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Thunderbird Club

#117,621
fasterpussycat said:
Last night I finally managed to get the strap length on the JAEbird sorted (I think).

I have been 'struggling' with it for a while. The DSL straps I have are brilliant once you have the length right, but getting there can be a pain in the arse, particularly if you have straplocks ... and loctite. The length is not continuously adjustable, so to change it, you need disaasemble thenstrap and feed it through different slots (just fvck off with your 'ahems', I'm trying to be serious). All this is complicated by the JAEbird strap pins being above body centreline.

In the end, I took the Orville, fitted its strap and arranged it so the strap mid point formed the apex of a triangle, then measured from the E string to the apex. Then I did the same with the JAEbird, doubled the difference and added that to the strap length and damn me if they don'l feel pretty much identical now.

So there you go boys and girls, the secret to setting a perfect strap length is maths.
Click to expand...

Similar deal with the Italia strap.
But in my case, I had to keep math out of it. Not so good at it.

3624503C-2D7B-47DA-8489-9D5AB6BFB4CB.jpeg
 
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#117,626
GBassNorth said:
And finally, on Thunderbird Thursday the bird shaped bass that started my TBird addiction...
View attachment 3431036
2012 Spector Rex5 Pro - scratches my 5 string itch, nicknamed Cyndi Lauper by my band mates
Click to expand...

Sorry, whenever I see 'Spector Rex' the first thing in my mind is this:

85515AC0-0215-4277-8221-C81453BE3CA3.jpeg
 
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#117,627
Willncarolina said:
Thursday, May 30
View attachment 3430842
My 2013 Gibby next to the newly acquired 2015 Gibby. You remember her, the one with the thumb rest installed. It looks pretty good to me on this Tbird. I played it the last two Sundays and found I kinda liked using the thumb rest when playing without a pick.
One thing I noticed...have not weighed them, but the 15 is way lighter than my other birds.
Click to expand...
Awesome that you picked it up. I’m sure it’s in good shape; it’s been owned by quality guys on TB. Welcome to the ‘15 sub club.
 
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#117,628
fasterpussycat said:
Last night I finally managed to get the strap length on the JAEbird sorted (I think).

I have been 'struggling' with it for a while. The DSL straps I have are brilliant once you have the length right, but getting there can be a pain in the arse, particularly if you have straplocks ... and loctite. The length is not continuously adjustable, so to change it, you need disassemble the strap and feed it through different slots (just fvck off with your 'ahems', I'm trying to be serious). All this is complicated by the JAEbird strap pins being above body centreline.

In the end, I took the Orville, fitted its strap and arranged it so the strap mid point formed the apex of a triangle, then measured from the E string to the apex. Then I did the same with the JAEbird, doubled the difference and added that to the strap length and damn me if they don'l feel pretty much identical now.

So there you go boys and girls, the secret to setting a perfect strap length is maths.
Click to expand...
Leaves me out. If I could do maths, would have gone to med school and become a doctor. Got a headache just reading this.
 
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#117,629
JIO said:
I have huge admiration for GL's bass-playing skills, especially as the band matured, and he does seem like a decent person with a good sense of humor. I also do not care for his voice or their music in general, but fully acknowledge why they are legionary. There's a lot of bands I feel this way about purely because their music has never interested me. Having said this, I quite enjoy this performance - note: even Geddy Lee looks at his fretboard when playing...

Click to expand...


I discovered Rush about 1978ish, could be 77 or maybe 76 but I don't think so. Alaska was aways way behind on music, it took a few years for mainstream to get popular up there. but the instant I heard them I was pretty hooked then the lyrics and the hook was set! Many of Neils words just made sense to me, Ive been a (almost) life long fan.
 
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#117,632
GBassNorth said:
Possibly, I haven't tried them but was planning on buying some for my Goth, which comes stock with the worst excuse for a bass tuner known to mankind. Yes even the hasbro toy banjo tuners on my Danelectro Longhorn bass are better.
Click to expand...
If you think the tuners on your Goth are bad, try a MIM 7ender PJ Mustang. All metal, but they are the cheapest, most imprecise POS tuners out there on any >$500 bass. Why they use them on what are otherwise very nice basses is beyond me.
 
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#117,635
MCF said:
If you think the tuners on your Goth are bad, try a MIM 7ender PJ Mustang. All metal, but they are the cheapest, most imprecise POS tuners out there on any >$500 bass. Why they use them on what are otherwise very nice basses is beyond me.
Click to expand...

The tuners like on a Goth are on so many inexpensive basses. They 'work' but they are basically cheap MIC crap. I replace them with quality Gotoh tuners which look and function much better. Notice the larger barrel posts.

fullsizeoutput_10ee.jpeg
 
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#117,637
JIO said:
The tuners like on a Goth are on so many inexpensive basses. They 'work' but they are basically cheap MIC crap. I replace them with quality Gotoh tuners which look and function much better. Notice the larger barrel posts.

View attachment 3431107
Click to expand...
The ones on my recently acquired Goth are “ok,” but they will be on the project list to replace. They'll have to be black of course. I’m really liking the bass and it’s helping to convince me to stop puttzing around and pull the trigger on a VP. I am happy it chose me.
 
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#117,638
JIO said:
The tuners like on a Goth are on so many inexpensive basses. They 'work' but they are basically cheap MIC crap. I replace them with quality Gotoh tuners which look and function much better. Notice the larger barrel posts.

View attachment 3431107
Click to expand...

I haven't seen that style before. Love to put those on my burst Epi.
 
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#117,639
fasterpussycat said:
Last night I finally managed to get the strap length on the JAEbird sorted (I think).

I have been 'struggling' with it for a while. The DSL straps I have are brilliant once you have the length right, but getting there can be a pain in the arse, particularly if you have straplocks ... and loctite. The length is not continuously adjustable, so to change it, you need disassemble the strap and feed it through different slots (just fvck off with your 'ahems', I'm trying to be serious). All this is complicated by the JAEbird strap pins being above body centreline.

In the end, I took the Orville, fitted its strap and arranged it so the strap mid point formed the apex of a triangle, then measured from the E string to the apex. Then I did the same with the JAEbird, doubled the difference and added that to the strap length and damn me if they don'l feel pretty much identical now.

So there you go boys and girls, the secret to setting a perfect strap length is maths.
Click to expand...

I will nit pick that is sounds liked you mathed only once, so math, not maths. ;):thumbsup:

I have a somewhat similar, but much easier system (requiring not even a single math). I have a cheap polypropylene strap. I use that to find the length that works for me then transfer that length to the strap needing adjustment (by direct comparison, so no measuring).
 
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#117,640
fasterpussycat said:
Last night I finally managed to get the strap length on the JAEbird sorted (I think).

I have been 'struggling' with it for a while. The DSL straps I have are brilliant once you have the length right, but getting there can be a pain in the arse, particularly if you have straplocks ... and loctite. The length is not continuously adjustable, so to change it, you need disassemble the strap and feed it through different slots (just fvck off with your 'ahems', I'm trying to be serious). All this is complicated by the JAEbird strap pins being above body centreline.

In the end, I took the Orville, fitted its strap and arranged it so the strap mid point formed the apex of a triangle, then measured from the E string to the apex. Then I did the same with the JAEbird, doubled the difference and added that to the strap length and damn me if they don'l feel pretty much identical now.

So there you go boys and girls, the secret to setting a perfect strap length is maths.
Click to expand...
Numbers are your friend.
 
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