Thunderbird Club

[BklynKen]

sweet, what year is that?

Early '70s I think. I wish you lived closer. The left channel is dead.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

We still have a B.J’s here. Some have closed in other places. Decent brews and the prices are still acceptable if you take advantage of special offers. But there are better brew pubs in town.

Still visit the one in Modesto.

 

[Engle]

I played a White Falcon guitar more than ten years ago. It was way out of my price range and league then. It has only gotten moreso.

There was an early 60’s (I think) Gretsch bass at L&M a few years ago. I should have bought it - just to have the bass with the fattest neck ever

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Most common here as well. Not just at GC, but many young dudes. I keep thinking that the next time it happens I'm gonna ask the guy to go get me a coffee. When he looked at me at all so you just said I was the boss.

All the liquor store counter people call me Boss. In Malaysia: it was boss or sir everywhere.

I have grown averse to ‘sup as a greeting.
Along with YO , my man, brudda etc.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

There was an early 60’s (I think) Gretsch bass at L&M a few years ago. I should have bought it - just to have the bass with the fattest neck ever

I’m supposing you’ve never played a Steve Wish bass?

 

[MCF]

Still visit the one in Modesto.

We used to go a lot to the one in Laguna. It’s closed now.

 

[dagrev]

Thanks. It's not the EQ, it's pushing it to a point of overdriving the tubes to get grit. Same problem a lot of SVT people have I think. Pretty pointless to me unless I can really crank it. I get plenty out of the B-15.

One of the great things about low watt amps. My 100w Ampegs sounds great when pushed, but even then are LOUD--unless in a massive room. A reason why J.T. uses a 45w head with Stapelton, even playing stadiums. They don't even use IEMs and like to hear the mix from stage and monitors. During brief pre-show set up a tech played one of his Thunderbirds and you could hear just the bass perfectly. I was shocked how it was driven so hard. I mentioned to J.T. that he really drove the power tubes hard and he said that's why he uses those low watt heads. He can really push them and keep stage volumes out of the ridiculous levels. So much so, he can hear his amp in massive venues.

 

[dagrev]

All the liquor store counter people call me Boss. In Malaysia: it was boss or sir everywhere.

I have grown averse to ‘sup as a greeting.
Along with YO , my man, brudda etc.

Agree.

 

[BklynKen]

One of the great things about low watt amps. My 100w Ampegs sounds great when pushed, but even then it's LOUD--unless in a massive room. A reason why J.T. uses a 45w head with Stapelton, even playing stadiums. They don't even use IEMs and like to hear the mix from stage and monitors. During brief pre-show set up a tech played one of his Thunderbirds and you could hear just the bass perfectly. I was shocked how it was driven so hard. I mentioned to J.T. that he really drove the power tubes hard and he said that's why he uses those low watt heads. He can really push them and keep stage volumes out of the ridiculous levels. So much so, he can hear his amp in massive venues.

Yup. I think the one I use there is 30W. I make it scream.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

One of the great things about low watt amps. My 100w Ampegs sounds great when pushed, but even then are LOUD--unless in a massive room. A reason why J.T. uses a 45w head with Stapelton, even playing stadiums. They don't even use IEMs and like to hear the mix from stage and monitors. During brief pre-show set up a tech played one of his Thunderbirds and you could hear just the bass perfectly. I was shocked how it was driven so hard. I mentioned to J.T. that he really drove the power tubes hard and he said that's why he uses those low watt heads. He can really push them and keep stage volumes out of the ridiculous levels. So much so, he can hear his amp in massive venues.

But, but SVT ! Lol

I leverage the clever design for Mesa WD to get into that territory.

Switch the output to 2 ohms, connect it to an 8ohm load PJB c-8 (reducing power to 300w IIRC) and crank the master and use input gain for volume. Put it in low damping mode. Furry squishy bloomy with edgy top end.

The TT I now own is a different beast: much closer in territory to the 400+ as I recall it on the boogie channel, and a Carbine on the subway channel.

