Thunderbird Club

[Chucky Stiletti]

Well, if clarinets had spit valves, that woulda been a great idea. It woulda also been nice if he'd apologized but he just walked away like nothing had happened. We were between shows and I had put the bass, on a stand, back where no one could hit it or trip over the cable. He had walked behind a curtain to get where he hit the music stand. I didn't have a backup at the time and the bass was unplayable for the written parts, so I left. The Stuart, FL, band(not the guy)offered to buy me new strings but they were about due for replacement so I thanked them, finished the season and left the band. I still play with another concert band in West Palm Beach, FL.

yeah realized that after I hit "send". woodwinds not brass..

 

[GonePlaid]

yeah realized that after I hit "send". woodwinds not brass..

No BFD. Bari saxes do have spit valves. As do bass saxes and contrabass clarinets.

 

[RedVee]

Its a bass, Jim...

But not as we know it.

After a couple of hours on an easy bushwalk with some friends a few of us proceeded to the districts Art Gallery. They have a nice cafe and Japanese garden area. When we finished up I wandered through the gallery part as there is a festival art competition at the moment. This is an entry, and is for sale.

No, I’m not buying it.

Spoiler

he wants $4,400... it’s art don’t you know

 

[TBird1958]

You say "easy to manufacture" like it's a bad thing. How about efficient industrial design. Yes, you touched on a couple of key points defining the two maker philosophies. LF set out to create a professional, serviceable instrument for an actively gigging (financially conservative) professional musician. He designed it based on actual player feedback and repairability which was a meat & potatoes approach that appealed to professional musicians. These musicians were not collectors or hobbyist - they were supporting themselves and their families playing bass. So in his intent - LF was immensely successful.

Conversely - Gibson hired an industrial designer (who wasn't a player) to create a stylish "look" for their Firebird guitar & Thunderbird bass and the result, regardless of 'old world' construction and techniques (which Gibson was known for) was a bass that had many design shortcomings. They "out cooled" the conservative alternative but history has shown that in the end - a Fender bass was more professionally used/more recorded than any Gibson bass. Generalities about what stringed instruments should or should not be are a product of brand camp devotees and have no legitimacy other than as opinion. I agree that a T-bird is a work of successful visual design, but as a life-long owner of one (and die-hard player of them) - they fell short functionally in ways that no Fender bass has.

Not arguing the logic, but somehow I just never could get on the 7ender bandwagon, even when I first started playing I just knew that weren't the bass I wanted. I tried three different times later on in life to just try and keep an open mind and play a 7ender - there's just utterly no magic there for me, I'm a freak.

 

[JIO]

Not arguing the logic, but somehow I just never could get on the 7ender bandwagon, even when I first started playing I just knew that weren't the bass I wanted. I tried three different times later on in life to just try and keep an open mind and play a 7ender - there's just utterly no magic there for me, I'm a freak.

Hah! Not a freak - it's just personal preference really - no right or wrong choice and plenty of people focused like you on one or the other. I started out on Gibsons - a short stay with an EB-3 and years with my '63 and then '64 T-bird II's. I tried a Fender (Tele bass) in the mid-70's and didn't like it - didn't start playing Fenders until '06. I'm currently playing T-bird derivative basses again and love them as I always have. Love the Fenders too - just my personal preference!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Not arguing the logic, but somehow I just never could get on the 7ender bandwagon, even when I first started playing I just knew that weren't the bass I wanted. I tried three different times later on in life to just try and keep an open mind and play a 7ender - there's just utterly no magic there for me, I'm a freak.

Playing a Rick to boot..

 

[JIO]

Playing a Rick to boot..

Rick rockin' a Ric - I owned a nice '86 4003 for a year or so and it was a very cool bass but I sold it and never miss it. Still appreciate the aesthetic and its tone.

 

[Count Bassie]

I've never 'popped' a string but I had a tapewound 'G' unravel when a clarinetist in the concert band knocked a music stand in to my Ibanez semi-hollow.

Horn players. Right?

 

[GonePlaid]

Horn players. Right?

Yep. No concept of the value of the bass. Having played clarinet and sax through high school and later, I'm careful around Their instruments, they aren't around mine.

 

[GonePlaid]

Its a bass, Jim...

View attachment 3209633

But not as we know it.

After a couple of hours on an easy bushwalk with some friends a few of us proceeded to the districts Art Gallery. They have a nice cafe and Japanese garden area. When we finished up I wandered through the gallery part as there is a festival art competition at the moment. This is an entry, and is for sale.

No, I’m not buying it.

Spoiler

he wants $4,400... it’s art don’t you know

Perfect for Gene Simmons.

 

[GonePlaid]

Not arguing the logic, but somehow I just never could get on the 7ender bandwagon, even when I first started playing I just knew that weren't the bass I wanted. I tried three different times later on in life to just try and keep an open mind and play a 7ender - there's just utterly no magic there for me, I'm a freak.

