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Thunderbird Club

#143,601
MCF said:
Hi Craig,
Welcome! I joined here 250 numbers ago. It has been a wonderful experience with great people in here. I now have five Thunderbirds and learned so much about them from this community. We’re here to help as best we can.
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You started me thinking about when I joined, somewhere before page 1000.

Had an Epi Thunderbird PRO IV and an Italia semi-hollow weirdo piezo bass, both now long gone. In their place there are 3 Thunderbirds and an Epiphone Jack Casady Signature. My Ampeg PF500 blew up and was replaced with a Traynor 200 and I have flipped 3 preamps, a compressor (always get a twinge thinking about that), a flanger and a chorus.

E56E407B-442F-48B1-9C9E-F766FFD6D1A6.jpeg
 
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#143,603
Two gig day today....stopped by the house for an hour in between so I was able to avoid bar food. Before I retired there was a group of single guys who knew where the best free buffet was every day of the week ! It is constantly changing scenario so they would compare notes all the time. It was funny listening to them. One guy would 'eat' Neosporin ointment when he had a sore throat. I do miss working with quirky engineers.
 
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#143,605
davelowell2 said:
Epiphone Thunderbird Pro Black | Wendell's Music ATL

Can you tell me about these? I’ve never seen one like yours until this reverb ad.

Wait, are these the active ones?
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Yes ... and no.

The PRO IV came in three finishes - two 'hippy sandwich' style and trans black (as you see on mine) which was a black coffee colour.

The bass was active with volume, blend, bass and treble. Initially, compared to the piezo gank from the Italia, the PRO IV seemed quite thunderous, however as I spent more time with it, it came more and more to sound -- to me -- like wet cardboard. And that dear reader, was how your humble author was set on the path to demon bass modifier.

Mods:
1. Original pickups and electronics were binned and 2 x EY Guitar Parts 'Chinabuckers' were installed wired V-V. (There was a little mini-saga there, as the first two pickups they sent me were out of phase with each other.)

2. The bass was chromed out, in accordance with the Thunderbird Club rules.

3. Having made the discovery that the neck pickup alone give me the snarl I am seeking, the bridge pickup and second V pot were removed.

4. Following delivery of my custom built NR41KB with the Thunderbucker 66S, I ordered and installed a 66S in the Epi.

5. After somewhat unexpectedly acquiring a JAEbird (meaning there were 4 Birds in the house), it was time for the Epi to find a new home. The Thunderbucker was removed and it reverted to the two Chinabuckers wired V-V and was sold to a man with a huge roll of $100 notes as a bass to fool around on for his spoiled multi Gibson LP guitar having teenage daughter.

The Thunderbucker 66S now lives in my Orville and everybody lived happily ever after.
 
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#143,609
dagrev said:
Welcome aboard Craig. You have now just made it into the most exclusive and significant group on the internet! A definite enhancement to your curia vitae. Well, on second thought, with all those watermelon pics and other odd posts that have accidentally appeared, might want to leave this club membership off, and just enjoy the ride.

Now that you have one, start look for another Thunderbird! One is never enough. Come to think of, neither is 3, 4, 5.... Well, you get the point.
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They will figure it out when you show up for an interview wearing a grass skirt and watermelon helmet.
 
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#143,610
Brought the Bird to it's first rehearsal this afternoon (we took an extended holiday break since our last show in December). Sounded amazing, and a breeze to play (will need a full set-up though to be perfect). Tested only with compression and VT Bass Di, needs nothing else. Bandmates were amazed by the look and sound. The only question is, why I didn't tried a bird earlier in my life? - Now I want a passive one to get a different flavor...
 
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#143,611
dagrev said:
@PillO How's the recovery going?

So you can eventually get back to playing a Thunderbird, of course.
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Recovery is going.

I have been consuming narcotics all week and I am slowing on that as pain abates. Yesterday and today I have not been counting down until the next dose, so improvement. But I am left with a limited amount of time with full mental faculties available and that has to be reserved for work.

There are a few big issues to deal with aside from pain.
Everything is one handed. The left arm is strapped down so that there is no shoulder movement. And that is all the time including sleep. So a bit tough to do all kinds of things. Worse is I feel restrained trying to fall asleep; rather anxiety inducing. Being strapped up lasts 6 weeks.
I can't do much. So, I am not burning much energy and it makes it difficult to sleep.
I took off the large bulky surgical dressing after two days. The smaller bandages and steri-strips beneath remain until first follow up next week. The dressing contained poly-isobutylene to which I am allergic. So in taking that dressing off, there was a rash underneath. Skin came off along with the dressing. That was... a little painful.

On the upside, I never realized that shaving is kind of two handed. So I'm growing a beard. Maybe I'll eventually get to a full on ZZ Top.

BklynKen said:
Can't be going well. He hasn't made fun of that guy in the video playing guitar left-handed.
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I don't make fun of left handed players as a matter of routine. But if it combines with some other strangeness such as tanks of compressed air in the background...
 
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#143,615
He brought 4 NSW Rural Fire fighters on stage for the final bow.

BAC8F01C-7AAA-44C2-A2EB-3AF34433685D.jpeg


He is on again tonight, but also there is a Fire fundraiser show next door which he will play a little at then go back for his show.

The Fire show is at the 2000 Olympics stadium, 10 hours, includes Queen/Adam Lambert, Alice, Olivia Newton-John and a gazillion others. Sold out super quick but live on telly. Guessing they’ll get about 20 mins each Live Aid style.
 
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#143,616
RedVee said:
He brought 4 NSW Rural Fire fighters on stage for the final bow.

View attachment 3709136

He is on again tonight, but also there is a Fire fundraiser show next door which he will play a little at then go back for his show.

The Fire show is at the 2000 Olympics stadium, 10 hours, includes Queen/Adam Lambert, Alice, Olivia Newton-John and a gazillion others. Sold out super quick but live on telly. Guessing they’ll get about 20 mins each Live Aid style.
Click to expand...

You guess correctly:
Set Times - FIRE FIGHT AUSTRALIA
 
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#143,617
Jebberz said:
....The only question is, why I didn't tried a bird earlier in my life?
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The question that baffled Einstein as well. I just hope everyone doesn't hear how great they are. When I got my first one, I never saw anyone play one or who had one, for a couple decades other than a couple famous players. Now it's getting to be like the Hitchcock movie. You know which one.
 
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#143,618
TBird1958 said:
I've been thinking a lot about Mike since hearing this news, I'm devastated, words fail to describe how nice he was - Jeez one time he sent me home with his HiWatt DR102 for two weeks just because I mentioned that it would sound good with a Thunderbird.......He always made me feel like a Rock Star when I visited, I'm glad I got to see him not too long age when he set up my Les Paul.........I lost a real friend.
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I'm so sorry, V. That sucks. Big hugs. Prayers for peace and joy even in the midst of this.
 
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#143,620
fasterpussycat said:
You started me thinking about when I joined, somewhere before page 1000.

Had an Epi Thunderbird PRO IV and an Italia semi-hollow weirdo piezo bass, both now long gone. In their place there are 3 Thunderbirds and an Epiphone Jack Casady Signature. My Ampeg PF500 blew up and was replaced with a Traynor 200 and I have flipped 3 preamps, a compressor (always get a twinge thinking about that), a flanger and a chorus.

View attachment 3708987
Click to expand...
I always liked the looks of that Italia. Being shallow and all. But play it? Probably not after your descriptions of what it does and does not do.

If there are ever any issues with a JC sound, I suggest a Dimarzio One pickup. One of those in a hollow bass is a beautiful combination. I don't know if it would fit without cutting.
 
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