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Thunderbird Club

#60,883
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#60,884
Ok , this is confession time .

I've been lusting after a Thunderbird for a while . This thread and the one about the new Epi vintage with the chrome hardware have been very disturbing in a good way . One of the guitar players in my band has a daughter in college that plays bass pretty well . She wanted a Thunderbird and so Bruce got her one for Christmas , an Epi Thunderbird Pro I think . Neckthru , Gibson pickups and a very nice sunburst finish .

Last week he had me come over to practice early to check out the setup . It was very close to perfect with intonation , I just had to lower the pickups some to make it just right . When I plugged it into my amp though and turned it up I was less than impressed with the sound , just barky mids with not much roundness to the tone . I was expecting something closer in tone to the Ric 4001 I played back in the seventies . I kind of crossed the Thunderbirds off my list even though I've heard them sound great on albums and some of the local bass players years ago .

Last night I went to Bruces and we put some DR strings on it and re-set it up , it didn't take much . His daughter came down and played it for a while with her dad on guitar . Sounded pretty good . After she went upstairs I gave it another shot . Still kind of barky mids but a little better . Then I looked down and noticed I was playing over the bridge pickup . I guess with the shape of the body and neck I had been assuming I was playing over the neck pickup like I do with all the other basses I have had and played . I moved to playing over the neck pickup and now I get it ! I felt like a dumb@$$ but now I want one again . Tighter bottom than a Jazz and good mids and highs and great grind if you dig in . Much more rounded out tone . I like it . I knew all the stuff I read in these threads and heard on clips couldn't be wrong .

I guess this was a case of operator error (me) .
 
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#60,886
Blues Bass 2 said:
Ok , this is confession time .

I've been lusting after a Thunderbird for a while . This thread and the one about the new Epi vintage with the chrome hardware have been very disturbing in a good way . One of the guitar players in my band has a daughter in college that plays bass pretty well . She wanted a Thunderbird and so Bruce got her one for Christmas , an Epi Thunderbird Pro I think . Neckthru , Gibson pickups and a very nice sunburst finish .

Last week he had me come over to practice early to check out the setup . It was very close to perfect with intonation , I just had to lower the pickups some to make it just right . When I plugged it into my amp though and turned it up I was less than impressed with the sound , just barky mids with not much roundness to the tone . I was expecting something closer in tone to the Ric 4001 I played back in the seventies . I kind of crossed the Thunderbirds off my list even though I've heard them sound great on albums and some of the local bass players years ago .

Last night I went to Bruces and we put some DR strings on it and re-set it up , it didn't take much . His daughter came down and played it for a while with her dad on guitar . Sounded pretty good . After she went upstairs I gave it another shot . Still kind of barky mids but a little better . Then I looked down and noticed I was playing over the bridge pickup . I guess with the shape of the body and neck I had been assuming I was playing over the neck pickup like I do with all the other basses I have had and played . I moved to playing over the neck pickup and now I get it ! I felt like a dumb@$$ but now I want one again . Tighter bottom than a Jazz and good mids and highs and great grind if you dig in . Much more rounded out tone . I like it . I knew all the suff I read in these threads and heard on clips couldn't be wrong .

I guess this was a case of operator error (me) .
Click to expand...


Nice! I see we have our hooks into you good Sir.
The Classic and Vintage Thunderbirds are really nice basses (no price qualifier needed), hope to see you posting shots of one here soon!
 
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#60,888
Blues Bass 2 said:
Ok , this is confession time .

I've been lusting after a Thunderbird for a while . This thread and the one about the new Epi vintage with the chrome hardware have been very disturbing in a good way . One of the guitar players in my band has a daughter in college that plays bass pretty well . She wanted a Thunderbird and so Bruce got her one for Christmas , an Epi Thunderbird Pro I think . Neckthru , Gibson pickups and a very nice sunburst finish .

