Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

I flat don't like the way an SVT sounds. It's all tube and Ampeg and all that, but compared to the 360, it sounds like it has a cold. It's got a beigeness or murky brownness to it's sound that can't keep up with the big, round sound from the 360. The 360 is dark green or sometimes purple. So, there you go. Colors and all. Brown sound is great for guitar, and it really is kinda brown. Bass? Nope. It sounds awful. So much for tubes being better. There are other tube amps that sound a whole lot better, but it's not just the specific technology that makes an amp sound good or not.

The Acoustic has some sort of magic sauce just built in. I still like an SVT, but I like a lot of different gear. And I like your color description.

 

[theFixer]

For our Aussie members:

**NEW** Epiphone Limited Edition Thunderbird IV Bass Guitar | eBay

cool new avatar bruv!

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

Might want to also look into the Dimarzio replacement.

I have done a bit of research on those but Im not sure the sound is what Im looking for, gonna try to contact Seymour Duncan but before anything I might put in a different value tone cap. Im not uncomfortable with the stock pup but it just needs to be restricted a bit, its very forceful, gnarly and loaded with attitude. As of now it sounds like my band has a totally new and arrogant bass player and that guy is not a laid back Dude.

 

[JJR58]

I have done a bit of research on those but Im not sure the sound is what Im looking for, gonna try to contact Seymour Duncan but before anything I might put in a different value tone cap. Im not uncomfortable with the stock pup but it just needs to be restricted a bit, its very forceful, gnarly and loaded with attitude. As of now it sounds like my band has a totally new and arrogant bass player and that guy is not a laid back Dude.

Don't tell me you're the Canadian equivalent of me, Angry New Yorker.

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

Don't tell me you're the Canadian equivalent of me, Angry New Yorker.

Im super easy to get along with and mostly very mellow , can get along with anyone anywhere anytime and converse about anything but......It takes a split second for me to lose my . I stopped watching news recently and that seems to be helping.....a bit. In my small village called Winnipeg I get stressed out enough over the small things so I cant imagine trying to survive in a city with the population youre surrounded by. "I AM AS MAD AS HELL AND I AINT GONNA TAKE IT NO MORE"!!! comes to mind.

 

[JJR58]

Im super easy to get along with and mostly very mellow , can get along with anyone anywhere anytime and converse about anything but......It takes a split second for me to lose my . I stopped watching news recently and that seems to be helping.....a bit. In my small village called Winnipeg I get stressed out enough over the small things so I cant imagine trying to survive in a city with the population youre surrounded by. "I AM AS MAD AS HELL AND I AINT GONNA TAKE IT NO MORE"!!! comes to mind.

Man Prog, do I hear ya on that. I'm not really angry, but I've been in NY to long, and it's wearing down on me. Great movie by the way.

 

[NOLA Bass]

Well guys, I was "out of the club" so to speak after selling my Mike Lull a while back (foolish, should have kept it). However, I'll be back in once my new Dingwall Dbird arrives (possibly before the end of the year if I'm lucky, but it is on order). I went with the full Wenge neck option, Luminlay side markers, and the Gun Metal Grey finish. It'll look like this one:

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

Man Prog, do I hear ya on that. I'm not really angry, but I've been in NY to long, and it's wearing down on me. Great movie by the way.

Whats really concerning is that sometimes I feel like this guy. I think Im a combination of "The Dude" Lebowski and this guy "William Foster", as of now thankfully The Dude is more evident more regularily. I think its time to look at getting a sedative.

 

[GBassNorth]

Well guys, I was "out of the club" so to speak after selling my Mike Lull a while back (foolish, should have kept it). However, I'll be back in once my new Dingwall Dbird arrives (possibly before the end of the year if I'm lucky, but it is on order). I went with the full Wenge neck option, Luminlay side markers, and the Gun Metal Grey finish. It'll look like this one:

View attachment 2777209

Dang, I need a love button, the like button is an understatement!
Sleek and deadly looking. I've never tried a fan fret bass but the concept is cool. I don't have any problem jumping from 4 string to 5 string or thin neck to fat neck or short scale to extended scale, but I have to admit the fanned fret thing is intimidating. I know you're a Spector guy (as am I), do you find it tough to bounce back and forth between regular and fanned frets?

 

[Nocturnal]

Well guys, I was "out of the club" so to speak after selling my Mike Lull a while back (foolish, should have kept it). However, I'll be back in once my new Dingwall Dbird arrives (possibly before the end of the year if I'm lucky, but it is on order). I went with the full Wenge neck option, Luminlay side markers, and the Gun Metal Grey finish. It'll look like this one:

View attachment 2777209

Congrats on the new bass!! I know some people don't care for the Dingwall Bird but I think it looks cool as Hell. Especially in that finish.

