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Thunderbird Club

#93,824
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#93,825
Saw a band last night at our local music Tavern - the second bands (metal-ish trio) bass player had a Gibson T-bird IV and I was looking forward to hearing it. Was really disappointed as both their bass and guitar sounds were not good. The orig rock trio before them (from Portland) sounded great (much better tone and delivery) using similar amps/different guitars... pretty sure it wasn't the guitars/bass - some players just dial-in better overall sound than others. It's pretty difficult sometimes, I know having played there many times myself - but this was the exact same venue, with the same number of people in the audience. How it wasn't good I can only compare to rolling all the treble off on most passive basses - the bass frequencies that result create an unmusical tone that can usually be tamed by adding a bit to treble to refine/define the tone. This is at the bass, other settings can help at the amp. (both used Ampeg fridges) I have a couple basses that this doesn't happen, but they are exceptional basses so it's no surprise. T-bird are known for being 'dark' sounding (in a good way), and his sound was not reflective of that ideal T-bird tone we all know and love.

Just goes to show you that the bass alone is not a guarantee that you will sound great, regardless of brand or model. Critical ears and experience dialing your tone expediently to any room situation are the keys.
 
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#93,829
Count Bassie said:
Thanks.
It's a cool bass. It's got some pretty old DiMarzio p/j p'ups and an Artec 2-band pre. It's very funky, super-sleek feeling and ez to play. It is also the scene of a minor crime- it started life as a Hamer Cruisebass, the first edition. Looked exactly like- and from the same era as- the one in the Romantics' "Talking in Your Sleep" vid, 1983. The DiMarzios were stock, the preamp was a pre-Rog mod, which has been said to be sensible, since the all-Mahogany construction/DiMarzio marriage made for an overtly 'boxy', nasally kind of sound. Now it's got some "@$$", as we say. I've actually replaced it once since having it, with a similar 2-band Artec.
I modded the body by cutting away a lot of the upper horn, stripped the lacquer and took a pattern rasp and some sandpaper to it to bevel the upper edges, a-la EB-0, etc. The pickguard is my re-cut out of Luaun plywood and Epoxy, sanded thin and painted with red Rustoleum primer and Rustoleum black on top, roughed it up with steel wool.
I'm kinda sorry I did it to an old classic, really, but I love playing it... the artwork happened because it really had to at that point. I had to take it the rest of the way. Now it's itself.

I've taken a lot of grief for having done it. But what a player. Weighs next to nothing, sounds great, looks... unique, certainly! It's a decidedly in-your-face machine.
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My Cruise is an 86 so first gen, but not early first gen like yours. Great bass and great player. The Dimarzio pickups in my 82 Hamer Blitz are amazing sounding!!! One of my best sounding basses hands down. I have a St. Blues P bass loaded with 80's Dimarzio P-J pickups and that thing sound killer as well. Something special about those 80's Dimarzio's in my opinion.
 
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#93,830
Gaolee said:
More plastic, of course. Bondo and some more poly would probably work pretty well. You would see the repair unless you spent way too much time working on it, but at least there wouldn't be a hole. Unless you don't care, which is how I solve problems like that.
Click to expand...
Well yeah I have hipshots on my JC and didn’t bother doing anything with the holes...
I should probably just go buy a whole bunch of little black screws;)
 
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#93,833
Nocturnal said:
My Cruise is an 86 so first gen, but not early first gen like yours. Great bass and great player. The Dimarzio pickups in my 82 Hamer Blitz are amazing sounding!!! One of my best sounding basses hands down. I have a St. Blues P bass loaded with 80's Dimarzio P-J pickups and that thing sound killer as well. Something special about those 80's Dimarzio's in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Interesting... I've heard similar buzz about them.
 
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#93,834
JIO said:
Looks good - pic of the back?
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You got it..
vZWMG4-rgR89-VpK0CLp3jnBGCDCT8WZ7K0mS51p77WmpsVr-NrBqzK19arIIMLIaASdWZUt3H9TqFg&owa=outlook.live.jpg
 
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#93,837
Haji said:
I've been using Songsterr of late for learning new old songs; the new project is a 90's cover band. It has great features but those features cost almost $10 a month. Is there anything out there that is a good resource for tabs that are printable?
Click to expand...

I have copy/pasted from Big Bass Tabs to Word so that I can print (and edit). There are so many poor tabs - if a hack like me can hear that it is wrong, how can the author not? But sometimes they do offer a useful starting place.
 
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#93,838
PillO said:
I have copy/pasted from Big Bass Tabs to Word so that I can print (and edit). There are so many poor tabs - if a hack like me can hear that it is wrong, how can the author not? But sometimes they do offer a useful starting place.
Click to expand...
The other day I was looking for a tab for a song we were going to play Friday. I found multiple tabs, all different. None of them sounded even close to the referenced song, and I was having a difficult time sussing it out. I worked on the rest, and got the legit tab from the leader at rehearsal. It was easier than expected.
Something similar happens about 1 in 15 to 20 tabs I look up. OTOH, I'm getting better about not always needing them. Yay, practice!
 
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#93,840
My new (to me) Traynor cab has no logo; the older ones didn't have any logo. So, I am thinking through putting on a logo plate for my own amusement. Ampeg is too obvious. I haven't found anywhere to buy a Dirk logo (as posted previously). Fender and Marshall logos are easy to get hold of. So two questions:

Which is funnier, a Fender or a Marshall logo on a bass cabinet (my gut says Marshall, since they don't make any)? And
Are there any other nameplates I should consider?
 
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