Thunderbird Club

[RedVee]

Perfect, But it's going to turn into a free for all soon. You see how many takers there are.

Needs Sthn Hemisphere testing

 

[Haji]

My concern, and I may be over-paranoid here, is that it says they were made famous by "The Who's". You'd think if they had a serious claim to fame, they'd spell it correctly.

This is who I'm going with when the start taking order again.Invalid Link Removed

They're just lesser known, that's all. They're from Joisey; while they go colloquially by The Who's, their actual name is Who's Dat?, with the mission of posing that timeless musical question.

 

[Haji]

Watched a really great panel discussion the other day on YouTube. The two speakers were Roger Sadowsky and Michael Tobias. I’ve never owned a bass by either maker and doubt I ever will, but between the two of em, they’ve built over 10,000 basses, which gives them a lot of credibility. The subject was the dreaded ‘Tonewood’ discussion. They both had slightly different takes on body and neck wood, but both agreed wholeheartedly that fingerboard material makes the most noticeable difference every time. I honestly wouldn’t have thought I had a ‘favorite’ because every bass is different anyway. But I have to wonder, as my two favorite basses I own share some interesting attributes

‘02 Gibson- mahogany body and neck, ebony fingerboard
Drake Custom- (mostly) mahogany body, Jatoba (looks very similar to mahogany) neck and ebony fingerboard

Could be a coincidence, or could be that I at least somewhat, gravitate toward certain things

I haven't yet played a real Tobias, or even an MTD, but I have played a few Sadowskys; the very awesome Corner Music stocks them. Some here may remember my comments about how important acoustic vibration of an instrument is to me, and how much I hate a dead stick. The Sadowskys have been the most lively basses I've played yet. I get why they're $4000 And I'd buy one if I wasn't poor. And a Lull...and...

I think I could be pretty good at being a rich guy.

 

[theFixer]

Needs Sthn Hemisphere testing

Looks like they'll need to send send a few letters to you as well. It appears as though you're nearly out of vowels!

 

[RedVee]

Looks like they'll need to send send a few letters to you as well. It appears as though you're nearly out of vowels!

Just being economical

 

[Haji]

I'm gonna ask a question and hope it's in the parameters of the club because, honestly, this is the only part of TalkBass I feel comfortable. I own 3 basses. Of course my Thunderbird, an MIM Jazz Bass strung with flats, and a Squier P-Bass. I don't play the Squier because it was given a long time ago to me by my Grandfather who now has dementia. I've always been careful with it so it's still in nice condition, but my situation is whether I should go ahead an retire it to the case so nothing ever happens to it or if I should play it. My problem is because he gave it to me to play after I sold my only bass some years ago and he was in good health then. Things are very different now. What do you think?

I lost mom to factors related to demetia on Dec 23, 2015...so Christmas is gonna suck ass for a while. If I still had that first bass my folks got me, I'd play it regularly as a tribute to them. I'd be careful with it, but I'd use it.

 

[Haji]

I know, I was being a joker! Kind of. I have spent a LOT of money on basses (Modulus, Rickenbacker, Gibson, etc.) so I understand getting what you pay for. For my part, at this point in my life, a low end Epi Thunderbird just makes more sense. Would I LOVE to have a 1964 Gibson Thunderbird IV?? YES!!! But at $8000 to $10000, I really can't justify it, as I know from experience, playing it in my music room through a small 25 watt amp, it would not sound all THAT different. But if I could afford it I would do it! Ten years ago I MAY have spent $4000 to $5000 on a Lull Bird. But not now. Hats off to those who can and do!

Totally understand...but you do need a big, ridiculous practice amp that's waaaay more than necessary. Get it used and you won't sink Lullbucks into it.

 

[cableguy]

Neck arrived today for the t-bird build. It feels really good, although the heel is a little wider than the t-bird neck. I'll have to shave it down just a bit. I'll pull the pups & controls this weekend. A little sanding, then off to paint. And I don't know why the picture is like this. On my PC it's not upside down, it's horizontal....

 

[BklynKen]

My concern, and I may be over-paranoid here, is that it says they were made famous by "The Who's". You'd think if they had a serious claim to fame, they'd spell it correctly.

I think that's out of context. If you go to the full description, it says, "The Who's John Entwistle."

Not at all. I have seen it everywhere.

In the '80s, though?

 

[Haji]

I think that's out of context. If you go to the full description, it says, "The Who's John Entwistle."


In the '80s, though?

The Who's Dat bass player's last name is Entwhistle, but his first name is Jerry. He assumed the first name John because they thought it would be clever marketing. They didn't really think that through very much. He's just not all that good a bassist.

 

[Larry V]

Some of you may remember that I'd received a Music Man StingRay for Christmas, and that I had some issues with it. Well... I'd sent it back, where (much like with car problems) it didn't exhibit the issues I'd experienced. It was set back up to within the shop's specifications, and shipped back to me. Upon re-arrival, I opened the case & found a bass with a back bow that caused every string to buzz like an electric razor on every fret. In my frustration and disappointment... I decided it was cursed, and sent it back to the store, uncertain of what was going to happen next. While in transit, something showed up on the store's website that filled a desire I'd carried with me for years. Back when I was playing guitar... I'd always loved a big orange Gretsch hollowbody electric, but the stars just never aligned.