 

[theFixer]

I flat don't like the way an SVT sounds. It's all tube and Ampeg and all that, but compared to the 360, it sounds like it has a cold. It's got a beigeness or murky brownness to it's sound that can't keep up with the big, round sound from the 360. The 360 is dark green or sometimes purple. So, there you go. Colors and all. Brown sound is great for guitar, and it really is kinda brown. Bass? Nope. It sounds awful. So much for tubes being better. There are other tube amps that sound a whole lot better, but it's not just the specific technology that makes an amp sound good or not.

Ya know... I'm enjoying youthful new ears. With drums, I started at the bottom (as most people do). I worked my way through a ton of cheap gear, different size kits, different configurations, brand names, & all that stuff, until I settled in on the kit for me. Same with guitar. Different brands, styles, levels of quality, stomp boxes, amps, and on & on. In both cases... once I had established what was "best", I would move around a bit within the confines of that kind of that specific sort of gear, but seldom wandered away from it. Bass is new enough to me, that I can (and want to) plug in to different amps, cabs, & combos... tube and solid state... and listen with an open, welcoming ear and mind. I'm not a completely blank slate. The years I've spent in bands and music scenes has provided me with some knowledge, exposure, and experience... but I haven't established those preconceived notions that certain brands are crap, or that "if it ain't got tubes it ain't an amp", or any o' that s#!t. I've liked GK ever since "Appetite for Destruction", and I'm thrilled that my first bass amp is a GK... but my wet dream is that I'm locked alone in like, a 5,000 seat theater filled with different bass amps of all sizes, makes, & models... with my T-bird, and no time limit. My belief, is that I'll favor large tube amps... but I have no intention of ruling out solid state as a legitimate, reliable, quality source of bass amplification, like I did with guitar. That being said... most of the time I spent playing drums or guitar... I was in front of (or next to) an Ampeg. The last active band I was in, the bass player was running a (new at the time) SVT Classic through the 8x10 refrigerator. It impressed me because it was huge, moved a lot of air, and could set off seismic activity sensors 3,000 miles away... but the actual sound it created (to my ears) was just "really good". Once I got past the sheer quantity of sound that beast produced... I found myself kinda lookin' around for some magical element, that would make me go, "Oohhh... so THAT'S why the SVT is such a legend"... but I never really heard it. I finally decided that it was either something my uneducated, non-bass playing ears didn't hear, or just the sheer mass of this behemoth that made it the legend that it has become. If I were a heavy user off effects... I'd likely go with Ampeg, because the sound is strong and pure, but without heavy character of it's own (in my limited experience). That makes it the perfect candidate for after-market colorization. If I were lookin' to spend that kinda money on an all-tube amp... I would look for something with more of it's own character. Something that would make me go "F*** YEAH!!!" when I turned it on & hit that first big note.

(Sorry for the novel... just kinda jabbering')

 

[theFixer]

Well guys, I was "out of the club" so to speak after selling my Mike Lull a while back (foolish, should have kept it). However, I'll be back in once my new Dingwall Dbird arrives (possibly before the end of the year if I'm lucky, but it is on order). I went with the full Wenge neck option, Luminlay side markers, and the Gun Metal Grey finish. It'll look like this one:

View attachment 2777209

Sleek lookin' 'bird there man! Reminds me of a McLaren... looks like it's goin' 200 miles per hour, when it's at a standstill

I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts regarding that funky rear mounted jack...

 

[Korladis]

I flat don't like the way an SVT sounds. It's all tube and Ampeg and all that, but compared to the 360, it sounds like it has a cold. It's got a beigeness or murky brownness to it's sound that can't keep up with the big, round sound from the 360. The 360 is dark green or sometimes purple. So, there you go. Colors and all. Brown sound is great for guitar, and it really is kinda brown. Bass? Nope. It sounds awful. So much for tubes being better. There are other tube amps that sound a whole lot better, but it's not just the specific technology that makes an amp sound good or not.

I actually really like the way SVTs sound... the way I set them.

Which is gain and mids dimed. Both ultra low and ultra high switches off.

Also the cab makes a big difference, as I'm sure you're aware. An SVT sounds way different through my Sunn 2000S 2x15 cab or my friend's Marshall VBC-412 than it does through the Ampeg 810.

I do think the V4 sounds a little better, though.

 

[TBird1958]

Well guys, I was "out of the club" so to speak after selling my Mike Lull a while back (foolish, should have kept it). However, I'll be back in once my new Dingwall Dbird arrives (possibly before the end of the year if I'm lucky, but it is on order). I went with the full Wenge neck option, Luminlay side markers, and the Gun Metal Grey finish. It'll look like this one:

View attachment 2777209

Welcome back!
Congratulations on a beautiful new Thunderbird

The Bass Shop in Seattle just got one of these in this past Thursday, I may make the trip up to give it a play.

