Thunderbird Club

[ThunderFox]

Non-bolt on. Just generally a higher end model

Thought that too, but some glued and neck throughs aren't called Pro basses, like the Viola bass, the Explorer bass and the EB-3.

It maybe just a marketing ploy though to get people to buy them, but I still wanna see if there is a connection between them. Now I do sound like a conspiricy therorist, ha ha.

 

[ThunderFox]

Practical question, as A Thunderbird will not politely lean up against a bass amp, what are the best small portable stands to use with one of these creatures. Whatcha got?

I have a cheap unbranded stand at home I got from a supermarket for about £8 that I have put my T-Bird on, the fork it rests on pivots to accompany funny shaped guitars, I guess most that do have forks on them do if this one does.

 

[dieselman]

Happy Birthday! I'm a little late to the Party!

 

[Haji]

Concert Report

Some of you may know that I went to see Alice Cooper and Deep Purple this evening.

We were a surprised when we thought Alice Cooper was starting early, but we were mistaken. It was not a zombie on stage, but rather Edgar Winter. They opened with Free Ride, then you had to sit through the set of cover tunes and jams until they played the other song that you wanted to hear; Frankenstein.

Alice was awesome and stole the show. A crowded stage - Alice, drums, bass, and 3 guitars. BIRD SIGHTING. The bass player brought out a `bird for Poison, Cold Ethyl, and School's Out. Evil Nurses, Frankenstein, a beheading. What's not to love?

Deep Purple was a little disappointing. It seemed like there were some technical difficulties. For the first couple of songs, the vocals were very low in the mix and the video screen did not work for the first few songs. They seem to have organized themselves around keyboards. There was a long keyboard/organ solo in everything and the role of the keyboard was always front and centre - even in Smoke on the Water. Interesting, Steve Morse still uses a cord. Everyone else (across all three bands) is wireless.

Unless something changed recently, Alice's bassist is Chuck Garric. Here in Nashville on most Tuesdays at Mercy Lounge there is a show called Thee Rock and Roll Residency. Essentially it's a house band that is WELL connected and has lots of friends (Derek St. Holmes, Eric Brittingham, Ron Keel, Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger, and many more have sat in). They invited Chuck and another guy who's name I don't remember to do Killed By Death and Ace of Spades. Chuck has a killer rock voice, too. That was a few weeks ago. I need job change; this 2nd shift thing is really suckin'. I have Tues off this week so I'm making plans to go again this week.

 

[Haji]

Tell me if any of you have had this happen before.
4-5 days ago... I set my Thunderbird back in the stand, & everything was fine. I picked it up yesterday, & the third fret is so bad, that I get a choked out buzzy A# off the second fret on the G string, and the D string (though still usable), as picked up a buzz on the second & third frets! It's in a climate controlled room, isolated from cats & dogs. It hadn't been bumped or touched in any way for 3 or 4 days. With the naked eye, I can't see any abnormalities with the fret or fretboard. I'm at a loss

My epi TBIV did that. Slight truss rod adjustment fixed it.

 

[JJR58]

Red strings? Funky! This is about as red as I go.

View attachment 2743969

I think that's as about as red as you can get.

 

[JJR58]

Happy Birthday! I'm a little late to the Party!

The party is always going on here Diesel.

 

[BklynKen]

Hey @kat888: New Darkglass that's a slimmed down Alpha Omega, without the extra controls. It will be a lot cheaper.

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[theFixer]

I not too bothered about it that much, just wondered what made a bass a 'pro' bass.

Again, The Embassy Pro has no lower model, it's the only current variation, and the Gothic Thunderbird is a variation of the original, that has no Pro Suffix... plus the new Vintage Pro Thunderbird doesn't have active pickups or Gibson pickups, they have Epiphone made pickups, so it's not that either... but I think you answered my questioning of the Allen Woody and the Jack Casady not being Pro though, thanks for that.

You're nothing if not thorough

 

[ThunderFox]

You're nothing if not thorough

I always try to be!

 

[JIO]

I always try to be!

