Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

GPF has a couple to choose from. Since EMG specifically told me .2 uF, that’s what I was trying to find. .22 uF is what I got.

Even Eric Johnson would have a really hard time hearing the difference. And what's the tolerance? 5%? 10%

 

[Engle]

GPF has a couple to choose from. Since EMG specifically told me .2 uF, that’s what I was trying to find. .22 uF is what I got.

I can't see it making much of a difference.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I always thought (and still practice) the following:

Equal or greater than rated load is ok. Lower than rated is bad.

8 ohm cab to 4 ohm amplifier speaker output is ok (higher impedance)

4 ohm cab to 8 ohm amplifier speaker output is bad (lower impedance).

I have always thought lower or no impedance is bad for the amp.

Your example would be lower impedance than what the amp wants to see…. I seem to think that’s bad. Maybe someone can confirm?

Higher speaker impedance than tube amp is rated can be problematic. A well built amp can take a speaker load of 2x. A poorly designed amp can fry its output tubes and/or transformer.
Older SS amps don't like lower loads than they're rated.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

How'd it sound?

Still listening... whilst tweaking setup on my Bird.

I'm liking it.

It's a fair ways from my usual fare, but I hear echoes of old favorite groups even though it's not like any of them.

Hints of Kinks & Spin Doctors, a nuance of Bowie in the vocals.

Quality 10/10, even on my old gear.

IMO, money well spent. Will get replayed.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I can't see it making much of a difference.

about 70Ohm difference at 1kHz...

When you consider the fact most modern pro audio gear have input impedances in the range of 10kOhm it becomes pretty negligible.....

 

[BuddhaFingas]

How sesitive to tuning changes do you folks find your Thunderbirds to be?

May just be due to mine not having been really broken in versus her years, but I had her beautifully set up for my tastes on Eb (to jam with my Socal D-centric friend) a couple weeks ago - relief under 0.010", action around 2mm or just under at the 12th. Just right to me.

I retuned a few days ago to E to play more standard stuff... and last night took her down off the wall and wow, action was way up.

Checked it today, and relief at 8th fret was was at 0.022".

Carefully reset it for E, but I don't recall my other basses being that picky about a half-tone retune.

It has been pretty dry here lately after a week of rain, so that's probably some of it. But humidity in the house doesn't vary much from 45%; maybe +/-10% total.

what's you folks' experience?

By the way, invested a few bucks in this Music Nomad tool so I don't have to fuss with sockets etc, and it's perfect for this job; Screwdriver tip is exact match to rod cover screws and slightly magnetic, socket is low-profile and exact fit for rod nut, and provides padding on the shaft so it doesn't threaten the rod access edges.

Recommend, since mine didn't come with a factory tool.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

I would retire tomorrow if I could.

Yep. Or last week, given how it went.

Stressy these days.

 

[Gaolee]

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Crab Bird friends. It is the end of Crab season but we did get some of the last haul.
Cheers!
View attachment 7377323

I could have brought in five or six dungeness crabs during last Saturday's dive. A couple more today. Maybe some more tomorrow. But crab is just a little rich for me, so no crab nabbing while swimming with the fishes for me.

 

[Gaolee]

Time is relative (at least in perception) and moves quicker with age. That's because each second is a fairly small part of your (experienced) life as a child, but a tiny fraction once you're well into so-called adulthood.

I am astonished to find myself only a little over four years from my own self-selected ditch the day job date. I may have to push it back. I am nowhere near done.

 

[Gaolee]

Still listening... whilst tweaking setup on my Bird.

I'm liking it.

It's a fair ways from my usual fare, but I hear echoes of old favorite groups even though it's not like any of them.

Hints of Kinks & Spin Doctors, a nuance of Bowie in the vocals.

Quality 10/10, even on my old gear.

IMO, money well spent. Will get replayed.

I hear som James Gang in Ken's bass playing.

 

[Gaolee]

How sesitive to tuning changes do you folks find your Thunderbirds to be?

May just be due to mine not having been really broken in versus her years, but I had her beautifully set up for my tastes on Eb (to jam with my Socal D-centric friend) a couple weeks ago - relief under 0.010", action around 2mm or just under at the 12th. Just right to me.

I retuned a few days ago to E to play more standard stuff... and last night took her down off the wall and wow, action was way up.

Checked it today, and relief at 8th fret was was at 0.022".

Carefully reset it for E, but I don't recall my other basses being that picky about a half-tone retune.