I bought a 5quier VM Jaguar SS as a backup. I like it more than I thought I would(P pup only),especially after I 'modded' it. OK I put an "ashtray" on it["it needed a bridge cover"]. But it's still my backup.

 

[PillO]

Its a bass, Jim...

View attachment 3209633

But not as we know it.

After a couple of hours on an easy bushwalk with some friends a few of us proceeded to the districts Art Gallery. They have a nice cafe and Japanese garden area. When we finished up I wandered through the gallery part as there is a festival art competition at the moment. This is an entry, and is for sale.

No, I’m not buying it.

Spoiler

he wants $4,400... it’s art don’t you know

The strap is on backwards, fretting the g string would be a bitch, and the pickup covers the a and d strings only. Did he/she at least set it up with low action?

 

[Count Bassie]

Yep. No concept of the value of the bass. Having played clarinet and sax through high school and later, I'm careful around Their instruments, they aren't around mine.

You have to just go ahead and step on them from time to time.

During performances, I mean. Musically. Lol, like Jaco...

 

[Gaolee]

Well said! I think you've captured what I've always found so much more alluring in Gibsons in comparison to how I view Fenders.

So, how many Thunderbirds do I have to own before you guys teach me the secret handshake?

Jeff is in charge of the initiation rites. That ceremony involves cocoanuts and a lot of shouting.

 

[Gaolee]

I agree that a T-bird is a work of successful visual design, but as a life-long owner of one (and die-hard player of them) - they fell short functionally in ways that no Fender bass has.

Both have their quirks. I find a T-Bird to be more ergonomically correct for me than anything designed by Leo or derived from those designs. I also find other Gibson designs more ergonomic than the competing Fender style design. Oddly enough, I don't get along with Les Paul shapes all that well, even though I really like ES335 and similarly shaped guitars. Consistency isn't a virtue, and being a freak is virtue.

 

[Inky13]

did you superglue his spit valve?

I think Spit Valve would make an excellent band name.

 

[ToddOfThunder]

I bought a 5quier VM Jaguar SS as a backup. I like it more than I thought I would(P pup only),especially after I 'modded' it. OK I put an "ashtray" on it["it needed a bridge cover"]. But it's still my backup.

That’s the only model I’ve played that I really liked as well.

 

[Count Bassie]

I wonder how the pickups from a BachBird would sound handling a low B? Maybe I'll put them in the Squier-II/Vint-Mod Jaguar I've got tuned BEAD.

 

[Haji]

I mentioned a while back that I had another bamd going. I got a call from Jon, a drummer friend that also sings, plays bass and guitar, and probably other stuff too. Anyway, he asked if I wanted to do a 90s cover band, which sounded fun. Since we're just south of Nashville finding a guitar player was fairly easy...although we lucked out on that point. So we're working up covers with Jon playing drums and singing. He just wanted to play drums, so we started looking for a singer. Over three months we had 18 people express interest in the gig. We set auditions for 9. Not one of the nine who wanted auditions showed up, or even called to cancel. Just didn't show. After the 9th failure, I get a call from Jon that he'd rather play guitar and sing than drum and sing, so we swapped his drums for a PRS, 5150 III and cabs. We were expecting another long process to find a drummer. Since he looked for a singer, I took over looking for a drummer. I posted the ad on Friday. 7 drummers hit me up about the gig within a couple hours. One could audition on Sunday and already knew the songs we were auditioning with, and has a website with other projects on it. He was a little early for the audition and nailed the songs...and he's fun to be around. Three months with nobody following through on vocal auditions, and finding the killer drummer took hours. Funny how that works.

 

[Count Bassie]

I mentioned a while back that I had another bamd going. I got a call from Jon, a drummer friend that also sings, plays bass and guitar, and probably other stuff too. Anyway, he asked if I wanted to do a 90s cover band, which sounded fun. Since we're just south of Nashville finding a guitar player was fairly easy...although we lucked out on that point. So we're working up covers with Jon playing drums and singing. He just wanted to play drums, so we started looking for a singer. Over three months we had 18 people express interest in the gig. We set auditions for 9. Not one of the nine who wanted auditions showed up, or even called to cancel. Just didn't show. After the 9th failure, I get a call from Jon that he'd rather play guitar and sing than drum and sing, so we swapped his drums for a PRS, 5150 III and cabs. We were expecting another long process to find a drummer. Since he looked for a singer, I took over looking for a drummer. I posted the ad on Friday. 7 drummers hit me up about the gig within a couple hours. One could audition on Sunday and already knew the songs we were auditioning with, and has a website with other projects on it. He was a little early for the audition and nailed the songs...and he's fun to be around. Three months with nobody following through on vocal auditions, and finding the killer drummer took hours. Funny how that works.

After doing it for years, and figuring you've got it figured, you just never can tell.