Thunderbird Club

[MCF]

In years gone by, I was about as comfortable with a pick as with my fingers (2 or 3)...I wanted to grow up to be Chris Squire...didn’t we all?

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I found that picking over the neck pu was too loose and ‘wobbly’, and picking below the treble pu was too tight and ‘tinky’...so I removed the pu cover from over the neck pu and attached it to the Ric (as seen above) and have used it as the rest for the heel of my hand for the last 40+ years.

It allows for picking Right over the treble pu, making for (to my ears) just the right feel and tone.

Let me tell y’all, I remember Agonizing for weeks...maybe months...over messing with my new Ric like that!

It’s worked for me.

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I’m a full time finger player now.
That has more to do with the music I’ve gravitated toward over the years.
I’d have to work pretty hard to get back to being the plectrum player I was 20+ years ago.

Interesting mod.

 

[MCF]

I'm strictly a finger player, but I've often thought a banjo player with those pics they slip on a couple of fingers and thumb might be pretty fast if they could deal with the large string size on a bass. Same goes for those Flamenco players and their fingernail playing.

Funny you mention a thumb pick. I’ve pretty much decided that the Herco thumb pick works best for me when I want to use a pick. Call me a wimp. But it gives this otherwise weak pick player better control.

 

[MCF]

I tried a thumb pick for a while. Could play fingerstyle then switch to pick mid song, but the damn thing cut off circulation too much(fat digits). Have 5 left I'll never use.

No problem here...my thumb is pretty skinny.

 

[MCF]

I wanted to be Geddy Lee...

I wanted to be McVie, Squire and Turner.

 

[PillO]

I always wanted to be one of those "Classy Broads"

What makes you think you aren't?

But, you are...

Hey! There is only one suck up here and it is @JJR58 !

So do i have to be the one that says, you got it so going on.

That's what we expect from you.

As for classy broad - like Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, or Debby Harry?

 

[JIO]

Rainy day in Nashville and first day home from tour. Sat down and played bass just for the fun of it. Ambient noodling through my modular rig. These things are fun having the ability to route the signal through so many different combinations
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Nice day for an ambient noodle fest!

I learned both pick and fingerstyle as a kid, but at one point decided to concentrate on fingers to get my speed up. In the last 5 years or so, I’ve been in more situations where I need to use a pick, so I’ve gone back to using whatever the song calls for.

It's a rule of... thumb!

 

[JJR58]

Hey! There is only one suck up here and it is @JJR58 !



That's what we expect from you.

As for classy broad - like Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, or Debby Harry?

Not really. was always attracted to our Queen. Doesn't matter what team/s i play on. V and all of you is what brought me here in the first place. Not sure i'd be playing a Bird or two if that wasn't the case.

And i will not be relegated to a corner of any sort!

 

[RedVee]

I wanted to be McVie, Squire and Turner.

Not really wanted to be anyone but I liked Greg Macainsh & Alan Lancaster, even Mark Evans. I’d settle for being like Ted Mulry with his Ripper. I guess that’s my 12-15 yo list. No finger use there from memory except for holding the pick. I liked Suzie Quattro, the Bass was a bonus.

I like some of the 60s Brits on Rivolis, and a heap of others now.

 

[RedVee]

Rainy day in Nashville and first day home from tour. Sat down and played bass just for the fun of it. Ambient noodling through my modular rig. These things are fun having the ability to route the signal through so many different combinations
View attachment 3507383

Nice day for an ambient noodle fest!

Put all of your noodlings on a CD (or whatever) and I would so buy it.

Call it “Duke’s Noodles” - cover image is of the words on a noodle shop window.

Like Morrison Hotel I guess

 

[MCF]

John McVie and Jack Bruce here. Laid back in the pocket, deep, dark, only peeking out on rare occasions to do blockbuster riffs.

And in McVie’s case, one of, if not the most iconic lines ever. He came up with the Chain long after he became one of my idols. I became a bassist playing along to the early Fleetwood Mac bluesy stuff for hours and hours. Mac was big, pretty much from the beginning, on the Central Coast where we moved to when I was ten. All the UCSB hippies...

 

[JIO]

On the topic of bass player influences... never really "wanted to be" any one BP but one of my favorite bass player/performers when I first started was Tim Bogert. I loved his energy and drive, and that he sang also.

 

[MCF]

Crappy guitar stands make good cup holders.

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Brilliant!

 

[MCF]

Hey! There is only one suck up here and it is @JJR58 !



That's what we expect from you.

As for classy broad - like Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, or Debby Harry?

I’m thinking more like Chrissy.

 

[JJR58]

mmmmmmm....

 

[BklynKen]

mmmmmmm....

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I wanted that bass, but not for $12k.

 

[JJR58]

I wanted that bass, but not for $12k.

You do have that lefty BCR. That's pretty special.

 

[JJR58]

Now wait a minute here Ken. Your RNR being worked on is kinda like that one.

 

[GBassNorth]

mmmmmmm....

View attachment 3507717

I wanted that bass, but not for $12k.

You do have that lefty BCR. That's pretty special.

I assume that's a non-reverse lefty strung and played righty?
I bet Carlo could make you one of those.
I wonder if E string length is an issue on that. On my VP that last tuner at the tippy top of that massive headstock is a right far stretch from the tail piece and most strings I've used have the E as the shortest string in the set.
Still very cool!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I had the 3 point saddles up too high on the Epi IV to compensate for the lower tension of the 45-100 cobalt flats. Today the Supertone arrived. As I hoped, the extra length got the silk off the saddles! But rather than crank the saddles really high, I want proper bow.

I have a hex key that fits the truss rod adjustment hole snugly, but that nut does NOT want to turn in either direction, even with pliers. I’m not forcing it, but I was using a LOT more pressure than I have ever used on a guitar.

Anyone else run into this?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

On the topic of bass player influences... never really "wanted to be" any one BP but one of my favorite bass player/performers when I first started was Tim Bogert. I loved his energy and drive, and that he sang also.

Love Bogert, what chops/taste!
He would pedal an A on the 5th position on the E string along with the open A making it sound huge and fast. Awesome bag of tricks that guy used...surprised no one’s mentioned JPJ, Wetton or Lake...