It has been pretty dry here lately after a week of rain, so that's probably some of it. But humidity in the house doesn't vary much from 45%; maybe +/-10% total.

what's you folks' experience?

By the way, invested a few bucks in this Music Nomad tool so I don't have to fuss with sockets etc, and it's perfect for this job; Screwdriver tip is exact match to rod cover screws and slightly magnetic, socket is low-profile and exact fit for rod nut, and provides padding on the shaft so it doesn't threaten the rod access edges.

View attachment 7377988

Recommend, since mine didn't come with a factory tool.

My Thunderbirds are about as stable as is possible. I am also not especially sensitive to changes in action height.

 

[GonePlaid]

Thanks. I was concerned it was a really stupid idea. I have plenty of ideas that are.

Me too also.

 

[Ringhammer]

How sesitive to tuning changes do you folks find your Thunderbirds to be?

May just be due to mine not having been really broken in versus her years, but I had her beautifully set up for my tastes on Eb (to jam with my Socal D-centric friend) a couple weeks ago - relief under 0.010", action around 2mm or just under at the 12th. Just right to me.

I retuned a few days ago to E to play more standard stuff... and last night took her down off the wall and wow, action was way up.

Checked it today, and relief at 8th fret was was at 0.022".

Carefully reset it for E, but I don't recall my other basses being that picky about a half-tone retune.

It has been pretty dry here lately after a week of rain, so that's probably some of it. But humidity in the house doesn't vary much from 45%; maybe +/-10% total.

what's you folks' experience?

By the way, invested a few bucks in this Music Nomad tool so I don't have to fuss with sockets etc, and it's perfect for this job; Screwdriver tip is exact match to rod cover screws and slightly magnetic, socket is low-profile and exact fit for rod nut, and provides padding on the shaft so it doesn't threaten the rod access edges.

View attachment 7377988

Recommend, since mine didn't come with a factory tool.

My birds are definitely more sensitive to humidity than any of the old Fenders I have. Recently, I had to dial back the truss rod on some of the birds to get the necks to have a smidge of relief as opposed to flat.

I usually use slightly heavier gauge strings when tuning 1/2 or 1 step flat, in an effort to keep the tension similar to 45-105’s at E.

 

[BklynKen]

I hear som James Gang in Ken's bass playing.

That's one of the best compliments on my playing I've ever gotten. Thank you.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It was them that spec’ed .2uF. Not easy to find caps sold as .2uF.

I shouldn’t say “not easy”, but so far, I find .2uF are not common at guitar parts sites.

.2uF is smaller than most tone caps and larger than most treble bleed caps.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The best turkey.

View attachment 7377574

We got smaller versions!

 

[dagrev]

How sesitive to tuning changes do you folks find your Thunderbirds to be?

May just be due to mine not having been really broken in versus her years, but I had her beautifully set up for my tastes on Eb (to jam with my Socal D-centric friend) a couple weeks ago - relief under 0.010", action around 2mm or just under at the 12th. Just right to me.

I retuned a few days ago to E to play more standard stuff... and last night took her down off the wall and wow, action was way up.

Checked it today, and relief at 8th fret was was at 0.022".

Carefully reset it for E, but I don't recall my other basses being that picky about a half-tone retune.

It has been pretty dry here lately after a week of rain, so that's probably some of it. But humidity in the house doesn't vary much from 45%; maybe +/-10% total.

what's you folks' experience?

By the way, invested a few bucks in this Music Nomad tool so I don't have to fuss with sockets etc, and it's perfect for this job; Screwdriver tip is exact match to rod cover screws and slightly magnetic, socket is low-profile and exact fit for rod nut, and provides padding on the shaft so it doesn't threaten the rod access edges.

View attachment 7377988

Recommend, since mine didn't come with a factory tool.

Once I find my string, I virtually never need to adjust the TR. Had a Geddy Lee that needed it every 4 months it seemed.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I would retire tomorrow if I could.

Me, too, also, as well.

 

[dagrev]

We got smaller versions!

We had Turkey the day after. Guess they felt safe Friday. Geoff enlightened me that the Aztecs had a name for them that meant "Big Monster."

We had more ham than Big Monster yesterday.

 

[Engle]

Higher speaker impedance than tube amp is rated can be problematic. A well built amp can take a speaker load of 2x. A poorly designed amp can fry its output tubes and/or transformer.
Older SS amps don't like lower loads than they're rated.

I don't think newer SS amps like lower loads than they are rated for either.