Thunderbird Club

[RedVee]

That photo shows some differences between your '64 and VP. Pickup location is the big one. The VP appears to have the bridge pickup shifted toward the bridge. I imagine it snarls a bit more than the '64. There is more room between the pickups on the VP, so bridge only, they should sound similar.

I was looking at the neck pickups. I thought the VP was up closer to the neck.

 

[RedVee]

I have no idea how to add anything to the bass string wiki.

@Miles_ONeal ? Anyone ?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I'm thinking about picking up one these sets. I really want the Ampeg but I don't need that much power plus I was actually trying to downsize.

View attachment 3680977

View attachment 3680978

if downsizing a cool combo could be keeping your current head and getting one of the Ampeg 15s and that 12”..

 

[JIO]

the 2000 would have been the evolution of the MM Sabre..

eager to check that bass out!

true, but the Stingray for MM was thee bass, whereas the L2000 was thee bass for G&L

 

[Thumper]

I was so impressed with my Embassy at practice last night, I just bought one to leave at home tonight. Black, lollipop Hipshots and case. Already have a set of Sunbeam lights to put on it. Will probably do the series/parallel mod as well. Great basses!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

true, but the Stingray for MM was thee bass, whereas the L2000 was thee bass for G&L

really? plenty of 1000s out there...

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I have no idea how to add anything to the bass string wiki.

@Miles_ONeal ? Anyone ?

It's pretty annoying; there *should* be an "Edit" button at the top. Go to the bottom and add stuff the same way you would post. Try to keep similar formatting if you can.

If there is a better alternative in the forum software, I would love to know about it!

 

[JIO]

really? plenty of 1000s out there...

Maybe it's just me, but I still think the L2000 delivers the G&L cred more fully. I could be wrong.

 

[ezra1]

Lovely Thunderbirds! Do I have you in the club?

Yes you do .
A couple of years ago.

 

[PillO]

Even the mighty Fender must BOW before the mighty humbucker. BOW.

Bow-chick-a-wah-wah

 

[PillO]

That Portaflex stack looks like good value ... and if you are going to mix 10s and 15s, that's the ratio in which to do it. The PF800 supposedly has none of the problems that some PF500s had. Can't recall hearing anything bad about the PF800, so if Ampeg is your thing, you should go for it.

The problem with the PF 500s were in one revision of one of the boards and was long enough ago that all should have been repaired/replaced under warranty by now.

I don't do (pi)r^2 in my head (but I don't need to for this). 1x15" is 11-13% more speaker area than 2x10", so yes, the correct ratio is 2x10 ~ 1x15

 

[PillO]

Faking it with the VP on a video shoot:
View attachment 3681079

I sound best when not actually playing...

 

[davelowell2]

I was so impressed with my Embassy at practice last night, I just bought one to leave at home tonight. Black, lollipop Hipshots and case. Already have a set of Sunbeam lights to put on it. Will probably do the series/parallel mod as well. Great basses!

That’s awesome! @Thumper

 

[Count Bassie]

Faking it with the VP on a video shoot:
View attachment 3681079

A green screen! Gonna have to see the result!

 

[dagrev]

That photo shows some differences between your '64 and VP. Pickup location is the big one. The VP appears to have the bridge pickup shifted toward the bridge. I imagine it snarls a bit more than the '64. There is more room between the pickups on the VP, so bridge only, they should sound similar.

To me, major the big difference between the VP in the 60s version as far as tone goes, is that the VPs sound a little thin compared to my 64 Thunderbird or the 64 Embassy. Both of those just have a bigger, fuller thicker, sound. I need to turn the bass knob a little to get the same bigness out of the VP, and even then it's not exactly the same. In some ways the VP is more aggressive, but the older ones can get there too, they just take a different path.

 

[Engle]

A green screen! Gonna have to see the result!

We all did separate takes in front of the screen....
They love the look of the VP, and took a fair bit of close up video of it.

 

[LetItGrowTone]

There, Thunderbirds.
View attachment 3680904

When I first saw that photo I was afraid that one or both of them was yet another setup to consider, but for anyone interested, the one on the left lines up well with the Cataldo in the photo I posted earlier (and that is as expected, right?), and the one on the right lines up approximately with the VP (I have to say approximately because one end of my measurement is a saddle, which moves). The previous photo was here:

zoomed in and lined up as well as I can,
Cataldo JAEBird - current Embassy Pro - current Tbird VP - J-Bass 60s spacing

 

[Engle]

I sound best when not actually playing...

I recorded the tracks before Christmas, so I have forgotten most of what I played. Hopefully there’s no close ups of me playing something completely different!

 

[TBird1958]

Thunderbird Thursday! I need to get a pic of just the Thunderbird.
View attachment 3680921

Very nice! Happy to add you to the club if you like.

 

[TBird1958]

To me, major the big difference between the VP in the 60s version as far as tone goes, is that the VPs sound a little thin compared to my 64 Thunderbird or the 64 Embassy. Both of those just have a bigger, fuller thicker, sound. I need to turn the bass knob a little to get the same bigness out of the VP, and even then it's not exactly the same. In some ways the VP is more aggressive, but the older ones can get there too, they just take a different path.

My Gibson with Lull pickups is way different than my VP, pretty much as you're describing it. Both are good, just different and I don't mind turning the knobs on my amp, it's what they're for.