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Thunderbird Club

#329,681
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Black and White World!

Also, I Love Dust!
 
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#329,682
Gaolee said:
For many years, I tried to play everything without ever playing an open string. There are a number of songs and riffs I still play that way, even though it's harder, just because of the way it sounds. Playing the upright taught me to use open strings a lot more than I had.
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Playing in horn-or concert-bands, alotta stuff is in flat keys so open strings are not a 'thing'.
 
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#329,684
JIO said:
So many early R&R bands had a schtick. The Young Rascals dressed as school-boys, Paul Revere & the Raiders dressed as early American/British revolutionaries, Devo dressed as... Devo, even The Beatles in their Sgt Peppers gear -

...and Bond Girl - dressed to kill! :)
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The groups I was a part of in Miami wore matching outfits including leisure suits in the 70's and tuxes on weekend nights. The most recent group wore non-matching "Aloha" shirts and khaki pants/shorts.
 
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#329,690
ectoflanger said:
I'm duly impressed- you have uncommon skills. What styles do you create more- original one-offs or improved versions of existing styles?

After the issue with my jazz bass neck, which admittedly may have been my fault, it crossed my mind for the first time to get one custom-made, and I stopped wondering why I've seen so many professional musicians playing something that looks like a Fender or Gibson but wasn't.
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I run a gamut of fully original to as you say, an improved version of existing styles. Ergonomics, weight and proper balance are primary on the functional list, and then there's how it sounds which covers every part of the bass. On this bass, called the "Ubersonic", the 1-1/4" deep body is made of single slab flamed-maple & mahogany, highly chambered within. (little over 7lbs) The maple/rosewood neck has 6 machine bolts into steel mollies and the body has a 1/8" carbon fiber neck-pocket platform for rigidity. The bridge has an internally imbedded brass anchor & machine bolts for dynamic coupling. This all lead to it being highly resonate. The pu's are the sought after Fender PV63 model and they are positioned like my '68 Dano made Coral Deluxe Bass. (neck pu closer to the neck) The passive harness is from a '93 Fender American Standard with a TBX stacked tone-pot & Black Beauty .047uf cap. Strings are D'Addario nickel round-wound EXL160BT 50-67-90-120 and it has Gotoh tuners, brass nut and a Sandberg bridge. It has imbedded Dunlop Strap-Lok's and it's designed to stand on its own with a strap attached (against an amp or wall). It is definitely a "one-off".

And aesthetically it has to look as good as it sounds. I did the aqua staining on the maple, and Pat Wilkins did the awesome finishing on the body & neck. I made it to sell but I've fallen in love with it so for now it's mine. :)
 
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#329,693
dagrev said:
All good Geo. I knew you changed to brass and hoped you would hop in. I respect your thoughts and experience on this. I'm just a natural born skeptic and this is one of those areas! I believe everything affects everything in large or small ways, but logically I can't wrap my mind around the nut doing much when it's largely removed by fretting since the fret basically becomes the nut. But you've done it both ways and I trust what you say. But still have to see it to believe it!:D
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There was a noticeable, albeit slight, difference with better sustain when I swapped the original hollow plastic nut in the first BaCH I bought with a Graph Tech nut. I swapped the nut because the slots were cut a bit too wide for 45-105 SIT Powersteels, especially the E. I haven’t swapped the nut in the second one yet because it is glued in. And the slots are better. But I will eventually.
 
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#329,694
BuddhaFingas said:
"Born Under a Bad Sign."
Original Albert King / Duck Dunn arrangement.
Second one was Gary Moore's "Oh Pretty Woman" to get a real feel for where first position is.
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Excellent!

The first song I played on the ‘15 when I got home with it was the Clash version of I Fought the Law. I knew immediately it was a forever bass.
 
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#329,695
dagrev said:
A '76 Cordoba comes up for sale and the timing is not good.... Needs the nice rims with trim rings like I had on mine, but.... 15k and garage kept. Two owners--father and son. Needs a few things from setting as can be imagined, otherwise in mint condition, even the leather seats. Metallic green is not one I've see many of. Has a 360 and no Lean Burn emission that made them run band and pollute more. I feel like Andy now. Just can't at the moment.
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#329,696
BuddhaFingas said:
Absolutely... there is a peak at about 10/8.5 or so, and you can hear it just kind of come alive.

Playing with the tone dimed kind of reveals my playing flaws, but I guess its time to up my game.

One of the downsides of playing alone; no place to hide the squeaks, rattles, and clacks. 😬

🎰
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I believe playing stainless rounds almost exclusively has helped me improve my fretting technique. Concentrating to reduce string noise has made a difference.
 
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