Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

I refuse to spend that much on designer coffee that the cool kids carry around. I love what I make at home as well as any place I've bought coffee, and didn't feel assaulted at checkout. Yeah, I'm cranky that way. No offense to those who love the stuff I don't. Freedom of thought and choice is a wonderful thing!

Assaulted at checkout?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Quick question my epi tbird pro has a very noticeable hiss just wondering if that is normal with the active electronics that come in them.

Hiss is typically a chip going bad, though it can be a connection issue. In older amps it might be a resistor, but that seems less likely here.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Thanks! Yah - no info on the pewter P, but I dig the pg reference to 70's Tele guitars w/buckers - nicely done. Those guitars have been recently revisited with their Ventana line.

View attachment 3572071

Yeah, I think the bass Tele pickup position is simply Tele. No mystery.
I was never a huge fan of the Tele headstock, but this just looks wrong. Bring back the HS!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

My Pro-V has developed a hiss. It was always there but it has become somewhat louder (or I just notice it and get annoyed by it more), but not so bad as to make it unplayable. But it is one of the reasons that I have been looking at changing the electronics (and burning the old ones in accordance with the dictats of Kat).

I don't have a correct answer, but my suspicion is that it is primarily the cheap pre-amp that causes it. And of course, it is gooped so that you can't troubleshoot it. I'm not sure that the pickups are great and in fact, I suspect that the addition of a preamp was probably to try to cover for weak p/u.

Since the RD era, Every few years Gibson keeps trying to jumpstart SkyNet. I think a subculture there is just determined to add electronics to be leading edge or edgy or whatever.

 

[dagrev]

Assaulted at checkout?

Paying what is personally an asinine price for "cool" coffee!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I'd strongly suggest you jump over to the Alembic club here on TB and pose the question to them. Lots of Series I and II expertise there. I might be misremembering, but I think a new power supply runs around $1000 and the onboard electronics can degrade a bit over time and might need to be reworked along with the finish and hardware, a refresh might be well north of another $1000. So you could easily end up with closer to 7 in it when all is said and done. They (Series and non Series) do play sweet though, and were always my favorite basses for studio work.

Thus one might be a better choice...
Alembic Series 1 Bass 1980 great condition! | eBay

thanks GB...there's actually quite a bit online and Rick Turner's local. any way you can share some clips of that studio work? would be really cool to listen to the recorded tone..

 

[Gaolee]

Think this is where I come in....

It may also be where you leave things out.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Hiss is typically a chip going bad, though it can be a connection issue. In older amps it might be a resistor, but that seems less likely here.

quick! freeze spray!

 

[Bassmike62]

Thanks! Yah - no info on the pewter P, but I dig the pg reference to 70's Tele guitars w/buckers - nicely done. Those guitars have been recently revisited with their Ventana line.

View attachment 3572071

If I had to buy a guitar, THIS is the one I'd get.

 

[Gaolee]

I was asked to move in in Edinburgh pub as the seat I was in was reserved for 'musicians'. Those are the sorts of moments a Precision is called for.

Absolutely. It would be exactly the right tool for that kind of situation. Precisions are eager at times like that.

 

[Gaolee]

I think Kat would say something more like fek orf before I tear off yer bollocks and shove them down yer throat.

It would be said charmingly, and then backed with Precision. Then the sailors in the pub would all excuse themselves quietly.

 

[Gaolee]

'Wet cardboard' not descriptive enough? Lacking power, punch and presence. There was none of the hifi and full range you might expect from an active bass. I considered EMGs and a pre, but in the end EYGP 'Chinabuckers' were a much cheaper and simpler alternative. The Thunderbucker 66S came later (it's now in the Orville).

I'm intrigued by the Lace Alumitones but don't have anything to put one in and it's a chunk of money for something I almost certainly couldn't use. I had a piezo bass and it sounded like you were throwing a bag of cutlery down the stairs - no bottom end. I expect the Alumitones are more full range (more 'active' sounding?) but wouldn't suit my 'style' -- such as it is -- of playing.

Wet cardboard is not the description I would have come up with, but it's one I agree with. I would describe it as a uniformly gray-brown, roiled mud creek bottom sound. There was a bit of fizz, like somebody poured a liter of seltzer into the creek, but no real character. There was a mid-scoop that was cartoon-like, not exactly convincing.

Alumatones are about as hi-fi as you can get with a passive pickup. I would call them transparent and slivery sounding with a shine to the sound. They sound even across frequencies to me, with only variation depending on whether they are higher or lower. No holes to speak of. They are not honky like a piezo with an impedance mismatch. A piezo can sound like the bass is stuck in a box with an old telephone if it's not matched up properly. Alumitones do not have that kind of mismatch problem, and never sound boxy or honky. They are interesting in that they seem to get more scooped the closer they get to the strings. I have not noticed much difference in volume when they are raised or lowered. That changes the sound. I haven't messed with the fretless for a while, but I recall they have a reasonable non-overwhelming output level. The fretless hasn't gotten much love lately. Time to fix that problem.

 

[JIO]

Thanks for posting. I just go all out on neck vol, between 8-9 on bridge. Tone anywhere from about 5 to full on.
I have never entered a Starbucks.
Yeah, normal Gibson here but same same.

 

[PillO]

Since the RD era, Every few years Gibson keeps trying to jumpstart SkyNet. I think a subculture there is just determined to add electronics to be leading edge or edgy or whatever.

Trying to be David Evans?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I guess just noting the differences - can't imagine Fender trying to copy a T-bird. I think your take on it being an easy 70's Tele with another pu upgrade is more like it. Here's a cool (custom?) take on it from another thread -

View attachment 2026913
or my T2K Mk II with G&L MFD pu's & preamp -
View attachment 3572040

That black Tele is gorgeous

 

[JJR58]

That black Tele is gorgeous

Agreed Chuck, especially since it has those G&L p'up's in there.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

quick! freeze spray!

That should be a geeky Weird Al take on Freeze Frame.

 

[Kriegs]

Agreed Chuck, especially since it has those G&L p'up's in there.

So, can I count you as my first supporter in my campaign to mount these :

is this:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[JJR58]

So, can I count you as my first supporter in my campaign to mount these :

is this:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Why not?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Why not?

have you completely lost it?