Thunderbird Club

[bylar13]

Thunderbird In Action:



The band I play in did a show a couple of weeks back and someone recorded it and put it on the youtube.... Some "clams"
for sure but not bad for a bunch of old guys who don't practice enough....

 

[PillO]

Cool! I need to get these:
View attachment 3136954

ME TOO!!!

Me three. I have bankers and consultants covered off, but I need something for staff meetings.

 

[GonePlaid]

Thunderbird In Action:



The band I play in did a show a couple of weeks back and someone recorded it and put it on the youtube.... Some "clams"
for sure but not bad for a bunch of old guys who don't practice enough....

I envy you for having that much room to move around-and the knees that will let you. I usually have about as much room as there is just in front of your amp between the guitar amp and the drums-which is why I often have to use a short scale

 

[PillO]

Vince, save those for when you go to work for NASA.

NASA - the National Association of Surplus Architects?

 

[PillO]

I went paddling yesterday and today (sorry no pictures). Today was great. Because it is threatening rain and thunderstorms are forecast, all the yahoos with jet-skis and power boats stayed home. That made for a great day seeing nature. I spotted several Blue herons (both in flight and wading). I also saw a couple of bald eagles (in Canada known as follicularly impoverished eagles). A beach full of juvenile mallards. With the wind, there was enough chop that I didn't see any fish.

 

[bylar13]

I envy you for having that much room to move around-and the knees that will let you. I usually have about as much room as there is just in front of your amp between the guitar amp and the drums-which is why I often have to use a short scale

Yeah, I have whacked both guitatrists with the head stock at previous gigs. This club is nicer & bigger than we usually play...

 

[GBassNorth]

Yeah, I have whacked both guitatrists with the head stock at previous gigs. This club is nicer & bigger than we usually play...

Cool playing! Usually it's the guitarists that are animated on stage, not the bassist. Good to see the inverse of that.

 

[Engle]

One of the other situations we've run into is multiple managers w/o a "master" calendar. Like hanging on an office wall. Keeping it in a phone is fine as a backup, but an "analog" calendar that can be seen by the staff might cut down on booking screwups. And then some places change managers frequently and the new one brings in favorite acts with no checking on who's already booked or who's done well for the house. We got to one venue that was a 50 mile one way drive for our 2 guitarists only to find another band setting up. We were told that one manager booked us and another booked the other band but they'd give 2 more bookings to replace that one. Didn't even offer us $10 for gas. BTW, didn't give us the bookings either. The guitarists won't make the drive w/o money up front so I'm sure we'll never be there again. One other thing from when we did play there once: the bartender didn't like our repertoire and badmouthed us to management. The audience loved us and wanted to know when we'd be back. Probably "the 12th of never"

The Legion thing was a paper calendar that they keep at the bar.
The guy that booked the fundraiser on our date just didn’t give a crap what the first guy had put down (and is obviously really in charge) I wouldn’t have minded being bumped so much if someone had called me, but we only found out by accident.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Yeah. As I said in the original rant, you ask for a contract, yer told "get out". They don't hafta do them , so they won't.

Yeah, that's a tough one. You have to reconcile yourself with just playing for "fun" if you need to play that bad.
If you got a pro product and managed to play the important venues people will use contracts..

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

Never actually had my hands on a Studio Bird before. I've heard others comment about their weight also. What is it about the Studio that brings the extra weight. I'm assuming it's not just a five string neck size issue but also applies to the 4 string as well (IDK - maybe a wrong assumption).

The main thing is the body thickness. The never milled the wings down so the majority of it is almost half an inch thicker than a standard Bird

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

NASA - the National Association of Surplus Architects?

If only I was civil

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

I went paddling yesterday and today (sorry no pictures). Today was great. Because it is threatening rain and thunderstorms are forecast, all the yahoos with jet-skis and power boats stayed home. That made for a great day seeing nature. I spotted several Blue herons (both in flight and wading). I also saw a couple of bald eagles (in Canada known as follicularly impoverished eagles). A beach full of juvenile mallards. With the wind, there was enough chop that I didn't see any fish.

