Thunderbird Club

[BuddhaFingas]

In advance of Caturday.

Clover.

 

[Gaolee]

Nope, modified Orville. The overlooked best starting place for Thunderbird fun. This one should get stripped, have the bridge rout filled along with the middle knob hole, thus becoming a II, Burgandy Mist, anyone?

Yes. Everyone who is anyone should have a burgundy mist Thunderbird.

 

[JIO]

Yes. Everyone who is anyone should have a burgundy mist Thunderbird.

...or Jazz bass

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Sleeping critters are so damn cute! I love hearing Mona snore!

Granted - I use both (flats & rounds) specifically for what they both bring to the table - but... I do not have bright clang-y rounds on any of my basses. I appreciate that sound in certain genre's of music - but that's not the music I play or wish to emulate. And trust me, by our Mike's (and others) neck-pu/phat bass only standards - my sound is pretty mid-centric comparably. In fact, I'd have to say the sound I want to hear is usually achieved by a more MM Stingray single pu position. (like my Teiscobird) But.., I also like a 2-pu bass to add enough N-pu to fatten the mid-centric tone. We all spend our whole lives honing a tone that speaks to us right? (and we are all individuals with different versions of that) Unleash the sound that defines you, whatever it is and however you get there.

Definitely, there are great tones standalone that are just plain not usable in other settings.... being so subjective it can be frustrating to try and get tonal descriptions across almost like you need a benchmark....for me, when someone mentions "clank" it could be what I would call "twang" or (something else) so.....what words would you use to describe this bass tone?


we went down a rabbit hole I wanted to avoid as I was really referring to the difference in the feel of a flat vs. a round and how it affects one's playing not so much the sonic differences...

 

[JIO]

Definitely, there are great tones standalone that are just plain not usable in other settings.... being so subjective it can be frustrating to try and get tonal descriptions across almost like you need a benchmark....for me, when someone mentions "clank" it could be what I would call "twang" or (something else) so.....what words would you use to describe this bass tone?


we went down a rabbit hole I wanted to avoid as I was really referring to the difference in the feel of a flat vs. a round and how it affects one's playing not so much the sonic differences...

I hear you about 'feel' of different strings Chuck and sorry if I misinterpreted your initial inquiry/focus. In general this kind of discussion is part of who we are as bass-players.., how we each approach our instrument of choice. It think the most defining way to learn that is by recording. Recording, you hear how your bass "sits" in the mix tonally, sonically and melodically. Playing live gives you an impression - a recording provides a document that you can listen to and assess. It provokes questions; does it provide what that song requires? Is it placed where it should be in the mix? Is it an interracial part of the song? For me, I learned an immeasurable amount from recording. Live - you have that impression while playing, but the recording doesn't lie. Getting the impression and the live reality aligned is key to understanding one's overall "sound" regardless of which bass, which pu's/electronics/amps/settings etc.

 

[JIO]

Not to dodge your question about the bass tone in the KC song... I listened to it w/headphones to focus on the bass and it fits ideally in the mix. Bass-y with a bit of grind and enough articulation to keep the song rolling melodically. Relatively understated but some would consider it 'busy'. Brings to mind Jack Cassidy or the bass styling of Roger Waters.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Yes. Everyone who is anyone should have a burgundy mist Thunderbird.

You buying?

 

[godofthunder59]

The bass player is pretty good, but he sure doesn't have enough hair. That must have been the problem.

Ah hair was was a big deal to the band back then. My bass brother Glenn Gaudin actually played on the track, in four Years EXPOSE went through something like 6 bass players there was a list of crossed out names on the wall in the rehersal space
When I moved to Boston my hair was long, most bands were doing the short hair thing, my cousin Brock Avery's band New Man had been recently signed Arista and he suggested I come to Boston, they had all cut thier hair. He plugged me into the scene and introduced me to everyone who was any body including Carter Allen who had produced EXPOSE.
They hired me despite my short hair because I could rock, I showed up with Thunderbirds, Marshalls and a beat up leather jacket, I was the antithesis of a scene flooded by Berkeley clones. Here's a picture of what my hair looked like before I cut it though this is a few years after I got back home from Boston and the top is definitely thinner! There is also a photo shoot of me wearing a wig, we decided against it but it was more common than you might think, I'll dig it up.

 

[Stealth57]

Apparently, no projectiles in the area, not even Thunderbird headstocks.

 

[Instagator]

...or Jazz bass

View attachment 7427193

Or a PJ.

 

[GonePlaid]

mona napping

not to underestimate the feel of flats...yes one can EQ away but one cannot change the tactile sensation.....

'Zackly. I don't like the 'feel' of rounds. Or what they can do to frets.
Tweetchie zone.

 

[GonePlaid]

Definitely, there are great tones standalone that are just plain not usable in other settings.... being so subjective it can be frustrating to try and get tonal descriptions across almost like you need a benchmark....for me, when someone mentions "clank" it could be what I would call "twang" or (something else) so.....what words would you use to describe this bass tone?


we went down a rabbit hole I wanted to avoid as I was really referring to the difference in the feel of a flat vs. a round and how it affects one's playing not so much the sonic differences...

