Thunderbird Club

[GBassNorth]

How does action height affect tone? I thought it would just be the distance from string to pickup, and a fretted note is a fretted note.

I think it's mostly in the pup to string clearance but there is some tone related to how hard you dig in, and a really low action might make it harder to dig in as much as a higher action. IMHE

 

[TheIndieKid]

Nah, I'd really like one of those lefty Jaguar basses from Japan.

Have you tried other brands' coated or equivalent strings? Something like this?La Bella Strings . Just saw D'Addario also has a coated string.

I haven't to be honest, as most of them are NPS, and they just tend to sound duller than stainless...not what a bass with two ma-hoosive humbuckers needs.

I love the Japanese basses. My Mustang has some LaBella MUS Deep Talkin' Flats and an Aero Pickup in it

 

[TheIndieKid]

They'll ship them to you. Don't know what the cost of shipping would be though.

I dread to think probably more than the strings themselves. Probably wind about the price of Elixirs and they are...what...$70 dollars in the US? Just a rough estimate...I always thought it was kind of multiply the price by 1.5x. They're about £45 here

 

[BklynKen]

I think it's mostly in the pup to string clearance but there is some tone related to how hard you dig in, and a really low action might make it harder to dig in as much as a higher action. IMHE

I still don't understand, since where you're digging in has nothing to do with the action on the neck.

 

[JIO]

How does action height affect tone? I thought it would just be the distance from string to pickup, and a fretted note is a fretted note.

Fingers affect tone regardless of variances

 

[kat888]

.

What kind of action do you guys prefer on your T-Birds, tonewise? Do you go for a low action so you can get a really heavy grind when you dig in, or do you like the growl from high action?

Action as low as it will go, pickup as high as it will go without the strings hitting it gives the right combination of grind and snarl. The gain on my amp is set at 7 (2 oclock if you prefer) and even with master right down has a pleasant amount of fur on it, without that buzzy overdriven preamp valve quality. I'm mainly a heavy pick player.

 

[JJR58]

It's gotta be the Italian in you!


I'm Italian too
I've never had strings die on me like that, but I usually wash my hands with dish soap before I pickup a bass.

I always do the same before I touch that poor bass, surprised I haven't destroyed the strings considering how much I've been practicing. Anyone ever need flats broken in real quick......

 

[GBassNorth]

As my luck would have it, they seem non existent in the UK.

Probably should just get a set of DR DDT's and clean them after playing like I'm trying to get rid of evidence from a murder scene.

Didn't realize you're in the UK. With that in mind (if you have a lot of pocket change available) the best coated strings I've found for longevity and deep thick tone are the Optima Golds. Yes, they are gold plated and they last a good long time (2 or 3 years for a weekly gigging and every other day practice bass in my case). But they are darn pricey! A five string set cost me $125USD and that was before the $25 shipping fee. Fortunately I can now get these here in the states from BassStringOnLine but that wasn't the case until just a couple of years ago. I've been thinking about putting a set on my Thunderbird, but it's the Gold Anniversary edition and I'm afraid adding gold strings to a bass with a gold body and gold hardware will bling it over the top.

All I'd need next is a big gold clock hung on a gold chain around my neck, some gold crowns on my teeth, gold rings on every finger, a few million bucks in my pocket and a half dozen half dressed gold digging strippers hanging all over me. Hmmm, this is sounding better by the minute!

 

[GBassNorth]

I still don't understand, since where you're digging in has nothing to do with the action on the neck.

How hard you dig in can determine if you're getting fret buzz or not. The lower the action and the harder the dig in the more likely you'll encounter fret buzz which impacts the tone of the bass. Or said another way, (exaggerated for effect) if you set your action as high as it can go you'll be able to yank and bang the heck out of those strings and not worry at all about fretting out vs setting your action as low as it will go and gently playing the strings so they don't fret out. The first way will have a much different attack and decay than the second way. But again, it's mostly in the pup to string clearance since most people wouldn't purposely set their action insanely high in the first place.

 

[BklynKen]

How hard you dig in can determine if you're getting fret buzz or not. The lower the action and the harder the dig in the more likely you'll encounter fret buzz which impacts the tone of the bass. Or said another way, (exaggerated for effect) if you set your action as high as it can go you'll be able to yank and bang the heck out of those strings and not worry at all about fretting out vs setting your actin as low as it will go and gently playing the strings so they don't fret out. The first way will have a much different attack and decay than the second way. But again, it's mostly in the pup to string clearance since most people wouldn't purposely set their action insanely high in the first place.

Oh, that I understand. I wasn't thinking of fret buzz as part of tone.

 

[GBassNorth]

Oh, that I understand. I wasn't thinking of fret buzz as part of tone.

Well that's kind of it (from an Entwistle perspective), but really it isn't the "fret buzz" that's changing the tone it's the act of changing your playing style to avoid the fret buzz that actually changes the tone. A light, soft touch will sound different than an aggressive hard yank or bang specifically in the attack and decay portions of the note, which will result in a slightly different overall tone. Then you can throw in Entwistle type fret buzz on top of that to further alter the tone.

