Thunderbird Club

[Dadagoboi]

Hmmm, I’ll put these on my list. Do the RS66 nickel not sound like they used to?

Not to me. The last set I bought had blue silk on one end. IMO they didn't sound right. Then I tried a set of Ken Smith Bass Burners and was sold.

I wanted to use them as my stock Cataldo string so I called them to see how much they would be by the dozen. No discount, cheaper to buy them from Just Strings. So I just stuck with DAD EXLs.

The set of KS on Kat's bass were literally 5 years old and had already been on a few of my TBirds. They still sounded good so I sent it out with them.

 

[RedVee]

I betcha didn't see that one commin!
Don't know about you, but I'd be all over that person with the Probe, I sure wouldn't take it sitting down!

Seriously, quite some time ago I think I read that nearly 75% of the buyers of the Ford Probe were female. Marketing, go figure.

It was supposed to be all high tech sounding wasn't it? Space Probe etc
Ok that sounds a bit wrong also.

All this probe talk reminds me...
I had a gastrocopy & colonoscopy yesterday. Dr wants to move me up from 2.5 & 5 year cycles to 3 & 3 years now.
Had a polyp taken for testing. Never had that before. Will find out in a couple of weeks but not expecting anything bad.

 

[RedVee]

I remember the days when a 5c mixture would buy a decent sized bag of lollies.

5c was a decent coin. I used to catch the bus to the local pool for 5c (each way), a bag of hot chips (in the newspaper) to eat while waiting for, and on, the bus home was another 5c at one of two shops. Then one shop put their chips up to 10c! The horror! We stuck with the 5c chip shop of course.

 

[kat888]

Not to me. The last set I bought had blue silk on one end. IMO they didn't sound right. Then I tried a set of Ken Smith Bass Burners and was sold.

Oh, it was the RS66 nickels ... for some reason I was thinking you were talking about the SS strings.

 

[theFixer]

So I'm exploring the matter of strings for my Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV Pro at the moment.

It seems every bassist using a Thunderbird ever played with Rotosound Swing 66s. I've had a few bad experiences with Rotosounds, as they seem to die quick on me. I've been looking at D'Addario Pro Steels but they aren't offered in balanced tension. D'Addario have balanced NPS sets but I was wondering if the NPS would really make much of a difference gone wise, compared to Stainless Steel. What's your thoughts on strings choice for your Thunderbirds? Do you like flats on them?

I too, am among those who've never tried RS66s (in fairness though... I've only been playing bass for a few months). Generally, I'm not a fan of NPS (nickel plated steel). They're not particularly bright, nor dark. IMHO, and with rare exception... if you've played one NPS string... you've played 'em all. They tend to "die" more quickly than stainless, and they typically seem to produce a lighter signal. My experience comes from years of guitar playing, during which time, it was fairly common to have the nickel plating come off. I have no reason to believe it would be any different on bass. I've fallen in love with DR Hi-Beams. Pure stainless that stays bright, and lasts a long time. They also have a smoother feel, and allow for a lighter touch. The Thunderbird is an inherently dark sounding bass, so there's plenty of room for the brightness of the stainless, without being too "toppy".

 

[Gaolee]

Hmmm, I’ll put these on my list. Do the RS66 nickel not sound like they used to?

That description caused me to go to Bass Strings Online and order up a set to try. I'm not sure which one they will go on just yet.

 

[Gaolee]

Burnt orange-ish. Bright but also warm with a nice caramel base.

Makes perfect sense to me. Not particularly shiny, then.

 

[Gaolee]

It was supposed to be all high tech sounding wasn't it? Space Probe etc
Ok that sounds a bit wrong also.

All this probe talk reminds me...
I had a gastrocopy & colonoscopy yesterday. Dr wants to move me up from 2.5 & 5 year cycles to 3 & 3 years now.
Had a polyp taken for testing. Never had that before. Will find out in a couple of weeks but not expecting anything bad.

Way too much information!

And even more too much information - I started waking up in the middle of one of those procedures. Not so good. And, that's all for now.

 

[Dadagoboi]

Oh, it was the RS66 nickels ... for some reason I was thinking you were talking about the SS strings.

