Thunderbird Club

[wolfkeller]

 

[TBird1958]

Been absent here for awhile, slammed with the band. Just got back from a blow out show in El Paso. I learned 2 things. 1) I don't like my live rig and 2) stay away from the border. We wanted to go check our juarez but our driver wasn't having it. He is it's on you, if you come back call me. So, we didn't go. Apparently some big cartel war going down.
So, thinking about going back to my favorite amp svt 2 NP. What an adventure.
Btw, anyone other than me think the bass line for Uriah Heep's stealing is really cool?

A huge plus 1 on "Stealin", Uriah Heep was an early fave band of mine - The lyrics are pretty good too!
Gary Thain died just before I got to see them, he was a monster player!

 

[wolfkeller]

A huge plus 1 on "Stealin", Uriah Heep was an early fave band of mine - The lyrics are pretty good too!
Gary Thain died just before I got to see them, he was a monster player!

I just love how the bass is just there, light but in a steady groove and I love how it doesn't follow the chord changes. Big vocal and low bass... brilliant!

 

[TBird1958]

The lyrics........

"I stood on a ridge and shunned religion, thinkin' the world was mine, made my break and a big mistake, stealin' when I shoulda been buyin"

Love it!

 

[ubernator]

Thanks so much for your kind words! I've owned a few Factors over the years and spoke w/Phil a number of times on the phone. He was a very generous with his time when I called and if you were talking with him he genuinely engaged with you. I wanted to show him my Factorbird but I'm not sure he would have appreciated his unique proprietary design being hybridized. The thing I appreciated about his Factor design was that it was 100% his design - everything other than the "T" strap-pegs which are aftermarket and still available. Not certain but possibly he designed them. The multi-lam neck profile is not especially chunky or thin - it's similar to a Jazz bass, and yes - it's solid/stable as the rock-maple it's made of.

The MDF pu's and pre-amp/harness is the G&L L-2000 system. As far as active systems it's one of the best out there. (does incorporate a passive mode) When I saw the recent active Gibson T-bird with exposed-pole buckers, I wondered if it was a nod to G&L. I have Phils Fender/Factor 9v pre-amp in my Sauderbird (Epi T-bird body/Saunders P-neck) - it rocks so hard! Long live Phil Kubicki (rip)

View attachment 2758266

I kinda figured they looked like G&L pickups. Probably much punchier than kubicki pickups, which I remembered to be rather smooth and not very aggressive. But it has been a long time and I wasn't a very good bass player when I used to fiddle with the factors. I was still playing guitar. It has been a very long time.

 

[theFixer]

He's just trying to keep up with Fixer. Our buddy Fix changes his avatar more often than some people change their underwear.

It's like a really slow game of show & tell...

<edit>

Just to be aaaaabsolutely clear... I'm talkin' about the avatar... not the underwear

 

[Korladis]

Oh, got it - haven't seen that movie. The 32" scale Kubicki Ex-Factor was and still is unique as it incorporated a extended E drop-D capo like on a classical double bass. So once open you had an open D but F was in the same place as on a standard neck. (no need to transcribe on the fly)

View attachment 2757973

What a cool bass. Like a seamless blend of different eras.

 

[JIO]

I kinda figured they looked like G&L pickups. Probably much punchier than kubicki pickups, which I remembered to be rather smooth and not very aggressive. But it has been a long time and I wasn't a very good bass player when I used to fiddle with the factors. I was still playing guitar. It has been a very long time.

They are both pretty dynamic but the Kubicki system has a unique more modern tone that I can hear without even seeing it - and that's mostly coming from the pre-amp as you can get that same tone with different types of pu's.

 

[Count Bassie]

Been absent here for awhile, slammed with the band. Just got back from a blow out show in El Paso. I learned 2 things. 1) I don't like my live rig and 2) stay away from the border. We wanted to go check our juarez but our driver wasn't having it. He is it's on you, if you come back call me. So, we didn't go. Apparently some big cartel war going down.
So, thinking about going back to my favorite amp svt 2 NP. What an adventure.
Btw, anyone other than me think the bass line for Uriah Heep's stealing is really cool?

That's a great tune. A band in Miami ("Release") used to have some Heep in their set list, including that one.

Good on you for not going to Juarez.

 

[ubernator]

@wolfkeller that is a serious looking stage show you have going there.

 

[ubernator]

Had a bite on the goth, turned out to end up being a low ball of $100

Also found out I am getting $100 gift/charity tomorrow, so the pressure is off a bit. Not that I am going to pull the ad, but might bump it back up to $300obo.

And a text message conversation with the old BL came in tonight. Making me feel uneasy, but he is willing to get together and discuss. Which I may or may not do. Perhaps a compromise could be reached. I am not simply going back if things stay the way they were, or even worse the way things were going to go after the singer left (me out of pocket on top of the "power struggle")

Goof thing tomorrow is my PhD session, I know what I will be talking about...

 

[vandoorn]

Had a bite on the goth, turned out to end up being a low ball of $100

Also found out I am getting $100 gift/charity tomorrow, so the pressure is off a bit. Not that I am going to pull the ad, but might bump it back up to $300obo.

And a text message conversation with the old BL came in tonight. Making me feel uneasy, but he is willing to get together and discuss. Which I may or may not do. Perhaps a compromise could be reached. I am not simply going back if things stay the way they were, or even worse the way things were going to go after the singer left (me out of pocket on top of the "power struggle")

Goof thing tomorrow is my PhD session, I know what I will be talking about...

Just my 2 cents but one of the best lessons I ever got was... better an end with pain than pain without end....

