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Thunderbird Club

And to theFixer, the Red album you have as your thumbnail has THE best bass sound I've ever encountered!But I'm sure you already know that!
Hail Mel !!!!
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Thank you for the replies......
Huh, well I guess I may have solved my own problem! I guess the active electronics are just too hot. I turned the bass boost all the way down on the bass, and brought my bass level down on the amp, and its not making that noise. It's not a chorus sound after all, it was almost like an octave down kind of effect.
Now I just have to figure out if I like this bass enough to keep it. I had a goth Tbird and I loved it. This one is a beauty, but just not the sound I'm looking for.

Hot? Not my experience at all. I ripped out the stock pickups/electronics and replaced with passive pickups wired V-V (and a fair bit of chrome). It's much improved.

 
Thank you for the replies......
Huh, well I guess I may have solved my own problem! I guess the active electronics are just too hot. I turned the bass boost all the way down on the bass, and brought my bass level down on the amp, and its not making that noise. It's not a chorus sound after all, it was almost like an octave down kind of effect.
Now I just have to figure out if I like this bass enough to keep it. I had a goth Tbird and I loved it. This one is a beauty, but just not the sound I'm looking for.

The rumbles are very bass forward, I. Ever have the bass eq knob above 10:00.
 
@theFixer

Those are 'Chinabuckers' from EY Guitar Parts @ USD39.00 each (that's @Dadagoboi you can hear snort in the background).

They were a big improvement over the Epi PRO IV stock pups but don't hold a candle to the Thunderbuckers. That bass is either going to end up with a single Thunderbucker ... or sold, depending on how much of a fuss him indoors kicks up about the acquisition of a Vintage Pro.
 
What's everyone using for strap locks?I have a pair of these cheap dunlop guys I got for $1 each at my local shop but they feel like they could break at any moment.
View attachment 1170948

I use Dunlop Dual Design straplocks on most of mine. A couple have Schaller but I am not a big fan of those. Two of the Schaller connectors came apart on me so I just don't trust them. Never had any issues with the Dunlop. You will however hear from the Schaller camp saying how much they love them. Different strokes and all. As long as you feel they are secure then use whatever works for you. I wouldn't trust the version in the image you posted. Those never felt right to me.

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@theFixer

Those are 'Chinabuckers' from EY Guitar Parts @ USD39.00 each (that's @Dadagoboi you can hear snort in the background).

They were a big improvement over the Epi PRO IV stock pups but don't hold a candle to the Thunderbuckers. That bass is either going to end up with a single Thunderbucker ... or sold, depending on how much of a fuss him indoors kicks up about the acquisition of a Vintage Pro.
That chrome looks amazing on there! I'm surprised (though I suppose I shouldn't be) to learn that you can buy "Chinabuckers" complete with chrome-ware.
 
So what is the final verdict on the chinabuckers?
I've got a Dillion Bird that plays nice, but I'd like to swap out the pickups. It's got emg 35 size pups in it now, and I'd like to replace them, but not willing to spend a ton on it. And would like to chrome it out.
I own a dremel, and blissful ignorance regarding my lack of woodworking skills... plus you can get the pickup rings to cover my mistakes, lol

The chinabuckers were a "thing" for a while, but no one talks about them much anymore.

So who has them and really likes them? And do they pull of a reasonable facsimile of a thunderbird?
 
Thank you for the replies......
Huh, well I guess I may have solved my own problem! I guess the active electronics are just too hot. I turned the bass boost all the way down on the bass, and brought my bass level down on the amp, and its not making that noise. It's not a chorus sound after all, it was almost like an octave down kind of effect.
Now I just have to figure out if I like this bass enough to keep it. I had a goth Tbird and I loved it. This one is a beauty, but just not the sound I'm looking for.
You could keep the look and give it the sound you love.
 
So what is the final verdict on the chinabuckers?
I've got a Dillion Bird that plays nice, but I'd like to swap out the pickups. It's got emg 35 size pups in it now, and I'd like to replace them, but not willing to spend a ton on it. And would like to chrome it out.
I own a dremel, and blissful ignorance regarding my lack of woodworking skills... plus you can get the pickup rings to cover my mistakes, lol

The chinabuckers were a "thing" for a while, but no one talks about them much anymore.