Last week he had me come over to practice early to check out the setup . It was very close to perfect with intonation , I just had to lower the pickups some to make it just right . When I plugged it into my amp though and turned it up I was less than impressed with the sound , just barky mids with not much roundness to the tone . I was expecting something closer in tone to the Ric 4001 I played back in the seventies . I kind of crossed the Thunderbirds off my list even though I've heard them sound great on albums and some of the local bass players years ago .

Last night I went to Bruces and we put some DR strings on it and re-set it up , it didn't take much . His daughter came down and played it for a while with her dad on guitar . Sounded pretty good . After she went upstairs I gave it another shot . Still kind of barky mids but a little better . Then I looked down and noticed I was playing over the bridge pickup . I guess with the shape of the body and neck I had been assuming I was playing over the neck pickup like I do with all the other basses I have had and played . I moved to playing over the neck pickup and now I get it ! I felt like a dumb@$$ but now I want one again . Tighter bottom than a Jazz and good mids and highs and great grind if you dig in . Much more rounded out tone . I like it . I knew all the suff I read in these threads and heard on clips couldn't be wrong .

I guess this was a case of operator error (me) .
Click to expand...
Glad you found the sound you are looking for!

Thunderbirds are a completely different animal from everything else, so amp EQ might need to be changed to get a desirable tone. Also a lot of people around here, including myself, would suggest raising the pickups backup. Just low enough so when you fret the last frets, you don't scrape the strings when plucking/picking, but YMMV.

Now you just gotta let the right Bird find you, and you're in business!
 
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#60,889
JJR58 said:
But i'm with you Duke, i was totally lost as well. Especially when Kat posts references to sport related things. Way over my head. And i know when Kat posts, they are relevant and important. And we all must pay attention!!
But not having the understanding of such words and phrases puts me in a tail spin. But i also don't get out much.
Click to expand...

Think of it as me 'returning the favour'. There are times I have no idea what you people are on about (in fact there are times 6.7 billion of us have bo idea what the 300 million of you are on about), so occasionally I like to have a little friendly 'push back'.
 
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#60,892
hillerup said:
I’m sure the relatives of Bob Price would disagree...

Click to expand...

Lots of people would. Racing on real roads is especially nuts. I stuck to closed circuit tracks where there's runoff, air fence, and an ambulance waiting in the wings in case something went completely pear shaped. Never mind the wise acre comments, I knew a couple people who died at the track.
 
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#60,895
Blues Bass 2 said:
Ok , this is confession time .

I've been lusting after a Thunderbird for a while . This thread and the one about the new Epi vintage with the chrome hardware have been very disturbing in a good way . One of the guitar players in my band has a daughter in college that plays bass pretty well . She wanted a Thunderbird and so Bruce got her one for Christmas , an Epi Thunderbird Pro I think . Neckthru , Gibson pickups and a very nice sunburst finish .

Last week he had me come over to practice early to check out the setup . It was very close to perfect with intonation , I just had to lower the pickups some to make it just right . When I plugged it into my amp though and turned it up I was less than impressed with the sound , just barky mids with not much roundness to the tone . I was expecting something closer in tone to the Ric 4001 I played back in the seventies . I kind of crossed the Thunderbirds off my list even though I've heard them sound great on albums and some of the local bass players years ago .

Last night I went to Bruces and we put some DR strings on it and re-set it up , it didn't take much . His daughter came down and played it for a while with her dad on guitar . Sounded pretty good . After she went upstairs I gave it another shot . Still kind of barky mids but a little better . Then I looked down and noticed I was playing over the bridge pickup . I guess with the shape of the body and neck I had been assuming I was playing over the neck pickup like I do with all the other basses I have had and played . I moved to playing over the neck pickup and now I get it ! I felt like a dumb@$$ but now I want one again . Tighter bottom than a Jazz and good mids and highs and great grind if you dig in . Much more rounded out tone . I like it . I knew all the stuff I read in these threads and heard on clips couldn't be wrong .

I guess this was a case of operator error (me) .
Click to expand...

We are the Club. We will add your musical and humorous distinctiveness to our own. Your biology and technology will adapt to service us. Treble is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Your defensive capabilities are unable to withstand N+1.

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