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Thunderbird Club

#341,341
GBassNorth said:
Very cool and original! Love a three pup layout. Do you know the control layout yet?
Click to expand...
Yeah we went for that layout as it was already routed when he offered to give it to me. I play my telecaster bass with a t bird in the sweet spot mostly so I have that position availabe.

I am currently thinking of either 3x volume or something like a dingwall switch in 4 positions but the control cavity is really kinda tiny so I'm leaning towards 3x volume to get it going,

it also has a jack of this type that's going too far into the control cavity so it's going to hit a pot, that's why I will most likely go for a les paul style jack plate and drill the hole for the jack bigger...

1776431632122.png
 
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#341,342
Curious if anyone here is using Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats and what your impressions are? I will be doing some recording and was thinking about trying them on my p-bass with a T-Bird pickup. Going for a late 60’s sound on the recording.

Also curious about tension/ feel in 1.05-.45 set. I am currently using the NYXL Nickel in that same gauge. Any idea if there is a meaningful difference in tension/feel?
 
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#341,343
bylar13 said:
Curious if anyone here is using Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats and what your impressions are? I will be doing some recording and was thinking about trying them on my p-bass with a T-Bird pickup. Going for a late 60’s sound on the recording.

Also curious about tension/ feel in 1.05-.45 set. I am currently using the NYXL Nickel in that same gauge. Any idea if there is a meaningful difference in tension/feel?
Click to expand...
I use them 'cos they give a bit more clarity to 60s type tone I prefer. Also, I don't like what rounds do to my fingers or frets.
AFA tension, almost all the strings I've used for over 50 years have been in that range so I never really paid attention to the tension.
 
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#341,345
bylar13 said:
Curious if anyone here is using Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats and what your impressions are? I will be doing some recording and was thinking about trying them on my p-bass with a T-Bird pickup. Going for a late 60’s sound on the recording.

Also curious about tension/ feel in 1.05-.45 set. I am currently using the NYXL Nickel in that same gauge. Any idea if there is a meaningful difference in tension/feel?
Click to expand...
All you need to know around here is the tone is in the purple silks.


https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/the-tone-is-in-the-purple-silks-club/
 
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#341,347
bylar13 said:
Curious if anyone here is using Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats and what your impressions are? I will be doing some recording and was thinking about trying them on my p-bass with a T-Bird pickup. Going for a late 60’s sound on the recording.

Also curious about tension/ feel in 1.05-.45 set. I am currently using the NYXL Nickel in that same gauge. Any idea if there is a meaningful difference in tension/feel?
Click to expand...
I have a set on my NR right now. I had Chromes 45-100 on the bass before, but after they broke in, they were a little too dull sounding for me. I put on EB Cobalt flats about 2 weeks ago, gauge 50-110 to accomodate for the lower tension compared to the chromes. I would say they have a similar tension feel to the chrome gauges I stated earlier.

They are still pretty zingy, so are breaking in. I have a 4 hour gig tonight, so will be curious to see what they sound like at the end of the night. I do feel they lost some of the low mid oopmh the Chromes had, but will see how they settle in. I will report back after tonight.
 
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#341,348
bylar13 said:
Curious if anyone here is using Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats and what your impressions are? I will be doing some recording and was thinking about trying them on my p-bass with a T-Bird pickup. Going for a late 60’s sound on the recording.

Also curious about tension/ feel in 1.05-.45 set. I am currently using the NYXL Nickel in that same gauge. Any idea if there is a meaningful difference in tension/feel?
Click to expand...
I liked them on a VP tone wise, but I would not say they fit the 60s tone target. More modern, aggressive from what I recall.
Good 60's sounding flats are La Bella (clear winner in my book), GHS Precision Flats, Pyramid Gold flats (which are not meant to be gold in appearance). Never got on with Chromes on anything and I tried countless times. Just my experience. Others love them.
 
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#341,349
dagrev said:
I liked them on a VP tone wise, but I would not say they fit the 60s tone target. More modern, aggressive from what I recall.
Good 60's sounding flats are La Bella (clear winner in my book), GHS Precision Flats, Pyramid Gold flats (which are not meant to be gold in appearance). Never got on with Chromes on anything and I tried countless times. Just my experience. Others love them.
Click to expand...
Which labella's?
 
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#341,352
dagrev said:
I liked them on a VP tone wise, but I would not say they fit the 60s tone target. More modern, aggressive from what I recall.
Good 60's sounding flats are La Bella (clear winner in my book), GHS Precision Flats, Pyramid Gold flats (which are not meant to be gold in appearance). Never got on with Chromes on anything and I tried countless times. Just my experience. Others love them.
Click to expand...
I used Chromes until Jeff @JJR58 turned me on to EBCFs. They were OK, but EBCFs are better-IMNSHO.
 
