Thunderbird Club

[PillO]

He used a custom made Ashdown head and Hartke cabs IIRC

Edit:
Geezer Butler & Ashdown built for ‘The End’ and beyond...

I only have a small sample set, but them Geezer amps ain’t getting the best reviews based on what I’ve seen

He's been a longtime Hartke user but I saw a clip on yoot oob that said he was using Ashdown in the last few years. He's been at it so long that he could use a Gorilla practice amp and it'll sound like him.

Of all the big shows I have been to in the last year or so, I have noted that everyone has a very clean stage with few if any amps on stage. A couple of notables - Roger Glover has TC Electronics cabinets on stage and John Petrucci has Mesa Boogie cabinets on stage for endorsement reasons, and in both cases they aren't miked. So, they are not playing through those rigs - everything is going through the PA. Then you take a look how long the artist pages are for Kemper, Fractal and Tech 21. It leads one to the conclusion that anything on stage is a prop. The players are on IEMs and all the sound is coming through the PA.

Having said that - I know that going direct to PA is an expensive solution available to the big touring acts and perhaps not as accessible to smaller acts/smaller venues. So, in all, I take those endorsements with a very big grain of salt. In many cases, the endorsement is a revenue stream to the artists that was set up by management.

 

[JJR58]

???

@Gaolee has got himself clocked at doing 165mph in his avatar. Wouldn't be surprised if @JIO is right along side him.

 

[JJR58]

Landscaping might be possible too, although there really isn't that much garden to maintain...

Someone to feed the cats when we are not home could be useful though - And then there will be the fully equipped music room that might need regular dusting off.

You name it.

 

[hairypete1138]

I used the classic pro last night for the first time since getting my VP. It amazed me how different is sounds and feels - both are wonderful, but the contrast really is a lot more obvious than I thought it would be. I was running it through a friend’s blackstar HT5 as we were just mucking about in his living room, and the sound was actually really nice for a low-volume setup.
I’m just itching to use the VP in a gig situation now, preferably with the addition of a 112 extension on my Markbass. GAS attack!

 

[Gaolee]

Yeah, Cumquat Thunderbutt.

Secret agent?

 

[Gaolee]

@Gaolee has got himself clocked at doing 165mph in his avatar. Wouldn't be surprised if @JIO is right along side him.

The bike actually did 170 indicated on another day, but I didn't take a picture. Those speeds were pretty routine on the track. In miles, not those wimpy little kms.

 

[hillerup]

@Gaolee has got himself clocked at doing 165mph in his avatar. Wouldn't be surprised if @JIO is right along side him.

Ah, yes... I remember that avatar!

 

[Frankie Fender]

I used the classic pro last night for the first time since getting my VP. It amazed me how different is sounds and feels - both are wonderful, but the contrast really is a lot more obvious than I thought it would be. I was running it through a friend’s blackstar HT5 as we were just mucking about in his living room, and the sound was actually really nice for a low-volume setup.
I’m just itching to use the VP in a gig situation now, preferably with the addition of a 112 extension on my Markbass. GAS attack!

Would you mind elaborating on the differences? I was under the impression they were both the same body and neck basically (feel), only difference being the pickups and hardware.

 

[PillO]

Yeah, Cumquat Thunderbutt.

Secret agent?

Yes, contemporary/competitor to Sloved Dovewing

 

[dukeorock]

Would you mind elaborating on the differences? I was under the impression they were both the same body and neck basically (feel), only difference being the pickups and hardware.

Pickups and hardware can make a huge difference! I have two Gibson T Birds and one Cataldo. One Gibson is stock and the other has a Hipshot bridge and Lollar pickups. They both sound great to me, but very different.

 

[Frankie Fender]

Pickups and hardware can make a huge difference! I have two Gibson T Birds and one Cataldo. One Gibson is stock and the other has a Hipshot bridge and Lollar pickups. They both sound great to me, but very different.

Well, Yes. Pickups make a huge difference. I tend to swap them out on my basses. So do the heavier tuners, which can add to neck dive and head mass, cheap pots, shielding, bridge adjustability, etc.

The OP was amazed at the difference of the sound AND feel, and that is where I would like the clarification. I was under the assumption FEEL would be the same, although I am VERY interested to hear his opinion on the sonic differences.

 

[godofthunder59]

Pickups and hardware can make a huge difference! I have two Gibson T Birds and one Cataldo. One Gibson is stock and the other has a Hipshot bridge and Lollar pickups. They both sound great to me, but very different.

Hmmmmmmm someone forget to latch the door?

 

[Gaolee]

Well, Yes. Pickups make a huge difference. I tend to swap them out on my basses. So do the heavier tuners, which can add to neck dive and head mass, cheap pots, shielding, bridge adjustability, etc.

The OP was amazed at the difference of the sound AND feel, and that is where I would like the clarification. I was under the assumption FEEL would be the same, although I am VERY interested to hear his opinion on the sonic differences.

