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Thunderbird Club

#106,362
GBassNorth said:
I always find these kinds of shootouts interesting, thanks for posting. The advantage of having one person do a multi bass shootout is how relative the sound samples are vs listening to different players on different sound clips with different recording gear and different playing styles playing different tunes - just so many variables it becomes almost meaningless.

To my ears (just played on my iPad speaker with no headphones) the Sabre sounded best followed by the Gretch. May have a completely different take if I routed the iPad through my bass amp. But to be honest, the sabre had more depth and bottom than the others, most of which were more mid focused than I normally play. Would be interesting to hear all of these with new strings and all onboard controls centered. And don't change those sabre pups, it's what makes a Musicman a Musicman.
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I appreciate your insights on this, George! Happy that the Gretsch is getting good reviews. I also hear you on the Sabre. The jury is still out for me, but I feel like the Nordstrand Bigman pickups do a very similar trick but just a little ‘better.’ Subjective, I know!
With headphones or speakers, I felt a little different, but I want to hear as many opinions as possible and I trust yours! I probably like more mids, but that’s what makes the world go around :)
BTW, I seem to recall you have some experience with Pyramid strings? Am I remembering that right? They worth the money, in your opinion?

Miles_ONeal said:
Pretty sure that's it. I know he used a 22 and a 27 with SF, and it's not the 22.
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An H22 is still on my list. Love those basses!
 
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#106,364
dukeorock said:
If anyone could possibly be interested, here’s a soundcloud rundown of the 7 basses I played last night into Logic. Everything just straight into the interface, no tweaking of the sounds. It’s pretty ‘warts and all,’ with plenty of clams and lots of fret noise on the Hofner, especially. Both ‘Birds have dead strings, especially the Cataldo. I also don’t like the strings on the Drake. 8 bars with each bass.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

1. Hofner 500/1 w/black tapes
2. EB3L w/ Dunlop Super Brights
3. ‘02 Gibson T Bird w/ deadish Lo Riders
4. MusicMan Sabre unsure on strings
5. Cataldo NR w/ super dead BassBurners
6. Gretsch Spectrasonic w/ Black Beauties
7. Drake w/ Cobalt Rounds
Click to expand...
Pretty cool.
 
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#106,365
dukeorock said:
Kinda proves each of us have more affect on the tone than the instruments, but in my mind there are distinct differences. The Cataldo with fresh BassBurners is a whole other world and often my favorite in these kinds of ‘shootouts.’ I was surprised at how contemporary the Hofner sounds, despite the clacky tapewounds. The Drake still sounds good to me despite having truly crappy strings. The EB3L has the coolest throaty mids of the bunch, but is a bit wanting in the lows. Great for recording though. The Sabre will almost certainly get new pickups and will be switched to passive after hearing this. I’ve always thought a single master volume for multiple pickups is a terrible idea. It’s still a neat bass though. The Gretsch with Black Beauties is cool, but sounds better with Cobalt flats, etc
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dunno, that Sabre sounds pretty tasty...the EB-3 wins it for me..
 
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#106,366
piddling around with my bud Jule at his shop today centering a filter on my Monique pre.....there is some REALLY cool stuff coming soon..
thumbnail_file (5).jpg


thumbnail_file-1 (3).jpg
 
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#106,367
dukeorock said:
If anyone could possibly be interested, here’s a soundcloud rundown of the 7 basses I played last night into Logic. Everything just straight into the interface, no tweaking of the sounds. It’s pretty ‘warts and all,’ with plenty of clams and lots of fret noise on the Hofner, especially. Both ‘Birds have dead strings, especially the Cataldo. I also don’t like the strings on the Drake. 8 bars with each bass.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

1. Hofner 500/1 w/black tapes
2. EB3L w/ Dunlop Super Brights
3. ‘02 Gibson T Bird w/ deadish Lo Riders
4. MusicMan Sabre unsure on strings
5. Cataldo NR w/ super dead BassBurners
6. Gretsch Spectrasonic w/ Black Beauties
7. Drake w/ Cobalt Rounds
Click to expand...

Firstly, thanks for doing this. For my 2c:
the Cataldo wins, just ahead of the Gretsch. With props to both the Hof and the Drake.
I’d be happy with any of them though.

Listening through Bluetooth buds from my iPhone.
 
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#106,368
RedVee said:
Firstly, thanks for doing this. For my 2c:
the Cataldo wins, just ahead of the Gretsch. With props to both the Hof and the Drake.
I’d be happy with any of them though.

Listening through Bluetooth buds from my iPhone.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I may try it again once I get the new strings I ordered :)
 
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#106,369
I think I already recommended Ken Scott’s autobiography for recording nerds. I went straight from that to Tony Visconti’s autobiography, which is even better. Nearly went straight to another engineer/producer autobiography but switched gears and got a Cormac McCarthy book instead. Read tons of his stuff and never tire of it
 
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#106,370
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#106,371
Dr_Feelgoood212 said:
How the hell are you wearing an insulated flannel shirt... INSIDE while in California?!
I wear that outside in Canada this time of year!

Go Sox
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It's a California thing. I lived there for 2 years and any time the temperature drops below 65, it was too cold. Californians treat 65F like we treat -10C, a light dusting of snow in the Santa Cruz mountains made the roads impassable, and I also found this to be very close to truth (Steve Martin in LA Story).
 
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#106,373
PillO said:
It's a California thing. I lived there for 2 years and any time the temperature drops below 65, it was too cold. Californians treat 65F like we treat -10C, a light dusting of snow in the Santa Cruz mountains made the roads impassable, and I also found this to be very close to truth (Steve Martin in LA Story).
Click to expand...

It must be 518R there if he’s wearing that indoors.
 
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#106,374
MCF said:
So my DiamondLife system arrived today. Two 48” slats (Cherry) one will be above the other with the basses staggard.
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...Marco, having finished the open bottle of Andre Cold Duck laying next to him, painfully got his feet under him, righted himself and stumbled into the apartment. He groped his way through the kitchen, slowly pushed a standing lamp to the floor in the living room, and staggard haplessly into MC's music room. He stopped cold, focusing hard for a moment, then taking in a long, slow, haulting breath... on the wall before him was a tidy row of beautifully kept, vintage Thunderbird basses...
 
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#106,375
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#106,378
Count Bassie said:
...Marco, having finished the open bottle of Andre Cold Duck laying next to him, painfully got his feet under him, righted himself and stumbled into the apartment. He groped his way through the kitchen, slowly pushed a standing lamp to the floor in the living room, and staggard haplessly into MC's music room. He stopped cold, focusing hard for a moment, then taking in a long, slow, haulting breath... on the wall before him was a tidy row of beautifully kept, vintage Thunderbird basses...
Click to expand...

I believe that this is a staggard bass hanger.
il_570xN.470855169_t21c.jpg


[/pedantry]
 
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#106,379
Hounddog409 said:
right now the Neck PU is maxed. Bridge PU and Tone backed off a 1/4 maybe at most.

Wife scolded me for having surpassed the previously agreed upon volume limit with both 1x15's hooked up. Apparently a coveted figurine fell of the shelf and broke. In the living room.

I'm in timeout until Friday.
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You are not playing too loud until the police show up. And even then, it is a matter of negotiation. But you may also prefer to remain married.
 
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