I can see most of those without leaving my property
Only saw a follicularly impoverished eagle once... from a distance. But red-tailed hawks all the time.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

Cool playing! Usually it's the guitarists that are animated on stage, not the bassist. Good to see the inverse of that.

Must be a Motley Crue fan

 

[PillO]

If only I was civil

We all say that too.

 

[PillO]

The main thing is the body thickness.

I know her...

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

An overpriced Studio models from the mid 2000's. The repair alone makes it overpriced by a lot. Forget the other wear and tear.

I'd love to try one. Never seen one in person. Would seem they would feel different with the smaller rounded off edges body.

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

I know her...

Weird cause she was born in 2006.....

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Cool playing! Usually it's the guitarists that are animated on stage, not the bassist. Good to see the inverse of that.

Nice avatar, what kind of bass? VP?

 

[godofthunder59]

Yeah, I have whacked both guitatrists with the head stock at previous gigs. This club is nicer & bigger than we usually play...

The Tbird headstock is good for keeping bandmates in line.

 

[PillO]

Yeah. As I said in the original rant, you ask for a contract, yer told "get out". They don't hafta do them , so they won't.

I can't understand anyone who eschews contracts. They are to the benefit of both parties by clearly laying out expectations on both sides. So, from the bar owner point of view, I can't understand how they would want to hire a band without a contract.

I don’t blame you for being angry about that.
One of the local Legions here was having financial difficulty last year. It’s a decent room with a stage/PA so my band and some friends decided to put on a few events.

A friend set up a Sunday afternoon 3-5 jazz series with various local bands (including us) rotating through every second Sunday. Admission was by donation to the musicians and the Legion would benefit by selling more drinks than usual.

First time we played, I booked my band for a Saturday night 2 months in advance. The deal was we would charge and keep a cover. Normally we just get paid a fee by pubs, but the Legion is struggling...
I confirmed with the guy in charge a week later and he told me he wrote it in the calendar. So we do our usual promotion stuff on FB, talk to people about saving the venue etc.

Second time we play the Sunday 3-5 thing, it’s a month before the Saturday we booked, and as we’re packing up, I say to another guy there “See you on May 26”. And the reply is “what? We have a fundraiser here that night”
It turns out the other guy just scratched out our name and booked another event. I try to be a “peace, love, and understanding” kind of dude, but that really pissed me off!
So much for supporting our local Legion.

Our friend went in to book the dates for the fall and they wanted him to change ithe Jazz Series to 2:30 - 4:30 to accommodate their 5pm Meat Draw. He has put money and effort into promoting it as Sunday 3-5 jazz, so he’s now looking at a different venue.

And they are struggling financially? Who would have thunk it?

One of the other situations we've run into is multiple managers w/o a "master" calendar. Like hanging on an office wall. Keeping it in a phone is fine as a backup, but an "analog" calendar that can be seen by the staff might cut down on booking screwups. And then some places change managers frequently and the new one brings in favorite acts with no checking on who's already booked or who's done well for the house. We got to one venue that was a 50 mile one way drive for our 2 guitarists only to find another band setting up. We were told that one manager booked us and another booked the other band but they'd give 2 more bookings to replace that one. Didn't even offer us $10 for gas. BTW, didn't give us the bookings either. The guitarists won't make the drive w/o money up front so I'm sure we'll never be there again. One other thing from when we did play there once: the bartender didn't like our repertoire and badmouthed us to management. The audience loved us and wanted to know when we'd be back. Probably "the 12th of never"

Seems strange to me that more than one person would be booking acts... Even so, there can only be one boss; if there are many people booking acts, I would expect that there would be a boss signing off on the contract with the contract being clear about dates and times...

I'll put all of the above down to poorly run business operations. Maybe that is why the first year attrition rate of bars and restaurants is so high.