Thunderbird Club

[TBird1958]

Q: What strings do like to use on your T-Birds and why? I am using Rotosound 66 on my Epi and I really like them, but I am curious about what strings you guys use and why...
Thanks

With stock Gibson pickups I'd use Ken Smith RockMasters as a first choice, they retain a "new" ringing tone far better than RotoSounds in my experience, I'm primarily a pick player and am rather heavy handed live, these have great, lasting angry piano tone without being "brittle" or metallic. DR Stainless are are a good second choice, I've used them quite a lot too.

 

[JIO]

G’day all, I may have mentioned that I’m taking lessons at the moment. This involves learning to read, and using a pick.

I feel very clumsy with the pick still (a few weeks), especially when moving down (up?) 2 or 3 strings. (Not allowed to use open strings - except open E - yet).

Am I just a doofus? Or will I get there in the end?

Learning to play reading and also using a pick (if you are not fluid with one) is doubly hard at first. When not reading - just play anything with a pick, like following a favorite songs baseline. Important thing is to be versed in up and down strokes (and when to incorporate each) and learning that you don't have to have a vise-grip on the pick. A light grasp of it will give you more nuance and articulation control. And then there's palm-muting which will expand your range into a whole new palette. Just keep doing it and it will come - and have fun with it!

 

[BklynKen]

Important thing is to be versed in up and down strokes (and when to incorporate each) and learning that you don't have to have a vise-grip on the pick. A light grasp of it will give you more nuance and articulation control.

This translates to lots of stuff. When I was learning race track driving, I was told to treat the shift knob like an egg. At first I'd be too heavy-handed and the shifter wouldn't easily slide into the gate. Once I did it gently, never failed.

 

[GonePlaid]

G’day all, I may have mentioned that I’m taking lessons at the moment. This involves learning to read, and using a pick.

I feel very clumsy with the pick still (a few weeks), especially when moving down (up?) 2 or 3 strings. (Not allowed to use open strings - except open E - yet).

Am I just a doofus? Or will I get there in the end?

I was looking at some old videos(80s)of the band I was in then. I used more pick than I remembered using. After being away from full-time playing for about 20 years, when I resumed playing, the styles(big band and a combo playing 40s-50s standards)were better served using fingers. These days, I use mostly fingers with some pick for effect-punch and/or staccato feel.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

G’day all, I may have mentioned that I’m taking lessons at the moment. This involves learning to read, and using a pick.

I feel very clumsy with the pick still (a few weeks), especially when moving down (up?) 2 or 3 strings. (Not allowed to use open strings - except open E - yet).

Am I just a doofus? Or will I get there in the end?

I started out on a pick. I am slowly but Shirley, at the age of 4,372, getting better without a pick. You'll get there.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Q: What strings do like to use on your T-Birds and why? I am using Rotosound 66 on my Epi and I really like them, but I am curious about what strings you guys use and why...
Thanks

I'm about a month in to Ernie ball Cobalt Flats and so far I love them. They tame a bit of the highs[1], still sound great, and feel much better to my guitar-trained fingers, which slide more than a lot of bass players' fingers do.

[1] Damn it, Jim, I'm a bassist, not a piccolo player!

 

[GonePlaid]

I'm about a month in to Ernie ball Cobalt Flats and so far I love them. They tame a bit of the highs[1], still sound great, and feel much better to my guitar-trained fingers, which slide more than a lot of bass players' fingers do.

[1] Damn it, Jim, I'm a bassist, not a piccolo player!

As a bassist only(ex saxman, never a gee-tar player), I've always preferred flats. I used rounds way back when-didn't like 'em. Just me.

 

[Gaolee]

Last one died about four years ago. A nice 32” Sony Trinitron with surprisingly good sound from the built-in speakers. They don’t make ‘em like that any more. I paid like $1000 for it in the late nineties. It was top ‘O the line in its day. Got almost twenty years out of it.

In the mid-80s, my wife (then girlfriend) and I had a black and white TV that we got brand new for about $50. it was the kind of oddball thing you can only get in NYC. We got five years out of it, then didn't have a TV at all for about 10 years. We are unAmerican.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I was looking at some old videos(80s)of the band I was in then. I used more pick than I remembered using. After being away from full-time playing for about 20 years, when I resumed playing, the styles(big band and a combo playing 40s-50s standards)were better served using fingers. These days, I use mostly fingers with some pick for effect-punch and/or staccato feel.

You have an 8-track that plays videos? You are one cool hacker!

 

[GonePlaid]

You have an 8-track that plays videos? You are one cool hacker!

. I was lucky to get it to play 8 tracks.

 

[Gaolee]

Ok..., so does anyone have T-bird socks? Come on - show um' if you got 'um.

No, but now that you mention it, those are necessary.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

In the mid-80s, my wife (then girlfriend) and I had a black and white TV that we got brand new for about $50. it was the kind of oddball thing you can only get in NYC. We got five years out of it, then didn't have a TV at all for about 10 years. We are unAmerican.

