Thunderbird Club

[RedVee]

I was right into Kiss for the first few albums, up to about Destroyer time & the 4 solo albums. After that they just sort of got shuffled out of my focus.
I still like that early stuff and saw them for the first time a couple of years ago. Good fun.

 

[dukeorock]

shut up and sing.

Wait, isn’t that impossible?

 

[dukeorock]

So, last night I had a 4 hour slap upright gig and another 4 hour slap upright gig tonight. Not sure how it happened, but on my slap hand I got 6 big blisters and 3 of em assploded about 2/3 into the gig. Brutally painful. I still have 3 more days in a row of 4 hour slap upright gigs. Gonna be a tough week

 

[GBassNorth]

Wait, isn’t that impossible?

I guess there's always lip sync.

 

[JJR58]

That's pretty wild man! You gotta "Hang in there, Tiger" from Gene Simmons! I don't care if ya like the band or not! That's just COOL!!!

It was pretty wild Mike. Slight correction, I was 15.

 

[lowend1]

Endorsement from Gibson. I am guessing certain products had to be in view .

Even during the endorsement years, Gene probably played that damn LoBue bass (with the action a mile high) more than anything else, but he did use a surprising array of basses beyond that. Grabber, Ripper, modded EB-0, even a P-Bass. Some stuff, like the Thunderbird and Les Paul Bass, sat off to the side or backstage for the most part. Rumor had it back then that a Rick was used for at least part of Rock And Roll Over.
Good source here:
KISS | Gene Simmons | Basses 1973-1992

 

[Gaolee]

I was just being a smart@ss

You? Really? Gosh!

 

[Gaolee]

So, last night I had a 4 hour slap upright gig and another 4 hour slap upright gig tonight. Not sure how it happened, but on my slap hand I got 6 big blisters and 3 of em assploded about 2/3 into the gig. Brutally painful. I still have 3 more days in a row of 4 hour slap upright gigs. Gonna be a tough week

Sounds completely punk rock to me. Especially if you bleed all over the bass. Bad jokes aside, heal up and break a leg! I don't know if you can slap with a glove or glue yourself back together with super glue or what, but I hope something works.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

You? Really? Gosh!

 

[hillerup]

Even during the endorsement years, Gene probably played that damn LoBue bass (with the action a mile high) more than anything else, but he did use a surprising array of basses beyond that. Grabber, Ripper, modded EB-0, even a P-Bass. Some stuff, like the Thunderbird and Les Paul Bass, sat off to the side or backstage for the most part. Rumor had it back then that a Rick was used for at least part of Rock And Roll Over.
Good source here:
KISS | Gene Simmons | Basses 1973-1992

Great site with a wealth of info!

 

[marko57]

The gimmick is in the eye of the beholder. Four guys in ripped denim and leather all using the same (fake) last name is as much a gimmick as four guys in spandex and makeup. The counterculture is as much a gimmick as the establishment.

Exactly! I came to this realization back in the early 80's while reading an interview with Kerry King (Slayer) where he railed against the lesser heavy bands at the time, throwing the "poser" tag around a lot and then I looked at the photo they had to go along with the interview of him making a growling face and fist at the camera with his wrist-to-elbow armband loaded with nails and it hit me that he was just as much a "poser" as those he was trying to insult, only difference was choice of accouterments.

 

[godofthunder59]

My first bass was a G3... when I started playing I loved that aggressive, grindy thing like John Wetton, Chris Squire, JJ Brunel. The G3 is great for that. The ‘buck and a half’ setting struck me as somewhere between a Ric and a P bass. I got one again a few years ago, but it wasn’t quite as nice as my very first one. I also found my Drake could do something similar but with beefier lows, so it moved on. I do love em though

Ugh the G3. In retrospect a perfectly fine bass. Back in the stone age I worked all summer washing dishes at night and cleaning up the restaurant in the morning, locale joint. I let myself in with a popsicle stick hidden in the bushes. When I went to order a new EB3 the bass I always wanted they said no you don't want that you want the new G3. Being young and dumb I said ok. I was never so dissapointed in my life. Funny thing is that that dissapointment lead me to Thunderbirds!

 

[Gaolee]

Ugh the G3. In retrospect a perfectly fine bass. Back in the stone age I worked all summer washing dishes at night and cleaning up the restaurant in the morning, locale joint. I let myself in with a popsicle stick hidden in the bushes. When I went to order a new EB3 the bass I always wanted they said no you don't want that you want the new G3. Being young and dumb I said ok. I was never so dissapointed in my life. Funny thing is that that dissapointment lead me to Thunderbirds!

So, that's how a Thunderbird chose you, in a roundabout way.

 

[godofthunder59]

So, that's how a Thunderbird chose you, in a roundabout way.

