Errr, 6 CDs and a book. A recording of a gig from each year from 77-82, including one that him indoors was at, crushed up against the front of the stage at Newcastle City Hall. The Jam never toured out my way and these CDs reinforce how great they were live ... and how much I missed out on. Generally I find live albums to be a bit meh, but these are seriously good - up there with (Mostly) Live and Dangerous.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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Errr, 6 CDs and a book. A recording of a gig from each year from 77-82, including one that him indoors was at, crushed up against the front of the stage at Newcastle City Hall. The Jam never toured out my way and these CDs reinforce how great they were live ... and how much I missed out on. Generally I find live albums to be a bit meh, but these are seriously good - up there with (Mostly) Live and Dangerous.
Not to me. But most StingRays don't sound like my '76.
Tone depends upon pickup design as well as placement. Ps and original alnico MMs are very different pickups. There's also no 'flat' detent or passive mode on an original 2 band StingRay preamp.
So Nice, I'm at a loss for words.
That's the real deal.
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
The Jam was an amazing live band, which I had the pleasure of seeing 3 times.
A shame they split up when they did - Although they made some great stuff separately - None of it matches The Jam's backcatalogue. As solo artists I was never a big fan of Weller's output, though.
Foxton was/is such a great bassplayer, which was a huge inspiration of mine, together with JJ Burnel (The Stranglers), Simon Gallup (The Cure) and Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order).
Very nice! Vintage Stingrays are one of my favorite classic basses. Here's my '77 along with my Musicman HD150 bass amp...Not to me. But most StingRays don't sound like my '76.
Tone depends upon pickup design as well as placement. Ps and original alnico MMs are very different pickups. There's also no 'flat' detent or passive mode on an original 2 band StingRay preamp.
...I refuse to give her a good cleaning, 40 years of mojo is a badge of honor for this one.
I had my first gig last night with the Epi Tbird Classic. This thing is a tone monster! I was slightly concerned about the negative comments regarding neck dive and and the bass falling forwards, no such problems for me, it was incredibly comfortable to play although I do need a longer strap to get the full experience (and stances!). The only mystery to me now is why aren't more people playing them? It feels like an exclusive club.
I'm aware of the original 2 band not having flat detents, and did own a classic for a little while. Most of my ray experience has been the more modern 3 bands with center flat detents (no boost or cut), as well as having a passive ray for even longer (original OLP which I put an extra Warwick FNA pickup in, only recently did I finally add an active eq to it).Not to me. But most StingRays don't sound like my '76.
Tone depends upon pickup design as well as placement. Ps and original alnico MMs are very different pickups. There's also no 'flat' detent or passive mode on an original 2 band StingRay preamp.
So I'm referring to that sweet spot with a parallel wired pickup in it. I know a P pickup and a large pole humbucker are different beasts, and the parallel P will be a bit weaker (based on experience with S1 p basses, I know not a good example). I just figured it had a similar vibe to it.
And a westbury for sale with the same pickup and sweet spot, and similar body shape in the classifieds right now has discussions saying it has a stingray type tone. One of the ray prototypes had a split reverse P in that same sweet spot.
While the 3 USA stingrays I had from 2011-2012 were a credit financial fluke and I had to sell them, I had that OLP since about 2001 or early 2002 when they first came out, and Warwick FNAs since 2000. It is my favorite active type (passive pickups I know) bass, and even worked well passive. I don't think MEC largepoles from the FNA were alnico, they are very snappy and aggressive, and have bar magnets underneath. I do not know for sure though.
Very nice! Vintage Stingrays are one of my favorite classic basses. Here's my '77 along with my Musicman HD150 bass amp...
...I refuse to give her a good cleaning, 40 years of mojo is a badge of honor for this one.
You need to drink Dom more often. It looks like that bottle has been empty a long time.
Happy to hear it went well. If you have learned anything here, it should be that neck dive is a myth. If you were to listen to the general population, you would think that every time you pick up a bird, the headstock hits the ground and promptly falls off.
As for why so few play T Birds - it is like the US Marines Corps; many are called, few are chosen
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
Not to me. But most StingRays don't sound like my '76.
Tone depends upon pickup design as well as placement. Ps and original alnico MMs are very different pickups. There's also no 'flat' detent or passive mode on an original 2 band StingRay preamp.
