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Thunderbird Club

#34,801
rxdiablo said:
I'm with Sartori- tube power section makes the difference for me. I can't remember where I first heard of preamp tubes being called "excuse tubes" but it rings pretty accurate to me, on bass anyway. In a micro head they add a modicum of warmth, but a dimed tube power section is something special.

I love GK gear for its depth and immediacy. I love tube gear for it's huge, deep, low end. Tube pre into GK sounds fizzy to my ear, so try before you buy! I honestly prefer the VT Bass into the GK if you're after a "tube-ier" sound! But I don't think there is really a great tube amp sound without some literal heavy lifting...

Of course I don't own a Thunderbird. But I do own Cataldo number fifty, so I'm in the neighborhood. And it's a glorious neighborhood!
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Yeah, in my experience, hybrids with a tube pre and SS power don't sound much like tube amps, whereas an SS pre into tube power section does. I've run the pre of my Sunn Concert Lead into the power amp of my Mesa D-180 and it sounds great.

theFixer said:
... and somebody was just throwin' it away???
... and it works???

CrAzY!!!:wacky:
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Some people really are philistines.

GBassNorth said:
So what's the secret signal chain to get that true upright sound? I've tried many things but in the end I just gave up on the upright because I didn't feel I could amp it with any realistic sounding elevated output. I've had the same problem to a lesser degree with my AE Basses and the Kala Uke bass. I can get them to sound good but not like they sound when unplugged.
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Might be a nature of the beast thing.

And here I am trying to get a magnetic pickup for my upright, which will sound even less upright-ish, so that it won't feed back as much with overdrive.
 
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#34,803
kat888 said:
Thought a Manics (with Flying V) video from the least Manics sounding album was probably a bit of a bridge too far. James Dean Bradfield is sometimes called 'the Welsh Slash' but you wouldn't know it from that clip. Or this one:

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Welsh Slash? I thought that was something that happened late on a Friday night against a pillar box after a night in the pub :roflmao:
 
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#34,812
theFixer said:
Oh, it's exactly what I want. Unfortunately, it's designed to work in a MoMark Module, and won't function as a stand alone unit:rollno:
Oh well. It's not that big of a deal. I mean... my worst case scenario is, I'm "stuck" listening to a stock GK! I can live with that:):thumbsup:
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Like I said, to me, an SS pre into a tube power amp sounds more like an all tube amp than a tube pre into an SS power amp does.
 
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#34,817
[QUOTE="TBird1958
Lovely '64! A real piece of history there, very cool. I'm curious what your two basses weigh, since you say the '76 is heavier, that white is to die for, I love it! drool But, I digress, please do be welcome here too, you're #659. Hang out with us! QUOTE]

Thanks. I always wanted a white one. Also a rare '64 blue frost from a guy I bought the white one from. It was in his personal collection--but Geddy Lee sprang enough cash to make it worthwhile to sell. WAY more than I would have been able to go!

Anyway, the '76 was finished up in '77 and is actually a "second" as stamped on the back of the headstock. I assume they had an issue with it and set it aside for a while and decided to finish it and get it out the door. Other than wear from age, I can't be sure what would cause the "second" marking. It's not contoured on the back or as thin as my '64, so possibly that had something to do with it. But it literally sounds exactly like the '64. Hard to believe I know. But blindfolded I can't tell the difference. Really amazing. But you know from the weight! I've never weighed them, but given what others I have weigh I'm guessing the '64 is around 8lbs and the '76/7 has to be 10--maybe 11lbs.
 
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#34,820
JKydd said:
It was my second bass build. I was inspiered by the mayones patriot mr but the rest of my basses are all jazz style bodies so I wanted to change it up. I have a friend who loves T-birds so I sketched out a design and loved it.

I've linked to it in another post but here's the build lot for it:

And the first bass I built too:
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Nice looking pieces there! Love a unique, attractive bass, those rate.
 
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