Thunderbird Club

[GonePlaid]

Are the string centers closer together or just the closest points on the strings? I would expect the latter but not the former.

Nah. It's an optical delusion. Thicker strings appear closer. Like objects in mirror.

 

[GonePlaid]

I have one Thunderbird I keep in drop D. The sparkling red Epi LECS. I only play it for the few Silversun Pickups songs that are in drop D. Most notably Nightlight and Wasted On. There are a couple others as well. There are also a couple others that are, at least they’re that way on the record, in E flat tuning. I just retune for that if I’m trying to tackle a specific song. I usually only do that when I retune to play Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back In Town.

I now have an EB fiver. Using it is a work in progress. Some days my brain gets it. Other days not so much.

Getting old is getting old.

B string=extended thumbrest.

 

[JIO]

As a guitarist I used to wonder what these bassists were up to with five strings and Drop-D levers, then when I embarked on my own bass clef odyssey I learned off the bat that 4 out of the 5 songs that inspired me to play bass invoked the low-B.

First song I wrote- the bass line invoked the Low B on occasion. The second song I wrote - the main riff begged for an octave drop after the final note of the riff - a D on the fifth fret of the A string which the octave below was two frets shy. Also made the following ascending triad progression a lot easier to play-

So in 2009 I special-ordered a Warwick Corvette unlined fretless five- I hate fret lines and markers, they confuse me- - because nothing like that was readily available at the time. Then after watching a Leland Sklar interview where he sang the praises of the Hipshot Xtender, I eventually ordered three, one of which is installed on my G2 T- Bird.

Necessity is the mother of invention - fortunately for me, miy needs had already been invented-

But I steer away from arcane tumings - too confusing - I'm challenged enough with standard and Drop- D. Although I occasionally tune to Eb to learn and practice Robin Trowe songs,

But I hate relegating instruments to specific tunings because I love them all and want to use them for any song-

 

[Nocturnal]

Happy Birthday Chucky!!

 

[Engle]

The joke about buying my new 'bird just for measurements for the one I'm building is only partly a joke...

Discovering surprising things, like how thin the truss rod cover is on a factory unit.

I figured it'd be made from more-or-less standard pickguard plastic, as is true on every other Gibson Ive seen.

Nope.

Single ply and only about 0.05" thick.

Intremasting.

Also, nut string spacing seems... odd. Low strings closer together than high strings?

Likewise intremasting.

That thinner plastic is prone to warping.

 

[Engle]

Happy Birthday @Chucky Stiletti !

 

[BuddhaFingas]

That thinner plastic is prone to warping.

 

[MCF]

The joke about buying my new 'bird just for measurements for the one I'm building is only partly a joke...

Discovering surprising things, like how thin the truss rod cover is on a factory unit.

I figured it'd be made from more-or-less standard pickguard plastic, as is true on every other Gibson Ive seen.

Nope.

Single ply and only about 0.05" thick.

Intremasting.

Also, nut string spacing seems... odd. Low strings closer together than high strings?

Likewise intremasting.

Yeah. The TR covers are a mystery. Never understood that.

My ‘15 is symmetrical. But it’s a righty. Ken had a lefty ‘18 with an offset bridge. Your pics appear to show correct bridge alignment. Maybe just replace the nut if it’s an issue for you. It should be a Graph Tech. Henry’s last days at Gibson were not their best time IMO. FWIW, my ‘21 NR is flawless.

 

[GonePlaid]

That thinner plastic is prone to warping.

Yes. Best to cut off the threads and super-glue the TRC in place.

 

[ectoflanger]

She just arrived -via UPS shipment from Musician's Friend-

The lack of deep gouges in the box a good sign -

So far so good- new bass/case smell too-

Along with case candy were two spare pickguards- I presume the white one was the original, given that it has the relief notch for the trussed adjustment-

With the bass and everything being in pristine condition, I wonder if the original buyer gave up after trying two alternate pickguards and opted for a Sadowksy or Mike Lull instead. At any rate I'm pleased that I got a shot at it.

