Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

This is just south of my work in Tacoma. Multiple fatalities, injuries in Amtrak train derailment near Lacey
While driving south to work this AM several police vehicles passed me at high speed - responding. Lots of ambulances have been going south past the shop.

Ugh!, a friend of mine volunteers for Amtrak at San Luis Obispo. I let him know about this.

 

[JJR58]

On that derailment, my friend told me that is a brand new route, and there was a ribbon cutting for it yesterday or Saturday, this is terrible.

 

[dukeorock]

That is terrible news

 

[Larry V]

On that derailment, my friend told me that is a brand new route, and there was a ribbon cutting for it yesterday or Saturday, this is terrible.

I saw that in the article. Not the ribbon cutting part though.

"This was the first day for the Amtrak Cascades high-speed train on its new route w trains further inland parallel to Interstate 5 through Tacoma, Lakewood, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord."

 

[GBassNorth]

That’s a fine looking bass right there!



Kitty Daddy?! Remind me to kill you later

The upright in my photo is a 1948 Epiphone B4. That same year and model bass was used on all of the Bill Haley and the Comets hits. May sound silly to say, but listen to some of those recordings again. One of the finer examples of recorded slap upright bass to this day.


About 7 years ago, I started filming a documentary about slap upright bass, but a nasty divorce kinda put the breaks on it...here’s a scene...


The first solo, by Joe Fick, was on a normal Englehardt. Perfectly fine basses! Englehardt bought Kay in the early 70’s, and for the first 2-3 years, at least, they are just rebranded Kay’s. I’ve had a few over the years and they get the job done and then some

The short answer is yes, Engle’s are more than acceptable basses, assuming it’s in good shape with a proper setup and nice strings. They are laminate, or ‘plywood’ basses, so serious jazzers and classical players are gonna snub em, of course. Great plywood basses include...

Kay- case by case, but some are amazing.
Englehardt- same
Epiphone- among my favorite of the laminated basses. A cut above many
King Mortone- probably the most prized in the folk/bluegrass community along with...
American Standard
Upton still makes all sorts of uprights at many different price points. They’re in the North Eastern US. Seriously cool people who are dead serious about making great basses

There's some great info there! Thanks for the reply. I'll check back on the Englehardt after the holidays to see if it's still up for sale. If I give the upright world a try I don't see myself slapping much, more of a boring old traditionalist in that regard. But I sure do get off on how cool those cats are that whack the crap outta their basses and put on a hyper energetic show!

PS - on the kill me front, there's an old saying - fear runs faster than anger. You'll never catch me.

 

[dukeorock]

on the kill me front, there's an old saying - fear runs faster than anger. You'll never catch me.

Id already forgotten anyway

 

[Larry V]

But I sure do get off on how cool those cats are that whack the crap outta their basses and put on a hyper energetic show!

Well hell! You're talking about Mark right there! I've just spent better than an hour watching/listening to The Legendary Shack Shakers on YouTube. Great energy and my office/cubicle hands would be hurting like crazy to do what Mark's doing.

I wonder how that works... do the size of them paws allow you to do that or are the size of them paws because you've been doing that a long time?

Very entertaining and that's so cool that you and your DB have traveled the world doing what you do!

 

[dukeorock]

Out running errands. Gonna check out that Studio ‘Bird while I’m out

 

[JJR58]

Out running errands. Gonna check out that Studio ‘Bird while I’m out

Which one?

 

[Haji]

That's a cool look into that world, Mark. For a lot of us that grew up on the hard rock, hair and metal of the 80's, the Nashville scene is just so foreign but at least as I get older, I'm opening up to country in all its variations. Southern rock is my gateway to country, I just love it.

Any chance the documentary will get finished someday?

BTW, do you know why divorces are so expensive?

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Because they're worth it!

...and don't I know it.

Here's the thing about Nashvegas. It' been tagged Music City because there's ALL kinds of music being played and recorded here. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Billy Sheehan lately of everydamnbody recently moved here. They say a hundred people a day move here. There are great bands of all genres and you'll find a unique spin to heavy music here...but all those people moving here need a place to live. The gentrification is causing some great little venues to close due to "noise" complaints. It may be Music Recording City, but it may not be Live Music City if we keep losing venues at the rate we have been, unless you play country on lower Broadway. Then you're prolly OK.

 

[dukeorock]

For sale locally for $750

 

[Larry V]

For sale locally for $750
View attachment 2846972

Heavy and it isn't going to do anything your 2014 isn't doing. Price isn't too far off but I think it's high for the Studio IV.

 

[dukeorock]

Heavy and it isn't going to do anything your 2014 isn't doing. Price isn't too far off but I think it's high for the Studio IV.

Possibly. Thought I’d check it out for myself, just to see what they’re like

 

[dukeorock]

Here's the thing about Nashvegas. It' been tagged Music City because there's ALL kinds of music being played and recorded here. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Billy Sheehan lately of everydamnbody recently moved here. They say a hundred people a day move here. There are great bands of all genres and you'll find a unique spin to heavy music here...but all those people moving here need a place to live. The gentrification is causing some great little venues to close due to "noise" complaints. It may be Music Recording City, but it may not be Live Music City if we keep losing venues at the rate we have been, unless you play country on lower Broadway. Then you're prolly OK.