Very nice! Vintage Stingrays are one of my favorite classic basses. Here's my '77 along with my Musicman HD150 bass amp...
...I refuse to give her a good cleaning, 40 years of mojo is a badge of honor for this one.
I'm aware of the original 2 band not having flat detents, and did own a classic for a little while. Most of my ray experience has been the more modern 3 bands with center flat detents (no boost or cut), as well as having a passive ray for even longer (original OLP which I put an extra Warwick FNA pickup in, only recently did I finally add an active eq to it).
Nice Rays... Are Ray's and OLP's only available with maple necks, or do they make them with rosewood as well?
They are available in rosewood as well.
Olp is no more, the current offering is sterling by music man sub series, available in maple or rosewood, starting at $289 with 2 band eq
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
Thanks, you almost always see them with maple necks. Would love to find a used OLP with rw neck to mod like yours
I think the earlier ones were all maple. I do remember rosewood on some of the later ones, but quality supposedly dropped in the later ones, but some of the kinks of the early ones were worked out. On mine the string tree is too tall and I need to add washers to make the strings angle enough over the nut, and you can't cut any off the g string, you need wraps to the bottom and then some. and the nut was cheap too, a luthier cut mine way too loose when I had it in for a setup, for the money he charged he should have cut a new one. So a new nut and shorter string tree, possibly another tree for the G, will happen eventually. Sound wise it is pretty awesome, like a modern stingray with a little Warwick flavor. I use the Seymour Duncan stc-2c-bo basslines blackout 2 band, with the highs set to 6.1k. The Warwick's have the Seymour Duncan basslines 3 band MM preamps with slap contour. The blackouts has a similar vibe in a simple 2 band. Real estate was an issue, the battery sits in the control cavity where the second v pot was. In the picture it has CTS 250k passive VT pots and a plug over the other hole. Now you can see the side of the battery through the extra hole. The preamp knobs sit a little high though, I would have to route the cavity deeper under the preamp chip in order to lower them, and I don't want to do that so I just used a thick washer on top and live with it. I wish I knew about that preamp fitting years ago! It was what that bass needed. And it sounds better than the stock SBMM sub preamp too, though for the money that one is not bad either, but the electronics in mine really make it pop like a higher end bass. Best $59 ever (preamp is reasonably priced)Thanks, you almost always see them with maple necks. Would love to find a used OLP with rw neck to mod like yours
If you're looking for a sleeper Stingray to potentially mod, (although you might find it too nice to hack up) check out the now discontinued Musicman S.U.B. Series basses. They're getting harder to find but usually can be had in the $300 to $600 range and are nearly identical to an official Stingray in every way except for the body wood and ultra durable textured paint and goofy diamond plate pickguard. For the full experience be sure to get one in active wth the two band preamp. Mine sounded identical note for note to my vintage pre-Earnie Ball Stingray and much better than my three band Stingray five string.Thanks, you almost always see them with maple necks. Would love to find a used OLP with rw neck to mod like yours
Trust me, I have plenty of other Doms (empty and full) lying around the house (
...hiccup).
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I also have an original OLP I bought around '05. It sounds NOTHING like a vintage alnico active only pre EB bass. I bought a MM 2 band NOS pre a while back and haven't gotten around to installing that and a Duncan pre EB clone MM pickup in it.
Trust me, I have plenty of other Doms (empty and full) lying around the house (
Need any help with those bottles of Dom, I'm always here to assist.
the original olp pickup was doodoo, and wired like a jazz bass, vvt volume for each coil. I'm referring to the Warwick pickups, I ended up with an extra pickup from a warranty pickup swap, so it has had a Warwick pickup in it for a long time. And simple VT electronics. I decided to use a 25k pot and wire the volume after the preamp, rather than simply keep using a 250k pot and putting the preamp after the volume pot. It only looks like an OLP, it does not sound like one anymore.
We'll probably be in NYC for Christmas next year. I'll bring the Dom if you bring over a couple of basses and an amp. Trust me, the more you drink, the better I sound.
Well then, sounds like a plan.
And the same would go for me as far as "the more you drink".
And the same would go for me as far as "the more you drink".
- Mar 13, 2008
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I'm always prettier if you're drunk 
At 10:00 I'm a 2, at 2:00 I'm a 10.
At 10:00 I'm a 2, at 2:00 I'm a 10.
