Thunderbird Club

[Gaolee]

I suggested a Heil Fin would be a good band purchase and the singer said, no, no, that's my instrument, I'll get one.

View attachment 3327326

Those sound great as well as look the business. We use 'em - two blue ones and a red one in the middle.

 

[Gaolee]

Yes. The line up is pretty settled. For some unfathomable reason, both singer and drummer seem to think I have some form of talent and are keen to stick with me.

No one seems inclined to have a go at me for 1. playing Thunderbirds, 2. using roundwound strings, 3. playing with a pick, 4. using a tuner pedal.

Now you just need a guitarist. Maybe skip the guitarist and go straight for a bouzouki player. You might have better luck.

 

[GonePlaid]

Now you just need a guitarist. Maybe skip the guitarist and go straight for a bouzouki player. You might have better luck.

Nah. Diggerie-do.

 

[Gaolee]

Sadly, I’m every bit as shallow

Shallow is a calling. Wear your shallowness proudly.

 

[JIO]

The next question would be, how does the weight of a wenge/wenge J neck compare to a maple/rosewood P neck? Not that I'm expecting an answer here. Might go out and survey the GenPop.

still would be heavier


1. playing Thunderbirds - check

2. using roundwound strings - check

3. playing with a pick - check

4. using a tuner pedal - check

 

[fasterpussycat]

still would be heavier

Definitely don't want to add weight.

 

[Gaolee]

still would be heavier


1. playing Thunderbirds - check

2. using roundwound strings - check

3. playing with a pick - check

4. using a tuner pedal - check

All of the above except for a pick. I need to learn to do that one of these days.

 

[Gaolee]

Definitely don't want to add weight.

It's going to depend a little. If the neck is narrower, it will have less weight. If you have one made for you, then you might go with a smaller headstock like a Telecaster bass headstock. There's also the graphite reinforcements instead of steel, which save weight. Then lightweight tuners, and maybe an angled headstock so you don't need string trees. How much do you want to spend?

 

[Haji]

All of the above except for a pick. I need to learn to do that one of these days.

I've starting using a pick for just a couple of easy songs. It does take some getting used to and ya gotta invest the time to get good. I found the Dunlop Flow .88's and they're great; stick to your hands and stiff enough to be easy to use.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

You're putting too much thought into it.

Nah, just assuming spillage and wondering what it was spilled on.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Non-instrument playing singers obviously have too much time on their hands. Never had time for drinking while playing.

Between songs while the singer is talking or the guitars are tuning. 8^)

 

[JIO]

I've starting using a pick for just a couple of easy songs. It does take some getting used to and ya gotta invest the time to get good. I found the Dunlop Flow .88's and they're great; stick to your hands and stiff enough to be easy to use.

Used a pick occasionally but I was mostly a finger-style player for years and started primarily using a pic about 4 years ago. I'm to the point now where I never drop a pick, even cupping it while I play finger style in the same song. You develop a light touch holding it for the most variance in articulation. Like holding on the handlebars too tight when you first start learning to ride a motorcycle - you eventually loosen your arms and it's way easier to steer. Same with a pick - get loose with the way you handle it and a whole new world opens up.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

No one seems inclined to have a go at me for 1. playing Thunderbirds, 2. using roundwound strings, 3. playing with a pick, 4. using a tuner pedal.

Guess neither is a closet bass player!

 

[BklynKen]

Nah, just assuming spillage and wondering what it was spilled on.

Ah. No spillage to date. Just convenient beer drinking.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Yeah, I think those clip-ons look ridiculous. Like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

really digging this little setup.....tried it with Gibsons, Fenders, actives, passives and roundwound and flatwound equipped basses....not a bad value....found a set of NOS Philips EL-84s online to replace the crappy Sovteks...

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Yeah, I think those clip-ons look ridiculous. Like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

Yes!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I've starting using a pick for just a couple of easy songs. It does take some getting used to and ya gotta invest the time to get good. I found the Dunlop Flow .88's and they're great; stick to your hands and stiff enough to be easy to use.

When I first played bass on a couple of songs years ago in a duo, the bass players all used either the huge, thick, triangle picks, or big fat felt picks. I hated them. Only a couple of (at the time) weirdos played without picks, at least in the circles I knew.

When I started playing bass seriously, I started with the Tortex purple picks, settled on orange Tortex as a guitar player. Then I started learning to use my fingers on bass. Now I use whichever sounds right for the song.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I don’t like unclipped strings waving around either. Don’t know why, should really be nothing to me.

On a crowded stage, they can be dangerous. Especially with headstocks near eyeball level. I've had my eyeglass intercept one. That was scary.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I guess those are the ones you want.

Lately I've been playing with a couple of people and I'm feeling pretty hopeful that it will become something. It's a husband and wife I've known since the 90s. She plays bass and he plays guitar, and both sing. She's been wanting to trouble to two-bass thing for a while and recently I got aggressive about getting something going, since I've had nothing hopeful. It's been really fun so far. She plays a Fender Mustang. We seem to compliment each other well. It's possible the two basses being so sonically different is one thing, but we also seem to go to different places with our playing, so that may just naturally work for us.

It's been years so I have no idea who the bands were, but I recall a show in either Augusta, GA or Atlanta, GA back in the early to mid '70s where one of the bands had two drummers, a guitar and keys (or two guitars), and a bass player as lead singer, and the other band had two bass players, a guitar and keys (or two guitars), and a drummer as lead singer. Both were pretty good, and the band with two basses (I almost said double basses) used two basses quite well. At the time I knew nothing about bass brands and don't recall what they had, but I do recall them doing everything from southern rock lead guitar-style doubling to playing in different registers, to trading who played traditional bass and who played counter-lead or even lead guitar.