keeping your "refund."

I believe @BklynKen (Kenny G Money) has experience with it as well. He can likely add some helpful information. Might even know what was suggested to rehydrate the cloth.

Agreed. Mine smells pretty strong of coconut. I had to double-bag it. No idea about rehydrating it. I'd contact the seller and say it's bad.

 

[WillyW]

What does a car battery cost now? Last time I bought one about 2 years ago it was ~ $189.00 for the platinum 5 year warranty. I figure they cost a little more now.

the gel ones are all I’d buy anymore but $250-300 for those.

gone are the days of $50 die hardons

 

[Rickplaysbass]

Unfortunately it does sound dried out. It will still work great to polish the frets. But might want to consider keeping your "refund."

I believe @BklynKen (Kenny G Money) has experience with it as well. He can likely add some helpful information. Might even know what was suggested to rehydrate the cloth.

Agreed. Mine smells pretty strong of coconut. I had to double-bag it. No idea about rehydrating it. I'd contact the seller and say it's bad.

From the site

"Gone is the rather oily and somewhat toxic scented yellow
cloth. In it's place is a stronger, drier more powerful cleaning beige cloth. Don't let it's
dry quality fool you. This is our Professional Strength cloth. It cleans and polishes far
better than it's predecessor. It also has a nicer coconut scent."

 

[WillyW]

 

[BklynKen]

 

[MCF]

Mmmmmm, idk.
For 4 bills more I’d get that Ripper Dave posted from CL.

Yeah, me too. But I’m on a spending hiatus. Just trying to help a friend out. I love my ‘21 NR. Especially the pickups. It’s not perfect, but close enough. A 60’s bridge and a narrower 1.5 nut would make it perfect. Dave is “thrifty.” But if he wants to try them, I recommend he get both.

 

[GBassNorth]

Bruce is the scroll bass guy. His shop is in Fillmore. He has an arrangement with Jeremy who uses the shop for his work. I haven’t been by there yet. But George has. Per George, it’s a cool shop. The work the two of them post of their builds is first rate. We’re talking cutting out bodies, machining bridges, winding custom pickups, building necks, that sort of thing.

Very cool cats, both of them (Bruce and Jeremy) are regulars on TB as well, so very approachable. Bruce’s shop is a builders dream as far as equipment and size goes. Every mechanized tool that you can think of for wood or metal working. And it seems that whatever tool or jig or fixture he can’t buy he just simply makes and freely shares with others in the luthier corner.

Decolas will likely get shared among my DC and 21 NR.

one of the 21 NR’s will end up in my Florida Flamingo.

View attachment 5399520

Interesting mod, keep us posted on how you like it.

I almost quit fretless because the first one I had had flawounds on it and it sounded like ass..

once I got over caring what a wear part could potentially do with roundwounds (won't do much with proper vibrato), I use nickle roundwounds on fretless. fretless for me is more about the voicing of the sound more than anything else. fretless is like singing.

I don't use fretless on certain songs, or for certain styles.

If I had a gig and brought a fretless all the songs would be played on a fretless, if I brought a fretted all the songs would be played on fretted...

I don't really do fingerstyle anything unless I drop my pick...


IF I were going for an upright sound, I would use tapewounds, and see where that lands me before I go changing out pickups.

I'd still be playing tapes with a pick.

Check out Chris Brubeck for what I think is the pinnacle peak of upright sound.

music starts at around 15 minutes....

Great advice and very interesting video. Thx!

are those 9 or 18 volt?

IIRC 9 volt

I have a totally different take on my L2000 powered Tele/P-bass. I find the G&L 9v system the easiest to work with in any setting. Unlike a Kubicki - going from passive to active boost only adds a touch of gain whereas the Kubicki jumps dramatically, so much so that his own instruction manual warns not to be in passive at volume and mid-stroke switch to active boost as it could harm your speakers. I like all the sounds a Factor makes both active & passive - but that boost is not subtle. I can hear a Kubicki before seeing it - it has a very distinctive tone. Conversely, the L2000 is more neutral which I think is why people like them. It doesn't have an overriding character and can be easily contoured/shaped by the straight-ahead controls to fit any need. In general there's not a bad setting on my L2000 system and it records wonderfully. It's considered the Swiss Army Knife of basses for that reason. It made sense it was Leo Fenders final design - it was his best in many ways.

I mostly use/play passive basses but have a few active basses w/different pre's (Audere, John East, EMGX, Kubicki & G&L) and always enjoy playing one of them and being treated to the evenness, clarity and presence they provide. I have played them live but not often since I only bring one bass and a battery could fail mid set. Just one less thing to worry about.

The J neck you gifted me (thanks again!) is my most recent (Audere) active bass and I love playing it as it plays and sounds great.

View attachment 5404332

Glad to see the neck put to such good use. As for the G&L I had, it was an early 2000’s tribute five string. Looks beautiful in trans blue and was flawless in fit and finish. The passive sound was to die for, but that active output just massively hammered every preamp I owned. Not sure if that was pickups set too high (I never changed the factory setting) or if there was something wrong with the onboard preamp. Kinda turned me off of G&L for years, but I keep reading such rave reviews my GAS is starting to build.

They are 9v, but the newish M series are 18. I had a Tribute but thought is was terribly bland sounding. Hard to achieve with an L series. The M series also had redesigned pickups. I kept if a few months and moved it on. Had a blend knob which I always thought was something missing on the L2ks since there was just one vol knob.

My 2000 Tribute five string had just one vol knob IIRC.

What does a car battery cost now? Last time I bought one about 2 years ago it was ~ $189.00 for the platinum 5 year warranty. I figure they cost a little more now.

The labor and materials for a battery change on my 2014 Porsche Cayenne was nearly $1200 at the dealership IIRC. Fortunately it only needs to be done once in a blue moon.

 

[Rickplaysbass]

the gel ones are all I’d buy anymore but $250-300 for those.

gone are the days of $50 die hardons

My brother owns a shop so I get mine at wholesale. Still about $150 for a decent one.

 

[MCF]

Good experiences zZounds as well.

I have bought from all the big ones and some of the smaller ones. My personal top five:1. Sweetwater. 2. zZounds. 3. AMS. 4. Chuck Levins. 5. Thomann. I am not a GC/MF fan even though I’ve spent a few thousand there over the years. YMMV.

 

[Nocturnal]

I'll be on AA, through Dallas, on the way to Mexico with my wife pretty soon. We change planes. My experience with AA has been pretty bad in the past. I'm pretty concerned that an hour and a half layover might be just long enough for AA to screw it all up.

We have had several problems flying AA the last several years with flights being delayed or ridiculously late. I never expect the flights to be on time any more so it is a nice surprise when things are on schedule.

 

[dagrev]

Peanut butter whiskey?

Yes! That's it!

Since it was never intended for consumption.....

 

[dagrev]

From the site

"Gone is the rather oily and somewhat toxic scented yellow
cloth. In it's place is a stronger, drier more powerful cleaning beige cloth. Don't let it's
dry quality fool you. This is our Professional Strength cloth. It cleans and polishes far
better than it's predecessor. It also has a nicer coconut scent."

Hummm. It was also/initially intended to condition the fretboard not just clean the frets. At least the first cloth I had did, and I believe that was the claim as well. But it's been a few years. That said, it does do a good of cleaning the frets, especially if you don't want to get a cream polish and do all that. In that respect it is easier to use for frets. But I use both, just not at the same time.