Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

Some cat was layin down some rock-n-roll.

I always want to hum "some-where, over the rainbow" over the chorus intro and the B-part always reminds me of early Crazy Horse. Doesn't change anything about loving this song and the album it was part of. Was an intrical part of the music I absorbed then like a sponge. I also remember guys and gals copping his look - spiky red hair and mascara.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

This ain't no technological breakdown.
Oh, no.

 

[Count Bassie]

I always want to hum "some-where, over the rainbow" over the chorus intro and the B-part always reminds me of early Crazy Horse. Doesn't change anything about loving this song and the album it was part of. Was an intrical part of the music I absorbed then like a sponge. I also remember guys and gals copping his look - spiky red hair and mascara.

Over the rainbow- perfect. That has always bothered me actually... lol.

 

[GBassNorth]

You truly are an interesting man. Live in Simi, but spent 35 years in Kentucky. I doubt anyone else can say that.
.

LOL - you're right, probably not many out here that fit that description. The kicker is that I'm a native CA kid. Born in Redwood City, lived in Granada Hills and San Jose (and Denver and Boulder) but spent almost my entire adult life in Northern Kentucky while working in Cincinnati. KY is a beautiful state full of beautiful horses and fast women. When I retired a few years ago I decided I'd rather be near the beach and away from snow, ice and high humidity. Folks back east thought I was nutz to retire in CA, I just told em I can't think of any place better to blow through my retirement.

 

[JIO]

Over the rainbow- perfect. That has always bothered me actually... lol.

Well, music of all kinds is handed down - nothing is absolutely original. I never slighted Bowie for that reference, he was a very keen assessor/anticipator of popular music. (similar to Miles Davis who commonly referenced hit pop songs within his jazz extrapolations) To tap into a song like SOTR was understanding it's nostalgic power - who hasn't heard that song? Music is recycled over and over and over...

 

[Count Bassie]

Well, music of all kinds is handed down - nothing is absolutely original. I never slighted Bowie for that reference, he was a very keen assessor/anticipator of popular music. (similar to Miles Davis who commonly referenced hit pop songs within his jazz extrapolations) To tap into a song like SOTR was understanding it's nostalgic power - who hasn't heard that song? Music is recycled over and over and over...

I'm being cheeky there, but of course, copping a reference to popular melody recommends itself to a keen, inderstanding ear. Like Bowie's harmonica in that live TOTP recording of "Jean Genie", copping a phrase of "Love me Do". Or, taking it a step further, Yes incorporating the sound of themes from shows like "Bonanza", that venerable TV Western, that were on tv during hotel stays when they were touring America, lol. "Yours is No Disgrace"...

(Confession... it really does tweak something in my contextual sensibility that Bowie references "Over the Rainbow". That tune points to a pretty distorted time of life for me as a young kid. When Bowie came along, that music and that pop-culture was part of another, more constructive and liberating period. So there's a kind of micro-culture-clash there for me. Hey, I work around it)

 

[dagrev]

Shine as in "moon shine"? (grain alcohol?)

What @GBassNorth said.

 

[dagrev]

I'm sure one sip of that would have me trying to brush the carpet off my shoulder.

Ha! It ain't for the faint of heart (or liver) that's for sure.

 

[ToddOfThunder]

View attachment 3505196
Last day of this....great players..

Was that in Aptos?

 

[Gaolee]

Didn't he play drums for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra?

And delivered pizza.

 

[Goatrope]

string update:

I used the Cobalt flats for a few gigs. I like them, but for what I’m playing lately, I think my P does the flat thing differently, and I’ve grown to want that sound.

Back on went the stainless rounds from Dunlop. A couple more gigs done on those, and I think I’m pegging this TBird as a stainless round bass. Just enough definition with the pups still sounding really fat across all strings.

So I’ll be experimenting with different stainless suggestions from the club that I’ve received.

Continuing on my journey....

Thanks to the kindness of @Count Bassie, who provided a lightly played set of Bass Burners, I was able to try those out for a bit. They had a fat tone, and were freakishly even from string to string. Really warm and consistent sounding. I like them. Still, I was left wanting for more top-end definition.

I think the Dunlop Super Bright SS got me most of the way there, but not quite gutsy enough in the lower mids. So I rolled the dice on a set of RS66LF. The last couple of Roto sets I tried were real duds as compared to my nostalgic memories of growing up on them.

