Thunderbird Club

[ectoflanger]

Wow. I'm happy to be a bass player, not a guitarist! Sounds like way too much messing around. It's good that somebody does all that, but just reading it made my brain hurt. It's probably not so bad when you are doing it, though.

First off, thank you for reading it. So I was backed into a corner with no guitarists to trust, so I had to fend for myself- with that said, It made more than my brain hurt but I saved about 600 USD because the previous owner apparently got in over his head-

 

[ectoflanger]

"The Ripper" and "The Grabber" names were almost as good as "Hard Puncher" (P) and "Jazz Sounds" (J) by similar time period MIJ Tokai

I have a Grabber pickup and special mounting ring used to adapt it to the mid-80’s Gibson Explorer bass-

 

[Engle]

Which model Ampeg cab is that sitting on top?

SVT-210 The Classic cab with a piezo tweeter- although that's usually backed off.

 

[Engle]

what a killer looking rig......a far cry from the 7ender bass with the 7ender amp with the 7ender strings with the 7ender chord and the 7ender strap and the 7ender picks and don't forget the 7ender t-shirt (bless).... if I stumbled into a venue and saw that I would definitely stay to check out the act/bassist....

It's not often I play a venue where I can bring the big rig.

 

[Engle]

It was an unplanned purchase - trust me - I only had this sudden urge and the stork brought this to my door- one Charvel MJ San Dimas Style 1 HSS FR E. It was the ebony fretboard and gold hardware that got me, along with her Japanese pedigree- and a great price -

View attachment 7526963
View attachment 7526967
View attachment 7526964


Not that there weren't some birth pains as the previous owner had slapped a set of what I believe are 12's with the intended tuning down to C. But they lost their way and apparently gave up on it and sold it, given the pristine condition it and it's case came in-

The tuning was off so when I tried turning the Allen screw on the back of the low E position, the string came out. So I had one of my guitarist buddies stop by and school on the world of the Floyd Rose style of floating tremolo.

So when I got it, the Gotoh 1996T floating bridge was leaning forward with the heavy gauge strings, and when I installed a set of factory spec 9-42's, it leaned way backward. So we had to ease up the tension on the tremolo springs.

Then when I tuned to Drop D the low E when played open, would ring out, buzz temporarily, and ring out again. So I needed to add relief to the neck which I loosened the trussrod until the adjusting wheel at the base of the neck was spinning free. Still had some buzz, so I kept going counterclockwise until a 25 mm (.010) feeler gauge would slide under without touching. Still had some buzz so I loosened the strings (you're supposed to before raising a floating tremolo to avoid abrading the metal inside) and raised the bridge until I had a little more than 1.75 mm above the 12th fret.

Interesting that my Strat Ultra Plus has a 9-42 set has little less relief where the 25 mm gauge slightly touches the E string and the action is a little less than 1.25 mm at the 17th fret and does not buzz with that set up.

Measurement locations were per manufacturer's instructions.

Perhaps the differences were due to the Charvel having a 12-16 compound radius with 24 jumbo frets as opposed to the Strat Ultra's 9.25 inch radius and 22 medium jumbo frets.

View attachment 7526966

So the decision came when I realized that "Paradigms" would receive a heavier-handed approach with the tremolo than I had previously anticipated, which up to then had only gone as far as a series of gentle whole step dips from a D A D power chord to C G C to fade out from the song's intro into the first vocal verses.

But then I thought about the solo break and bridge that take on an increasingly more strident/angry tone, and then the coda as well-

And I didn't want to subject the standard Fender bridge on my Strat Ultra to that-

Besides the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge has a tone and attack more apropos to hard rock/melodic metal

So there you have it-

Nice! Wood being variable, you can't count on the same set up from neck to neck.

 

[JIO]

I have a Grabber pickup and special mounting ring used to adapt it to the mud-80’s Gibson Explorer bass-

Ex-Grabber? Grabsplorer?

 

[JIO]

It's not often I play a venue where I can bring the big rig.
View attachment 7527065

That looks like an unbanked velodrome!

 

[ectoflanger]

So - my disclaimer message is sometimes I have to go to the “Dark Side” to get demo recordings done-

If I were with a group of musicians who wanted to form a band and it came to “Who’s going to play bass?” I would be jumping up and down shouting “Me!!!”

But not all “egg-slicers” (what my Warwick bros call guitars) slingers are bad- Kim Mitchell for example-

 

[ectoflanger]

Ex-Grabber? Grabsplorer?

I think so- lol! I could send a pic if you like-

 

[JIO]

I think so- lol! I could send a pic if you like-

Players have been self-modding their guitars/basses since day 1. Many times their mods resulted in the industry following their lead. Adding a mud-bucker or Jazz pu to a P-bass was 'a thing' way before companies started introducing P/J's (Fender was late to the party) and for Fender, the 1970 Tele bass with a Seth Lover bucker hugging the neck heal! Hybrids create extraordinary instruments in the hands of someone who does it for a players sonic interest. Anyone can mash iconic genre's together - but the only ones that are legit are ones that do something different that is new and good beyond the initial concept both aesthetically and functionally.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It was an unplanned purchase - trust me - I only had this sudden urge and the stork brought this to my door- one Charvel MJ San Dimas Style 1 HSS FR E. It was the ebony fretboard and gold hardware that got me, along with her Japanese pedigree- and a great price -

View attachment 7526963
View attachment 7526967
View attachment 7526964


Not that there weren't some birth pains as the previous owner had slapped a set of what I believe are 12's with the intended tuning down to C. But they lost their way and apparently gave up on it and sold it, given the pristine condition it and it's case came in-

The tuning was off so when I tried turning the Allen screw on the back of the low E position, the string came out. So I had one of my guitarist buddies stop by and school on the world of the Floyd Rose style of floating tremolo.

