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Thunderbird Club

#298,703
Miles_ONeal said:
Yeah, those heat sinks are lovely.
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But apparently energized and have voltage even when off. I watched a tech from OZ talk about working on one once. He thought they should be isolated to resolve that. But they look like a great design, from a person with no knowledge here. As they heat up and cool down the dual fans speed up and slow down. You can hear them if everything is quiet at home, but it's not an issue at all. My old Ampeg 3Pros had loud fans.
 
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#298,706
Engle said:
Cool shot! It shows how much Gibson changed the pickguard design when they reissued the NR.
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that pg is custom to accommodate the narrower (than TB+) sidewinder…..original pg…
1721230698991.png
 
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#298,707
dagrev said:
But apparently energized and have voltage even when off. I watched a tech from OZ talk about working on one once. He thought they should be isolated to resolve that. But they look like a great design, from a person with no knowledge here. As they heat up and cool down the dual fans speed up and slow down. You can hear them if everything is quiet at home, but it's not an issue at all. My old Ampeg 3Pros had loud fans.
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yes. careful, to better remove heat, the sink is directly tied to the output transistor's electrodes (colectors) instead of using an insulator with heatsink (that gnarly white stuff) compound....
 
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#298,708
MCF said:
I’ve had three great experiences buying on TB. Absolutely no issues. Of course they were Thunderbird owners.
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I don't remember where my Thunderbirds came from. At least the 1991 was from TB, and I think the 2015 was, too. But I don't remember at all where the 2001 came from.
 
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#298,709
TBird1958 said:
I’ve always heard that those basses are really good sounding and playing, awesome score on the second one, Henry!
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I highly recommend one, especially the prices they go for, Blue one cost me 800 and the brown one a 1000! Killer deals and I'm not sure why? Epiphone prices, Mexi fender prices.. These are Gibsons!!
 
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#298,710
Chucky Stiletti said:
yes. careful, to better remove heat, the sink is directly tied to the output transistor's electrodes (colectors) instead of using an insulator with heatsink (that gnarly white stuff) compound....
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Thanks. I'll be careful. So the reason or advantage of doing it that way is heat dissipation? The tech I watched said is was a cheap fix to not have those energized and didn't understand why it wasn't done. Obviously there was a reason.

The only thing I would ever touch is the tube if it seemed weak or noisy. I have some here somewhere I would try for kicks, but since I can't find them.... It didn't look discolored and I didn't plug it in and tap on it any given I'm not having any issues.
 
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#298,712
dagrev said:
Thanks. I'll be careful. So the reason or advantage of doing it that way is heat dissipation? The tech I watched said is was a cheap fix to not have those energized and didn't understand why it wasn't done. Obviously there was a reason.

The only thing I would ever touch is the tube if it seemed weak or noisy. I have some here somewhere I would try for kicks, but since I can't find them.... It didn't look discolored and I didn't plug it in and tap on it any given I'm not having any issues.
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yep, that’s usually the reason, if the heat sinks are not exposed there’s no point in adding the cost of the insulator, the heatsink compound and the assembly step….the tech just needs to remember the heat sinks are connected to the the (potentially) charged filter caps…..I believe I’ve seen some with a warning sticker…..I can test your 12AX7/7025 if you wanna send it ..
 
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#298,713
Chucky Stiletti said:
yep, that’s usually the reason, if the heat sinks are not exposed there’s no point in adding the cost of the insulator, the heatsink compound and the assembly step….the tech just needs to remember the heat sinks are connected to the the (potentially) charged filter caps…..I believe I’ve seen some with a warning sticker…..I can test your 12AX7/7025 if you wanna send it ..
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Good info. Thanks C! Very kind of you to offer. I think its fine and seems to sound good. At least I don't notice an problems or harshness. It's at least 10 yrs old, but I would think still has plenty of life. If I ever find my tubes I may drop one in and send it to you. (I hope I didn't toss them when we moved....) Come to think of it, a friend that sings with us at church is really into HAM radios. He may have a tester as well. Thx for the though. Testing it is a good idea!
 
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#298,714
dagrev said:
Good info. Thanks C! Very kind of you to offer. I think its fine and seems to sound good. At least I don't notice a problems or harshness. It's at least 10 yrs old, but I would think still has plenty of life. If I ever find my tubes I may drop one in and send it to you. (I hope I didn't toss them when we moved....) Come to think of it, a friend that sings with us at church is really into HAM radios. He may have a tester as well. Thx for the though. Testing it is a good idea!
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Whatever happened to all the testers that were in the the Thrifty Drug Stores, Seven-11’s, and other places where we used to go for tubes when we were kids?
 
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#298,719
Chucky Stiletti said:
love how Africans use the instrument for counterpoint….sign of master bass playing imho…..although simple, a tricky groove to cop…
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I agree - simple yet tricky, mostly because of how/where the 'one' is accented (or not!) My favorite African music is thoroughly documented on the Ethiopiques series from the late '60s early '70s. Very interesting/provocative historical back story on the origin of these recordings. Some was influenced by the (electric) sounds/music of James Brown/American soul music (as they in turn were influenced by African rhythms) of the same time but delivered with the unmistakeable/incomparable rhythms of Africa. If I need to brush up on my bass-playing I'll play along with these amazing CD's, of which I own a number of. (30 in total!) Éthiopiques - Wikipedia There are a number of them on YouTube -
 
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#298,720
Gaolee said:
I don't remember where my Thunderbirds came from. At least the 1991 was from TB, and I think the 2015 was, too. But I don't remember at all where the 2001 came from.
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My first one (basic IV) came from GC, the rest from people here in the club ( @FlyingPigSound (2), @dukeorock , and @WillyW ).
 
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