Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

Yikes! The guys at my local legion jam are challenging to play with sometimes, but that second solo...

"I can't play like Carlos, but I'll be darned if I can't play as many notes as him!"

 

[BuddhaFingas]

First-treatment ebonized walnut.

 

[MCF]

Bleeegh!
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And how do you really feel? Remember Randy Meisner started with Rick. And Johnny Burnet was the lead guitarist on the early stuff. But I get it.

There are some great songs in the catalog. I grew up with him. He was like an older brother when I was a kid. The Beatles got me to love music. Rick expanded on that when I watched reruns of the TV show every day afterschool on channel five, KTLA. Heck. I remember watching him in prime time until ‘65. Which got me into Buffalo Springfield. And Neil. And Dylan. And the Byrds. Jefferson Airplane. Then CSNY. Zeppelin and Yes came along. And Sabbath. And Genesis. Wishbone Ash. Bowie. The Boss. And it developed from there. I love music. And Rick was a stepping stone along the way. There was a time when he was the biggest L.A. artist. When he signed with Decca, it was the first million dollar guaranteed contract in the industry. He paved the way for so many others.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

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Kidding aside. I get it. As much as I like some strings, I have never found one string to be ideal for every bass. If I had a string endorsement I would no doubt see things differently!

I dunno about ideal, but so far, EBCFs have been ideal enough on all my basses, with the exception of my 34" BEAD bass (never mind ADGC). The lowest string isn't quite fat enough.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I think Dunlop can weather it. Although not a huge company in the overall scheme of things, he’s pretty diversified with multiple products. I pray SIT can hang on. I do expect $20 for a pack of strings is going to be a memory though. We can all help by continuing to support them.

I recall when Thunderbucker closed, he pointed to difficulty sourcing the magnets as one of the reasons he decided to shut down. There are multiple issues small businesses face, particularly in uncertain times.

@Matt Kustom (Mr 916) gave us a crash course on magnet sourcing. It's crazy out there, kids.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

They are Alloy 52, (same as Infelds), not typical NPS or SS. They can be a tad stiff, but nothing crazy. They sound big, have great mids (thanks Alloy 52), and the highs are there but not harsh. They do not feel like ground wounds, because they are not. Good feeling string.


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I was going to get a set for my BEAD bass but then realized their largest is a 128. Pfooey.

 

[RedVee]

Yeah. It does. Sorta like Dylan’s recent tribute to the godfather of SoCal Country rock. It pretty much sux. But at least Rick is finally getting his due recognition.

Gee I knew the chorus. Never knew the name of the song - thought it was “please yourself”
Never knew it was Ricky Nelson either. Actually didn’t know I’d ever heard anything of his other than the saccharine sweet bubblegum pop from the early 60s movies.
Or am I completely confused ?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

In motorsport news....

Wienermobiles relish victory in Wienie 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Six Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles faced off in the first-ever “Wienie 500,” a hot dog-themed race held on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

www.wfyi.org

The Weinie 5.00 - they lost a decimal. Very inconvenient trying to find one of those.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Pre-bird content.
The great overlay bakeoff progresses, slowly.
Acrylic, fiberboard, phenolic, walnut.
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These are backs, faces have cutline paper on em still.

Roughed out, trimming to the line.

Walnut will get ebonized after sanding.

Whichever one wins gets lower part shaved to the peghead after gluing down.

Gotta say Im kinda digging the phenolic... the subtle cloth pattern under clear might be real appealing. 1950's version of carbon fiber. Period-correct but original.

And it's very hard. Not gonna compress from the tuners clamping it.

Walnut veneer is rather shockingly fragile, and just slightly spongy. Maybe due to how it was cut. Not sure about its compressive strength.

Fiberboard is still a contender, once I clearcoat a sample.

Acrylic is kind of the fallback.

Phenolic would be so cool.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Mine too, that one that Jeff posted is at The Museum of Flight, here in Seattle, it is a most beautiful aircraft.

Truly a thing of beauty, and one of the most recognizable planes of that era (especially folded up).

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Thanks George! one of my favorite reasons to play with that lineup is Tim (Huffy) on drums....great player, gets a pretty smoking solo at 5:45 of below......

