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Thunderbird Club

#115,830
Nocturnal said:
My contribution to Thunderbird Thursday. This Bird landed at my house today. Very nice bass so far. It only took about 20 minutes to remove the salami and replace it with my idea of an acceptable pickguard (I had to play it first before removing the tort). And for those of you that mentioned that you don't really need another bass......I don't either but that has never stopped me from buying one. ;)

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Wow!
 
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#115,831
Mike.C. said:
How do the EMGs sound?
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Post # 2865 breaks it down much better than I can. I am a pretty heavy handed picker so they can get aggressive from the time I spent with it plugged in. The neck pickup is nice and full on its own, but I really like adding the bridge about 50%. I still have a lot of experimenting to do tho. :bassist: Down the road this may get dual EMG Geezers as I really like those but for now I like the sound I am getting from the PX set.

Geezer Butler signature pick ups
 
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#115,832
JIO said:
Nice! :thumbsup: Tort & T-birds ... just not supposed to go together. Perfect choice to replace it. When I made my Saundersbird I wanted a graphite neck on it but the late 80's NOS Saunders neck came up and so that's how it ended up. Maybe someday I'll score a nice graphite neck.
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I agree. The tort was the one thing I didn't care for on the bass. It all comes down to personal taste, but I just never liked tort. I had the carbon fiber guard and matching TRC that I had used on my 2001 ebony Bird so I thought this was the perfect time to bring it out of retirement. Thankfully both guards had the correct screw hole layout (Hey now!!).
 
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#115,833
Miles_ONeal said:
Ultimately, if you’re happy with the music and the band’s happy and the fans are happy, it doesn’t much matter whether you use fingers, picks, tentacles, toes, nose, or pretty much anything that won’t get you arrested.
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Well, I’m “unattached” and will be for for the foreseeable future as I do my best to hoard cash for retirement. When I was in bands in the seventies to early eighties, I was “ok” using a pick when needed. I’m a huge Squire and Simonon fan and that’s why I keep trying. I struggle with it now. It’s primarily the natural muting with my floating thumb that makes me revert to the fingers. And I can play really fast using the second third and fourth fingers. I’m self taught (with several years of piano lessons as a kid) who primarily learned bass by playing along with McVie’s early Fleetwood Mac albums. I commend RV for his dedication to mastering pick technique.
 
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#115,834
Miles_ONeal said:
Ultimately, if you’re happy with the music and the band’s happy and the fans are happy, it doesn’t much matter whether you use fingers, picks, tentacles, toes, nose, or pretty much anything that won’t get you arrested.
Click to expand...
Well, I’m “unattached” and will be for for the foreseeable future as I do my best to hoard cash for retirement. When I was in bands in the seventies to early eighties, I was “ok” using a pick when needed. I’m a huge Squire and Simonon fan and that’s why I keep trying. I struggle with it now. It’s primarily the natural muting with my floating thumb that makes me revert to the fingers. And I can play really fast using the second third and fourth fingers. I’m self taught (with several years of piano lessons as a kid) who primarily learned bass by playing along with McVie’s early Fleetwood Mac albums. I commend RV for his dedication to mastering pick technique.
 
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#115,837
dagrev said:
Quick report on the new VP. After one rehearsal I'm impressed. This thing is legit--both in build quality and tone. It's nearly as comfortable as my '64. I still can't find a visual flaw on it. It doesn't sound "kind of" like an old T-bird. It sounds like one allowing for differences from instrument to instrument. The pickups are HOT! Epi did a great job on those. I had to turn down my amp several times from the previous use of my '64. The pickups aren't just loud, they also sound great. I haven't tried the same strings as my '64 yet, but did use GHS Pressurewounds which are also made with Alloy52, so they are in somewhat the same tonal area. The VP doesn't seem to have the amazingly thick lows of the '64 at this point, but that may be due to string differences. Regardless, it still sounds amazing. Rarely, if ever do I get a new bass and my first string try sounds that good. Normally it's trial and error thing until I hit on one and have a "that's it" moment. The only issue is a slight hum with either or both PUs (a lot of florescent lights present). Still a little surprised by that. It's only noticeable when nothing is going on. May look at some shielding at some point, but it's not a big deal at this point. I'm impressed and very happy. And...my '64 Epi Embassy Deluxe (nerd-bird) arrives today.
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Just wait until they do a NR. They will do one. They have to.
 
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#115,839
GBassNorth said:
Never really gave much thought to dual amping my basses, mostly because I seldom use pedals with my basses and therefore really don't need a clean/dirty split. However I did get a chance to use one of these in a friends guitar rig. He had it set up for wet/dry/wet with three small combo rigs and two pedal boards. Sounded great, but talk about complex.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DualSGoS--lehle-dual-sgos-amp-switcher?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=3331288379&rkg_id=0&product_id=DualSGoS&campaigntype=shopping&campaign=aaShopping - Core - Guitars - Vendor&adgroup=Guitars - Guitar Pedals & Effects&placement=google&adpos=1o2&creative=332063179659&device=t&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1JbM16eg4gIVVx-tBh0nOgVbEAQYAiABEgLRpvD_BwE


The VP is such a great deal, love mine as well. Currently using Fender 7150M nickel rounds and like them a lot. Also had very good luck with Cobalt Flats. Wasn't able to get ultra thick lows with the stock strings but both the Fender and Cobalt strings delivered there.


Mo birds is always better. I have five now and room for one more - either a new or vintage NR. But that's all, I swear. (Fingers crossed behind my back)
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7150s on my PJ deluxe and PJ Mustang. Love ‘em and Chromes on my FSOs. Haven’t tried them on a died though.
 
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