 

[RedVee]

It's like a really slow game of show & tell...

I approve of that avatar Fix.

 

[Larry V]

I have a rough time going 3 days without it.
You're my hero!

Are we still talking about playing bass?

Bumping forward from five pages ago since I didn't hear a peep from any of the birdbrains here...

Help needed

Hipshots are too expensive for a Goth. Use Gotohs.

Black bikini with white polka dots, please!


For me, not you Jeff!

Rather presumptuous... he may be sporting the same pair right now.

Had a bite on the goth, turned out to end up being a low ball of $100

Also found out I am getting $100 gift/charity tomorrow, so the pressure is off a bit. Not that I am going to pull the ad, but might bump it back up to $300obo.

And a text message conversation with the old BL came in tonight. Making me feel uneasy, but he is willing to get together and discuss. Which I may or may not do. Perhaps a compromise could be reached. I am not simply going back if things stay the way they were, or even worse the way things were going to go after the singer left (me out of pocket on top of the "power struggle")

Goof thing tomorrow is my PhD session, I know what I will be talking about...

It sounds like the BL has realized that he was better off with you. This is negotiating currency. Be your cool self and take a meeting to see where his head's at. If you need the gig then this is your chance to get back in.

 

[hillerup]

Been absent here for awhile, slammed with the band. Just got back from a blow out show in El Paso. I learned 2 things. 1) I don't like my live rig and 2) stay away from the border. We wanted to go check our juarez but our driver wasn't having it. He is it's on you, if you come back call me. So, we didn't go. Apparently some big cartel war going down...

...Good on you for not going to Juarez.

Not sure if it's a cartel war going on down there - Unless it's been going on for 20 years or so...

When I was in El Paso with my band in '97 we where warned not to cross the border as it was unsafe, with a chance of being robbed or killed. Apparently the drug cartel ruled everything down there and they didn't particularly like strangers...

 

[ubernator]

Just my 2 cents but one of the best lessons I ever got was... better an end with pain than pain without end....

I won't go back without a major change that I don't think he will be open to. Kind of like when I thought about getting back with the ex girlfriend if she was willing see things my way. It only took one phone call to find out that her stubbornness outweighed her desire to have me back. I feel it is a good chance that he is thinking I just want back in if he lets me. It isn't that simple. And I won't be meeting with him before I have long talks about it with my counselor, the old singer, and maybe another friend and that ex girlfriend as well. All who knew the situation I was dealing with and how the guy made me feel. Especially the departed singer and the ex girlfriend.

Are we still talking about playing bass?



Hipshots are too expensive for a Goth. Use Gotohs.



Rather presumptuous... he may be sporting the same pair right now.



It sounds like the BL has realized that he was better off with you. This is negotiating currency. Be your cool self and take a meeting to see where his head's at. If you need the gig then this is your chance to get back in.

see above in this post. Not sure I want back in without the singer. It represents gigs though, that is if they found a singer, or have some good candidates. Or if the guy who wants to start the new one with me is willing to sub because his other band is also booked on the same show we had coming up in a couple weeks. But you can see where this becomes sticky for me, and I am wishing the guy never contacted me tonight.

And the possibility of going back and still developing the other one as a backup/different market band exists. This could end up just being a solid wrench in machine and I might as well string the bird in standard and start learning crue songs lol.

 

[ubernator]

Oh, about the old BL contacting me, I probably should add that he opened up with that he saw my Craigslist ad. So perhaps he is also thinking about just preventing having competition. Which was on the back of my mind as a possibility of happening as soon as I decided to set off on my own doing a tribute of the same band. And I wondered if I would go back or not in that case.
@Larry V @vandoorn

 

[JJR58]

Are we still talking about playing bass?

Well, now that you mention it.........................



Rather presumptuous... he may be sporting the same pair right now.


I don"t kiss and tell.

 

[JJR58]

View attachment 2758310 View attachment 2758311 View attachment 2758318 View attachment 2758324

That last pic makes me real jealous.

 

[Cardinal Fang]

Greetings, I suppose it's technically not a Thunderbird but here's mine.

I bought it in January of 2003 (still have the sales order in the case) because for $1,000.00 it was a cheap-ish way to get my hands on a Thunderbird. Until recently I kept it as a (rarely used) backup for shows because it was so damn difficult to play: horrible neck dive (tried three different straps, different heights, in the end I had to move the front strap button), the action was sooooo high, lots of fret buzz all over the place, intonation was grot, and the pickups were WAY hotter than my other bass to the point that the sound guys complained when I switched guitars. I pretty much felt like I got ripped off by Gibson and haven't bought anything from them or that vendor since.

Last year I finally took it to a shop and was told it's never been properly set up after leaving the factory. I didn't even know 'set up' was a thing. Why wouldn't it be right when it was built, or when I bought it? Lesson learned, eh?

I got it back two weeks later and it was like a completely different bass. It is such a joy to play and listen to that I didn't pick up my five string Ibanez for a year. Hell, three months ago I felt bad that the Ibanez wasn't getting played by anyone so I gave it to my niece and she's enjoying it immensely.

Too bad it took thirteen years to learn what a great instrument it is, huh? At least now I know where my $1,000.00 went.

My only complaint about this bass right now is that it's not 24 frets and the top three frets are a rotten ***** to reach. I could really use a tone knob right now too (not everything I like to play is RAWK), but I just don't feel right about modifying it, it does what it was designed to do perfectly and it's just frickin' gorgeous. I'm thinking about trying flatwound tapewound strings to see if it cuts the tone a little bit.