Thunderbird Club

[TBird1958]

Option 2 is for you.
Upgrading your social situation is a good idea.
The bass (and the time to enjoy it and make certain it's correct) will not know the difference if you pick it up tomorrow!

 

[JJR58]

Option 2 is for you.
Upgrading your social situation is a good idea.
The bass (and the time to enjoy it and make certain it's correct) will not know the difference if you pick it up tomorrow!

Words of wisdom.

 

[Gaolee]

I could sit there for about 17 minutes, after which I'd be asleep.

That is longer than I would last.

 

[Gaolee]

No parasites inside, just how my metabolism works.

Running at a high internal burn rate is a blessing. I don't get away with quite as much any more, though.

 

[PillO]

Modified Blackbird is done. Do I:

1. Blow off plans with friends to go to a motorcycle show tonight and drive like a maniac to pick it up before closing?

or

2. Be at the guitar shop, salivating, tomorrow morning when they unlock the doors?

Option 1 isn't good (a) for my social situation and also (b) because I need time to play the bass before I leave the store. If I get there at 5:55 PM there won't be time to address anything that's wrong. Option 2 stinks because, well, my bass is done and I don't like to delay gratification.

*thinks*

*frets*

OK, option 2. Argh. Sometimes I really dislike being a responsible adult.

Option 3:

Blow off whatever you are doing now and go get that Bad Bird!


EDIT - I mean Bad like the way the kids use it, meaning good.

Also, all advice given is only for my own amusement. Do not mistake me for a responsible adult.

 

[bylar13]

I hadn't heard about the neck variation situation. I'll be keeping that in mind fo sho! I welcome all comments regarding that Ric. Unfortunately, I'm still a ways off from buying, so if anybody has a reason I should take it off my list, I'd like to hear it (factual stuff... not opinion stuff). You won't piss me off... you'll be helping me make an informed decision, which I will appreciate
I've tried the Ric forum. There's too many tools in that box(). I like you guys better, and value your opinions more... plus... let's face it... I would far rather have it be a T-bird than a Ric, anyway! Gibson just never saw fit to make one to accommodate my Dali-esque physique

I will take quick stab of what I liked and did not like about my Ric's. I owned 3 2(4001's) and 1(4003) all were from the late 1970's.

Unlike Carlo, I loved the way the look. Still do. All of mine had thinner (read not so wide at the nut) necks vs. current models I have played. I really liked the upper fret access and the minimal (as compared to older Fender products) neck radius. I loved the recorded sounds and they worked well in studio situations.

I did not like the stock bridge. Not one bit. It was an evolutionary dead end that Ric got rid of on thier newer models. Tiny frets. They wore out quickly with round wound strings and eventually I had to have the bass re-fretted. The guy I took it too destroyed the neck feel for me, by putting in railroad tie size frets (not Ric's fault) but something to consider if you plan to hold on to it for a long time. The pick up output was a bit weak. The newer ones have new pick up designs so I can't speak to that. I always felt that the bridge pick ups were particularly weak and did not add much of value (clearly opinion, not fact) to the sound. Rick-o-sound is a gimmick that has out lived its usefulness.

I also found for live applications, I had to EQ quite a bit for the venue (more than I do now with my Thunderbird or than I ever did with my Jazz bass) even though the amp was the same. This, like most of this is subjective rant, often times left me feeling like I was missing the punchy mids I needed to cut through a mix with guitars & drums. The bass provided plenty of wide, low end and plenty high end but getting consistently solid rock tones was often times a struggle. YMMV

 

[JJR58]

@PillO and @kat888, regarding Traynor, did a search and found that there are quite a few dealers in the NYC area.
Going to see what's in stock, and at some point give a test drive.
Well, turns out some of the shops don't exist or carry Traynor.

 

[BklynKen]

I did not like the stock bridge. Not one bit. It was an evolutionary dead end that Ric got rid of on thier newer models. Tiny frets. They wore out quickly with round wound strings and eventually I had to have the bass re-fretted.

And from what I've read, this is where the bad reputation of Rotosounds eating frets came from.

My DR Lo-Riders and Smith Bass Burners arrived while I was away. Excited to try both, but I have a new set of RS66s to go through first. Interesting that the Burners actually say, "Designed especially for rock and heavy metal."

 

[JJR58]

And from what I've read, this is where the bad reputation of Rotosounds eating frets came from.

