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Thunderbird Club

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.

Did you start as an orchestral player? Cello is my primary instrument, and from what you say we like much of the same setup and string arrangement. I've always figured orchestral learning is why I dig higher action and beat the crap out of my strings! I do play with a pick as much as finger style, but usually on songs where I'm looking for a really sharp attack. Usually use 1.9mm picks at the thinnest, so they keep that edge to the sound and don't flex. I find I play hard enough that flats are plenty bright, and lots of rounds turn into a tinny mess!
 
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?

These days, I'll take any kind of action I can get. Down low, from behind, whatever is on offer. And when I dig in growls or screams from both of us. The G Strings I can take either way - light or heavy; I'm not picky.


Which is all to say, not high, but not low either. Somewhere in the middle.
 
@kat888 I think you'll appreciate this.

So I come home from work and I can here music blaring in the background behind my house, there's about 50 acres behind my house so it had to have been loud. So for poop and snickers I setup my amp facing out the back door, and put it on FULL POWER 465 watts of KT88's. Had the gain set to 1 o'clock and even had the master up to 9:30, didn't kick on the solo though (a bass amp with a solo switch!). 20 minutes later, no more music :roflmao::roflmao:
 
@kat888 I think you'll appreciate this.

So I come home from work and I can here music blaring in the background behind my house, there's about 50 acres behind my house so it had to have been loud. So for poop and snickers I setup my amp facing out the back door, and put it on FULL POWER 465 watts of KT88's. Had the gain set to 1 o'clock and even had the master up to 9:30, didn't kick on the solo though (a bass amp with a solo switch!). 20 minutes later, no more music :roflmao::roflmao:

DEAFCON 465!
 
@kat888 I think you'll appreciate this.

So I come home from work and I can here music blaring in the background behind my house, there's about 50 acres behind my house so it had to have been loud. So for poop and snickers I setup my amp facing out the back door, and put it on FULL POWER 465 watts of KT88's. Had the gain set to 1 o'clock and even had the master up to 9:30, didn't kick on the solo though (a bass amp with a solo switch!). 20 minutes later, no more music :roflmao::roflmao:
What amp do you have?
 
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These days, I'll take any kind of action I can get. Down low, from behind, whatever is on offer. And when I dig in growls or screams from both of us. The G Strings I can take either way - light or heavy; I'm not picky.


Which is all to say, not high, but not low either. Somewhere in the middle.



Yeah, ummmmmmmmmmmmmm..........


I'm over here toweling off after reading this. :laugh:
 
Did you start as an orchestral player? Cello is my primary instrument, and from what you say we like much of the same setup and string arrangement. I've always figured orchestral learning is why I dig higher action and beat the crap out of my strings! I do play with a pick as much as finger style, but usually on songs where I'm looking for a really sharp attack. Usually use 1.9mm picks at the thinnest, so they keep that edge to the sound and don't flex. I find I play hard enough that flats are plenty bright, and lots of rounds turn into a tinny mess!
No, I didn't. I started on piano but am completely self-taught on anything with strings (other than the piano which has strings but isn't really a string instrument). I can still read music up to a point on piano, but I'm functionally illiterate when it comes to reading music on bass or guitar.

The thing that's a little different, perhaps, is that the first two fingers of my right hand have caloused hooks on them from snapping the upright's strings. That makes for a pretty hard attack on bass guitar as well.

Another anomaly is that I read music slowly but OK on drums. Go figure.