 

[theFixer]

Dang, I need a love button, the like button is an understatement!
Sleek and deadly looking. I've never tried a fan fret bass but the concept is cool. I don't have any problem jumping from 4 string to 5 string or thin neck to fat neck or short scale to extended scale, but I have to admit the fanned fret thing is intimidating. I know you're a Spector guy (as am I), do you find it tough to bounce back and forth between regular and fanned frets?

Hey G...
I haven't had the years of habit forming that you have... but if you've never picked up a Dingwall, you should do it next time you see one on the wall at your favorite store. I used to look at those things like they were some ridiculous, impractical, gimmick or sup'm. Shortly after I started playing bass, the imp got ahold of me & I picked one up, fully prepared to look like a circus clown falling down a staircase. I pushed the inhibitions aside & started noodling. I was surprised how easy and intuitive it was. I was like a baby duck getting' pushed in the water

There was enough about that particular one that I didn't like, so it was easy to hang it back on the wall... but the fan fret thang wasn't the reason. I'd like to get your read on one

 

[theFixer]

Welcome back!
Congratulations on a beautiful new Thunderbird

The Bass Shop in Seattle just got one of these in this past Thursday, I may make the trip up to give it a play.

I hope you'll share your notes with the class

 

[TBird1958]

I hope you'll share your notes with the class

So, like I'm wearing a nice gray pencil skirt and white blouse?

 

[theFixer]

Should see the rats nest of wiring the previous owners did in my 67 Chevy truck

'67 Chevy truck???

OH! I gotcha. Yer pullin' my leg! Everybody knows there's no wires in a '67 Chevy!

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

Ya know... I'm enjoying youthful new ears. With drums, I started at the bottom (as most people do). I worked my way through a ton of cheap gear, different size kits, different configurations, brand names, & all that stuff, until I settled in on the kit for me. Same with guitar. Different brands, styles, levels of quality, stomp boxes, amps, and on & on. In both cases... once I had established what was "best", I would move around a bit within the confines of that kind of that specific sort of gear, but seldom wandered away from it. Bass is new enough to me, that I can (and want to) plug in to different amps, cabs, & combos... tube and solid state... and listen with an open, welcoming ear and mind. I'm not a completely blank slate. The years I've spent in bands and music scenes has provided me with some knowledge, exposure, and experience... but I haven't established those preconceived notions that certain brands are crap, or that "if it ain't got tubes it ain't an amp", or any o' that s#!t. I've liked GK ever since "Appetite for Destruction", and I'm thrilled that my first bass amp is a GK... but my wet dream is that I'm locked alone in like, a 5,000 seat theater filled with different bass amps of all sizes, makes, & models... with my T-bird, and no time limit. My belief, is that I'll favor large tube amps... but I have no intention of ruling out solid state as a legitimate, reliable, quality source of bass amplification, like I did with guitar. That being said... most of the time I spent playing drums or guitar... I was in front of (or next to) an Ampeg. The last active band I was in, the bass player was running a (new at the time) SVT Classic through the 8x10 refrigerator. It impressed me because it was huge, moved a lot of air, and could set off seismic activity sensors 3,000 miles away... but the actual sound it created (to my ears) was just "really good". Once I got past the sheer quantity of sound that beast produced... I found myself kinda lookin' around for some magical element, that would make me go, "Oohhh... so THAT'S why the SVT is such a legend"... but I never really heard it. I finally decided that it was either something my uneducated, non-bass playing ears didn't hear, or just the sheer mass of this behemoth that made it the legend that it has become. If I were a heavy user off effects... I'd likely go with Ampeg, because the sound is strong and pure, but without heavy character of it's own (in my limited experience). That makes it the perfect candidate for after-market colorization. If I were lookin' to spend that kinda money on an all-tube amp... I would look for something with more of it's own character. Something that would make me go "F*** YEAH!!!" when I turned it on & hit that first big note.

(Sorry for the novel... just kinda jabbering')

In my experience Im finding that the potential to blow large wads of cash on obvious large name brands is definitely there. No matter what you will hear from another artist,band it will never truly be "the Definitive sound". Ive Tried a Hartke once and was disgusted since the promotors made it sound so sweet, Ive played through an Ampeg 8/10 fridge and found it sounded more incredible through my Yamaha head than my spiffy Peavey head witch made it sound poor...etc., etc. and than there is your personal amp settings,bass settings, hardware preferences and setup and on and on and on it goes. Just seems to me that its a never ending crap shoot science project with unlimited possibilities to no happy end. Just when youve achieved your perfect "sound" there is that little bugger in the back of your skull thats got his foot jammed into the door wedge thats been trying to close up to reason. Gotta evict that little bugger!, but how?.

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

So, like I'm wearing a nice gray pencil skirt and white blouse?

@JJR58 's senses are tingling.