Thunderbird Club

[JJR58]

What are these "unwanted lows" of which you speak? Are you a uke player in disguise?

It really helps fine tune in on a low frequency. Rumble, boom. That sorta stuff.
Great for poor room acoustics. Of course it doesn't improve my playing at all

 

[JIO]

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.

I use the BBE Sonic Stomp which is essentially the same thing - it really makes a big difference and I use it 100% of the time situated between my pedal-board and amp. Setting remain consistent with all my basses other than a hollow-body - Lo Contour = 11:00, Process = 1:00

 

[BklynKen]

Not sure if this give anything similar to these high/low pass filters, but one thing I forgot to mention about the Damnation is that it also seems to somehow tighten up the sound.

 

[GBassNorth]

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 !

Agree with most you've said. Obviously YMMV applies here but...

- Vocals will play a huge part in how successful the band is. But the wrong gaff at the wrong time or too frequently by any band member will also drag the band down.

- the sound person, FOH, whatever - if it's not good for the audience it's not good for the band. Stage or IEM that are not good for the band can be a pain in the butt but that annoyance can be minimized by good professional players who can still deliver a great performance for the audience.

- if you're gonna be a mechanic you'll need wrench time, if you're gonna be a driver you'll need track time, if you're gonna be a session player you'll need studio time. So yes, if you're gonna be a stage performer you'll need stage time, stands to reason.

- singers get sore throats, guitarists get sore eardrums, keyboard players get sore knees, electric bass players get sore backs, upright players get sore fingers, and drummers get drugs. Thank goodness we have drummers.

- I haven't tried a TBird yet that couldn't easily cut through the mix. In fact I had to go on a string and EQ journey to find the right combination to keep my VP from dominating the mix. What bird are you playing and what's your go to string and rig selection?

 

[MCF]

Off to Queenstown NZ in the morning. Just checked the weather app...
Oh dear

Bought a new fleecey jacket, and got a beanie and gloves packed in the carryon bag.

Thunderbirds.

Have a good trip! Someday I’ll make it the 6000 miles to see NZ and OZ.

 

[JIO]

Speaking of gizmo's, I just got this inexpensive wireless transponder and so far so good using it here at home. Will bring it to rehearsal this weekend, put it through band volume paces and will report on it after. I thoroughly dislike standing on guitar cords which inevitably happens so if this pans out I'll be a happy camper.

I taped AMP on the receiver to help keeping them plugged into the correct jack.

 

[JJR58]

Speaking of gizmo's, I just got this inexpensive wireless transponder and so far so good using it here at home. Will bring it to rehearsal this weekend, put it through band volume paces and will report on it after. I thoroughly dislike standing on guitar cords which inevitably happens so if this pans out I'll be a happy camper.

I taped AMP on the receiver to help keeping them plugged into the correct jack.
View attachment 3537588

Well that's cool. Be very interested to hear as to how it may or may not affect your tone vs. using a cable.

 

[MCF]

I can't bring myself to get rid of my daughter's Elephant and Piggie books.
https://www.amazon.ca/We-Are-Book-E...e+are+in+a+book&qid=1568374207&s=books&sr=1-1
The books are really well done (I particularly like the one in which they discover that they are in the book). We would read them together - I did the Gerald's parts (in a silly elephant voice) and she did Piggie's parts. It is one of the things that helped her learn to read ahead of her peers.

My favorite was a Golden Book, The Pokey Little Puppy which Mom saved and my kids also loved. Still have it and dozens of others.

 

[JIO]

Well that's cool. Be very interested to hear as to how it may or may not affect your tone vs. using a cable.

There are many more expensive similar devices out there which I'm sure are better in one way or the other, but this set was affordable enough to take a chance. Even if it isn't suitable for live gigs or rehearsals, it'll be worth it having it at home free from a cord.

 

[MCF]

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 !

I learned mostly by just getting out and thumping along with a guitarist/singer. It sucks not being in a band.

 

[GonePlaid]

Are you able to take advantage of the early bird specials or do you usually have to play through that?

Most of our gigs are 6:30-9:30, sooo, both.

 

[MCF]

We're on our third dachshund. Two females and a male and I would highly recommend a docile female in the smaller sized ones. Our Molly is so mild mannered and sweet and she was very easy to train. Housebroken easily and trained not to go upstairs or downstairs and she has shown very little interest in my Thunderbirds.

We couldn’t be without or Cavaliers. They do shed a ton though.

 

[GonePlaid]

The venue of course affects ones sound delivery - we play in varying situations from great FOH to marginal DIY. The drums are always going to be an issue, especially if your drummer believes hitting hard is where his tone comes from but our rule of thumb is vocals loudest so you can hear and understand all the lyrics, and everything else sits below that volume-wise. When doing a 3 band night - we are always the band that plays with less volume, and no less dynamics. A recent comment was that an audience member took her ear-plugs out during our set. That made me happy.

Sometimes our drummer isn't loud enuff(don't tell him I said that). All 4 of us sing to varying degrees. Management(s) at our places like us partly because people don't bit.., er, complain that we're too loud.

 

[Engle]

A little fun with "Be my Girl" by Jett. Still Thursday here!

Nice!

 

[BklynKen]

Speaking of gizmo's, I just got this inexpensive wireless transponder and so far so good using it here at home. Will bring it to rehearsal this weekend, put it through band volume paces and will report on it after. I thoroughly dislike standing on guitar cords which inevitably happens so if this pans out I'll be a happy camper.

I taped AMP on the receiver to help keeping them plugged into the correct jack.
View attachment 3537588

Please report back on how it is. I've seen that same thing under lots of names and thought the same thing, that it could be really nice for home convenience. I saw nightmare reviews and raving reviews.

 

[GonePlaid]

Please report back on how it is. I've seen that same thing under lots of names and thought the same thing, that it could be really nice for home convenience. I saw nightmare reviews and raving reviews.

As I'm sure you know, some ppl wouldn't be happy if you hung them with a new rope. The ones I've considered are $135-$154. I don't expect them to be perfect.

 

[BklynKen]

As I'm sure you know, some ppl wouldn't be happy if you hung them with a new rope. The ones I've considered are $135-$154. I don't expect them to be perfect.

For live use? I'm only really thought about inexpensive ones like JIO's for home use. Live, I like to keep it really simple, plus I never play on a big enough stage to move around much anyway.

 

[Engle]

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 !

I agree with most of the above. It elevates the band if you have a good singer AND the audience can hear the nuances in the singing.
We want that for all the instruments, but it’s more important for the vocals.

 

[Engle]

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.

I use 210AV cabs to accomplish the same thing.

 

[JIO]

Please report back on how it is. I've seen that same thing under lots of names and thought the same thing, that it could be really nice for home convenience. I saw nightmare reviews and raving reviews.

It's a simple device and comes with USB "Y" cord for recharging. I paid an addition $7.99 for a one year warrantee. Total was $77.96 so if it works for a year w/o issues, it'll be worth it.