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Thunderbird Club

#300,741
TBird1958 said:
I have to say the VP's headstock is too big, bigger than an original or a '76, needlessly. Not a deal breaker for me but I wish it were smaller, more in line with the real deal. Much as I felt the original VP's lacked in bass and lo-mids, the newer ones from China don't seem to be having that issue, after a change of strings to SIT Power Wound NIckel, these seem to work really well and I don't see any point to replacing the pickups with Gibson as I did one my White VP.
Still, I think they're a great first Thunderbird and a good choice for any show, especially if you're concerned about conditions, i.e. weather or security.

vFFrREL.jpg
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I could certainly live with just my VP. I’m glad I don’t need to. 😀
 
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#300,743
Yesterday was new bass order day. I found a SMOKIN' deal on an indigoburst Dingwall Combustion Standard 4 maple neck on Reverb and it'll be here on Tuesday. Not a bird, but I'm not getting rid of my D Roc. My Epi Used to be a Goth is probably going away if I can sell it because it's just sitting in the closet. That D Roc is going NOWHERE.
 
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#300,744
Haji said:
Yesterday was new bass order day. I found a SMOKIN' deal on an indigoburst Dingwall Combustion Standard 4 maple neck on Reverb and it'll be here on Tuesday. Not a bird, but I'm not getting rid of my D Roc. My Epi Used to be a Goth is probably going away if I can sell it because it's just sitting in the closet. That D Roc is going NOWHERE.
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Sorta like my career. :bag:
 
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#300,747
Chucky Stiletti said:
funny gig tonight…. new singer, new songs….no practice:banghead:..…literally learning the songs in the car between sets lol……needless to say…..
View attachment 7007477
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That's like all of our gigs-sorta. Same singers, no rehearsals. Quick talkover and "Away we go".
 
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#300,748
Haji said:
Yesterday was new bass order day. I found a SMOKIN' deal on an indigoburst Dingwall Combustion Standard 4 maple neck on Reverb and it'll be here on Tuesday. Not a bird, but I'm not getting rid of my D Roc. My Epi Used to be a Goth is probably going away if I can sell it because it's just sitting in the closet. That D Roc is going NOWHERE.
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Have we seen this EUTBAG?
 
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#300,749
GonePlaid said:
That's like all of our gigs-sorta. Same singers, no rehearsals. Quick talkover and "Away we go".
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And we've never had a major f---* up. We do covers of songs we've all heard numerous times. Biggest question is "what key?", since as we age, the high notes are harder to hit. The biggest problem we sometimes have is that I'm separated from the two guitarists by the drum kit. Once in a while-if one of them is singing lead and changes the form(goes to the bridge or does another verse)-my first note might be 'off', but no non-musician would notice and I immediately change my note in a way that makes the 'clam' seem intentional. There have been many instances where we'll be going into the last verse and a couple or two will start to dance. We'll just extend the song another verse. We aren't 'locked-in' to a particular length. By the same token, if nobody's dancing, we'll skip a solo and go straight to the ending. Love playing live; don't think I could play to tracks.

*oul
 
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#300,751
saltymonkey said:
Years ago on the Dudepit/LBO there was a guy who made leather Tbird straps. They were cut in a slight S pattern that naturally pulled the body to the right making the reach to the first fret shorter. They work great. I bought the last two that he had. He wasn't active on the forum at the time but Dave the site admin gave me his email address. Here's a picture:

View attachment 7007011
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I love problem-solving design! :thumbsup:
 
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#300,752
GonePlaid said:
And we've never had a major f---* up. We do covers of songs we've all heard numerous times. Biggest question is "what key?", since as we age, the high notes are harder to hit. The biggest problem we sometimes have is that I'm separated from the two guitarists by the drum kit. Once in a while-if one of them is singing lead and changes the form(goes to the bridge or does another verse)-my first note might be 'off', but no non-musician would notice and I immediately change my note in a way that makes the 'clam' seem intentional. There have been many instances where we'll be going into the last verse and a couple or two will start to dance. We'll just extend the song another verse. We aren't 'locked-in' to a particular length. By the same token, if nobody's dancing, we'll skip a solo and go straight to the ending. Love playing live; don't think I could play to tracks.

*oul
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"And we've never had a major f---* up" ...geese Louise, how do you expect to... never mind. :) You are a real pro. (no joke)
 
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#300,753
Chucky Stiletti said:
right, but this is our third singer in two weeks……winging it is a beautiful thing but not so much when it becomes the MO……
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I agree - I come from the other direction... I love playing a solid composition and strive to nail it tone/feel etc - but I llso love the creative freedom of a serious* jam-session. There's jamming.., and then there's serious jamming. "Jamming" bores me to tears. (usually 12 bars etc...) But serious jamming.., that's another story. Can you say late '60s to mid '70s Miles Davis? ~FUGITABOUTIT~

* by "serious" - I mean, no apologies. You listen, you experiment, you create spontaneously, you collaborate with all you got. Nothing more, nothing less.
 
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#300,759
Miles_ONeal said:
I am, of course running flats of the EBC variety on all my basses. My other birds (Epi IV, CP, 2xGreco) all produce more low end. Maybe my VP has the pre-Erskine/Stark-treatment Steve Rogers variety of pickups.
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And therein lies the problem. :smug:

Actually I like the EBCFs. It's just that my fingers don't. But I'm not sure they have the lows of more trad flats, and not boomers. My VPs are "thinner." I think of them as more aggressive, and they are. The white VP has GHS flats and the burst SIT Power Steels. While having slightly less lows, it's never been a problem for me, and I'm a lows whore. But my heads and cab produce plenty. Rumbles have good lows in the EQ from what I recall, turn that knob a little and see if that doesn't get it back to the lows of the others. I haven't tried a VP with the Ashdown, so I'm curious.
 
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#300,760
GonePlaid said:
And we've never had a major f---* up. We do covers of songs we've all heard numerous times. Biggest question is "what key?", since as we age, the high notes are harder to hit. The biggest problem we sometimes have is that I'm separated from the two guitarists by the drum kit. Once in a while-if one of them is singing lead and changes the form(goes to the bridge or does another verse)-my first note might be 'off', but no non-musician would notice and I immediately change my note in a way that makes the 'clam' seem intentional. There have been many instances where we'll be going into the last verse and a couple or two will start to dance. We'll just extend the song another verse. We aren't 'locked-in' to a particular length. By the same token, if nobody's dancing, we'll skip a solo and go straight to the ending. Love playing live; don't think I could play to tracks.

*oul
Click to expand...
So it's "jazz" until your problem is resolved.
 
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