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The neck specs don't line up with what I always look for. I'd never touched a short scaled bass, don't like floating bridges, and to my knowledge, have never heard a Filter Tron pickup in my life... but I needed to do something to conclude this transaction, and a refund was not an option. Dollars and sense, plus my affinity for Gretsch, put this G6119BO "Broadkaster" as the best available option. I am giddy to be able to announce that I am beyond thrilled with this thang!!! It is absolutely SPECTACULAR!!! I could fill pages with commentary about the tones it produces! Absolutely incredible!!! I don't know if it's due to the shorter scale, or the way it hangs, or a combination of elements... but even with a less than tree trunk neck... I can (and have) played this thing for hours without the usual hand and wrist issues that make me stop after only 2 or 3 minutes. The action is effortless!!! @GBassNorth being a short scale guy... I must urge you to do yourself a big favor & check one of these out!

Congratulations, Mike! That is one beautiful bass and I'm so glad to hear that the neck is to your liking and that you find it to be very playable with no hand issues. Love the color as well!

You gotta be fvck!n’ kidding me!!!

Since last night when I was up to date, you’ve accumulated 13 pages to read...

Give us working guys a break!

I hear ya', Michael!

If I'm to keep up with this Club, I need to read it from early morning to late at night, checking in frequently during the day...

I've done well with that the last few days but I'm streaky when it comes to that and there have been times when I'm sooooooo far behind that I say fvck it and just move to the front of the thread. I feel a bit bad about doing it since I may be missing someone's NBD(like Fixer's) or someone's personal reveal(like bking's).

Having not missed those two Club "events" makes me question my skip forward approach to this Club at times since I'm glad I didn't "skip" them but my God, this Club moves so fast at times and there's only so much time in a day.

 

[bking0217]

I think that's out of context. If you go to the full description, it says, "The Who's John Entwistle."

Now that makes a lot more sense.

 

[dukeorock]

Up way too early today! Driving to Macon, Georgia (340 Miles from Nashville). Gotta be there by 4pm for some video thing (lose an hour en route), gig at 9pm, then turn around and drive home after the gig...gonna be a long day!

 

[Larry V]

Up way too early today! Driving to Macon, Georgia (340 Miles from Nashville). Gotta be there by 4pm for some video thing (lose an hour en route), gig at 9pm, then turn around and drive home after the gig...gonna be a long day!

I bet you love the challenge of it all. I know I do when pressed to do something that seems to be crazy even for guys half our age.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

Up way too early today! Driving to Macon, Georgia (340 Miles from Nashville). Gotta be there by 4pm for some video thing (lose an hour en route), gig at 9pm, then turn around and drive home after the gig...gonna be a long day!

You forgot, keeping up the the Thunderbird Club, as well!

 

[Gaolee]

You forgot, keeping up the the Thunderbird Club, as well!

Vince sticks in the pin! I'm on the opposite coast until tonight. Thank goodness for a phone that does internet stuff. I would be declaring post reading bankruptcy and skipping to the end.

 

[dukeorock]

I bet you love the challenge of it all. I know I do when pressed to do something that seems to be crazy even for guys half our age.

Ha! It’ll be fun...until it isn’t Then somehow it’ll get fun again. Out with Derek Hoke, who’s star is rising a bit. His drummer is my dearest friend on the planet, though traditionally, we’ve been better friends when crazy drives aren’t involved. He’s getting up there in years and doesn’t relish the challenge like he once did

You forgot, keeping up the the Thunderbird Club, as well!

At least 12 hours of my day will be sitting in the van in transit. Plenty of time to catch up!

 

[JJR58]

Ha! It’ll be fun...until it isn’t Then somehow it’ll get fun again. Out with Derek Hoke, who’s star is rising a bit. His drummer is my dearest friend on the planet, though traditionally, we’ve been better friends when crazy drives aren’t involved. He’s getting up there in years and doesn’t relish the challenge like he once did



At least 12 hours of my day will be sitting in the van in transit. Plenty of time to catch up!

There's always bound to be some action here.

 

[Rob Martinez]

Totally understand...but you do need a big, ridiculous practice amp that's waaaay more than necessary. Get it used and you won't sink Lullbucks into it.

I used to have one of those Kustom combos with a 15" speaker and something like 800 watts. Ridiculous!! I learned to love the 50 watt combo after that, as did my back and our drummer's ears!

 

[BklynKen]

Had a band practice last night and the La Bella SS worked out really well. The guitarist said he's never heard me so clearly. It's entirely possible that's mostly due to my turning up the high-mid knob, which I did at home and loved. And the guitarist was trying a different amp. But I do still think the strings had something to do with it. One interesting thing, which I'm not really concerned about, is that I had a lot harder time getting harmonics to ring out with the La Bella over the Rotos. It's possible I was being too heavy-handed, but I never seemed to have an issue like that with the Rotos. But like I said, I'm not really concerned about it because I use harmonics once, in one song, briefly.