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Thunderbird Club

#127,485
A few observations after playing bass and keys for decades in several bands at festivals and bar gigs.
-My perception of each gig is not always the same as my band mates, LOL
-The success of a gig is mostly about the vocals, sound quality and ability to read and work the crowd. Some of the best musical performances fell flat while some fairly ragged shows really hooked the house. It helps to keep the setlist flexible.
-If the monitors suck, the band suffers no matter how good the FOH
-You can practice till the cows come home in the jam room....the fastest way to ratchet up the quality is to get out and play a lot of gigs.
-Lead singers always have some sort of cold or throat affliction.
-Thunderbirds do add some thunder, even if they don't cut through as much.

Please, I would like to hear what other bass players think !
 
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#127,486
Feline Friday

Sometimes she looks like a toy.

4301B470-104E-4384-BAC0-EF785CEE2DB8.jpeg
 
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#127,498
gaffster said:
A few observations after playing bass and keys for decades in several bands at festivals and bar gigs.
-My perception of each gig is not always the same as my band mates, LOL
-The success of a gig is mostly about the vocals, sound quality and ability to read and work the crowd. Some of the best musical performances fell flat while some fairly ragged shows really hooked the house. It helps to keep the setlist flexible.
-If the monitors suck, the band suffers no matter how good the FOH
-You can practice till the cows come home in the jam room....the fastest way to ratchet up the quality is to get out and play a lot of gigs.
-Lead singers always have some sort of cold or throat affliction.
-Thunderbirds do add some thunder, even if they don't cut through as much.

Please, I would like to hear what other bass players think !
Click to expand...
The perception is a funny thing. There was one show where the entire band was depressed and felt like we really blew it afterwards. The audience was more or less into it, but it was hard to tell in the venue anyway. We thought we sounded lifeless and flat. Then we got some recordings back and we killed it. Go figure.

We had a lead singer who took afflictions to a new level. I love her, and stay in touch with her, and wish nothing but the best for her... But... She was endless drama. Then she stopped drinking. I may end up in another band with her eventually.

Thunderbirds can cut through with the right eq. I have found that a Broughton Hi/Low pass filter makes a huge difference. I'm not sure what magic is stuffed into the little box, but somehow the bass sounds the same, but has far more presence without turning up. I think what it does is cut the lower frequencies that a Thunderbird can make, but that suck the life out of amps. It leaves the thunder and meat, but takes away any unnecessary rumble. Once that went into the signal chain, problems with cutting through or disappearing in the mix at certain points went away.
 
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#127,499
My wife, who has always been unenthusiastic about any animal that has less than two feet just mentioned that she would like a dog one day soon. What?!? It would have to be a smaller, non-yappy, non-shedding dog. Meaning we probably need to start thinking about some genetic engineering. The dog would not go in the basement where the Thunderbirds live.
 
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