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Thunderbird Club

#148,503
Another pull today. I love this guy. He was a fixture at the Cannery in Newport Beach circa ‘80. I staggered out of that bar after seeing him a few times. He later teamed with Rundgren and put out some great albums. Tony Levin usually played bass for him.
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#148,508
Being trapped in my apartment has helped me discover my TWO favorite basses, from a playability and sound perspective: my 2017 Rickenbacker 4003s and my Epi T Bird Classic Pro, which has been upgraded with hipshot tuners and bridge.
They both play FANTASTIC and both sound FANTASTIC. I love them both! To my ears the Ric is more versatile, but the Epi sounds wonderful in a completely different way, and even with upgrades, was half the price. I would be hard pressed to choose between them if someone forced me to choose. . .
This from a guy who was raised on 7enders and a 76 Ric 4001.
 
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#148,511
JIO said:
A few days ago I posted a pic of my black modified Tele-style P-bass here which I call the T2K Mk II. (Tele 2000 - second version) Here's another pic of it. It 'was' heavy ash at 10lbs/2oz so today I "chambered" it, basically filling it full of multi-sized holes under the large '70s Tele-bass style pg. I did it on a friends industrial drill-press. I went down 1" leaving 1/4" at the base of each Forstner bit hole. It is now 9lbs/8oz so I lost 10oz which is pretty good all things considered. My custom builds are all lighter but nine and a half pounds is acceptable. I've yet to test/assess it for any sound/tonal difference but if there is any difference it will most likely be subtle. It's an awesome sounding bass - it's what L2000's are know for.
I kept the pics as thumbnails as they are not of a THUNDERBIRD

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Very cool looking bass!!
 
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#148,514
Glenn Johnson said:
Being trapped in my apartment has helped me discover my TWO favorite basses, from a playability and sound perspective: my 2017 Rickenbacker 4003s and my Epi T Bird Classic Pro, which has been upgraded with hipshot tuners and bridge.
They both play FANTASTIC and both sound FANTASTIC. I love them both! To my ears the Ric is more versatile, but the Epi sounds wonderful in a completely different way, and even with upgrades, was half the price. I would be hard pressed to choose between them if someone forced me to choose. . .
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I have an Embassy Pro, a Ric and three different J-types.
My idea was to gain first-hand experience with these and so be able to eliminate some with peace of mind (so I wouldn't agonize over what I was missing) and choose a favorite, but I haven't been able to do it. I can't even eliminate rounds.

It's as though they're children and I must love them equally. Not rational.

I want to study and practice more. Suspect that if I could turn my mind to that, then in the course of being focused on something else one of these basses would get picked up more often than the others and a favorite would gradually emerge.
 
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#148,515
Nocturnal said:
Very cool looking bass!!
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:) Thanks! I just spent some quality time with it and was reminded of how good a bass it is. (now lighter!) I never owned an actual L2000 but I have to believe its character/sound/tone is pure G&L. There's no downside - every setting active, active boost or passive, series or parallel - it's the most user-friendly 9v pre I've played. And as long as you don't leave it plugged in - the battery lasts forever. It was in storage for a few years and the same battery is still going strong. Hard to top this system.
 
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#148,517
bylar13 said:
Here is a new song one of my bands recorded. I used my Thundrbird.

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I *really* like this. It blends era sounds from the 80s and 90s with later vibes as well. And I was really digging the bass in my face! Circling back in 3 2 1 ...
 
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