My DR Lo-Riders and Smith Bass Burners arrived while I was away. Excited to try both, but I have a new set of RS66s to go through first. Interesting that the Burners actually say, "Designed especially for rock and heavy metal."

Like to hear you impressions on the Smith Bass Burners.
If Kat likes them................

 

[kat888]

Kinda fell of that wagon, but it's only lemon chicken with artichokes and mashed taters, that was breakfast. I'm a remorseless eating machine these days.
Don't seem to gain a pound.

Porridge dude. Porridge!

1/2c rolled oats, 1c water and a pinch of salt. Stir, nuke 2 minutes, stir, nuke 1 1/2 minutes, eat.

 

[kat888]

Can I ask for more specifics regarding your "terrible engineering" remark? The RIC 4003SW has a pretty firm grip on first place with regards to which bass I'm gonna get with my Les Paul $$$. I certainly value your opinion on the matter...

I have posted this before but you may find it interesting.

 

[Count Bassie]

270 posts later, I add this: that moment ended her singing career. It could have gone a long way to gaining new fans, but that one moment was the end. Kind of amazing, really.

You're right! Yeah, well, there you have it.

 

[veebass]

CITES wants to make it so arcane, time consuming, and expensive to export/import rosewood that honest amateurs will do exactly what you did. Basically, give up.

Yep that is how they have operated in other areas that I have been involved in.

 

[Count Bassie]

I have posted this before but you may find it interesting.

Charles from Premier Guitar... isn't he Jimmy Fallon's younger brother?...

Thanks for posting, Kat!

 

[Dadagoboi]

Porridge dude. Porridge!

1/2c rolled oats, 1c water and a pinch of salt. Stir, nuke 2 minutes, stir, nuke 1 1/2 minutes, eat.

Al dente version.

Put in bowl in this order: 1/2 c frozen blueberries, 1/2 c rolled oats, 1/2 c water (or just enough barely to the top of the oats). DO NOT stir. Nuke 2 minutes. Add 1/2 thin sliced banana, 8 walnut halves, unsweetened coconut flake and cinnamon to taste. Stir, eat. Oat flakes will have softened and puffed up but not disintegrated into the mush favored by nations with past dental deficiencies.

Summer alternative:

After nuking and before adding other stuff, stick in freezer. Then eat first breakfast which has been cooking while oats/blueberries were nuking. Cool two hours (it won't freeze) add the other stuff and enjoy a chewy oat loaf.

First breakfast: two broken eggs topped with ham and cheese fried in a Calphalon 1307 (7 inch) commercial NSF hard anodized aluminum skillet, stuck between two pieces of toasted Italian bread. Tomato and fork optional. I mention the skillet because I got by for the first 10 years back from Asia with a cheap ass warped bottom Walmart POS. NSF Calphalon is guaranteed for life no matter what you do to it, even if you bought it used off Ebay and plunged it into water hot.

Breakfast is a serious business! Better done twice two hours apart IMO.

 

[Count Bassie]

I still hanker after a Burgundy-Burst 4003s. Sorry Carlo! Lol, some things just have to be. Even if you can't intonate it without taking the stupid bridge apart.

 

[kat888]

Oat flakes will have softened and puffed up but not disintegrated into the mush favored by nations with past dental deficiencies.

Blueberries? Banana? Walnut? Several dozen of my miserable Calvinist ancestors just rolled over in their graves.

My forebears would tip the porridge into the porridge drawer and allow it to cool, then cut off slices to keep them going through the day.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

I have posted this before but you may find it interesting.

Very cool! I went on the Gibson Factory Tour (Memphis not Nashville) a few years ago and they do their binding the same way, really cool to watch people scrape the paint off the binding with a razor.

@Count Bassie Jetglo 4003 is near the top of my GAS list, Sweetwater had them on sale in August too, for near used pricing. One day...
Maybe after a Cataldo though

 

[kat888]

Very cool! I went on the Gibson Factory Tour (Memphis not Nashville) a few years ago and they do their binding the same way, really cool to watch them scrape the paint off with a razor.

@Count Bassie Jetglo 4003 is near the top of my GAS list, Sweetwater had them on sale in August too, for near used pricing. One day...
Maybe after a Cataldo though

Took a long time to find a Ric (Mapleglo) I liked better than my copy, but the fact I did is testament to the variability of Ric necks at that time. Haven't so much as touched a Ric since I sold that one in 1998.

 

[Cardinal Fang]

Ahhhh, they're teasing me with pictures.