And that cool little card-

Finally had to pass the home décor test- as I was unboxing, mom was already speculating what room she wanted it to go in order to enhance the color scheme. Fortunately I found a good match in my bedroom/music studio-

And if anyone is wondering why I would post the unboxing of a Fender Jazz bass on a Thunderbird thread -

Is because I've never felt more at home on any Talkbass thread as the Thunderbird Club. The same goes for my bothers on the Warwick Bass Forum-

Cheers my Thunderbird brothers!!!!

 

[MCF]

the old family house .....
View attachment 7357074

Wow. Visions of Ridley Scott’s “A Good Year.” It would really be something if it could be restored.

 

[ectoflanger]

I have one Thunderbird I keep in drop D. The sparkling red Epi LECS. I only play it for the few Silversun Pickups songs that are in drop D. Most notably Nightlight and Wasted On. There are a couple others as well. There are also a couple others that are, at least they’re that way on the record, in E flat tuning. I just retune for that if I’m trying to tackle a specific song. I usually only do that when I retune to play Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back In Town.

I now have an EB fiver. Using it is a work in progress. Some days my brain gets it. Other days not so much.

Getting old is getting old.

No wonder "The Boys are Back in Town" was such a pain to learn!!

 

[MCF]

B string=extended thumbrest.

Yeah.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Most of the 'band areas'(not stages)where I've played, there wasn't room for even one extra bass.

I've always managed to get my two-bass Hercules fitted in; it doesn't take much more space than a single bass stand. But you've definitely played on tighter stages than I.

 

[MCF]

No wonder I found "The Boys are Back in Town" such a pain to learn!!

Yeah. One of those “duh” moments that takes awhile to realize. Thank goodness for the internet. I never tried to learn it back in the day.

 

[ectoflanger]

Utterly beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing- sounds like something Mark Egan would do- btw, who is that>. Definitely going to save it to a playlist.

 

[MCF]

She just arrived -via UPS shipment from Musician's Friend-

The lack of deep gouges in the box a good sign -

View attachment 7357126

So far so good- new bass/case smell too-

View attachment 7357128

Along with case candy were two spare pickguards- I presume the white one was the original, given that it has the relief notch for the trussed adjustment-

With the bass and everything being in pristine condition, I wonder if the original buyer gave up after trying two alternate pickguards and opted for a Sadowksy or Mike Lull instead. At any rate I'm pleased that I got a shot at it.

View attachment 7357129

And that cool little card-

View attachment 7357137

Finally had to pass the home décor test- as I was unboxing, mom was already speculating what room she wanted it to go in order to enhance the color scheme. Fortunately I found a good match in my bedroom/music studio-

View attachment 7357132

And if anyone is wondering why I would post the unboxing of a Fender Jazz bass on a Thunderbird thread -

Is because I've never felt more at home on any Talkbass thread as the Thunderbird Club. The same goes for my bothers on the Warwick Bass Forum-

Cheers my Thunderbird brothers!!!!

Nice! Happy for you. Many here love J basses (not me though), but I appreciate them and those who play them. Enjoy!

And thank you for wearing something on your feet!

 

[ectoflanger]

Nice! Happy for you. Many here love J basses (not me though), but I appreciate them and those who play them. Enjoy!

And thank you for wearing something on your feet!

I appreciate you kind words- that, among other things is why I'm here-

As for my feet - it's despite the fact that a guitarist friend once called me a "Shoegazer"- a genre I'm not particularly fond of-

 

[JIO]

Utterly beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing- sounds like something Mark Egan would do- btw, who is that>. Definitely going to save it to a playlist.

Michael Manring - virtuoso bass soloist. He lives in the East Bay so I've seen/heard him a number ion times over the years and have met him through mutual musician friends in Pacifica. There's lots of YouTube performances and he has recordings with other artists. He is a contemporary of Mark Egan.

 

[GBassNorth]

That’s beyond amazing in both sound and technique not to mention instrument design. I could listen to or just watch that all day long.

So from a design standpoint, it appears his instrument has a drop tuner on each tuning key and a drop lever on the bridge as well. I’d be interested to learn more about that bridge design, never seen one like that, it doesn’t seem to act like a whammy bar, it stays where you set it.

All that said, as phenomenal a player as he is, he’s so far out of the typical bass universe he might as well be playing a different instrument. If I had heard it without seeing it I would not have been certain he was even playing a bass.

Ya got me hooked, I’m gonna have to look up more of this guys stuff, it’s so original. Thx for posting.