I have several Thunderbirds. Three are Gibson of varying vintage. They all have narrow necks. The depth varies a little, but not a huge amount. The 2015 is the smallest of the lot. I also have an Epiphone Pro IV that has been modified to fretless. Part of the reason for removing the frets was that they were such big frets. Gibson frets feel smaller and smoother to me. The Epi neck is very similar to Gibson necks. The only one that's really different is a bolt-on Epiphone IV, which has a wide, deep neck. It's a baseball bat. Other than that particular model and age (2000s) of Epiphone, I think you will find the neck feel similar, if not the same. Frets will be a little different, as noted, but when it comes to Gibson or recent Epiphones, they are likely to be very similar as well. I don't have much problem with neck dive on any of the 'Birds. The bolt-on dove like a submarine until I moved the upper strap button to the neck heel. It balances reasonably well now. The others are about as neutral as you can get. Some will dive, but most don't. Lightening the headstock is good but not absolutely necessary. For what it's worth, I like having a d-tuner on the E string, and that adds a little mass to the headstock. Not much, and it has no effect that I can notice.

I like having a Babicz bridge, but it's only because I'm a hopeless tinkerer. Once set properly, the three point is rock solid and needs no adjustment. There are those who actually prefer the three point. It's not as bad as the usual rumors make it out to be.

As far as I can tell, the latest Epiphone VP is at least as good and maybe better than Gibson Thunderbirds built since 1989 or so. I haven't played one, so that's only second hand. Plenty of us have played them, and nobody has said anything negative about one yet. I expect differences in feel have more to do with minor geometry and the individual bass. Sound is going to depend on the pickups and strings. VP pickups are apparently excellent, and sound more like vintage Thunderbird pickups than CP pickups, which are supposedly modern Gibson pickups. That means they will respond to touch just a little differently and have a differing amount of brightness/thump/etc.

 

[theFixer]

I’m not positive the ghetto fab lingo is working, brother...just...well

I was really going for "self-absorbed gum chewing teenage mall-rat" (complete with eye rolling). Ya just lose so much in text...

 

[Gaolee]

Hmmmmmmm someone forget to latch the door?

There's a door?

 

[godofthunder59]

There's a door?

If not there should be. I always thought the initiation served as one.

 

[dukeorock]

As far as I can tell, the latest Epiphone VP is at least as good and maybe better than Gibson Thunderbirds built since 1989 or so. I haven't played one, so that's only second hand. Plenty of us have played them, and nobody has said anything negative about one yet.

This whole ‘just as good, or better than’ stuff is becoming a sticking point with me. One may be different and more suitable to your needs, but ‘better?’ Different, sure. Both my Gibson’s are post 1989 and they’re terrific. I think the ceramic pickups sound really cool for some things. For other (most) things, I prefer the Alnico pickups like TB’s or Lollars, but that doesn’t mean the modern ceramics suck. They don’t .
The Epi VP’s are nice, especially at their price point. For all I know, I’ll wind up with one at some point, but I wouldnt sell either Gibson to do so

 

[hairypete1138]

Would you mind elaborating on the differences? I was under the impression they were both the same body and neck basically (feel), only difference being the pickups and hardware.

In terms of the sound, as i’ve Noted before, the VP has much more clarity in the higher register. The CP sounds good up high, but as with many basses, it starts to sound ever so slightly muted once you get past about 9th fret on the G. This does not happen at all with the VP. The VP has considerably more natural growl to it, which is largely due to the probucker 760 pick ups.
In terms of feel, the necks are different - both are the same width, but the VP’s is slightly deeper - and the CP feels a fair bit lighter to me (although this would vary from bass to bass as previously discussed). They are definitely not identical in form, with key differences other than the neck being the giant vintage headstock and downward sloping wings on the VP.
As I said, I love them both, but they are very different birds.

 

[JIO]

The presenter looks familiar - Is that Fester (Jackie Coogan) from the Addams Family?

Ernst Stavro Blofeld

 

[Gaolee]

This whole ‘just as good, or better than’ stuff is becoming a sticking point with me. One may be different and more suitable to your needs, but ‘better?’ Different, sure. Both my Gibson’s are post 1989 and they’re terrific. I think the ceramic pickups sound really cool for some things. For other (most) things, I prefer the Alnico pickups like TB’s or Lollars, but that doesn’t mean the modern ceramics suck. They don’t .
The Epi VP’s are nice, especially at their price point. For all I know, I’ll wind up with one at some point, but I wouldnt sell either Gibson to do so

Gotta piss people off somehow, y'know.

The funny thing about this is that I have some of the same problem with the G string fading away that Pete mentioned. It isn't an issue with the 2001. It is a small issue with the 2015, and a much bigger issue with the 1991 that has Chinabuckers in it. Meaning that it may be a pickup issue, not the instrument itself, although both the 1991 and 2015 have a bit of a dead spot right around the fifth or sixth fret on the G string. There just isn't quite the sustain there, but the fade is another issue entirely. Oddly enough, I find that playing lighter on higher strings often results in it being louder, where digging in down low is louder. I think it's the way the pickups respond. Which is yet another reason I want to swap the Chinabuckers for Thunderbuckers one of these days. Other players with less CroMagnon technique probably wouldn't even notice what I'm talking about.

The 1998 Ric I had was dead around the seventh fret on the G string. My P has the usual P dead spot. The EB has no dead spots, nor does the EB-2. Same with the fretless 'Bird and the 2001. Go figure.