Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

I have no plans to replace the pickups in my ‘Bird as they are perfectly what they are and I’m happy, but have entertained the idea of getting the right Epi or something and dropping in a set of Lollars if only to satisfy my curiosity

Excactly what i did. I liked the TB's, don't get me wrong, but since i got a crazy deal on the Epi, i just went to town on it and made it my own.

 

[dukeorock]

I so absoloutly love them!!!!!!!!!, They do Yark, Bark and Bite, in the coolest way.

The clips I’ve heard...they sound super clear. Like a hifi version of a ‘Bird. Does that make sense?

 

[JJR58]

Yeah, that looks great. I think we need a side-by-side pic.

Having trouble with the side by side, but here is the before.

 

[kat888]

Mics really are a personal thing. It took me several years to hunt down three decent Shure 330s. I love ribbon mics and have had a few el-cheapo Chinese ones. Some of those are actually really good for what I do. The problem I have is the figure 8 pattern, which causes all kinds of problems in the room. 330s are unidirectional in a way almost nothing else can be. They need a Cloudlifter to make enough signal. That's the only drawback. If there's only one singer, I'll put a CV-12 along with a ribbon, which is sometimes one of the Chinese ribbons. Two vocal tracks to blend is fun to play with.

I use a D112 on the kick drums and a couple Avantone CV-1 pencil mics for overheads. I got the D112 used, so it was pretty cheap. Avantones are just flat cheap for what they are. For the guitar, I typically just use a Blue e100 on the cabinet. It's a lower price, better sounding SM58 when all's said and done. Bass runs DI, whether it's upright or electric. I have finally got headphone extension cords so we don't need room monitors while recording. That solves a whole lot of problems. Being able to hear without feedback is good. Who knew!

Now, if I had the first foggiest idea of what I'm doing once all the stuff gets into Cubase, there might be progress. That would spoil the adventure of discovery, though. It's an experiment every time I try to turn a recording into a finished product. I still haven't completely figured out how to fade a track in and out properly. That tells you how pathetically unskilled I am. Being shameless about it means I don't mind. To be good, one must first suck.

I was watching someone talk about recording drums and they were using a standard Johns 4 mic (57 on the snare) plus another 4 room mics which I thought over the top. Fine if you have loads of mics and plenty of channels to play with.

 

[JJR58]

The clips I’ve heard...they sound super clear. Like a hifi version of a ‘Bird. Does that make sense?

That's a good way to describe them, and if they get to hi-fi, that can be dialed out. A little eq goes a long way.

 

[kat888]

Mixed with powdered bagpipes. Hallelujah!

Booooooooo! Bad twin.

 

[dukeorock]

Having trouble with the side by side, but here is the before.

View attachment 2841426

I like it both ways (ehem), but personally think it looks cleaner/cooler without the rings

 

[BklynKen]

Having trouble with the side by side, but here is the before.

View attachment 2841426

Yeah. Are you planning on replacing the tuners?

 

[Larry V]

I like it both ways

Hey now!

 

[dukeorock]

I was watching someone talk about recording drums and they were using a standard Johns 4 mic (57 on the snare) plus another 4 room mics which I thought over the top. Fine if you have loads of mics and plenty of channels to play with.

I always thought the Johns thing was a 3 mic triangle effect.

I’ve seen this in home studios a thousand times. Get one ‘good for the money’ mic, then another and another as funds allow. They wind up using more and more crappy mics trying to get that ‘something’ they’re missing. Easily turns into a phase nightmare. One or two great mics does it so much better, IMO. On the Prayer Flags record, I used an RE20 in front of the kick and the AEA up top...move it around until you hear everything you want to hear. At the most, I’d consider adding a 57 to the snare, but never did on that record. Less mics on the drums nearly always sounds better in the end to me. More open and organic.

 

[kat888]

Finger noise is absolutely part of the upright sound. It disappears playing live in an amplified setting, unfortunately. I had good results micing the upright with the CV-12 more or less even with the bridge and pointing up toward fingers.

I only started doing all this as a low tech (really high tech for me) way to scare up band gigs that weren't going to happen any other way. Playing live is my favorite thing to do, but on a limited basis. Too many gigs turn into a chore. I have never made a record, been a session dude, or producer, but it's sure fun as a hack who is playing with toys.

Can you not put a piezo transducer on the nut/somewhere on the board to capture finger noise?

 

[dukeorock]

Yeah. Are you planning on replacing the tuners?

That would complete the awesome

 

[dukeorock]

Can you not put a piezo transducer on the nut/somewhere on the board to capture finger noise?

You can do pretty much whatever you want! There should be no rules in recording. Rules make for crappy music. I like the small diaphragm condenser near the nut because with upright, it ain’t just the bass, but the room it’s in that makes it ‘right’ to me.

 

[JJR58]

Yeah. Are you planning on replacing the tuners?

At some point, yes.

 

[catcauphonic]

Let's get this thread back on topic. My Vintage Pro arrived late last week but just found some time for pics...View attachment 2841365

Though i don't even own virtually ANYTHING in white, I'm personally having a rare bout of gas seeing this one lately drool

I like it both ways (ehem), but personally think it looks cleaner/cooler without the rings

Lulz & ditto to @JJR58's ringless Bird

 

[dukeorock]

At some point, yes.

I struggle with that. Spending all that money for no benefit apart from the visuals. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still change em

When I got my Drake, which was an expensive bass, I quickly decided that it was just too far off my preferred aesthetic. So I swapped out the hardware ($200) and had JIO do a total makeover. I sold the black hardware for $100 which offset the cost a tiny bit, but it was a ton of dough to spend on a bass that sounds exactly the same as it did before. A few bass player buddies have told me it sounds very different and much better now (it doesn’t), which speaks volumes about perception, I suppose

 

[kat888]

You can do pretty much whatever you want! There should be no rules in recording. Rules make for crappy music. I like the small diaphragm condenser near the nut because with upright, it ain’t just the bass, but the room it’s in that makes it ‘right’ to me.

I was meaning for live use.

Johns micing was done with three in the olden days, but these days, for rock drums there will be a snare mic as well. A couple of mics for guitar and bass cabs, a vocal mic and a really good ribbon -- I'd be happy.

 

[JJR58]

I struggle with that. Spending all that money for no benefit apart from the visuals. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still change em

When I got my Drake, which was an expensive bass, I quickly decided that it was just too far off my preferred aesthetic. So I swapped out the hardware ($200) and had JIO do a total makeover. I sold the black hardware for $100 which offset the cost a tiny bit, but it was a ton of dough to spend on a bass that sounds exactly the same as it did before. A few bass player buddies have told me it sounds very different and much better now (it doesn’t), which speaks volumes about perseption, I suppose

Totally understood. The changing of the tuners would really be for nothing else other then keeping it better in tune. Otherwise, i'd probably leave just as is.
And perception is a funny thing, isn't it.

 

[JJR58]

Lulz & ditto to @JJR58's ringless Bird

Thanks Lou.

 

[dukeorock]

I was meaning for live use.

Oh! Yeah, it’s really common to put a piezo contact underneath the fingerboard. My live bass is wired that way, but I disconnected it years ago. It’s part of why I went down the boutique bass cab rabbit hole