We have never had a TV in the traditional sense, in 40+ years of marriage. About ten years ago, our son gave us a cheap picture tube-based TV his roomie left behind when he shipped out. It's hooked up to the DVD player to watch movies. No antenna, no cable. We'll probably get a flat screen soon (for movies), which probably means holographic TVs are about to become dirt cheap for the rest of the planet.

 

[Gaolee]

I did my speed-reading on proper measuring of the bass and what cases are available. Nothing seems close except the Reunion Blues, and it would just barely fit.

For $200 I’m inclined to say F-it and just use the Gibson HSC. The more I read, the more I feel I’m tempting the Thunder God.

My M80 Dual has served me well for 7ender, EBMM, Rick, Warwick, but they all fit comfortably within the internal dimension, with a good margin. I’ll continue to use that for those basses.

Hey, I just saved $200!

That's $200 toward the next 'Bird that chooses you. Nicely done!

 

[Gaolee]

More Thunderbird content - everyone has their own favorite year T-bird... mine is a '63 with Landau cover. None hotter. (huh, same year as another T-bird...)

View attachment 3415735

Where's the fun in pristine and unmodified?

 

[GonePlaid]

I went and measured the 67 NR-50+1/2" HS to strap button(face down). I'll spare you all my fuzzy photo. Thank me later. This is why all of the aftermarket cases are useless to me-except the Coffin case I got from S.A. Yeah, it's HUGE but it protects my 'Bird*, which is all that really matters.

*insert 'AHEM' here

 

[Gaolee]

Am I just a doofus? Or will I get there in the end?

Both! It's part of the fun.

 

[JIO]

Where's the fun in pristine and unmodified?

Actually - it looks like something Ed "Big Daddy" Roth would have one of his big-headed creatures driving!

 

[Gaolee]

Pickup Questions for you Thunderbird riders-

What is the optimal gap between the bottom of your strings and the top of the Pickups?

I’m still tweaking my NTB and just curious.

Also, is pickup replacement a “thing” in T-Bird land? Or maybe there’s a good/bad-year consensus.

Thanks for your comments. Very helpful to this new T-Bird owner.

Pickup replacement is one of those personal things. I replaced all of the electronics in a Pro IV. It was active, and I decided I liked the bass but not the pickups or preamp. It's also fretless now. The '91 Gibson got new Chinabuckers because they have chrome covers and I'm shallow. It's chromed out to pose as vintage only with a small headstock. I like the sound of those pickups, but I'm also not 100% sure I want to keep them. The '01 is the pixie dust bass. I can't say what it is about that one, but it's just right as-is. It will have stock pickups forever, although I swapped the bridge for a Babicz and put a Hipshot x-tender tuner on the E string. The '15 is its own thing. It had an x-tender on it when I got it. It convinced me that everything needs an x-tender. Mission not complete on that count yet, but it's happening slowly.

As far as space between pickup and strings, the general consensus is not much space at all. I haven't measured, but it's a small gap. The exception is a '15. The DiCola pickups in those need room between the string and top of pickup to avoid some really odd chorusy effect that you wouldn't like unless you are trying to sound really awful.

I don't believe there's any consensus on good or bad years. They can be a bit variable, but my take is that the reissues built after 1989 are fairly consistent in quality. Some are heavier, some are lighter, some, like my '01 just have some little extra thing, but it doesn't seem to be a year to year thing so much as a bass to bass thing.

 

[Goatrope]

.......
There are two reasons to replace the pickups. 1) You want a different sound. 2) You don't like the black hardware and want chrome or nickel. Both valid reasons. Fortunately for me I'm happy with the sound and like black hardware.

I like that it sounds different than my other basses. That’s what I was hoping.

What I was wondering is whether you folks had a common consensus regarding the most Thunderbird-sounding Thunderbird pickup.

Maybe there’s a year or a maker that stands out as having nailed the quintessential T-Bird sound.

Or maybe there’s a year or maker that totally misses the mark.

I just don’t know a lot about the T-Bird culture, and I’m here to learn.

 

[Gaolee]

Ive been playing since '71, I started out using a pick and still do about 60% of the time. There are lots of picking techniques. Down stroke, up stroke, up/down (alternating), circular, raking flat picking, angled etc. I like a good thick pick with a shape I can grab, Fender 346 extra heavy are all I use. You may find yourself gripping the pick real tight, loosen up a bit and and let the pick work between your tumb and for finger. Use small movements, don't flail, remembering economy of motion something my old teacher said to me. Keep a small part of the pick tip exposed . these are all suggestions, you will find what works for you. Use of the pick has been much maligned but it can get you tones unattainable with fingers for aggressive sound and speed there is no substitute. Don't discount fingers, it's good to use both! Welcome to the best club on TB!View attachment 3415880 View attachment 3415876 View attachment 3415877 View attachment 3415879

Funny thing about speed and fingers. I can use a pick, but I can go a whole lot faster with fingers. The pick has its own sound, which is a good reason to learn to use one, even if it doesn't come natural, as is true for me. I am indeed a doofus that way.