Thunderbird Club

[Gaolee]

Like the time we made hydrogen...

That was referred to as unauthorized experimentation when I did it in high school. It was pretty tame, relative, but it was what the powers that be knew about.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

...At University, we had a 'funnelator' - a very similar launching device based on rubber surgical tubing, a funnel, wire reinforcement, duct tape, and a few odds and ends. We launched water balloons as reliability was good but not great and misfires often resulted in projectiles going in unpredictable directions (as shown in the video). With ours, we calculated that muzzle velocity exceeded 300kmh (180mph for those still using that form of measurement) but we also noted that the aerodynamic properties of water balloons resulted in a rapid loss of speed. Never the less, we could achieve ranges of 300-500 meters (3-5 football fields for those using that form of measurement)...

Some guys at the other end of the hall in our dorm put eyebolts into a steel fire door frame, then attached S hooks to a sliced truck tire inner tube with reinforced ends, so they could easily attach and detach it. They could launch an average college student in a wagon hard enough that when he hit our door at the end of the hall (~30 yards), the bottom of the door would bend in several inches. These were very solid doors. The first pilot saw stars for a few minutes following impact, subsequent runs were always done wearing a motorcycle helmet.
We asked them numerous times to warn us before doing this. They almost never did. One day Lowell had his hand on the doorknob to open the door when the wagon hit. A half second later and the door would have hit Lowell in the face and knocked him on his butt. They launch crew just laughed when we told them.
We shut the door and I lay on the floor, looking under the door. Lowell stood to the side holding the doorknob. Tom and Keith held my feet. On the next launch, I waited til the wagon was about a second away, yelled, and the guys yanked me out of the way as Lowell opened the door. The pilot, braced for impact, was caught off guard. he looked up just as the wagon hit the radiator and he flew into the steel framed window. Even with the helmet, he was woozy. He got some bruises, too.
After that, they always notified us when they were ready to play.

 

[JIO]

Neo says it sounds like a cat.

Of course it does.

 

[fasterpussycat]

I admit nothing.

The thing is, once you've made hydrogen on the kitchen table in suburban Sydney, how do you test that your vessel (a plastic shopping bag) actually contains a colourless, odourless gas?

You probably need an idiot to volunteer to present it to the barbecue in order to test for a reaction.

I was standing up and then I was flat on my back.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

As you all know, I'm "one of us" here and only used that comparison/assessment answering fpc's question. The "boner" basses (I never use that name referring to my '93 J) were designed (re-designed based on a standard J & P body) to fully address player balance. T-birds were designed to look awesome. Those Fender basses got mocked, and (reversed) T-birds have a stigma attached. Can't win.

I play THUNDERBIRDS. I win.
Hint: It's not a zero sum game, so you're winners, too.

 

[Gaolee]

The thing is, once you've made hydrogen on the kitchen table in suburban Sydney, how do you test that your vessel (a plastic shopping bag) actually contains a colourless, odourless gas?

You probably need an idiot to volunteer to present it to the barbecue in order to test for a reaction.

I was standing up and then I was flat on my back.

There may be a reason we play Thunderbirds.

 

[PillO]

The thing is, once you've made hydrogen on the kitchen table in suburban Sydney, how do you test that your vessel (a plastic shopping bag) actually contains a colourless, odourless gas?

You probably need an idiot to volunteer to present it to the barbecue in order to test for a reaction.

I was standing up and then I was flat on my back.

A match would work too.

The trick is to get your hydrogen into balloons, attach a fuse of some sort, light the fuse and let go. Satisfying miniature Hindenburgs. So I hear. I wasn't there.

 

[PillO]

There may be a reason we play Thunderbirds.

There may be a reason that the Gen Pop are a little scared of us...

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The thing is, once you've made hydrogen on the kitchen table in suburban Sydney, how do you test that your vessel (a plastic shopping bag) actually contains a colourless, odourless gas?

You probably need an idiot to volunteer to present it to the barbecue in order to test for a reaction.

I was standing up and then I was flat on my back.

You are my hero.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

There may be reason that the Gen Pop are a little scared of us...

Besides getting slapped with headstocks?

 

[BklynKen]

 

[gaffster]

Heard 'Wildfire' by Michael Martin Murphey today. I guess in some Native American cultures hoot owls are associated with ghosts. After his girlfriend dies and her pony is lost....

By the dark of the moon, I planted
But there came an early snow
Been a hoot-owl howling outside my window now
'Bout six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go

 

[MCF]

There may be a reason that the Gen Pop are a little scared of us...

Ya’ think?

 

[PillO]

Ya’ think?

Just forming a hypothesis...

 

[BklynKen]

There may be a reason that the Gen Pop are a little scared of us...

I figure it's just because we're above engaging in Internet trollism.

 

[JIO]

That's just all around a gorgeous bass. Even the bridge.

It is - really great in every way. I sold mine (pictured) cause I have the Saundersbird which also has a Kubicki 9v pre so I felt it was redundant to own both. It was basically a Fender J moulded to look/feel/sound like a Kubicki Factor. Very un-Fenderlike really.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It is an exceedingly bad idea to take a sizeable piece of either sodium or potassium and flush it down a toilet. I hear.

I admit nothing.

If that doesn't happen regularly on your campus, you are not at an engineering college. Of course, some people start before college...

Dad was a university chem prof. Sometimes his answer to questions was, "I'll show you soon." Sometimes he didn't wait for me to ask. My first sodium reaction viewing was at UTEP, under a hood in a lab. Then he told me about the student who ignored instructions and put a big hunk of sodium into a Pyrex beaker with a liter of water in it- without closing the safety shield and using the embedded gloves, and with no protective gear. Student went to the hospital with burns and to have glass dug out of his skin, and the lab was shut down for a day or two. Pretty sure the student was kicked out of university; I know he failed Dad's class and was PNG. He was fortunate to still have both eyes intact.

Dad also once handed 8 y/o (IIRC) me a liter of mercury with no warning as to what to expect. (Dad's hand darted down in case he had to catch it.) In case you don't know, that's 13.5 kg (~30 lb). Gotta love toxic liquid metal (it was in a heavy duty plastic bottle).

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Heard 'Wildfire' by Michael Martin Murphey today. I guess in some Native American cultures hoot owls are associated with ghosts. After his girlfriend dies and her pony is lost....

By the dark of the moon, I planted
But there came an early snow
Been a hoot-owl howling outside my window now
'Bout six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go

And worried about a killing frost, which is far more of a danger to crops than to a horse.

 

[fasterpussycat]

A match would work too.

The trick is to get your hydrogen into balloons, attach a fuse of some sort, light the fuse and let go. Satisfying miniature Hindenburgs. So I hear. I wasn't there.

BBQ was going already and it was well away from the house. I wasn't keen to do it again.

 

[Hambone666]

Figured this was the place to ask.
I considering picking up a Epiphone Thunderbird Pro IV.
Just wondering how the neck would handle a set of high tension flat wounds like the roto jazz 77's