While I agree with overcrowding and the diversity of the music scene, the noise ordinances have affected the midtown area the hardest. We still have an awful lot of great music venues. Lower Broadway is a mixed bag, though it mostly sucks

 

[kat888]

There's some great info there! Thanks for the reply. I'll check back on the Englehardt after the holidays to see if it's still up for sale. If I give the upright world a try I don't see myself slapping much, more of a boring old traditionalist in that regard. But I sure do get off on how cool those cats are that whack the crap outta their basses and put on a hyper energetic show!

PS - on the kill me front, there's an old saying - fear runs faster than anger. You'll never catch me.

I started on an unlined fretless instrument. There's nothing to it and you can always use a soft pencil to mark a particularly pesky spot on the fingerboard until you get it right. I had supremely stretchy fingers which allowed me to span insane intervals ... oh and you should keep your fingers arched and thumb opposite your middle finger.

I only played double bass two or three times and it was hard work getting around after playing 'cello all those years (then again playing the Viola was difficult having to bunch fingers up).

I quickly decided any bassing I was going to do would be on an Rickenbacker bass. Left school, started Uni, found a band. Parents were distinctly unimpressed -- which was a bonus.

 

[Inky13]

Kitty Daddy - some nice basses there. Your upright really caught my attention. I've never played upright and my only fretless bass guitar has a lined fretboard so I don't know if I could ever really get the hang of an upright, but I think I'd like to try.

I was looking at a barely used mint condition Englehardt for about $1300. Is that a good beginner upright or should I hold out for something better built? It looks like it's only acoustic right now and I'd assume I'll want to amp it. If I go down that path what kind of a budget should I prep for? I already have a GK 210 combo amp that I suppose would work well with an upright and I don't envision any bow type work so that may be a couple of costs out of the way.

Your thoughts and advice to the upright curious are appreciated. If others with upright experience want to chime in I'm all ears.

That's a good price on the Englehardt. And some good advise from Mr. Duke. Any entry level upright is going to be laminate. Fully carved ones quickly soar into the stratosphere price wise. One reason Kays
and Englehardts are sought out is because they are some of the few with a name brand. There are tons of basses that were imported here after the war to supply growing school systems. They might just have a sticker in them that says made in Germany or Czechoslovakia.
So don't discount anything you might come across. Yes, you will need a pick up to amplify it. I like Underwoods and K&K, but try them all.
Being piazzos, you need to impedance match them with a pre amp.
Some will say no, but again, use what works for you. A cheap set of strings is around $80. Guts can be $300 or more. Amazingly, there is a used market for strings. Crazy right? The care and feeding can get up there. New bridges, cracks, necks pulling away from the body.
But if you love them, it can be very rewarding. Don't hesitate to go over to the upright side of TB. There are some really knowledgeable cats over there. Good luck!

 

[kat888]

Here's the thing about Nashvegas. It' been tagged Music City because there's ALL kinds of music being played and recorded here. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Billy Sheehan lately of everydamnbody recently moved here. They say a hundred people a day move here. There are great bands of all genres and you'll find a unique spin to heavy music here...but all those people moving here need a place to live. The gentrification is causing some great little venues to close due to "noise" complaints. It may be Music Recording City, but it may not be Live Music City if we keep losing venues at the rate we have been, unless you play country on lower Broadway. Then you're prolly OK.

While I agree with overcrowding and the diversity of the music scene, the noise ordinances have affected the midtown area the hardest. We still have an awful lot of great music venues. Lower Broadway is a mixed bag, though it mostly sucks

Sydney once had a thriving live music scene and now, for all intents and purposes it's dead. Killed off by greedy developers and yuppie scum.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

That's a good price on the Englehardt. And some good advise from Mr. Duke. Any entry level upright is going to be laminate. Fully carved ones quickly soar into the stratosphere price wise. One reason Kays
and Englehardts are sought out is because they are some of the few with a name brand. There are tons of basses that were imported here after the war to supply growing school systems. They might just have a sticker in them that says made in Germany or Czechoslovakia.
So don't discount anything you might come across. Yes, you will need a pick up to amplify it. I like Underwoods and K&K, but try them all.
Being piazzos, you need to impedance match them with a pre amp.
Some will say no, but again, use what works for you. A cheap set of strings is around $80. Guts can be $300 or more. Amazingly, there is a used market for strings. Crazy right? The care and feeding can get up there. New bridges, cracks, necks pulling away from the body.
But if you love them, it can be very rewarding. Don't hesitate to go over to the upright side of TB. There are some really knowledgeable cats over there. Good luck!

Sometimes I go over to the double bass classifieds just for kicks, and to remind myself how grateful I am for playing the bass guitar instead

 

[dukeorock]

Just tried the Thunderbird studio and thought I’d address a couple things.

This one ain’t heavy. Heavier than mine, but only slightly.

Wider at the nut than mine, but not a ballbat. Found it to be pretty comfy.

Much mellower sounding than mine, not that that’s a good or bad thing. It wasn’t dull sounding, by any stretch.

Headstock is super skinny and thought kinda funny looking

Even the case is near mint. I dunno. Pretty neat bass.

I played it through this...

Better sounding amp than I remembered!

 

[bylar13]

Just tried the Thunderbird studio and thought I’d address a couple things.

This one ain’t heavy. Heavier than mine, but only slightly.

Wider at the nut than mine, but not a ballbat. Found it to be pretty comfy.

Much mellower sounding than mine, not that that’s a good or bad thing. It wasn’t dull sounding, by any stretch.

Headstock is super skinny and thought kinda funny looking

Even the case is near mint. I dunno. Pretty neat bass.

I played it through this...
View attachment 2847025

Better sounding amp than I remembered!

Cool amp. Save your dollars and buy the Lollars!