 

[TheIndieKid]

Didn't realize you're in the UK. With that in mind (if you have a lot of pocket change available) the best coated strings I've found for longevity and deep thick tone are the Optima Golds. Yes, they are gold plated and they last a good long time (2 or 3 years for a weekly gigging and every other day practice bass in my case). But they are darn pricey! A five string set cost me $125USD and that was before the $25 shipping fee. Fortunately I can now get these here in the states from BassStringOnLine but that wasn't the case until just a couple of years ago. I've been thinking about putting a set on my Thunderbird, but it's the Gold Anniversary edition and I'm afraid adding gold strings to a bass with a gold body and gold hardware will bling it over the top.

All I'd need next is a big gold clock hung on a gold chain around my neck, some gold crowns on my teeth, gold rings on every finger, a few million bucks in my pocket and a half dozen half dressed gold digging strippers hanging all over me. Hmmm, this is sounding better by the minute!

I'll have a look at Optimas. Heard of them before but saw they were 105-50 and never looked again. I've heard they are really high tension?

 

[BassmanMetzger56]

Sooo, hypothetically of course, if I were to know someone who is looking to sell a 2013 NR Bird but who doesn't have a supporting membership here, would it be in poor taste (or against forum rules) to inquire here about potentially interested parties? Hypothetically speaking, naturally.

 

[kat888]

Oh, that I understand. I wasn't thinking of fret buzz as part of tone.

You should meet my old friend Rickenbacker.

 

[Gaolee]

What kind of action do you guys prefer on your T-Birds, tonewise? Do you go for a low action so you can get a really heavy grind when you dig in, or do you like the growl from high action?

Nowhere near as low as most here. I like a bit of height so bouncing the strings off of the pickkups or frets doesn't kill the sound. I'm mostly a finger player. Somehow, I could never get the speed or accuracy with a pick on a bass. The technique may be a bit different from most here, since I play upright and use a rockabilly slap technique regularly. Upright has a whole lot of clearance, relative, and that technique requires getting a bit of a finger pad hook under the string to get the snap. Dialing it back only goes so far, or maybe it is just genetic, kinda like JRR's alien finger acidity. Subtlety isn't an asset I have much of.

 

[veebass]

I have noticed rather a lot of flame in the mahogany neck of my new Les Paul Bass. The neck and back of the body appears to be untinted natural, so perhaps it is just more visible than with a dark tint. I have seen flame plenty of times in maple caps and maple necks/ fret boards, even the maple bodies of some Gibsons. I have never really noticed it in mahogany before.
I am not an expert on guitar making timbers. so I thought I would ask here, where we have people with plenty of mahogany experience.
Is this unusual or am I just seeing it because the neck is untinted?
It is quite beautiful but very difficult to photograph.

 

[TBird1958]

uuuuuuuHuhuh, i'm such a knob wobbler...........

Hillerup, thanks for some good tidbits of info there! So much appreciated. I'm gonna have to save that for future reference.
For the record, I solved most of the bass's issues and answered most of my own questions while just fiddling around with it last night - PO had the bridge a mile high, and yes lowering the front bolt of the bridge is what caused it to pop. Stable when bridge is set properly. Once bridge was down the neck settled into shape, I think with a little truss tweak it will be just fine. And with my new Bass Block 800 the tone is everything I'd hoped for. :boogie:

massively overrated stings in my opinion, got a set cheap(ish) after all the raving on here about them and did not like them at all. tension way too tight even for a heavy fingers player like me, and sound awfully dull even with a pick. roto ss 66 way better. ernie ball cobalts rounds way better aswell. daddario better too. i know people like to go for these more artisan brands, but the big brands are played by so many of the greats and there is a reason for it, they are great.

I dread to think probably more than the strings themselves. Probably wind about the price of Elixirs and they are...what...$70 dollars in the US? Just a rough estimate...I always thought it was kind of multiply the price by 1.5x. They're about £45 here

I don't want anybody to get lost in the ongoing conversation here, if any of you fine gentlemen would like to be on the club roster, let me know

Thanks, carry on!

 

[TheIndieKid]

I don't want anybody to get lost in the ongoing conversation here, if any of you fine gentlemen would like to be on the club roster, let me know

Thanks, carry on!

I'd like to TBird I'm sure I'd need to provide photo evidence of owning a TB but it's coming back tomorrow (woo hoo) so I'll take a photo.

 

[TBird1958]

I'd like to TBird I'm sure I'd need to provide photo evidence of owning a TB but it's coming back tomorrow (woo hoo) so I'll take a photo.

I'll look forward to it!

 

[kat888]

I always do the same before I touch that poor bass, surprised I haven't destroyed the strings considering how much I've been practicing. Anyone ever need flats broken in real quick......

Is this you Jeff? Acid sweat ain't the half of it!