Thunderbird Club

[fasterpussycat]

Hello everyone. Nothing much else to report.

bass inventory:
Cataldo JAEbird #4 --- 66N
Cataldo NR41KB #87 --- 66S
Orville TBII 1990 --- 66S

same old KS bass burner strings...

I didn't post with the intention of asking, but now that I'm here ... anyone have a copy of Logic Pro X they can lend me?

 

[JIO]

Here's some close up pics of mine that I posted a few years ago when I did a TBird vs Spectorbird shootout...

Gibson pick guard close up near the neck. Note how the pick guard edge (near the screw) is no longer flush with the raised center block due to the center block tapering down... (Note the look of a rough finish along the body edge radius, its an optical illusion, that edge and all others are smooth as glass, the reflections on the body side in this pic accurately show the near perfect gloss nitro top coat)...
View attachment 3280732

Gibson body wing "V" joint visible....
View attachment 3280733

Gibson finish has tremendous depth and looks very unique. Its hard to photograph - you can see every grain and pore in the wood but the nitro gloss looks and feels like a layer of glass over the top...
View attachment 3280734

It's really a strange finish that looks and feels exceptional and ultra deep and glassy in person but photographs odd on close ups due to the open grain feature of the finish. I really like it. Had they completely filled all the grain and then painted it in gold and finished with a clear coat it would look like every other gold color bass out there. As somebody who gravitates towards finishes that showcase the grain of the wood, it really appeals to me.
View attachment 3280735

Good pics - I did my best to illustrate the "V" joint on my '64 and this is about as good as I could get. You can barely see the top one, but the bottom one is easier to see, along with the central laminates. Similar to Dadagoboi's - no separation in the 55yr old lacquer.

 

[Nocturnal]

Quoi de neuf biches?

Still chuntering on about the same old stuff? I have been ~busy with band stuff.

Just pissed the old one off and getting into a new project -- hopefully the g*****d is less of a tw@t. When something comes of it, may even put it up on the intertubes.

As you were.

#888

Welcome back!!!!

 

[Dadagoboi]

Good pics - I did my best to illustrate the "V" joint on my '64 and this is about as good as I could get. You can barely see the top one, but the bottom one is easier to see, along with the central laminates. Similar to Dadagoboi's - no separation in the 54yr old lacquer.

View attachment 3280768

View attachment 3280770

...and that's what genuine (Honduras) mahogany looks like with no grain filler and a proper glue job. As is said, "They don't make that any more."

 

[JIO]

...and that's what genuine (Honduras) mahogany looks like with no grain filler and a proper glue job.

word

 

[TBird1958]

Quoi de neuf biches?

Still chuntering on about the same old stuff? I have been ~busy with band stuff.

Just pissed the old one off and getting into a new project -- hopefully the g*****d is less of a tw@t. When something comes of it, may even put it up on the intertubes.

As you were.

#888

Missed you, be welcome here!

 

[TBird1958]

Good pics - I did my best to illustrate the "V" joint on my '64 and this is about as good as I could get. You can barely see the top one, but the bottom one is easier to see, along with the central laminates. Similar to Dadagoboi's - no separation in the 55yr old lacquer.

View attachment 3280768

View attachment 3280770

Perhaps the quality of the wood on the older basses has something to do with it too, the wood on my '89 is shrinking at different rates, you can easily see the laminations, even through the white paint.

 

[JIO]

Perhaps the quality of the wood on the older basses has something to do with it too, the wood on my '89 is shrinking at different rates, you can easily see the laminations, even through the white paint.

Were they still using lacquer in '89? Discrepancies in the wood and whatever the finish was combined with conditions where it was stored etc could all lead to such.

 

[TBird1958]

Were they still using lacquer in '89? Discrepancies in the wood and whatever the finish was combined with conditions where it was stored etc could all lead to such.

Yes to the lacquer in '89, I think they still do - but, I'm happy to be proven wrong on that.

I love how this has aged, the player wear is all mine. I'll try to shoot a close up of the end sometime soon.

 

[JIO]

Yes to the lacquer in '89, I think they still do - but, I'm happy to be proven wrong on that.

I love how this has aged, the player wear is all mine. I'll try to shoot a close up of the end sometime soon.
View attachment 3280863
View attachment 3280864

Love it! To anyone who doesn't know, I have a thread featuring distressed/player worn finishes. Feel free to post your own axes there if they display similar wear/aging, or just scan the variety of examples.
SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES!

Did those pu's come on the bass? They look like the 60's variety.

 

[bylar13]

Hello everyone. Nothing much else to report.

bass inventory:
Cataldo JAEbird #4 --- 66N
Cataldo NR41KB #87 --- 66S
Orville TBII 1990 --- 66S

same old KS bass burner strings...

I didn't post with the intention of asking, but now that I'm here ... anyone have a copy of Logic Pro X they can lend me?

Many happy returns!

 

[GonePlaid]

...and that's what genuine (Honduras) mahogany looks like with no grain filler and a proper glue job. As is said, "They don't make that any more."

There are a coupla places I found while a-googling that have in stock Honduran mahogany. Probly want an arm and a leg for it.

 

[TBird1958]

Love it! To anyone who doesn't know, I have a thread featuring distressed/player worn finishes. Feel free to post your own axes there if they display similar wear/aging, or just scan the variety of examples.
SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES!

Did those pu's come on the bass? They look like the 60's variety.

Nope! This bass used have all stock black hardware - Then Chromitis set in...…..New Gibson 3 point ('cause they're the best bridge ever made!) (ok, I'm kidding) Hipshot tuners, N.O.S. bridge cover to lay my right hand on and of course some Mike Lull '63 spec pickups. It may be as close as I ever get to a real '63 for tone, it's bass I have no qualms about taking to a show and riding it hard for 3 hours. I love that bass!