Well I got the G3 and hated it. Traded it for a Moserite NOS nice neck no balls. Then traded the Moserite and my beloved 65 Hofner (which I eventually got back ) for a 76 Ibanez Destroyer that I still own. The Ibanez was more Gibson than anything I ever owned. Next was a 76 Thunderbird, honestly it left me a little flat. Right around 77 or 78 I plugged in my first nonreverse Thunderbird and the tone blew me away. I put it on layaway and paid it off a quickly as I could. Honestly it took several years for me to cope with the scale and size of the bass. These days it just feels like home.

 

[dukeorock]

Ugh the G3. In retrospect a perfectly fine bass. Back in the stone age I worked all summer washing dishes at night and cleaning up the restaurant in the morning, locale joint. I let myself in with a popsicle stick hidden in the bushes. When I went to order a new EB3 the bass I always wanted they said no you don't want that you want the new G3. Being young and dumb I said ok. I was never so dissapointed in my life. Funny thing is that that dissapointment lead me to Thunderbirds!

So all’s well that ends well! Honestly, at age 16 I had little to compare it to. Technically, my first bass was a Fender Musicmaster I traded a guitar for. I found it really embarrassing because it was a kids beginner bass to me. I replaced it as quickly as I could and all I knew was I didn’t want a P bass because I thought they were way too ‘common.’ I loved the look of Grabbers, but the only thing I found that I could afford was a G3, but I gotta say I loved that bass so much. It didn’t have a case, which led to its demise. Head on car wreck and the bass was between my cab and our Hammond M3 when we got hit. Poor bass never had a chance. Replaced it with a Ripper, which was also nice, but not as aggressive sounding, so I bought a 4001. Just couldn’t get along with that bass at all, though I really wanted to. Then, like most of us, I bought, sold and traded over and over looking for ‘the one.’ But really, it all started with that G3, so they’re always gonna have a special place in my heart

 

[Gaolee]

At 16, I was playing piano, playing football, wrestling, rebuilding engines, and trying to figure out how to impress girls even though I was a singularly unimpressive nerdly kid. I had messed around with a guitar a bit, but didn't even think about playing any stringed instrument for about another year and a half. I didn't pick up a bass at all until I was 19. Then it was pretty obvious to me what I should be playing.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

Exactly! I came to this realization back in the early 80's while reading an interview with Kerry King (Slayer) where he railed against the lesser heavy bands at the time, throwing the "poser" tag around a lot and then I looked at the photo they had to go along with the interview of him making a growling face and fist at the camera with his wrist-to-elbow armband loaded with nails and it hit me that he was just as much a "poser" as those he was trying to insult, only difference was choice of accouterments.

And what's with the sunglasses 24/7?!

I just think that 'gimmicks' are part of music. If a band does a gig for a huge corporate function, and all the members of the band are wearing tuxedos, it's still a 'gimmick'... I highly doubt that the tux's are part of their regular attire.

 

[Gaolee]

And what's with the sunglasses 24/7?!

I just think that 'gimmicks' are part of music. If a band does a gig for a huge corporate function, and all the members of the band are wearing tuxedos, it's still a 'gimmick'... I highly doubt that the tux's are part of their regular attire.

We are entertainers when we play. Or we play for ourselves in the basement. That's just how it is. If we don't keep that in mind, at least on some level, we fail. I always try to put on a decent show, move around on stage, interact with the audience to the point it's possible and appropriate, and all that. Plus, there's the shiny polyester shirt that looks and feels like a garbage bag. That may or may not be a good idea, but it's my official gimmick.

 

[godofthunder59]

Well I got the G3 and hated it. Traded it for a Moserite NOS nice neck no balls. Then traded the Moserite and my beloved 65 Hofner (which I eventually got back ) for a 76 Ibanez Destroyer that I still own. The Ibanez was more Gibson than anything I ever owned. Next was a 76 Thunderbird, honestly it left me a little flat. Right around 77 or 78 I plugged in my first nonreverse Thunderbird and the tone blew me away. I put it on layaway and paid it off a quickly as I could. Honestly it took several years for me to cope with the scale and size of the bass. These days it just feels like home.

Dude, you and me both.

 

[BklynKen]

Well I got the G3 and hated it. Traded it for a Moserite NOS nice neck no balls. Then traded the Moserite and my beloved 65 Hofner (which I eventually got back ) for a 76 Ibanez Destroyer that I still own. The Ibanez was more Gibson than anything I ever owned. Next was a 76 Thunderbird, honestly it left me a little flat. Right around 77 or 78 I plugged in my first nonreverse Thunderbird and the tone blew me away. I put it on layaway and paid it off a quickly as I could. Honestly it took several years for me to cope with the scale and size of the bass. These days it just feels like home.

How was the scale and size different from what you’d used before?