So who has them and really likes them? And do they pull of a reasonable facsimile of a thunderbird?
Interested also.

Did we ever find out if the Vintage will be wearing Chinabuckers as stock fitment?

Also @DerekW only the other day (so possibly 10 pages back!) I tried to list the replacement pickups people use. May give you some to look at. Also, please add to it if you know of others.
 
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@theFixer

Those are 'Chinabuckers' from EY Guitar Parts @ USD39.00 each (that's @Dadagoboi you can hear snort in the background).

They were a big improvement over the Epi PRO IV stock pups but don't hold a candle to the Thunderbuckers. That bass is either going to end up with a single Thunderbucker ... or sold, depending on how much of a fuss him indoors kicks up about the acquisition of a Vintage Pro.
If him inside gives you a hard time, I'll line up my flock and send you a photo. Then you will be able to say that you are being very restrained by ONLY getting one more. And then the next thing is to show him some of the pictures of Mark's vast flock. I'm a complete piker by comparison.

I gotta say, a 'Bird looks pretty good in the tropical plants. It's a 'Bird of Paradise kind of thing.
 
AlumiBird alert!




That Warmoth body............
Look where the heel of the neck is, you'd have to have some really long arms to play that bass. The Warmoth guys were at a Seattle GTG 5-6 years back and I remember them saying they ought to re-do that body for that reason. Gibson rattled the saber not long after and they quit making it.
 
Wait... so you're a stoner/doom guy who occasionally plays upright with overdrive and other effects? Bro, so you have anywhere I can listen to your stuff? It all sounds right up my alley.
My amp is always overdriven, even when I'm playing "clean-ish." The cleanest I get is a slight amount of "hair."

There's a link to Catapult's first album in my signature. Bass isn't that audible in it, unfortunately. Things are better on the second album, which will be released in a few months.

Being pretty much exclusively a pick guy, myself, I can't really see what's so offensive about his right hand technique. I thought with electric bass playing, there are no hard and fast rules regarding technique. Especially, when you consider that Leo Fender originally put the wooden rest below the strings thinking that that bassists would play the Precision with their thumb.
Plus, if you'd never heard of James Jamerson and saw a video of him plucking with one finger, that could definitely be construed as questionable technique!
His right wrist is bent at nearly a 90 degree angle, which is quite frankly awful technique.

I think it's more about his "distorted" positioning. Usually you should keep your arm as straight as possible playing finger style.
Exactly.

Though I agree that his right hand looks awkward and unnatural... it's an inappropriate stretch to call it "wrong" or "horrible" or what have you. You have to consider that he may have a medical condition, or the possibility that he could be self-taught and had no resources available to teach him otherwise. We could speculate all day long, but it would be a complete waste of time. Whatever his story is... he's sitting in a professional studio, surrounded by vintage basses that he's been asked to play. Whatever he's doing' seems to be working for him! Once again... each of us have the power to click on it & make it stop. It's one thing to criticize the tone of each bass (that's why the video was made). To criticize the player's techinique is something else entirely. I'm sure there have been other videos made for that.:thumbsup:
I can criticize his technique if I damn well please. And in turn, people can criticize my technique, too.

His right hand technique is goddamn awful.

Besides which, he makes at least a couple basses sound like utter crap when in my experience they're capable of sounding amazing.

Just because he's more successful than I am doesn't make him immune from criticism or take away my ability to make it.

Lemmy played a Ric... but of course he deserves a home here among us:cool:
He mainly played Rickenbackers, but also played T-birds occasionally.

...somewhat like myself. Except I'm nowhere near a fraction as cool as Lemmy.

What's everyone using for strap locks?I have a pair of these cheap dunlop guys I got for $1 each at my local shop but they feel like they could break at any moment.
View attachment 1170948
I don't use any on my T-bird. The stock strap button is wide enough that I don't think the strap's coming off.

On my Rickenbackers I use Schallers.