So when I got it, the Gotoh 1996T floating bridge was leaning forward with the heavy gauge strings, and when I installed a set of factory spec 9-42's, it leaned way backward. So we had to ease up the tension on the tremolo springs.

Then when I tuned to Drop D the low E when played open, would ring out, buzz temporarily, and ring out again. So I needed to add relief to the neck which I loosened the trussrod until the adjusting wheel at the base of the neck was spinning free. Still had some buzz, so I kept going counterclockwise until a 25 mm (.010) feeler gauge would slide under without touching. Still had some buzz so I loosened the strings (you're supposed to before raising a floating tremolo to avoid abrading the metal inside) and raised the bridge until I had a little more than 1.75 mm above the 12th fret.

Interesting that my Strat Ultra Plus has a 9-42 set has little less relief where the 25 mm gauge slightly touches the E string and the action is a little less than 1.25 mm at the 17th fret and does not buzz with that set up.

Measurement locations were per manufacturer's instructions.

Perhaps the differences were due to the Charvel having a 12-16 compound radius with 24 jumbo frets as opposed to the Strat Ultra's 9.25 inch radius and 22 medium jumbo frets.

View attachment 7526966

So the decision came when I realized that "Paradigms" would receive a heavier-handed approach with the tremolo than I had previously anticipated, which up to then had only gone as far as a series of gentle whole step dips from a D A D power chord to C G C to fade out from the song's intro into the first vocal verses.

But then I thought about the solo break and bridge that take on an increasingly more strident/angry tone, and then the coda as well-

And I didn't want to subject the standard Fender bridge on my Strat Ultra to that-

Besides the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge has a tone and attack more apropos to hard rock/melodic metal

So there you have it-

Very cool!
But …
25mm is ~1in

 

[JIO]

It was an unplanned purchase - trust me - I only had this sudden urge and the stork brought this to my door- one Charvel MJ San Dimas Style 1 HSS FR E. It was the ebony fretboard and gold hardware that got me, along with her Japanese pedigree- and a great price -

View attachment 7526963
View attachment 7526967
View attachment 7526964


Not that there weren't some birth pains as the previous owner had slapped a set of what I believe are 12's with the intended tuning down to C. But they lost their way and apparently gave up on it and sold it, given the pristine condition it and it's case came in-

The tuning was off so when I tried turning the Allen screw on the back of the low E position, the string came out. So I had one of my guitarist buddies stop by and school on the world of the Floyd Rose style of floating tremolo.

So when I got it, the Gotoh 1996T floating bridge was leaning forward with the heavy gauge strings, and when I installed a set of factory spec 9-42's, it leaned way backward. So we had to ease up the tension on the tremolo springs.

Then when I tuned to Drop D the low E when played open, would ring out, buzz temporarily, and ring out again. So I needed to add relief to the neck which I loosened the trussrod until the adjusting wheel at the base of the neck was spinning free. Still had some buzz, so I kept going counterclockwise until a 25 mm (.010) feeler gauge would slide under without touching. Still had some buzz so I loosened the strings (you're supposed to before raising a floating tremolo to avoid abrading the metal inside) and raised the bridge until I had a little more than 1.75 mm above the 12th fret.

Interesting that my Strat Ultra Plus has a 9-42 set has little less relief where the 25 mm gauge slightly touches the E string and the action is a little less than 1.25 mm at the 17th fret and does not buzz with that set up.

Measurement locations were per manufacturer's instructions.

Perhaps the differences were due to the Charvel having a 12-16 compound radius with 24 jumbo frets as opposed to the Strat Ultra's 9.25 inch radius and 22 medium jumbo frets.

View attachment 7526966

So the decision came when I realized that "Paradigms" would receive a heavier-handed approach with the tremolo than I had previously anticipated, which up to then had only gone as far as a series of gentle whole step dips from a D A D power chord to C G C to fade out from the song's intro into the first vocal verses.

But then I thought about the solo break and bridge that take on an increasingly more strident/angry tone, and then the coda as well-

And I didn't want to subject the standard Fender bridge on my Strat Ultra to that-

Besides the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge has a tone and attack more apropos to hard rock/melodic metal

So there you have it-

Charvel has always been a respected brand

 

[TBird1958]

Something Cardinal Red approaches.

 

[JIO]

Something Cardinal Red approaches.

incoming Cardinal Red Object!

 

[TBird1958]

incoming Cardinal Red Object!

Transiting Moses Lake, WA., should be here on (Thunderbird) Thursday, coincidence? I think not!

 

[JIO]

 

[ectoflanger]

Very cool!
But …
25mm is ~1in

There's that brotherly love again - yes I forgot the decimal- should be 0.25 mm!

 

[GonePlaid]

It's not often I play a venue where I can bring the big rig.
View attachment 7527065

Where are you?

 

[GonePlaid]

Something Cardinal Red approaches.

From St. Louis?

 

[GonePlaid]

There's that brotherly love again - yes I forgot the decimal- should be 0.25 mm!

He's 'pointing' you in the right direction.