Three gigs on those this past weekend and I’m glad they weren’t duds. I’m liking them again. I think my pickups are suppressing some of the zing I’m looking for, but the strings certainly do have balls.

I’m working on subtle EQ adjustment on the amp now. I think the consensus here is that the EQ really needs to be set differently for TBirds vs 7enders, but I’ve been stubbornly (stupidly?) resisting that.

So thank you all for your continued guidance and support as I find my way through TBird-land. Here’s a gratuitous TBird pic from Sat night. I think we were doing “Working Man” at this point. Rotos in their full glory.

 

[JIO]

I'm being cheeky there, but of course, copping a reference to popular melody recommends itself to a keen, inderstanding ear. Like Bowie's harmonica in that live TOTP recording of "Jean Genie", copping a phrase of "Love me Do". Or, taking it a step further, Yes incorporating the sound of themes from shows like "Bonanza", that venerable TV Western, that were on tv during hotel stays when they were touring America, lol. "Yours is No Disgrace"...

(Confession... it really does tweak something in my contextual sensibility that Bowie references "Over the Rainbow". That tune points to a pretty distorted time of life for me as a young kid. When Bowie came along, that music and that pop-culture was part of another, more constructive and liberating period. So there's a kind of micro-culture-clash there for me. Hey, I work around it)

Music is a complex trigger.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

E

Was that in Aptos?

Bolado..

 

[Count Bassie]

Continuing on my journey....

Thanks to the kindness of @Count Bassie, who provided a lightly played set of Bass Burners, I was able to try those out for a bit...
View attachment 3506080

The baton recieved from @BklynKen , passed along. Love this place.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

The baton recieved from @BklynKen , passed along. Love this place.

and the Artecs from Fix..

 

[BklynKen]

The baton recieved from @BklynKen , passed along. Love this place.

Little did Goatrope know that they originally came from a left-handed Thunderbird.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Little did Goatrope know that they originally came from a left-handed Thunderbird.

or the Count, that they (pups) came from an NR BaCH..

 

[Goatrope]

Little did Goatrope know that they originally came from a left-handed Thunderbird.

You guys are too much.

 

[GBassNorth]

Continuing on my journey....

Thanks to the kindness of @Count Bassie, who provided a lightly played set of Bass Burners, I was able to try those out for a bit. They had a fat tone, and were freakishly even from string to string. Really warm and consistent sounding. I like them. Still, I was left wanting for more top-end definition.

I think the Dunlop Super Bright SS got me most of the way there, but not quite gutsy enough in the lower mids. So I rolled the dice on a set of RS66LF. The last couple of Roto sets I tried were real duds as compared to my nostalgic memories of growing up on them.

Three gigs on those this past weekend and I’m glad they weren’t duds. I’m liking them again. I think my pickups are suppressing some of the zing I’m looking for, but the strings certainly do have balls.

I’m working on subtle EQ adjustment on the amp now. I think the consensus here is that the EQ really needs to be set differently for TBirds vs 7enders, but I’ve been stubbornly (stupidly?) resisting that.

So thank you all for your continued guidance and support as I find my way through TBird-land. Here’s a gratuitous TBird pic from Sat night. I think we were doing “Working Man” at this point. Rotos in their full glory.


View attachment 3506080

Great pic! Also great info for those of us in the never ending string search loop, thx for posting.

Just two additional data points for you as you continue on your string journey...

IIRC your using an Eppi VP, if so I think you can probably rule out the pups suppressing top end. All the VPs I've played have gobs of top end.

Also, FWIW I switch between TBird, SG, Fender, Alembic and Spector basses. I almost always keep my amp settings the same (except for compensating for room dynamics and active vs passive) and am able to get what I need with the on board controls. I like a deep dark thick tone so I'm not typically going in the same direction as you probably would, but I do notice that I have to turn the onboard tone knobs up to around the midway point on my TBirds and SGs to get in the same ballpark as most of my other basses.

 

[GBassNorth]

Little did Goatrope know that they originally came from a left-handed Thunderbird.

If Goatrope is a right handed player that's great news. It means the left side of the strings have never been played. That's as good as a new set!


...pardon me while I jump over to the Let's Spread Some Misinformation thread for a quick post...