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Thunderbird Club

#30,301
wolfkeller said:
I always loved the look of the Thunderbird. Back in 1986 I tried to make on cuz Nikki Sixx looking cool playing his stripped hamer. Well, being left I didn't actually find one til about 4 or so years ago. That was a Dillion. I discovered that it's the perfect live bass for me. Love the feel and the look.
Humbucking pickups are not the sound I prefer, I've been a PJ guy since I started playing on my first Ibanez (only lefty I could find). So today I almost exclusively play a Thunderbird of some sort. I still wrestle with the sound. I've tried alot of amps, preamps, pickups and I've come to realize, I'm just not going to get "my" sound out of a Thunderbird. It's cool though cuz they are still my favorite on stage.
St home, rehearsal and the occasional sit in I'll use a PJ Wich is either customized squire or fender PJ or a Kramer. So Thunderbirds are my LIVE bass but not my ONLY basses. I've had some killer basses including custom order spectors, Warwick and such, still prefer a Thunderbird.
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I saw UFO and seeing how cool a Tbird looked made me think of it as the best rock bass.
 
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#30,302
superdick2112 said:
Sounds kind of like the 'ol "audition" gig", with the promise of a good paying gig if they like you.... :poop:

Unfortunately, they are quite common here in Denver, whether playing original or cover music.... :spit:
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Here, at least in the underground scene, they put you on a crappy weeknight show for your first gig. If you don't complain, show up reasonably on time, play well, and generally are easy to work with and not dicks to everyone, then you start getting better offers.
 
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#30,303
Korladis said:
Don't pay a booking agent. That's the venue's job. Never, ever pay anyone to play a show. You're being hired, not the reverse.

That said, if you're already in talks to book a gig, no sense in trying to rent another whole thing to play.

Your singer can play guitar but hasn't been doing so until now? What? That makes no sense.
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We are also doing a Crue tribute, that's why he wasn't playing guitar.
 
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#30,305
Korladis said:
Here, at least in the underground scene, they put you on a crappy weeknight show for your first gig. If you don't complain, show up reasonably on time, play well, and generally are easy to work with and not dicks to everyone, then you start getting better offers.
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Hmm, sounds familiar.
Not only can I save you a trip to Denver, it sounds like I can save you trips to Miami, Las Vegas and Boston, too! :laugh:
 
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#30,307
Count Bassie said:
Suddenly, just looking at this car and picturing it driving around strikes me as very funny. It just looks kind of ungainly. Probably a lot of fun though!
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Huge and yes, ungainly - but that is a beautiful profile! :thumbsup: (great colors too - a friend had a 50's Nash in those colours)
 
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#30,308
At some point, everything you play and everything you play it through sounds pretty much like...you. Of course there will be differences, but ask any general music fan (who hopefully likes what you're doing) and they'll almost always say they can't tell a difference. My live tone and my recorded tones are different...and not even I care all that much. If you can get 80-90% of the way, you're golden. That's not to say you shouldn't pursue "the tone in your head" to the Nth degree; that's up to you and rock on wicho bad se'f if that's what ya wanna do. Its just that you and maybe the drummer will be able to tell much difference. You sound like you.
 
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#30,311
Haji said:
At some point, everything you play and everything you play it through sounds pretty much like...you. Of course there will be differences, but ask any general music fan (who hopefully likes what you're doing) and they'll almost always say they can't tell a difference. My live tone and my recorded tones are different...and not even I care all that much. If you can get 80-90% of the way, you're golden. That's not to say you shouldn't pursue "the tone in your head" to the Nth degree; that's up to you and rock on wicho bad se'f if that's what ya wanna do. Its just that you and maybe the drummer will be able to tell much difference. You sound like you.
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This is so true!
I have lots of high end as well as bread and butter and starter basses. Regardless which one I play I generally sound like me. The difference is that I have to work harder to sound bad with my top end basses, whereas with the bottom end stuff it all comes pretty easy. At the end of the day I find that I have a tendency to EQ all my basses to sound a lot alike. Combine that with A specific playing style and technique and throw it in a mix - and there you have it, everything I play sounds about the same regardless of the bass. All that said, I still have favorite basses for different types of music, and my TBird covers a lot of ground in the rock and blues arena as my go to bass for those jobs.
 
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#30,312
Haji said:
At some point, everything you play and everything you play it through sounds pretty much like...you. Of course there will be differences, but ask any general music fan (who hopefully likes what you're doing) and they'll almost always say they can't tell a difference. My live tone and my recorded tones are different...and not even I care all that much. If you can get 80-90% of the way, you're golden. That's not to say you shouldn't pursue "the tone in your head" to the Nth degree; that's up to you and rock on wicho bad se'f if that's what ya wanna do. Its just that you and maybe the drummer will be able to tell much difference. You sound like you.
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Reminds me of a story of when Van Halen opened for Ted Nugent on the early days:


"Ted was cool enough to give the band a sound check," Eddie said. "He's standing off to the side and he's listening to me, and he comes up and says, 'Hey, you little s hit! Where's your little magic black box?' I'm going, Who the f*** is that? And it was Ted.
Hey Ted, it's nice to meet you, thanks for the sound check. And he's going, 'Let me play your guitar!' I go, 'Okay, here you go.' He starts playing my guitar and it sounds like Ted.

"He yells, 'You just removed your little black box, didn't you? Where is it? What did you do?' I go, 'I didn't do anything!' So I play, and it sounds like me. He says, 'Here, play my guitar!' I play his big old guitar and it sounds just like me. He's going, 'You little s-hit!'
What I'm trying to say is I am the best at doing me. Nobody else can do me better than me."
 
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#30,313
willsellout said:
Was looking at a soft case for my tbird, but then noticed they make an Episode Tbird hardcore for under a hundred bucks. Do any of you have any hands on experience with these? I'm leaning towards grabbing one.
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I have one. I find it heavy (but then I'm quite small). American giants will have no problems. What else can I say? Seems solid enough. I'm planning to butcher one to make a home for my NRBird ... and when I get a Vintage Pro, it too will be going in one.

The cats like rolling around inside it if it's open.
 
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#30,314
Dadagoboi said:
Nope, but in a perfect world I'd have one...then again, I'd have a lot of things!
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I hear you. In a perfect world I'd own this along with a '68 or '69 Charger.

1958-Chevrolet-Bel-Air-Impala-Sport-Coupe-12-960x539.jpg
 
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#30,316
kat888 said:
I have one. I find it heavy (but then I'm quite small). American giants will have no problems. What else can I say? Seems solid enough. I'm planning to butcher one to make a home for my NRBird ... and when I get a Vintage Pro, it too will be going in one.

The cats like rolling around inside it if it's open.
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The new Epi T-Bird cases are a bit smaller than the old square ones
 
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