Rotosound didn't make stainless rounds until the competition forced them to. Who needs them if you change strings every gig, which Entwistle did (or rather his techs)? From my experience all the other Roto endorsers got plenty of sets to allow them to change whenever they wanted.

I don't like stainless rounds, too much friction compared to nickel. SS Flats are fine. IMO,YMMV.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

I too, am among those who've never tried RS66s (in fairness though... I've only been playing bass for a few months). Generally, I'm not a fan of NPS (nickel plated steel). They're not particularly bright, nor dark. IMHO, and with rare exception... if you've played one NPS string... you've played 'em all. They tend to "die" more quickly than stainless, and they typically seem to produce a lighter signal. My experience comes from years of guitar playing, during which time, it was fairly common to have the nickel plating come off. I have no reason to believe it would be any different on bass. I've fallen in love with DR Hi-Beams. Pure stainless that stays bright, and lasts a long time. They also have a smoother feel, and allow for a lighter touch. The Thunderbird is an inherently dark sounding bass, so there's plenty of room for the brightness of the stainless, without being too "toppy".

I've never had Nickel plating fall off on a bass string and I had a set that were roughly 7 years old on a bass.
And haven't had a SS string that was smoother feeling than Nickel (not including flats, pressure wounds, etc.)
Doesn't mean they're all like that but that's just my experience.

 

[BklynKen]

Rotosound didn't make stainless rounds until the competition forced them to. Who needs them if you change strings every gig, which Entwistle did (or rather his techs)? From my experience all the other Roto endorsers got plenty of sets to allow them to change whenever they wanted.

I don't like stainless rounds, too much friction compared to nickel. SS Flats are fine. IMO,YMMV.

Best argument I've heard for SS is people who are allergic to nickel. But now I'd really like to try the KS.

 

[Dadagoboi]

That description caused me to go to Bass Strings Online and order up a set to try. I'm not sure which one they will go on just yet.

Look forward to hearing your opinion.

 

[Dadagoboi]

I've never had Nickel plating fall off on a bass string and I had a set that were roughly 7 years old on a bass.
And haven't had a SS string that was smoother feeling than Nickel (not including flats, pressure wounds, etc.)
Doesn't mean they're all like that but that's just my experience.

Same here.

Nickel is electroplated on strings. I've never had nickel 'fall off' anything. Wear off, yes.

 

[PillO]

Can't go wrong with Sabbathy.

Proving you either right or wrong:

 

[GBassNorth]

Same here.

Nickel is electroplated on strings. I've never had nickel 'fall off' anything. Wear off, yes.

Ditto

 

[Count Bassie]

Proving you either right or wrong:

Fun!

 

[rxdiablo]

I had my right-hand middle finger reattached by Dr. Hacker. Not kidding.

It wasn't completely cut off but enough that when I got up off the ice(playing hockey) I had to hold the tip to the first knuckle on with my left hand.

Producer we worked with a couple records ago was recovering from a vasectomy at the time. He kept the card of the doctor that performed it, because the name was too good to be true- Richard Chopp.

Yes, his vasectomy was performed by Dr. Dick Chopp.

 

[SturmUndDrang]

Not to me. The last set I bought had blue silk on one end. IMO they didn't sound right. Then I tried a set of Ken Smith Bass Burners and was sold.

I wanted to use them as my stock Cataldo string so I called them to see how much they would be by the dozen. No discount, cheaper to buy them from Just Strings. So I just stuck with DAD EXLs.

The set of KS on Kat's bass were literally 5 years old and had already been on a few of my TBirds. They still sounded good so I sent it out with them.

FYI, Ken Smith strings are wound by GHS. Burners are boomers, slick rounds are brite flats, compressors are pressure wounds and rock masters are super steels.

 

[DerekW]

FYI, Ken Smith strings are wound by GHS. Burners are boomers, slick rounds are brite flats, compressors are pressure wounds and rock masters are super steels.

Now, do you know that they are in fact identical, or is it possible that Ken Smith tweaks them to their own specs?

 

[SturmUndDrang]

View attachment 2612258


Now, do you know that they are in fact identical, or is it possible that Ken Smith tweaks them to their own specs?

I don't know for a fact and anything is possible but my instinct tells me it's more likely they just put different silks on the same strings. The winding length of the KS are longer but the gauges of most of the strings correlate to GHS.