Last edited:
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#341,353
vdub75 said:
Yeah we went for that layout as it was already routed when he offered to give it to me. I play my telecaster bass with a t bird in the sweet spot mostly so I have that position availabe.

I am currently thinking of either 3x volume or something like a dingwall switch in 4 positions but the control cavity is really kinda tiny so I'm leaning towards 3x volume to get it going,

it also has a jack of this type that's going too far into the control cavity so it's going to hit a pot, that's why I will most likely go for a les paul style jack plate and drill the hole for the jack bigger...

View attachment 7476130
Click to expand...
If you want to keep the number of knobs down to just three I’d strongly suggest going with three stacked volume/tone pots. I did that on the BlingBird I built and it sounds fantastic. As for the jack, you could use an electro socket type jack if you don’t want the plate type jack.
IMG_3576.jpeg

IMG_0572.jpeg



bylar13 said:
Curious if anyone here is using Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats and what your impressions are? I will be doing some recording and was thinking about trying them on my p-bass with a T-Bird pickup. Going for a late 60’s sound on the recording.

Also curious about tension/ feel in 1.05-.45 set. I am currently using the NYXL Nickel in that same gauge. Any idea if there is a meaningful difference in tension/feel?
Click to expand...
That’s a pretty common flat choice in this club. I have them on several of my Tbirds and love the sound, but it’s pretty far from vintage sounding. The EBCF strings are about the most round wound sounding flat I’ve tried. Much brighter than most flats.

I just installed some La Bella low tension flats on my ‘67 NR and so far I’m really loving the deep vintage flat wound tone on these strings, they accentuate the attack but thump and decay like most other flats.
 
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#341,355
Well. Some good news on my quest to downsize my vintage monster rigs.
The 72 SVT went home with its new owner last weekend.
Just as I had suspected, the buyer was a more “mature” customer that wanted to reclaim a part of his youth.
No regrets on my part.
We got it up the stairs from the basement and into his truck. It took three of us for the cab.
Sold it on Saturday and had total left knee replacement on Monday. No injuries related to the move.😆
Mrs Gator and I looked at each other..I said “Well, we’ll never have to do that again “
Cheers to all!
IMG_8410.jpeg
 
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#341,356
Got two of three basses back from the shop. The luthier, Brian, did a nice job slightly enlarging the route on the BaCH II with the Gibson reissue. It’s now fully adjustable, properly installed with foam. Hooray! That Thunderbird through the SVT sounds so good…

He also did a level, crown, and end dress on the surf green PJ. I was going to attempt it myself, but the binding had me a bit intimidated. I’m glad I had him do it. It plays beautifully. And my fingers are thankful that the horrible fret sprout it had is gone. With the level and crown, the action can now sit way low how I like it. As a result, the J pickup can sit closer to the strings so it even sounds decent now.
IMG_2171.jpeg


Brian still has an Epi Custom Shop that he’s repairing a chip on. I’ll be taking the other BaCh II to him for the pickup route work so that pickup, one that Andy put in it years ago when he had it, will be adjustable too.

Thanks to George @GBassNorth for introducing Brian. We had a communication hiccup, but all’s good. It’s nice to have someone I can trust with my birds.
 
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#341,357
Instagator said:
Well. Some good news on my quest to downsize my vintage monster rigs.
The 72 SVT went home with its new owner last weekend.
Just as I had suspected, the buyer was a more “mature” customer that wanted to reclaim a part of his youth.
No regrets on my part.
We got it up the stairs from the basement and into his truck. It took three of us for the cab.
Sold it on Saturday and had total left knee replacement on Monday. No injuries related to the move.😆
Mrs Gator and I looked at each other..I said “Well, we’ll never have to do that again “
Cheers to all!
View attachment 7476503
Click to expand...
That is a beautiful rig.

I think mine with the “lighter” Berg NV610 will stay in the basement next winter. I had moved it upstairs (by myself) for winter so that I didn’t have to play in the cold. My son helped me move it back down a couple of weeks ago. He’s 37. And man, did he complain. He just stared at me like I was insane when I told him about me wanting an ACC 360.
 
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#341,359
MCF said:
That is a beautiful rig.

I think mine with the “lighter” Berg NV610 will stay in the basement next winter. I had moved it upstairs (by myself) for winter so that I didn’t have to play in the cold. My son helped me move it back down a couple of weeks ago. He’s 37. And man, did he complain. He just stared at me like I was insane when I told him about me wanting an ACC 360.
Click to expand...
My Berg 610 is safe for now . Paired with an Aguilar 751.
I do still have a ‘75 SVT head that I’m
Holding on to for now as well.
Just chipping away at a lifetime worth of gear a little at a time.
IMG_8207.jpeg
 
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