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Thunderbird Club

#342,141
Gaolee said:
I got all screwed up on the second half of Civil War because I got tangled up with the B string and kept defaulting to thinking it was a four in drop D. 40 or more years of playing four strings is pretty much imprinted. The fifth string keeps confusing me. My hands get lost at times, because the string I think is A, is really E, or sometimes D, and then everything goes sideways. It's quick enough to recover, but then the guitarist is looking at me like I just landed from Mars, which might actually be more true than not.
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I was the same way regarding 5-strings but I kinda' solved it after building my recent headless, fan-fret 5'r. It has fairly tight string spacing and I shaped the neck into an asymmetrical 'airplane wing' profile. The combination of that and the fan-frets feels natural and I haven't had the 'mistaking the B for the E string' since.

1777927745128.jpeg
 
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#342,142
Gaolee said:
The Jackson fiver got out in front of an audience on Saturday night for the first time. It badly needed a setup, which I did Friday night. It also got restrung with EBCFs, which I stupidly wound the wrong way on the pegs. Putting the G on first meant that it looked like they should go one way. I got to the B and it was pretty obvious it splays way out. Oh, well. It worked anyway. In the room, it sounded really good with those strings. It had a bright Precision sound to it that I wasn't expecting. There was plenty of low end. It doesn't sound especially active. No matter. It works. I'll probably do a bit more work on it and string it properly over the next week. There's still a bit of back-bow to the neck that needs to come out, and the intonation isn't quite right with the strings lowered like they are. Sometimes, you just run out of time and have to go with what you got.

I got all screwed up on the second half of Civil War because I got tangled up with the B string and kept defaulting to thinking it was a four in drop D. 40 or more years of playing four strings is pretty much imprinted. The fifth string keeps confusing me. My hands get lost at times, because the string I think is A, is really E, or sometimes D, and then everything goes sideways. It's quick enough to recover, but then the guitarist is looking at me like I just landed from Mars, which might actually be more true than not.
Click to expand...

Will, where did you play?
 
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#342,143
Gaolee said:
The Jackson fiver got out in front of an audience on Saturday night for the first time. It badly needed a setup, which I did Friday night. It also got restrung with EBCFs, which I stupidly wound the wrong way on the pegs. Putting the G on first meant that it looked like they should go one way. I got to the B and it was pretty obvious it splays way out. Oh, well. It worked anyway. In the room, it sounded really good with those strings. It had a bright Precision sound to it that I wasn't expecting. There was plenty of low end. It doesn't sound especially active. No matter. It works. I'll probably do a bit more work on it and string it properly over the next week. There's still a bit of back-bow to the neck that needs to come out, and the intonation isn't quite right with the strings lowered like they are. Sometimes, you just run out of time and have to go with what you got.

I got all screwed up on the second half of Civil War because I got tangled up with the B string and kept defaulting to thinking it was a four in drop D. 40 or more years of playing four strings is pretty much imprinted. The fifth string keeps confusing me. My hands get lost at times, because the string I think is A, is really E, or sometimes D, and then everything goes sideways. It's quick enough to recover, but then the guitarist is looking at me like I just landed from Mars, which might actually be more true than not.
Click to expand...
I have a quite lovely Schecter Stiletto Studio 5 I bought early in my bass epiphany/schism, because I wanted to play some Lou Reed and David Essex.

I take it down once in a while to refresh my humility but at this point it's on the list of "things I will fully address once I retire."

It'll probably still be in tune, too. Never seems to shift more than a couple cents.

My least-played bass, but not its fault. Outside of a tiny dye spot next to the head that shouldnt be there it is without flaw. And it taught me to say, "bubinga."

But if I had to part with one bass for some reason, would probably be it.
 
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#342,144
TBird1958 said:
Will, where did you play?
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At a Pizza place on Queen Anne called Domani. We are absolutely inappropriate for that place. Maybe not as inappropriate as the Nasty Habits playing for a convention of nuns, but certainly way to loud and raucous. I'll be playing a few shows at Old Stove in Ballard later this summer with that band and the other band. We are also playing some kind of outdoor thing in Kirkland the Wednesday after July 4. The fiver will get out to play a few times. Maybe I'll even know what I'm doing by the end of the summer instead of getting all confused by having an extra string.

The really bizarre thing is that a six string guitar doesn't confuse me. I am not much more than a bad campfire strummer on guitar, but at least I know what each of the strings does. Five string bass may as well be some kind of alien being dropped from outer space.
 
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#342,146
Gaolee said:
The Jackson fiver got out in front of an audience on Saturday night for the first time. It badly needed a setup, which I did Friday night. It also got restrung with EBCFs, which I stupidly wound the wrong way on the pegs. Putting the G on first meant that it looked like they should go one way. I got to the B and it was pretty obvious it splays way out. Oh, well. It worked anyway. In the room, it sounded really good with those strings. It had a bright Precision sound to it that I wasn't expecting. There was plenty of low end. It doesn't sound especially active. No matter. It works. I'll probably do a bit more work on it and string it properly over the next week. There's still a bit of back-bow to the neck that needs to come out, and the intonation isn't quite right with the strings lowered like they are. Sometimes, you just run out of time and have to go with what you got.

I got all screwed up on the second half of Civil War because I got tangled up with the B string and kept defaulting to thinking it was a four in drop D. 40 or more years of playing four strings is pretty much imprinted. The fifth string keeps confusing me. My hands get lost at times, because the string I think is A, is really E, or sometimes D, and then everything goes sideways. It's quick enough to recover, but then the guitarist is looking at me like I just landed from Mars, which might actually be more true than not.
Click to expand...
That sounds like what happens when I play a 5:laugh:
 
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#342,148
dagrev said:
Glad I'm not the only one. I had a 5er for several years. Once I got used to it, it was not a problem. I picked up a 5er in a store a couple years ago and it might as well been a 7 1/2 stringer. I put it back before anyone got to thinking I was a drummer.
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I didn’t use my BEAD bass enough to get used to it so I sold it to avoid screwing up in public. Well, that and someone wanted a first bass. I converted it back to standard tuning. His wife was as excited as he was.
 
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#342,149
Miles_ONeal said:
I didn’t use my BEAD bass enough to get used to it so I sold it to avoid screwing up in public. Well, that and someone wanted a first bass. I converted it back to standard tuning. His wife was as excited as he was.
Click to expand...
My BEAD bass, with drop A...

1777953044656.jpeg
 
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#342,152
MF is showing the epi Inverness green is being discontinued and it’s been them on sale for $599

Epiphone Thunderbird '64 Bass -

Get the guaranteed best price on 4 String Electric Bass like the Epiphone Thunderbird '64 Bass - at Musician's Friend. Get a low price and free shipping on thousands of items.
www.musiciansfriend.com www.musiciansfriend.com
 
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#342,159
Lammchop93 said:
MF is showing the epi Inverness green is being discontinued and it’s been them on sale for $599

Epiphone Thunderbird '64 Bass -

Get the guaranteed best price on 4 String Electric Bass like the Epiphone Thunderbird '64 Bass - at Musician's Friend. Get a low price and free shipping on thousands of items.
www.musiciansfriend.com www.musiciansfriend.com
Click to expand...
Looks like some Embassies and Newports too. Sad to see that.
 
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