Hot day on the farm. TB has been rotating photos lately.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
remember those now, the "cryogenic" thing, I tried those in the 80's(?) and remember them being tight and clinically bright....good to know they are still making them....will order a set or two....
Thank you, Philadelphia Luthier Supply, for getting the Gotoh Res-O-Lite GRL510M-9's available for order in the US at last!
Been waiting for someone to offer a set since around April.
Ordered, along with some vintage "reflector" look knobs.
Sadly the knobs are numbered right-handed but lefty numbered knobs are rareish - - and Gibson generally builds their lefty instruments with RH knob rotation and numbering anyway, so I'll do them on my 'Bird as well.
Been waiting for someone to offer a set since around April.
Ordered, along with some vintage "reflector" look knobs.
Sadly the knobs are numbered right-handed but lefty numbered knobs are rareish - - and Gibson generally builds their lefty instruments with RH knob rotation and numbering anyway, so I'll do them on my 'Bird as well.
I have an older silked set (102), likely one of the last from the old version. I was impart curious because I read people saying they change and don't sound good and have moved on. One is a older but the new set doesn't sound different to me other than new. Kind of Roto-like, but better IMO. The old sets may have been better, but I'm impressed with the new set, and I'm super picky. They are pretty grabby like SS can be at first, but they are much better after a couple weeks with some playing. I'm really curious about the NPS set I bought. I might even try them on the NR to compare apples to apples.
Is that one taking it's union mandated break? AFLCOW.
GHS used to do that as well for a short time on one set(?), and I wonder if they don't make them for DM.
On that bass I didn't find that highs harsh, but it's not a bright bass to begin with.
I used DMs on the white VP for a while and loved them, then tried something else, but it was a great match.
Yes, he has been using it for a while.
Hunk of Honduran mahogany that is to become a Thunderbird, with a headless Kramer Duke aluminum neck:
Thunderbird adjacent, my take on a Guild X-702 5string, My take on a 5 string Guild X-702 (Dubbed RR X-705)
Poplar body highly figured 200 year old redwood top.
Nordstrand pickups, Warmoth roasted maple neck, black Babicz bridge, black Gotoh tuners.
Glue up tomorrow.
***edit: Dug up pics of the neck
Thunderbird adjacent, my take on a Guild X-702 5string, My take on a 5 string Guild X-702 (Dubbed RR X-705)
Poplar body highly figured 200 year old redwood top.
Nordstrand pickups, Warmoth roasted maple neck, black Babicz bridge, black Gotoh tuners.
Glue up tomorrow.
***edit: Dug up pics of the neck
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I have to admit I never thought about lefty numbered knobs. But I see they actually exist. Learn something new here all the time.
It was that or Gibson but the headstock looked huge so …
Good evening Thunderbird loving sisters and brothers. I hope everyone has had a good weekend. I played at a summer party/music fest with folks after minutes of rehearsal. Warm, dusty afternoon and evening. Brought the Jazz was fortunate to play with some good folks.
Looking at cable testers, as I seem to be having issues with the set up where I rehearse. Looking for something that would test instrument, speaker and XLR cables. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. I hope everyone has a great week.
Looking at cable testers, as I seem to be having issues with the set up where I rehearse. Looking for something that would test instrument, speaker and XLR cables. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. I hope everyone has a great week.
Attachments
Thunderbird headlining and on the big screen at Madison Square Garden (for 2 nights).
Taking lessons in obfuscation from Chucky?
An ohmmeter is all I have ever used to check audio cables. I just did a quick search and found this:
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Nice! There's a guy locally selling a Honduras Mahogany blank. I should really pull the trigger on that.
Speaking of cables…
My foray into changing from my Orange TB500 and 2 x OBC112 rig to my Ashdown HOD and (ultimately, after trying the Ashdown 115 &210 pro-neo cabs) the GK 212 Neo cab, all started because the last couple of times I used the Orange rig, I kinda felt I wasn’t getting exactly what I wanted, and if I pushed harder it would appear to cut out. I believed this was a thermal shutdown thing. With all that happening, at the same time I briefly had an Orange OB1-500 amp which uses a class A/B, and I noticed how, even into an 8 ohm cab, running at only 250 watt, that thing was LOUD. Sooo, I determined maybe the class D Orange just didn’t have enough of what I needed, and, in conjunction with the Ashdown love going around at the time, and Ashdown using class A/B, I went down that rabbit hole. And then, a quick message to Sweetwater later, the new Ashdown was on the way.
In pretty short order I sold the Orange cabs, probably for cheaper than I should have, and after getting a bunch of lowball offers on the TB500, I ended up trading it for an Aguilar Tone Hammer 700. I only did this trade as a gamble that I might have better luck selling the Aguilar on line with pretty cheap shipping, since it only weighs about 5 lbs. And I know they are popular heads with a good rep. I made this trade on Friday.
Then, on Friday night I had a gig and had my HOD/GK212 Neo (which I’m finding to be a good combination so far, still need to learn how to adjust for a room on the fly though). When I set up, and tuned it on, I had no output?!?! Mute of, tuner not engaged, cables all connected. Then I jiggled the speaker cable and bam, I had output! I carry a little pedalboard case with my instrument cables, power cable and speaker cables, so I still had the same two speaker cables I used with the Orange rig. So I used the other cable I had and it worked fine. These are both 12 ga cables with Speakon ends and not old. But, I did get them on Amazon and they are not really the tightest in the sockets. Upon looking at the culprit end, I could see no reason for it to be a problem, but, they are just screw down type ends, not soldered.
Back to the start, this whole thing was triggered by a bad speaker cables, making me think the Orange was cutting out…
I just need to sell this Aguilar head so all this will be behind me.
Over in the Mesa Subway Club, there are many similar stories where the resolution at the end of the day is getting proper cables with genuine Neutrik Speakon connectors. The moral of the story is accept no substitutes.
