Thunderbird Club

[Mike.C.]

Another good reason to darken the Goth board. I intend to keep the side dots but the dye will hopefully at least tone down that in-your-face XII at the 12th.
Now that I think about it, I might just try to dye over the fretboard and only part of the Roman numeral fret mark. Whatcha think about an "XI" at the 12th fret? It would have every bass and guitar player in the audience counting my frets all night to see if it's really the 11th or 12th fret that's marked, also doubles as an odd inside joke Spinal Tap reference that those in the know will get. Might be fun.

If possible, will you please take before and after photos? THX

 

[ThunderFox]

I've put some flats on my Viola Bass for when I wanna be mellow, or to be more realistic to the 50's & 60's sound, but "MY" TBirds aren't there to be nice, they're there to ROCK. Roundwound to rock the town, baby!!!

*I say this, being from a rock band, but we're definitely NOT the heaviest rock band out there, well, we might be if we use a weighing scale, joking ...sort of...'*

 

[Gaolee]

While we're talking strings, recall I pulled the DR Black Beauties off my Goth. They just didn't work well for that pickup/control setup. Sucked the low and top end out and made it a total mid Monster. So I switched over to La Bella Black tapes and so far so good. Excellent tone top to bottom and a dream to play. However, this is just a preliminary report since I'll be replacing the pups and controls next week in favor of some much broader range but relatively dark sounding Bart's.

I really like the sound of Black Beauties on an Epiphone bolt-on Thunderbird. Those are a different animal from a Gibson or Epiphone classic, so it's no surprise that different strings work well on it.

 

[GBassNorth]

If possible, will you please take before and after photos? THX

That's the plan. Here's the Sweetwater photo of the bass but the lighting and white background make the FB look darker than it really is. I'll be taking outdoor photos before and after using bright sunlight so any differences should be easily visible.

The goal is to get close to the body color if possible.

 

[BklynKen]

That's the plan. Here's the Sweetwater photo of the bass but the lighting and white background make the FB look darker than it really is. I'll be taking outdoor photos before and after using bright sunlight so any differences should be easily visible.
View attachment 2773840 View attachment 2773841
The goal is to get close to the body color if possible.

Seriously. Look at Gibson's Thunderbird photos on their site. The fretboard looks almost black. Hard to believe it's not Ebony.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

That's the plan. Here's the Sweetwater photo of the bass but the lighting and white background make the FB look darker than it really is. I'll be taking outdoor photos before and after using bright sunlight so any differences should be easily visible.
View attachment 2773840 View attachment 2773841
The goal is to get close to the body color if possible.

Seriously. Look at Gibson's Thunderbird photos on their site. The fretboard looks almost black. Hard to believe it's not Ebony.

A while ago, I read somewhere that Gibson uses/used a dye on their Ebony fretboards, this way they can get striped style Ebony and don't have to pay a premium for uniform black Ebony. I'll try to find the link tonight.

 

[Korladis]

Flats have always sounded like dead rounds to me.

 

[kat888]

Here we go again...

OMG, are you putting FLATS on a Thunderbird!!!

That can't be me.

1. I never use OMG or other permutations of the G-word.

2. Colour me incredulous that anyone would use flats ... but y'know, whaddeva.

3. I'm not joking about tort but.

 

[kat888]

So I have three sets of strings left to try. Smith Bass Burners, DR Lo-Riders, and D’Addario Pro Steels. So far the Rotosounds are the only ones to really slice through the mix in the band setting.

Will be interested in your thoughts on the Ken Smiths. They seem to go on less bright than the RS66s but retain their zing and are not harsh or aggressive sounding. I was going to try some RS66 nickels but not sure if it's worth the effort as the Smiths seem to do the job.

 

[BklynKen]

Will be interested in your thoughts on the Ken Smiths. They seem to go on less bright than the RS66s but retain their zing and are not harsh or aggressive sounding.

I'll put them on next. I'm really interested myself. I know so much is dependent on body chemistry, but I'd like to see a graph of where the two strings' brightness/aggressiveness intersect.

 

[Larry V]

That can't be me.

You give me way too much credit to even think that I might remember who had the biggest negative reaction to flats on a Thunderbird. I added the hyperbole due to the general consensus of the group from the last time it came up. Again, I had no particular forum member in mind with my post.

 

[kat888]

Dug out some more birds for you all... Scottish gulls to be precise.

 

[kat888]

Australian birds. A soggy Rainbow Lorikeet and a Cormorant.

 

[BklynKen]

Here's a Harpy Eagle.

 

[Mike.C.]

VINTAGE PRO - I will descend, bombard and report back on the Gibson POC assuming they are sending representation.

 

[hillerup]

Here's a Harpy Eagle.

View attachment 2774098 View attachment 2774099

Wow!

Wouldn't wanna be caught in those talons...

 

[Mike.C.]

Wow!

Wouldn't wanna be caught in those talons...

Which ones? Sorry...

 

[Gaolee]

Which ones? Sorry...

Any of 'em.

 

[Gaolee]

Australian birds. A soggy Rainbow Lorikeet and a Cormorant.

View attachment 2774092

View attachment 2774093

I was amazed by the colorful birds in Australia. Another reason I thought Sydney was a pretty great place. Grante, you have to go somewhere else to be around most of 'em, but I recall the Blue Mountains were pretty close. A French guy who I played rugby with was driving, so distance might be a little warped by his driving style. French and rugby player. In Australia.

 

[theFixer]

Here's a Harpy Eagle.

View attachment 2774098 View attachment 2774099

GOOD LAWD!!! That's one ornery lookin' cuss!