Thunderbird Club

[FRANK TANKCOCK]

But I thought that was part of the initiation! ;-)

no...not at all....it was there to match gibson's awful height and protect the paint some what....I talked with the mr jeff babicz himself and he said absolutely it can come out....you just adjust your string height. it's now fantastic and fast to play those IRON MAIDEN AND RUSH riffs! you don't need such a ridiculous angle as the stock....look at the early birds.

 

[PillO]

Allow me a brief rant:

By way of background, I bought my daughter a computer for Xmas 2 years ago (when she was 7). This allowed her to use her own computer (and protected mine from any misfortune she might inflict). As part of that, I set up her own Microsoft account. She gets her own email address and access to the app store and it is all filtered to be age appropriate. And I get a weekly report by email (or more frequently if I look it up on the web) of all of her activity.

Fast forward to now. She wanted an MP3 player for Xmas. As I probed, it was clear that what she wanted was a player in the form factor of a phone. Well, you can't get anything that isn't a phone in that form factor (except an iPod touch which are no longer being made and I have multiple issues with Apple). So, the simple solution is get a cheapish android phone and don't install a sim card.

So, Google claims that they do child accounts. But, as you try to set it up, the only way to do it is through the family app which is not available in Canada; can't spoof my location to get access to it. Can't be done online; it has to be through the app. Everything is just a pain to make happen. I have installed an app to lock down the phone so that it does Spotify and no a lot else.

Microsoft made it so easy and Google has made it all so difficult. I really wish Microsoft still did windows phones - the set up consisted of putting in your Microsoft account and since my daughter has that, it would all just work.

TL;DR - all this computer nonsense makes life difficult. Get off my lawn.

 

[Gaolee]

Trevor Bolder talked about what an arsehole Blackstar had become by the end of the Spiders ... then said 'he's not like that anymore'. That may correspond to the graph ... or may be coincidence.

View attachment 2853734

I suspect Iman may have had a little to do with straightening him out. Coke or Iman? Good choice on his part.

 

[Gaolee]

Anybody here have both the Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV from a few years ago and the recent Vintage PRO? How do they compare soundwise, and build quality?

I don't so take this for what or is worth. Best I can do to help before somebody who actually knows pipes up. The wood part is probably identical. The only likely differences are pickups and appearance details. Namely the vintage style chrome and bridge. Pickups may have pretty much the same innards under a different cover. I don't know for sure, just didn't want you left dangling without any response.

 

[Dadagoboi]

Anybody here have both the Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV from a few years ago and the recent Vintage PRO? How do they compare soundwise, and build quality?

@godofthunder59 has both and much prefers the VP. He's done a recent review, probably a few hundred pages ago.

 

[hillerup]

Allow me a brief rant:

By way of background, I bought my daughter a computer for Xmas 2 years ago (when she was 7). This allowed her to use her own computer (and protected mine from any misfortune she might inflict). As part of that, I set up her own Microsoft account. She gets her own email address and access to the app store and it is all filtered to be age appropriate. And I get a weekly report by email (or more frequently if I look it up on the web) of all of her activity.

Fast forward to now. She wanted an MP3 player for Xmas. As I probed, it was clear that what she wanted was a player in the form factor of a phone. Well, you can't get anything that isn't a phone in that form factor (except an iPod touch which are no longer being made and I have multiple issues with Apple). So, the simple solution is get a cheapish android phone and don't install a sim card.

So, Google claims that they do child accounts. But, as you try to set it up, the only way to do it is through the family app which is not available in Canada; can't spoof my location to get access to it. Can't be done online; it has to be through the app. Everything is just a pain to make happen. I have installed an app to lock down the phone so that it does Spotify and no a lot else.

Microsoft made it so easy and Google has made it all so difficult. I really wish Microsoft still did windows phones - the set up consisted of putting in your Microsoft account and since my daughter has that, it would all just work.

TL;DR - all this computer nonsense makes life difficult. Get off my lawn.

It's equally easy with an iPhone, but i digress...

 

[PillO]

I don't so take this for what or is worth. Best I can do to help before somebody who actually knows pipes up. The wood part is probably identical. The only likely differences are pickups and appearance details. Namely the vintage style chrome and bridge. Pickups may have pretty much the same innards under a different cover. I don't know for sure, just didn't want you left dangling without any response.