But neither beat my old 73nder baseman 135 or the 70’s V4 (guitar head) for “near meltdown “ chaos.

I foolishly let them go because they weren’t loud enough (even feeding 2 810s) to compete with a Marshall stack on one side and Randall on the other and a drummer that hit the kit like Thor, wielding Mjolnir and used skateboard wheels as beaters on his dual kick drum kit.

How do I still have acute hearing?
Earplugs.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Giordano's? I think that's where we ate. It's been a long time.

that was it, good stuff...

 

[TBird1958]

I’m supposing you’ve never played a Steve Wish bass?

It's an old joke, "I wish it was a bass"

I'll show myself out now.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Huhbyghyyyygn

All the liquor store counter people call me Boss. In Malaysia: it was boss or sir everywhere.

I have grown averse to ‘sup as a greeting.
Along with YO , my man, brudda etc.

funny, in Malaysia I was "Sean Connery"....

 

[Ringhammer]

One of the great things about low watt amps. My 100w Ampegs sounds great when pushed, but even then are LOUD--unless in a massive room. A reason why J.T. uses a 45w head with Stapelton, even playing stadiums. They don't even use IEMs and like to hear the mix from stage and monitors. During brief pre-show set up a tech played one of his Thunderbirds and you could hear just the bass perfectly. I was shocked how it was driven so hard. I mentioned to J.T. that he really drove the power tubes hard and he said that's why he uses those low watt heads. He can really push them and keep stage volumes out of the ridiculous levels. So much so, he can hear his amp in massive venues.

the 70’s V4 (guitar head) for “near meltdown “ chaos.

I have mentioned this here before but:

The top head in this pic is a ‘73 Ampeg V2 guitar head (60w) that has had channel 2 input modified to be the same as the inputs of a early ‘70’s V4B, and an additional transformer has been added to provide the necessary voltage/current so it can use 2 6550’s in place of the 7027A’s it would normally use. It puts out 72 clean watts and sounds pretty awesome with a bass. My current application is using an ABY box and the V2 is plugged into the top 4 x 8” cab. The bottom head is a 100w V4B-AV plugged into the bottom 212AV cab. The top is giving mt a great all around tone on its own, and the bottom is just blending in the big low/low mids.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

nice work, I would have left a little more lead length on the cap since polypropylene dielectrics can degrade with the high temperatures associated with soldering to a potentiometer casing....

Maybe he used a BA heat sink on the lead?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The one here was ok until about 2016 or thereabouts. Then things really changed. The knowledgeable managers and others, all of whom played in local bands, left. A couple of them eventually bought a really bad local, turned it into Bakersfield Sound Company (and survived the pandemic) and seem to be doing ok. Unfortunately, their manufacturer offerings are a bit limited. But it’s a pleasant store to drop into. These days, we only have GC and them. Sadly, Front Porch Music is no more.

Yeah, the remaining local stores have either downsize or seem to be struggling.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Gotta tell you, I’m really jealous. Once retired, I can take advantage of my perk as the father of a Jet Blue employee and travel some. It would be great to have a mini east coast GTG when you can pop over to NY.

(Hulk voice) No mini! Only GTG.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

One of the great things about low watt amps. My 100w Ampegs sounds great when pushed, but even then are LOUD--unless in a massive room. A reason why J.T. uses a 45w head with Stapelton, even playing stadiums. They don't even use IEMs and like to hear the mix from stage and monitors. During brief pre-show set up a tech played one of his Thunderbirds and you could hear just the bass perfectly. I was shocked how it was driven so hard. I mentioned to J.T. that he really drove the power tubes hard and he said that's why he uses those low watt heads. He can really push them and keep stage volumes out of the ridiculous levels. So much so, he can hear his amp in massive venues.

Which head(s) does JT use?

 

[MCF]

(Hulk voice) No mini! Only GTG.

I stand corrected.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I stand corrected.

I, for one, would be totally down for that gtg.