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Thunderbird Club

#3,241
Larry V said:
So last evening my boys, aged 9(drums) and 13(lead guitar), tell me they're learning Monster by Skillet. Being the proud hard rock and heavy metal dad that I am I told them that it's a cool song and that I'd look up the bass part which led me to grab my 5 string again which I hadn't played in a couple months. I've been thumping away on the new to me Goth and my trusty 2013 TB IV. I consider my IV to be the thoroughbred in my stable and my Goth to be the practice bass that gets to leave the house more often, traveling in a bass bag for music lessons. Well hell, I forgot how much I liked my 5 string! She's heavy and the neck is chunky but damn that bass has thunder to spare!

So I have to ask, how often do you guys switch up which basses get played and why? I've only got 4 basses if I count my Ibanez which never gets played anymore, but I can't imagine how you guys with 6, 8, 10+ basses get around to playing them all. Do you get to a point where you only have basses that serve a purpose or are there basses that you never play but you keep them anyway just because.

Here's my boys a couple of weeks ago doing a little Scorps in the music room making dad proud.


I think the link should work since I made the vid public. Let me know.
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I kinda play whichever suits my mood or the music i'm working on, my bitsa pbass is my most aggresive sounding bass, my jaguar is the most versatile and my tbird is usually the bass i goto when writing. Although i recon its gonna be getting new strings (most likely a set of power slinkies or dunlop heavy cores) and set up DGCF as it sounds freeking awesome, the jag is tuned standard and the p bass is set up BEAD. So yeah my basses all suit a purpose i guess :)
 
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#3,243
There was a time when I only had TBurt (the Bird Formerly Known as Goth) working, but it's out of the rotation ATM because I gotta shim the neck to get it playable the way I want it. The newest Bird doesn't really have a name yet (Chocolate Sex seems kind of inappropriate) as I LOATHE the 3 point bridge and it's lack of string height adjustment and I need to string it with Heavy Cores to play in Drop C (they make it A LOT easier on me). So, currently the Charvel is getting most of the playing time, as it's got the most money invested in it (new EMG's). I've got a couple other project basses that are back burnered right now. I played CS through my half stack after practice this past Monday, and I really dig the sound; its a touch brighter and a touch clearer than TBurt is. My food blister is making it tip out away from me with the strap button on the neck plate, though. I think the bass is defective. Yeah, that's gotta be the problem. :roflmao:
 
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#3,245
#3,247
BadBassDrummer said:
Any thoughts on this bass? http://www.talkbass.com/threads/2006-gibson-thunderbird-studio.1107883/
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He says that the Studios weigh less than the regular Tbirds. That's not my experience at all and I guess I can't be sure that the difference in weight isn't directly linked to my Studio being a 5 string instead of a 4. I do, of course, realize that the neck is wider but that alone cannot account for the huge difference in weight between my two Gibson TBirds. I've been wanting to weigh them and I will tonight and I'll post back. It is very noticeable to me. I'll be able to get the weights of my basses accurately to within a couple of ounces. Heck, I'll weigh the Epi Goth as well.
 
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#3,248
Hi people, im going to copy paste some question that I have on here: ''I'm looking for some inf about Burny basses, specially the thunderbird models, I would like to know if theyre any close to the gibson ones in every single aspect, do they sound simiilar, equal, better than the Gibson ones? would someone recomend them? any help would be apreciated =). Thanks in advance.''
 
#3,249
Larry V said:
So I have to ask, how often do you guys switch up which basses get played and why? I've only got 4 basses if I count my Ibanez which never gets played anymore, but I can't imagine how you guys with 6, 8, 10+ basses get around to playing them all. Do you get to a point where you only have basses that serve a purpose or are there basses that you never play but you keep them anyway just because.
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Fairly often. The T Bird and my 73 Telecaster Bass are getting the outings at present. I am going through a phase where P Basses aren't doing it for me.
 
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#3,252
Larry V said:
So I have to ask, how often do you guys switch up which basses get played and why? I've only got 4 basses if I count my Ibanez which never gets played anymore, but I can't imagine how you guys with 6, 8, 10+ basses get around to playing them all. Do you get to a point where you only have basses that serve a purpose or are there basses that you never play but you keep them anyway just because.
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I played "musical basses" for the longest time in this new band. The G3 reigned supreme for the longest time, and now I'm back to the 'Bird. It depends sometimes on what snare our drummer brings (he has 9 of them) and which guitars our guitar players bring. What works when Marky busts out the LP Junior is and D uses the '52 Tele is oddly enough my Jazz. The current setup is a Gibson 335, a Gibson LP Gold Top (humbuckers) and the GIbson Thunderbird with our drummer running the deep-dish, wood ring snare.
 