@godofthunder59 has both and much prefers the VP. He's done a recent review, probably a few hundred pages ago.

You can search for his postings and I think it can be narrowed to only this thread, so it should be straightforward to find.

 

[PillO]

It's equally easy with an iPhone, but i digress...

I had suspected so, but I have issues with that solution. For a 9 year old, the Apple tax on the device makes it economic folly to purchase. The iPod touch has been relegated many pages back in the website, and the device has not been refreshed/revised for 3+ years indicating to me that it is being EOLed when the current stock is depleted. And, with a windows PC, you must install iTunes; I have had many issues with iTunes, from re-arrangements of songs/artists/albums to persistence despite being uninstalled (getting rid of iTunes is akin to getting rid of nasty malware).

 

[Feral Feline]

Rabbits. Pronounced rabbits.

Wrabbits. Pronounced "wrabbits... hahahhahahhh"

 

[godofthunder59]

Anybody here have both the Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV from a few years ago and the recent Vintage PRO? How do they compare soundwise, and build quality?

Build quality is very similar but because of the Vintage Pro 60's Alnico humbuckers, two piece bridge and large headstock it is a very different sounding bass than the Classic Pro. The CP with the Ceramic Humbuckers is a much more modern and cleaner sounding bass. The VP sounds just like a good 60's Thunderbird should, full of grit, growl, mild inherent distortion and treble zing. The VP also has better string tension and sustain due to the two part bridge. Hope that helps.

 

[Perrygoround]

One question, Thunderbird owners. Yesterday my gigbag died after our christmass gig. I need a new one ASAP. Which ones can you recommend me? will standard gig-bags fit (the ones designed with Fender and MM basses in mind) or I need to search for a TB specific one again? I called my local music shop and they don't have TB-specific gig-bags, so I am not sure if buying one online or go to the shop and try to fit my bass in a standard one -there is a big storm going on here so I prefer not wasting time and getting all soaking wet going there if standard ones will not fit-.

 

[dukeorock]

Played pretty much all of my basses yesterday through the rig I have set up in a spare bedroom. Lately the rig has been a Mesa M9 and a proto sealed 212 with three, 3” mid drivers. It’s a neat sounding cab, but won’t be going into production in its current state. It really is a great sounding cab though, so I’m happy to have it in the practice room. The M9 is a very interesting amp. Very thick down low, very zingy up top (same can be said for the cab, so it’s a potentially dodgy rig for many basses). It has lots of usable eq, so you can shape it to whatever you like pretty easily. Onboard compressors almost always suck, but the one on this amp is actually quite nice.

My parts/Warmoth bass is the closest thing to an MM I’ll like ever own, though it’s fully passive. It has a Nordstrand Bigman pickup in an MM shell so it didn’t require any routing.

It’s a really great sounding pickup. I just don’t love it’s location. Not enough thump so far toward the bridge. I can eq it into something really interesting, but I think it’s gonna get a second pickup further forward before I’d ever use it live. The obvious thing would be a 2 band pre, but that’s never going to happen. No active basses for me! Worse case, it’s a great bass for recording situations where less deep lows are needed. The plan is to add a second Bigman and send it off to JIO to make it look cooler when funds allow. Awesome bass, but not quite ‘there’ yet.

Next I messed with my 35” scale custom Drake.

I can’t recommend TV Jones Thunder’Blade pickups highly enough. Just incredible pickups. It’s a very big, aggressive sounding bass. Soon it’s going to get new strings for some new Prayer Flags recordings where me and Harlowe will be tuned to Drop C. The 35” scale on this bass makes drop tuning really easy. Just gotta figure out what guage strings I’m gonna want.

Lastly, I played my T Bird.

When it comes to basses and amps, I’m not afraid to tweak settings to get what I want, but my favorite basses and amps sound great in their most neutral settings. You can play around after that, but their native voicing should be there already. That’s where my T Bird shines. Plug it into any amp I own with everything at noon and it’s the best sounding bass I own, for what I like.