 

[GBassNorth]

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that the vintage birds had a much finer grain less open pore mahogany than the current builds.
Here's a shot of the back of one of my Alembic basses in actual Honduran Mahogany built in the mid 1990's. The wood was harvested well before that, so assume 25 to 35 years ago this was readily available.
Sealed, stained and clear coated...

 

[GonePlaid]

#HowIStarted
I played guitar off and on for decades. rarely could I get past so-so unless I practiced 3-4 hours a day for weeks on end. I haven't had time for that since I was 25. I did play bass on a song every blue moon, faking my way through. I'd also been playing hand percussion on every surface available off and on.
A few years ago, our drummer at church left, so I started playing djembe. A couple of years later, we had three drummers and our bass player left. I'd been looking for an excuse to get a bass, so I offered to learn (they knew I played guitar). When they said yes, I skipped on over to Guitar Center. I was looking at Ibanez and Yamaha basses when I saw... an Epi Thunderbird IV. I immediately flashed back to Lynyrd Skynyrd opening for the Who in 1973. Leon Wilkeson and John Entwhistle both had Thunderbirds that night. Between the look and the sound, I fell in love. And here was a Thunderbird, staring me in the face.
I pulled it down and plugged it in. Despite not really knowing what I was doing, bass-wise, it was suddenly a half hour later and I had a stupid grin on my face. The salesman started toward the back to get a brand new one, but I wanted that one. "I can't discount it because we have plenty in the back." I didn't care. That bird and I had claimed each other.
I've made the mistake of selling or giving away a lot of firsts over the years. That won't be happening with this one.

A little background: my dad played sax/clarinet/flute in big bands in the late 40s through 80s so I was around that style of music pretty much from(my)day one. I started on piano at age 7 then clarinet at age 12. Bass clarinet and saxes through high school, then entered the Navy music program in 64, still on sax and clarinet. My last year in the Navy, I was stationed in Charleston, SC. Our assigned tuba/bass player lived about 25 miles off base and didn't want to stay-or come back-to play a 1 1/2 hour cocktail party at the officer's club. The band had a Navy issue EB-3 and because I had been interested in learning to play bass, I volunteered to do those gigs. I rehearsed a few times with the pianist and, watching his hands on the keys, picked it up pretty quickly. At first just playing 1s and 5s 'til I got more familiar with where the notes were on the neck then working my up from there. I'm blessed with a good ear for changes and patterns. As soon as I left the Navy(late 68), I got my own EB-3 and played it for the next 3 1/2 years. In 1970, while in NYC, I saw a guy trying/buying a TBird in Manny's. I don't recall ever seeing one up close b4 that day. I asked if I could see it. I held and played it and immediately knew I had to have one. About 2 1/2 years later I took a gig with a band out of Miami(home, BTW)for the purpose of going to Manny's to get one(I had called about 2 weeks before we went up).They said they had a bunch of them. On our first day off, I went to Manny's to see what they had. ONE!! They had sold a bunch of them to JAE a few days previous. Our guitarist needed some work done on his guitar and the guy at Manny's recommended a shop across the street (@JJR58 knows the place-gone now). As our guitarist was discussing his maintenance needs, I noticed a sunburst NR Thunderbird in a rack. I asked if I could see it. I held it, played it, gulped a coupla times, and.....well, we've been together ever since-45+ years. I've played rock, country, big band and concert band with it and never once been told I needed to get "some other(FSO?)" bass. Now that I think of it, if I was 'asked' to play another bass my answer would consist of 2 words, 2nd word, "off".*

*1st word"buzz"(?)

 

[dukeorock]

Thanks man. I loved it while it lasted. It was a short lived due to a split in concept. Tom and I were in one camp and the other guitarist and drummer were in the other. We recorded a few songs and never played live, as was initially our plan. Here's my composition - Dialator. My 'direction' to the guys was to channel the ocean. I used a click track to stay static, like a ship in a squall. The other is Toms beautiful song Strumpet. (played on a Moog guitar) I used my fretless Factorbird on it. Tom nearly died last year if not for emergency surgery that was successful - be good to the ones you cherish - life is short.

Been away a few days, but I love both of those songs a lot! One kinda shoegaze and one ambient...love that stuff!

Hello everyone. Nothing much else to report.

bass inventory:
Cataldo JAEbird #4 --- 66N
Cataldo NR41KB #87 --- 66S
Orville TBII 1990 --- 66S

same old KS bass burner strings...

I didn't post with the intention of asking, but now that I'm here ... anyone have a copy of Logic Pro X they can lend me?

Whoa! So nice to see a post from Kat!
How does one go about ‘lending’ Logic Pro X? That’s what I use, but no one’s ever asked to borrow it

 

[JIO]

Nope! This bass used have all stock black hardware - Then Chromitis set in...…..New Gibson 3 point ('cause they're the best bridge ever made!) (ok, I'm kidding) Hipshot tuners, N.O.S. bridge cover to lay my right hand on and of course some Mike Lull '63 spec pickups. It may be as close as I ever get to a real '63 for tone, it's bass I have no qualms about taking to a show and riding it hard for 3 hours. I love that bass!

All great ingredient resulting in a KA bass! Haven't seen a pic of you playing it have we?

 

[JIO]

Been away a few days, but I love both of those songs a lot! One kinda shoegaze and one ambient...love that stuff!

Thanks Mark! I love it too!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Hello everyone. Nothing much else to report.

bass inventory:
...

Three birds is something to report!
Welcome back. You were missed!

 

[Dr_Feelgoood212]

@JIO
Hard to capture the wear, but this bass was gigged average 6 day’s a week for the better part of 15 years starting in the mid 60’s.
It was his only bass too.