Full; solid.

 

[ectoflanger]

Another famous car exposé popped up- had mixed emotions about this one, though it is interesting. In this case I was disappointed for the car. They had about every problem one could imagine maintenance-wise, and at least one that I never would have guessed; unlike "Bullitt's 67 Mustang or "Vanishing Point'"'s 1970 Challenger RT which needed mods for stunt driving but were not plagued with general maintenance issues. Probably because they were high performance models whereas the 1974 Gran Torino of "Starsky and Hutch" was designed as a family sedan. But to be fair they were there used for one movie whereas "Starsky and Hutch" was a series with four seasons from 1975-79.

 

[dagrev]

I have to agree with you, primarily with rounds like the D'Addario's I use. You can cop a "close enough for Jazz" 'flats sound' using nickel rounds before you could ever cop a chimey/grindy/angry piano 'rounds-sound' using flats. Now if you are playing a concert-style gig with mega volume from your over-the-top amps/cabs and goosed FOH... any strings will sound... loud. (aka.., not for nuanced/subtle music)

Indeed, at a loud or PA gig, the distinction can and often disappears in a mix. In person and smaller gigs as a decades long user off flats and obviously rounds, I have yet to get a round to sound like a flat. (Not as percussive and thick, mainly.) Or conversely and more difficultly, a flat to sound like a round. I think some of this can come from "bright string thinking" and anything less than some version of bright can easily be achieved by dead rounds to flats, as it all sounds equally dull to those preferring bright. I'm not sure even other band members might notice in some contexts. Depends on what the bass does most likely in the mix. But the bass player always knows!

 

[GBassNorth]

Sleeping critters are so damn cute! I love hearing Mona snore!

Granted - I use both (flats & rounds) specifically for what they both bring to the table - but... I do not have bright clang-y rounds on any of my basses. I appreciate that sound in certain genre's of music - but that's not the music I play or wish to emulate. And trust me, by our Mike's (and others) neck-pu/phat bass only standards - my sound is pretty mid-centric comparably. In fact, I'd have to say the sound I want to hear is usually achieved by a more MM Stingray single pu position. (like my Teiscobird) But.., I also like a 2-pu bass to add enough N-pu to fatten the mid-centric tone. We all spend our whole lives honing a tone that speaks to us right? (and we are all individuals with different versions of that) Unleash the sound that defines you, whatever it is and however you get there.

“Unleash the sound that defines you”
That right there is tag/quote worthy!

 

[ectoflanger]

Definitely, there are great tones standalone that are just plain not usable in other settings.... being so subjective it can be frustrating to try and get tonal descriptions across almost like you need a benchmark....for me, when someone mentions "clank" it could be what I would call "twang" or (something else) so.....what words would you use to describe this bass tone?


we went down a rabbit hole I wanted to avoid as I was really referring to the difference in the feel of a flat vs. a round and how it affects one's playing not so much the sonic differences...

Not getting a link for this one Chuck- maybe my VPN-

 

[ectoflanger]

Not getting a link for this one Chuck- maybe my VPN-

Got it now-

 

[JIO]

“Unleash the sound that defines you”
That right there is tag/quote worthy!

 

[ectoflanger]

I have to agree with you, primarily with rounds like the D'Addario's I use. You can cop a "close enough for Jazz" 'flats sound' using nickel rounds before you could ever cop a chimey/grindy/angry piano 'rounds-sound' using flats. Now if you are playing a concert-style gig with mega volume from your over-the-top amps/cabs and goosed FOH... any strings will sound... loud. (aka.., not for nuanced/subtle music)

I tend to round wounds but will say that my Warwick Corvette fretless four had some sort of flat wounds on it though Guitar Center sold it as new back in '08. And I really liked it playing through the Acoustic Head with the tall 8 x 10 cab. Which I was playing the opening notes of "Paradise" by Icehouse.

Later I found that I could get a remarkably aggressive attack with those strings using a pick.

But I eventually switched to round wounds since that's how Warwick sends them from the factory, given their hard ebony fretboards. Which I recall someone mentioning Pino Palladino flatwwounds and I'm thinking that may be related to his career playing a fretless MM. I wonder if he still uses flatwounds with his fretted Fender (Precision I believe)?

But I did save the flatwounds, don't know which brand but they had red silk on the ends, and I have a brand new set of Chromes never opened just in case ...

I did get a set of D'Addario Half Rounds for my Corvette fretless five but I didn't like them and went back with the factory Warwick rounds.

My fretless Steinberger XL-25 has the standard double ball end round wounds but that bass is an altogether different animal tonally, and surprisingly one can get some uprightish sounds out of it if you pluck it nice-

So there you have it-

 

[bylar13]

“Unleash the sound that defines you”
That right there is tag/quote worthy!

Agreed. I like to stir things up once in a while to make sure folks are awake in here......