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Thunderbird Club

#45,081
LOL - this thread is starting to sound like an AA meeting:laugh:

Hi, my name is _______ and I've been using flats on my TBird for a number of years. I've tried to kick the habit many times but I just can't find a round wound string I can bond with. Then, to make matters worse some enabler named Ernie Ball introduced me to Cobalt Flats. My life just hasn't been the same. I struggle with why I should lead a good life with Rounds when it's so easy to rely on the bright sounding Cobalts. I'm here because I finally realized I can't make this change alone. I have a problem and need support to work through it.

Full disclosure: I just ordered a set of La Bella Black tapewounds to install on my Goth bass. I know it will result in a clear departure from the traditional TBird sound but I already have a Gibby Bird with Rounds that delivers that in spades. My Goth goal is to get the Epi as far away from a TBird sound as possible without losing the signature TBird look. Hopefully I'll end up with a solid "one two punch" and have a great looking and sweet sounding backup bass that complements the Gibby on stage.
 
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#45,082
bylar13 said:
Does John Paul Jones use Flatwounds?

Keep in mind Noel Redding used a Jazz bass, Rotosound strings and Marshall Amps, no piano tone there either. The Beatles and Motown set the standard for "popular bass tone that got played on AM radio" at the time. It was one of the factors that went into mixing BITD.
Click to expand...

Beatles bass? Muffin tone until the Rick arrived...do you realize there WERE no round wounds until Rotosound with Entwistle's input created them in ...wait for it...66. Nothing wrong with Live at Leeds IMO.

Early recorded Who:

Call Me Lightning '68 with Bass solo


Bass line and solo Substitute Mar '66


As to Zep, there's a hilarious description by Townshend of JPJ's pre Zep session man tone comparing it to Entwistle's approach.

IMO the bass tones on Zep I and II were an attempt by Page to coax the Yardbirds' Epiphone Rivoli sound from JPJ's anemic Jazz bass pickups (LZ was actually listed as "The New Yardbirds" in Melody Makers first Encyclopedia of Rock, it went to press before they changed their name).

I'm A Man


Saw The Yardbirds w/Page on guitar summer '67 at The Village Theatre NYC. Dreja on Rivoli, Samwell Smith retired to the studio. Still a great show.

This Lineup


MANLY BASS!
 
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#45,090
Larry V said:
Page 2245, lots of ribbing of Jeff and "playful" condemnation for his use of flats. I don't think I need to read 8 pages more of this to know what's there so I'll just post now.

My favorite string is D'addario Chrome Flats. No apologies, they are just the perfect string for me. IMO, the angry piano is overrated and the clanking of bass strings against the fret board and frets and p/ups sounds awful to me.

This is no doubt due to the influence of my favorite bassist, JPJ from whom I've never heard an angry piano, just beautiful smooth tone.
Click to expand...
Yeah... that's great man. Hey... could ya do me a solid? I need you to go stand over there & hold this in front of you for a minute...
Unknown.png


I keeeeed, I keeed... I don't care what strings yer usin', so long as yer smilin' when yer doin' it;)
 
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#45,091
Larry V said:
Agreed. Keep that nonsense on Facebook where it doesn't belong either. ;)



Sure you can. Everyone that goes on and on about these strings or those strings and my sound versus that sound... give me a break, with EQ's and pedals we can make most bass and string combos sound like what we want.

I love the tone of my flats and more importantly, I love the feel of chrome flats on my fingers. Second favorite, tapewounds.

What I think is important is that people find what works for them and what they like. If you can do that it makes life better. :)
Click to expand...
Greg Ridley spent his musical career toggling back & forth between flats & tapes (silly man put them on a P bass instead of a T-bird, though. Nobody's perfect;)). There's a lotta low end in them thangs! I like the brightness and harmonics that come from stainless steel round wounds. If I wanna simulate a flat wound sound, I run the neck pup solo & roll the tone knob off. As someone else indicated earlier... that don't work so well in reverse. I too hate the clatter of strings rattling on frets... but I find that that's caused more by the player and the setup, than the strings themselves. I maintain that, if Larry wants to put flat wound strings on Larry's basses... then Larry should do that... as long as it makes Larry smile!:bassist:
 
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#45,092
JJR58 said:
Trying to do the iphone thing here is a real pain, i'm guilty of many faults when it comes to that.
Click to expand...
The TB site can do some weird things in text fields on a touch screen. Pro tip: copy the text out of the field into Notes, or whatever text editing app you like, do what you need, then paste it back into TB and send.
 
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#45,094
ToddOfThunder said:
i was going to get the chrome clover's as well but I don't recall if I was able to get the bridge in chrome @ the time?
Click to expand...

Nice name change!
Did you post a picture of your Thunderbird? Am I adding you to the club?
 
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#45,096
Dadagoboi said:
Beatles bass? Muffin tone until the Rick arrived...do you realize there WERE no round wounds until Rotosound with Entwistle's input created them in ...wait for it...66. Nothing wrong with Live at Leeds IMO.

Early recorded Who:

Call Me Lightning '68 with Bass solo


Bass line and solo Substitute Mar '66


As to Zep, there's a hilarious description by Townshend of JPJ's pre Zep session man tone comparing it to Entwistle's approach.

IMO the bass tones on Zep I and II were an attempt by Page to coax the Yardbirds' Epiphone Rivoli sound from JPJ's anemic Jazz bass pickups (LZ was actually listed as "The New Yardbirds" in Melody Makers first Encyclopedia of Rock, it went to press before they changed their name).

I'm A Man


Saw The Yardbirds w/Page on guitar summer '67 at The Village Theatre NYC. Dreja on Rivoli, Samwell Smith retired to the studio. Still a great show.

This Lineup


MANLY BASS!
Click to expand...

I would love to be able to say I saw 5 live Yardbirds! If the Blues are the roots... these guys are certainly the trunk of the tree of Rock & Roll.
Unknown-1.jpeg
 
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#45,097
TBird1958 said:
Agreed, tone aside though, I really don't like the tactile feel of flats at all. I tried some Thomastik Infelds some years back on my '89, never again for me. But again, to each their own.
Click to expand...

I use GHS Progressive flats and LaBella Deep Talkin' flats which are both good. I tried one set of TI's and really didn't like them. Strings are a very personal choice as it is where we interface with the bass most directly.
 
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#45,099
BklynKen said:
The TB site can do some weird things in text fields on a touch screen. Pro tip: copy the text out of the field into Notes, or whatever text editing app you like, do what you need, then paste it back into TB and send.
Click to expand...

This website works just as well on an iPhone using the Safari browser as it does on a desktop computer running Windows. No issues quoting, multi-quotes, uploading images...
 
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