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#3,253
DethByDoom said:
I've got a 2014 gibson tbird. Tweed case red interior. It keeps shifting inside the case. It won't stay in the body form once I close and carry it...

Is this a common issue? Surely gibson would replace a bad case? Thoughts?
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Mine fits perfectly snug. Is your case the one with body blocks on the underside of the lid? On my lid, you can clearly see the impressions of the strings in the "fur". I cannot even get my strap rolled-up in the gear pocket without making the lid unable to close properly. Seems like you might have a loose lid.
 
#3,255
It's less about the specific sound and more about the general blend of the instruments together. There's something about shrill guitars and the boominess of a T-bird that just doesn't work in the mix. The bass frequency is just too powerful and the mids disappear. Add a G3 in there and suddenly the greyspace gets filled. Put a sharp attacking snare with that in now you're missing the boomy thump. Change that snare out to something a little deeper and the sound blends nicely.

See? Not a lick of musical knowledge, just trial, error and a feeling for rock 'n' roll.
 
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#3,256
RexxRokket said:
Hi people, im going to copy paste some question that I have on here: ''I'm looking for some inf about Burny basses, specially the thunderbird models, I would like to know if theyre any close to the gibson ones in every single aspect, do they sound simiilar, equal, better than the Gibson ones? would someone recomend them? any help would be apreciated =). Thanks in advance.''
Click to expand...

I think I'm the only one that has a Burny Rexx - I like it alot, but tonewise it's nothing like any Gibson, it's borderline nasal and does not have the mids or clank that I can get from my Gibsons. The neck is similar to a '76, the headstock is huge ( not a bad thing) the bridge is a copy of the 3 point, done in Nickel. Again, while I like mine I'd consider it a bit of a curio, for the $$$ a used Gibson is a far better bass, more so the Epiphone Classic or a Greco.
 
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#3,257
DethByDoom said:
I've got a 2014 gibson tbird. Tweed case red interior. It keeps shifting inside the case. It won't stay in the body form once I close and carry it...

Is this a common issue? Surely gibson would replace a bad case? Thoughts?
Click to expand...

The body form in the Gibson case that came with my 09 Bird is snug as- the bass does not move at all. The neck support is really good too. The case is one of those black tolex ones with the white fur inside.
 
#3,258
Larry V said:
So I have to ask, how often do you guys switch up which basses get played and why? I've only got 4 basses if I count my Ibanez which never gets played anymore, but I can't imagine how you guys with 6, 8, 10+ basses get around to playing them all. Do you get to a point where you only have basses that serve a purpose or are there basses that you never play but you keep them anyway just because.
Click to expand...

Counting the banjo, the mandolin, and the 6 guitars, I have about 24 instruments. Except for 4 of the guitars (Why? is a question I ask myself often), I have them because I want them; they fill particular spots in my herd. My T-Bird fills the "Gibson Thunderbird" spot, for example (Duh, right?), and the Carvin LB-20 fills the generic "neck-thru bass" spot. Personally, I have 3 basses out all the time (Rogue VB-100, Rick 4001, and Kramer Duke) because they're the ones I like to play the most. As for everything else; I rotate 2-3 of them out every month, go over them, and play the snot out of them. Next month they get cleaned, put away, and 2-3 more come out. And yes, sometimes it gets to be a right pain in the arse; but it gets done anyway, and it is fun to play something I've not played in a while. Happily, the T-Bird is out this month. Still like it just fine bone-stock; and I'm still trying to figure out what strings will give me the sound of the no-longer-available Gibson strings, when they finally poop out. :)
 
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#3,260
DethByDoom said:
I've got a 2014 gibson tbird. Tweed case red interior. It keeps shifting inside the case. It won't stay in the body form once I close and carry it...

Is this a common issue? Surely gibson would replace a bad case? Thoughts?
Click to expand...



My various Gibson move around in the cases, I don't seemingly ever get the bass and case it came with together. The fix is quite simple I have an older, clean hand towels in each, fold it over 3 times lengthwise and lay it across the lower ' bout, that should keep it in place.
 
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