Thx Marshall! little sidewinder mojo fingerstyle...

Groovy take on that song.

 

[dagrev]

Thanks. I was hoping you'd reply to that since you have much more experience with them than I. I liked them, but I needed brighter for this bass. The Hi-A pickups are pretty dark.

Your impression of them is right on. I have used them on basses that are naturally very bright, but wanted rounds, but something that would tame the highs a bit, so I can see why they were not a good match for that application. ON my bright basses, they sounded closer to typical rounds.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

Ebonized walnut left, unsanded Luthitec fibreboard right.

The fibreboard is weird stuff to work, halfway between wood and plastic. Never sure what tools to use. It smooths better on edges with a steel-cutting file than sandpaper.

Not sure about face sanding it. Going to try some samples both ways and see how they behave under the clear I will probably use, along with the phenolic and acrylic.

Skience.

 

[dagrev]

Thx D.....the Bicen came with these improperly installed (1 turn only) set of fairly fresh steel rounds (no silks) that sounded ok, V recommended Infelds(?).... the bass is clearly a keeper so now wondering what to do to it....new set of strings next....

I've got 66s on mine and they will likely be what goes back on it. Dig the tone. TI flats sounded great on it as well. Heck, even Fender Flats sounded pretty good.

 

[dagrev]

I really like the Infelds, just the right bright!

Those were my string for my '64 for years. Never thought I would even try another string. But did. SIT Powerwounds (NPS). To me they sound about 95% like the Infelds at a fraction of the cost. May bite the bullet one day and get a new set. Though pricey, they do last longer than typical rounds.

 

[Matt Kustom]

FedEx had no issues this time, got it hours earlier than projected!
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Now the bad.
LOTS of sharp fret ends :-(
Fretboard has badly sanded sections between frets rounding fretboard edge.
The frets are dressed horribly.
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Finish is VERY orange peeled.
The flakes are very sparse.
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The nut is cut unevenly and messily.
The slot for the G string is too deep and wide.

It going back
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Spraying flake is not easy if you don't know what you are doing and how to do it. Im surprised the Chinese did as good as they did , somehow its not splotchy. I have alot of flake from the 60's my dad left me. Golds , orange , purple , crushed mirror ,etc if anyone sprays flake.

 

[dagrev]

Oh....before anyone might buy some Infelds for a Thunderbird...the G is not long enough to wrap more than maybe 75%. I've made them work, but not ideal. I emailed TI in Germany and they responded, but said they didn't give that kind of specs out. (Which was odd because one can measure a new set and figure it out.) But I told the guy why I wanted to know and re told me the length and suggested Super long. They are only 100s and a lot more expensive. Why the longer set is a lighter gauge is unclear. Some aspect of Geometry maybe, IDK.

For anyone interested in Alloy 52 strings, Roto has a version. Someone else does as well, but can't recall who it. I don't recall them sounding exactly like Infelds. But it's been a while.

 

[GBassNorth]

Yeah, their strings are supposed to be the closest to original Blue Steels.

Fortunately I was able to snag a set a few weeks ago for my upcoming Warwick Bird build.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Spraying flake is not easy if you don't know what you are doing and how to do it. Im surprised the Chinese did as good as they did , somehow its not splotchy. I have alot of flake from the 60's my dad left me. Golds , orange , purple , crushed mirror ,etc if anyone sprays flake.

Agree, flake is a technique almost an art.
I watched over Marty’s shoulder when he was spraying it at G&L.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Oh....before anyone might buy some Infelds for a Thunderbird...the G is not long enough to wrap more than maybe 75%. I've made them work, but not ideal. I emailed TI in Germany and they responded, but said they didn't give that kind of specs out. (Which was odd because one can measure a new set and figure it out.) But I told the guy why I wanted to know and re told me the length and suggested Super long. They are only 100s and a lot more expensive. Why the longer set is a lighter gauge is unclear. Some aspect of Geometry maybe, IDK.

For anyone interested in Alloy 52 strings, Roto has a version. Someone else does as well, but can't recall who it. I don't recall them sounding exactly like Infelds. But it's been a while.
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GHS