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Thunderbird Club

#40,901
Dr_Feelgoood212 said:
Get your $#!+ together Guitar Center
Someone got a great deal bringing their bass to GC
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Sad thing is, that same store has a real 76 TBird
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JIO said:
It is odd though - as it looks to be Korina. Did Gibson ever produce a Korina T-bird?
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That's a natural finish Post '88, it's mahogany and walnut. If you check THE GIBSON BASS BOOK you'll see a one off Korina Thunderbird that has a Bound, Blocked neck - Way cool! Gibson made it for Francis Bucholz of The Scorpions...... Uwe owns it now.
 
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#40,902
JIO said:
I try not to be cynical - it's kind of an epidemic now and leads to suspecting everything of being a scam. GC is a reputable business, and as a policy would not deceive their consumers. In any huge business (human error) mistakes are common and not malicious. This looks to be the case here.
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I would generally agree with that statement but I just don't trust their luthiers. Their Flint, MI guy took a gouge of wood out of the control cavity perimeter of my first Studio V and denied they had done it. They could see I was pissed and didn't charge me for replacing the jack but that hardly made up for it since the gouge was permanent and I could give a flying f&^% about the $20 or $25 they ate on the repair. They should've called me, apologized and dealt with me honestly. There was no way a luthier wouldn't have known he had gouged the finish with a screwdriver slip. It would've been an oh sh&^ moment for anyone.
 
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#40,903
JIO said:
I try not to be cynical - it's kind of an epidemic now and leads to suspecting everything of being a scam. GC is a reputable business, and as a policy would not deceive their consumers. In any huge business (human error) mistakes are common and not malicious. This looks to be the case here.
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The trouble with being a cynic is that the predictive power is so good that it is hard to be otherwise.
 
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#40,904
Larry V said:
I would generally agree with that statement but I just don't trust their luthiers. Their Flint, MI guy took a gouge of wood out of the control cavity perimeter of my first Studio V and denied they had done it. They could see I was pissed and didn't charge me for replacing the jack but that hardly made up for it since the gouge was permanent and I could give a flying f&^% about the $20 or $25 they ate on the repair. They should've called me, apologized and dealt with me honestly. There was no way a luthier wouldn't have known he had gouged the finish with a screwdriver slip. It would've been an oh sh&^ moment for anyone.
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Well, in that isolated case that specific guy made the wrong decision. PR is very important to a company that size and there are channels one can take to let his boss know how you felt. I just dealt with something similar w/a company that sells cycling clothing and they ended up sending me 2 free (over $100 each) pr of bib-shorts of my choice. My issue was with their (different model) short chamois design that I bought (same price as the ones sent) which caused irritation. At first they tried to appease me by offering a discount on my next purchase until I pointed out there would not only not be a next purchase but if anyone asked I would let them know I was not happy with their company. The next email was their free shorts offer and all was good. New shorts arrived, no issues and I thanked them for going the extra mile. It took making my case quietly but firmly, and letting them know that word-of-mouth (needless to say - via the internet) goes a long way to not being good for their 'image'. A good company will deal with you if you remain calm, and after that if not - I never buy anything from them again.
 
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#40,905
PillO said:
The trouble with being a cynic is that the predictive power is so good that it is hard to be otherwise.
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I strive to hold opinion until all the facts are in - it's difficult at times but saves a lot of waisted energy.
 
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#40,906
@JIO , unfortunately I had the store manager there backing up his luthier and it would've needed to be escalated and sad to say, they are my only close music store. Escalation would've meant I'd need to start calling people liars and going to corporate where they might've just told me to take a hike. There'd be no place to hike to. :rolleyes:
 
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#40,909
Larry V said:
@JIO , unfortunately I had the store manager there backing up his luthier and it would've needed to be escalated and sad to say, they are my only close music store. Escalation would've meant I'd need to start calling people liars and going to corporate where they might've just told me to take a hike. There'd be no place to hike to. :rolleyes:
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That sucks Larry - but frankly GC is bigger than each store and "going to corporate" shouldn't be as daunting as it sounds - you never know if you aren't the first to have an issue with either of those two guys. 'corporate' has a PR department and I can imagine they keep track of legitimate consumer concerns related to one of their stores. If there is nothing negative in that individual stores history, it may be harder to get them to address your issue. I mean, you know there are cases from the other side of the coin with unreasonable consumer concerns or someone trying to scam "the corporation". Trust me - I am no apologist for corporations (as in, "they are not people, my friend") but human nature being what it is also includes 'those-who-scam' across the board. As long as you have before and after pics, or any other documents of the issue (emails, dates when talking to the manager etc) and present it calmly and clearly - there is a chance it can be resolved to your satisfaction.
 
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#40,910
Gaolee said:
The moral of this story is to be a cheerful pessimist. Being a pessimist means you are pleasantly surprised a whole lot more than you are disappointed. That's the pathological optimist's take on how to be happy all the time by being a pessimist.

Follow?
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I consider myself a realist - and aim to move through the world positively
 
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#40,918
kat888 said:
Just had a little post-porridge, pre-tea fiddle with the VT Bass DI (it's the quiet end of the day).

Maybe it doesn't like TBirds, but there's no level of discernible Drive on the thing that sounds like an overdriven valve amp. If it were a wine, it would have distinct flavours of chainsaw with hints of farty. It probably sounds great with a Jazz ... and therein lies my lesson.
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It is stupid question time, with regards to metaphors used to describe bass tones. When it comes to guitars, I get terms such as chime (e.g., Ric 6 or 12 string and/or VOX with Celestion blue), twang (i.e., Tele) or crunch (i.e., overdriven amp). But with bass, I find it much harder to understand descriptors such as: farty, clank, nasal, chainsaw, etc. Can anyone school me on this?
 
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#40,920
Stevis said:
It is stupid question time, with regards to metaphors used to describe bass tones. When it comes to guitars, I get terms such as chime (e.g., Ric 6 or 12 string and/or VOX with Celestion blue), twang (i.e., Tele) or crunch (i.e., overdriven amp). But with bass, I find it much harder to understand descriptors such as: farty, clank, nasal, chainsaw, etc. Can anyone school me on this?
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Not stupid... and always the right thing, to ask anyway...

Farty: What you get with a lot of woofer, lot of lows, pushed a little too hard. Or a lot. Often associated with smaller combo amps, or an Ampeg BR head, in a rock setting.
Clank: A metally sound that might be associated with stainless rounds, lots of treble and upper mids. Think roundwounds whacking into a metal pickup cover...
Nasal: Jaco wannabees playing back at the bridge, neck p'up at less gain than the bridge p'up. (See "Honk", or speak to @GBassNorth about Jazz Basses).
Chainsaw: Hmm. Overdriven with a lot of mids, producing a non-fuzz, non-dirt kind of distortion. Overbearing, aggressive sounding. I'm thinking Motorhead, say, "Speedfreak" or "No Class"...
Edit: Chainsaw- Bass line intro to "Lounge Act" by Chris Novoselic. Milder than "Speedfreak", but in the ballpark.
 
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