Thunderbird Club

[GBassNorth]

Thanks for the post. Interesting that it is that much more.

Much to my surprise as well.
Also, possibly of some minor importance the humbuckers on all of my TBirds are installed such that both the neck pup and bridge pup have the magnets oriented in the same direction (North Pole on neck facing neck, North Pole on bridge facing neck). However the 2015 has the two pups oriented opposite (North Pole on neck facing neck, North Pole on bridge facing bridge). Not sure it makes any difference but a 180 degree pup rotation of one of the 2015 pups might be interesting as well, if for no other reason than to rule out any phase or chorus impact from pup orientation.

 

[GBassNorth]

certainly was!
would have probably been easier to tabulate the data than to find, cut and paste all that stuff!!

...but where's the fun in that?

 

[Nocturnal]

really like them....about any tone possible is available with these due to the very diligent design of the EQ sections that include a tube stage paralleled with a ss stage in the preamp. the graphic EQ is switchable and when "on" offers a myriad of possibilities. there are then two "Contour" controls that sweep two bandpass (hi/lo) filters offering even more flexibility...the "Compressor" adjusts well but is really nothing special...they are rugged and very dependable...plenty of headroom with the 350 output module (some have 2 as biamping was the craze when they first came out)....all in all really nice stuff....unlike other amps there is no manufacturer specific "coloring" that one sees with other heads...these are clinically "clean" (very flat with the EQ off and controls centered) as one would like from a benchmark head...my only gripe would their weight (class AB) and the MOSFET (prefer bipolar) output stage...
one of these along with an SWR Goliath 4 X 10 and another Goliath 2 X 10 was my main rig for some years...
View attachment 3511098

Thanks for the detailed info!! I might pick up a cheap one to give it a test. Could probably build a nice small rig with one of the for not a lot of $$.

 

[MCF]

another great sounding bass head....wish I liked their cabs more...
View attachment 3510748

FWIW, the $129 I paid a few years ago for a close out/discontinued B600 60 watt 12” combo that sits in the bedroom is one of the best deals I’ve gotten. It’s kind of heavy, but it is a real good sounding practice amp.

 

[PillO]

Tbird sighting:

Red is such a sexy colour on a bird. All it needs is chrome

IMO She is one of the cooler current pop singers. And it was refreshing to see a whole band playing instruments with no tracks...

But how do you feel about a Thunderbird rojo?

 

[BklynKen]

But how do you feel about a Thunderbird rojo?

Muy bueno.

 

[JIO]

another great sounding bass head....wish I liked their cabs more...
View attachment 3510748

Is that just a reflective surface on the lettering or is it lit from inside?

 

[JIO]

Tbird sighting:

Red is such a sexy colour on a bird. All it needs is chrome

IMO She is one of the cooler current pop singers. And it was refreshing to see a whole band playing instruments with no tracks...

It's the only high-chroma color on the stage! That red is so intense it actually looks good w/black hardware.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Is that just a reflective surface on the lettering or is it lit from inside?

the way the light is hitting it, no backlight, actually part of the carrying case, not the amp itself..

 

[BklynKen]

How am I supposed to practice here?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

another pretty popular trend.. to take old amps such as projector, recorder, school PA and others and modify them for guitar or harp usage....this way the owner has their “own unique” tone..
in this case a Hammond AO 35 Reverb amp...

 

[JIO]

How am I supposed to practice here?

View attachment 3511492

That's that new pedal, the CatYowl Deluxe. You can only use it once though...

 

[fasterpussycat]

How am I supposed to practice here?

View attachment 3511492

These are my pedals. If I step on this one it says 'rawwwwwr', if I step on that one it says 'rowwwwwwr'.

 

[BklynKen]

That's that new pedal, the CatYowl Deluxe. You can only use it once though...

I'm afraid to plug it in.

These are my pedals. If I step on this one it says 'rawwwwwr', if I step on that one it says 'rowwwwwwr'.

Exactly. She goes really nuts over the Rat.

 

[Felix Lopez]

Good assortment there Felix that covers tons of tone. Nice! Of course the bird is in the place of prominence, as well it should be.

the ones missing in the photo:

 

[PillO]

How am I supposed to practice here?

View attachment 3511492

Yeah, not a scuba tanks in sight. How can you practice like that?

 

[BklynKen]

Yeah, not a scuba tanks in sight. How can you practice like that?

Ah. Right to the left of that Gator case, behind it. Also seen is the Incase Tour Bag. Such an amazing bag, but hardly any bass actually fits in it. I think I'm gonna sell it. Never not going to play my Thunderbird, plus the Gator's great anyway.

 

[RedVee]

FWIW - I did a quick little experiment with my 2015 bird to see if my assumptions were correct around the magnetic pull of the pickups on this bird being significantly stronger than my standard Gibson pickup TBird.

Results - the 2015 pups do indeed have a significantly stronger magnetic pull than any of my other birds pups, almost 50% stronger.

Test - I basically cut off about a 6" length of a spare bass guitar G string I had laying around and with the bass laying flat on its back I held the cut string perpendicular to the G string that was strung up on the bass. The tip of the cut string was held at approximately the same distance from the top surface of the G string pole of the pup as the strung G string. Then I slowly moved the top of the cut string laterally away from the pup. The tip of the cut string nearest the pup remained engaged with the magnetic pull of the pup as much as 1-1/4" away from the centerline of the pole. By comparison my other birds were all around 7/8" of distance for noticeable pull on the 6" string. In ballpark terms that would indicate the magnetic pull on the 2015 pups is nearly 50% stronger than a typical bird pup.

So why is this of any significance? I'm still getting a bit of chorus effect on the G string even though I've significantly lowered the pup. All the other strings play fine. I used a medium gauge string set and now I'm wondering if the G string is just too light for these magnets which may be impacting how that string vibrates. The next test will be to install a heavy gauge G string to see if that makes a difference. The other option would be to go to an overall higher tension set of strings or possibly a string set that is not impacted as much by magnetic pull (tapes?).

The 2015 continues to be an interesting journey. A rock monster bass with balls to the wall output.

Could you lower the pole pieces under the G string a little ?

 

[MCF]

another pretty popular trend.. to take old amps such as projector, recorder, school PA and others and modify them for guitar or harp usage....this way the owner has their “own unique” tone..
in this case a Hammond AO 35 Reverb amp...
View attachment 3511486

 

[Border]

Good evening everyone. I hope all are enjoying a relaxing weekend. I am glad to be off the road and back in the man cave. Drive back was smooth. Stopped at a little stand between Cle Elum and Ellensberg and found these delicious, crazy large peaches. Liked them so much I bought 3 boxes! One for a girl at the office, one to dole out to friends, and one to eat. Looking forward to spending time outdoors working on my yard tomorrow, then barbecuing a rack of ribs. Tonight am enjoying some time with my birds. I can't stay away from them long. Have a great rest of the weekend.