So my takeaway is, if you have to tweak your gear too much to find ‘your’ sound, maybe you don’t have the right gear yet. Just a thought. Looking forward to doing this all over again when the Traynor shows up!

 

[BklynKen]

One question, Thunderbird owners. Yesterday my gigbag died after our christmass gig. I need a new one ASAP. Which ones can you recommend me? will standard gig-bags fit (the ones designed with Fender and MM basses in mind) or I need to search for a TB specific one again? I called my local music shop and they don't have TB-specific gig-bags, so I am not sure if buying one online or go to the shop and try to fit my bass in a standard one -there is a big storm going on here so I prefer not wasting time and getting all soaking wet going there if standard ones will not fit-.

I highly recommend the Gator ProGo. If you remove the removable inside bottom cushion, the Thunderbird fits fine. I've been using it for years.

 

[Perrygoround]

I highly recommend the Gator ProGo. If you remove the removable inside bottom cushion, the Thunderbird fits fine. I've been using it for years.

Is this the one you mean?
Invalid Link Removed

 

[BklynKen]

Is this the one you mean?
Invalid Link Removed

Yup, that's it. The one recommendation I have, if you get it, is to move the shoulder strap carabiners from the D-rings directly to the webbing loops the D-rings are attached to. Makes the shoulder straps a lot more stable.

 

[Perrygoround]

Great, thanks!

 

[JJR58]

Played pretty much all of my basses yesterday through the rig I have set up in a spare bedroom. Lately the rig has been a Mesa M9 and a proto sealed 212 with three, 3” mid drivers. It’s a neat sounding cab, but won’t be going into production in its current state. It really is a great sounding cab though, so I’m happy to have it in the practice room. The M9 is a very interesting amp. Very thick down low, very zingy up top (same can be said for the cab, so it’s a potentially dodgy rig for many basses). It has lots of usable eq, so you can shape it to whatever you like pretty easily. Onboard compressors almost always suck, but the one on this amp is actually quite nice.
View attachment 2854236
My parts/Warmoth bass is the closest thing to an MM I’ll like ever own, though it’s fully passive. It has a Nordstrand Bigman pickup in an MM shell so it didn’t require any routing.
View attachment 2854238
It’s a really great sounding pickup. I just don’t love it’s location. Not enough thump so far toward the bridge. I can eq it into something really interesting, but I think it’s gonna get a second pickup further forward before I’d ever use it live. The obvious thing would be a 2 band pre, but that’s never going to happen. No active basses for me! Worse case, it’s a great bass for recording situations where less deep lows are needed. The plan is to add a second Bigman and send it off to JIO to make it look cooler when funds allow. Awesome bass, but not quite ‘there’ yet.

Next I messed with my 35” scale custom Drake.
View attachment 2854262
I can’t recommend TV Jones Thunder’Blade pickups highly enough. Just incredible pickups. It’s a very big, aggressive sounding bass. Soon it’s going to get new strings for some new Prayer Flags recordings where me and Harlowe will be tuned to Drop C. The 35” scale on this bass makes drop tuning really easy. Just gotta figure out what guage strings I’m gonna want.

Lastly, I played my T Bird.
View attachment 2854268
When it comes to basses and amps, I’m not afraid to tweak settings to get what I want, but my favorite basses and amps sound great in their most neutral settings. You can play around after that, but their native voicing should be there already. That’s where my T Bird shines. Plug it into any amp I own with everything at noon and it’s the best sounding bass I own, for what I like.

So my takeaway is, if you have to tweak your gear too much to find ‘your’ sound, maybe you don’t have the right gear yet. Just a thought. Looking forward to doing this all over again when the Traynor shows up!

Interesting what you had to say about the M9. When i had mine, i never found it to be zingy up top. But maybe the cab i was using at the time had something to do with it, A Mesa Powerhouse 212.
It was the 900 watt version, much before it was the 600 watt version. Wish i still had it.

 

[lowend1]

Classic! I wore Chucks at our wedding.

Ah, but were they "real" Chucks?

 

[dmac1961]

Is this the one you mean?
Invalid Link Removed

+1 on the Gator ProGo. It even accommodates Birds with the larger headstock.

 

[BklynKen]

Ah, but were they "real" Chucks?

Yes.