I think "Pro" is simply a marketing device used to have 2 similar (but different) products at two different price-points to attract more sales. In their expensive research they found the use of the word "Pro" lead to sales. Look at the tool industry - "Pro" implies it is used by professional carpenters etc, whether the owner of that tool is one or not. Same with a "Pro" bass - I bet the percentage of owners earning their living playing a "Pro" bass is pretty low...

 

[veebass]

Does anyone here have one of the MIJ T-90 T-birds with chrome Kluson-style tuners, chrome pu's and 3-point bridge? They look pretty nice - the closest to a 70's T-bird I've seen (only because of the 3-point bridge) as in, it could look like a 60's bird if not for the bridge.

Do you mean the Greco TBirds? I have two TB 900s ( I think they are called)- a TB IV and a TB II.
They are good solid basses. They sound pretty aggressive.

Here they are with my Chinabuckered 08 Gibson TBird in the foreground.
In the background are my '56 P, '69 Tele, '73 Tele, '73 P, '83 Fullerton '57RI P, '06 LP DC, '12 ES 335 Bass and '74 Ripper.

 

[theFixer]

Do you mean the Greco TBirds? I have two TB 900s ( I think they are called)- a TB IV and a TB II.
They are good solid basses. They sound pretty aggressive.

Here they are with my Chinabuckered 08 Gibson TBird in the foreground.
In the background are my '56 P, '69 Tele, '73 Tele, '73 P, '83 Fullerton '57RI P, '06 LP DC, '12 ES 335 Bass and '74 Ripper.

View attachment 2744310

Damn dude! Nice guitarsenal!

 

[JIO]

Do you mean the Greco TBirds? I have two TB 900s ( I think they are called)- a TB IV and a TB II.
They are good solid basses. They sound pretty aggressive.

Epiphone Japan TB-90 (forgot the B in my earlier post)
Epiphone Japan TB90 Thunderbird 1999 Electric Bass Guitar with Soft Case | eBay

Epiphone TB-90 Thunderbird 1999 Made in Japan E-Bass | eBay

 

[veebass]

Epiphone Japan TB-90 (forgot the B in my earlier post)
Epiphone Japan TB90 Thunderbird 1999 Electric Bass Guitar with Soft Case | eBay

Epiphone TB-90 Thunderbird 1999 Made in Japan E-Bass | eBay

I haven't played one of those but have played an MIJ Orville by Gibson and it was a very nice Bird.

 

[kat888]

Hey @kat888: New Darkglass that's a slimmed down Alpha Omega, without the extra controls. It will be a lot cheaper.

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I will admit to being intrigued by the AΩ. The Omicron is missing the DI bits, which I would actually want.

I have been contemplating finding someone in Oz who would be prepared to do a swap with the VTBDI for a couple of weeks just so I can play around with one.

 

[BklynKen]

I will admit to being intrigued by the AΩ. The Omicron is missing the DI bits, which I would actually want.

I have been contemplating finding someone in Oz who would be prepared to do a swap with the VTBDI for a couple of weeks just so I can play around with one.

Ah, I didn't know you needed DI from it. Yeah, I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you get your hands on one.

 

[ThunderFox]

I think "Pro" is simply a marketing device used to have 2 similar (but different) products at two different price-points to attract more sales. In their expensive research they found the use of the word "Pro" lead to sales. Look at the tool industry - "Pro" implies it is used by professional carpenters etc, whether the owner of that tool is one or not. Same with a "Pro" bass - I bet the percentage of owners earning their living playing a "Pro" bass is pretty low...

This what I was thinking was probably the answer. But wanted to see if there was a real reason for it. Maybe all the Non-Pro basses are made in China or something like that, usually the cheaper ones are, I was thinking about the price point factor but I think some basses were around the price of some of the pros, or it may be a coincidence. It seems to be that the 'marketing' is the most likely answer. Thanks guys

 

[Korladis]

DarkGlass stuff all kinda sounds the same to me.

 

[hillerup]

THAT is a @hillerup question if I've ever heard one!

I have absolutely NO idea... Guess it's a marketing ploy more than anything else...