Thunderbird Club

[Nocturnal]

Here is another new tune.

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I would love the chance to see your band live someday.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I would love the chance to see your band live someday.

You and me, both!

 

[GonePlaid]

That’s great! I bet that it would cost me about $30 in now that I can’t cross the border - gonna have to hold off.

Hmph, foreigners.(J/K) That sux.

 

[Engle]

Hmph, foreigners.(J/K) That sux.

I’ll make do. Not planning any work on my Casady any time soon.

 

[GonePlaid]

I’ll make do. Not planning any work on my Casady any time soon.
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Dayum!Y'all get really hosed on s&h.

 

[Nocturnal]

Do someone here know if the Epiphone classic pro and the vintage pro bodies have the same measures?

I think the body is the same but the headstock size is very different.

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My latest bass here together with my first bass! The 1991 Orville I got in November last year and the 1967 Yamaha SB-A5 is my first, think I bough her in 1974. And both are reverse

That Yamaha looks it could have been the inspiration for the Ibanez Iceman.

 

[dagrev]

I was watching the Mar 5 2020 rerun of Colbert last night featuring Keith Urban, who played a new song. When the music started, of course, the camera was locked on Keith. But my attention was immediately caught by the glorious bass tone, authoritative, deep, with a slight growl. Then I thought it only sounded so good cause he was locked in so tightly with the drummer. Then I thought, no, that's a GREAT tone. They finally showed the bassist.

No surprise, he was playing a Gibson Thunderbird. It was a brown burst, white pickguard and black PUPs and hardware. Man, I love the tone of that 'bird! It wasn't a mid-range growl, more of a low low-mid. I want to cop that tone.....

Well word's out now. When a famous Aussie singing country has a bassist playing a Thunderbird it's all over. Everybody around the globe will want one now. Our only hope is that potential buyers will notice how the bassist could hardly play due to constantly fighting neck dive. If only the head stock had flow off and injured someone in the audience. That might have been extra deterrent to dissuade Fender's being thrown out the windows and all Thunderbirds being sold and as scare as toilet paper.

 

[GonePlaid]

I think the body is the same but the headstock size is very different.



That Yamaha looks it could have been the inspiration for the Ibanez Iceman.

View attachment 3782474

Wait. Ibanez "copied" something? Do tell.

 

[GonePlaid]

Well word's out now. When a famous Aussie singing country has a bassist playing a Thunderbird it's all over. Everybody around the globe will want one now. Our only hope is that potential buyers will notice how the bassist could hardly play due to constantly fighting neck dive. If only the head stock had flow off and injured someone in the audience. That might have been extra deterrent to dissuade Fender's being thrown out the windows and all Thunderbirds being sold and as scare as toilet paper.

Especially J's as mentioned previously.

 

[LetItGrowTone]

THUNDERBIRD club public service announcement:

It appears that the Epiphone Embassy Pro is discontinued.
None of the big retailers I checked have any, and they aren't on the Epiphone website anymore either.
A very few that are said to be new are still on Reverb.

 

[dagrev]

It was one of the main reasons I bought my VP, Scott!

Same here. My conversations with Scott sucked me right down the VP black hole never to return. Even what I was reading here on TB hadn't convinced me to even consider a VP. Scott sold me. He knows something!

 

[MCF]

First I had to accept that my favorite bass tones were solid state, for example Carl Radle with Eric Clapton, JPJ Ramble On, David Hood with Traffic. Had no idea that it wasn't tubes. Had to accept it. My avatar is a part of the Acoustic 360 schematic.

You posted a great tone and I heard it and thought to myself, yeah, that has to be solid state.

And then... something I had already been thinking about recently... I noticed you said "black pups" and googled it and saw that at least the stock pickups on a Gibson Thunderbird these days have ceramic magnets.

My Glarry J (about $80) continues to compete (not stuck in a closet yet) against the more expensive basses I've accumulated (all of them with alnico pickups), and I'm preparing myself to accept that it's the ceramic pickups. This is a little disturbing.

My favorite pickups for 6-string electric were Dimarzio Super Distortion (at the bridge of a Les Paul), and they were ceramic. Totally addicted to them and never could switch.

That's all I'll say for now.

Some like ‘em. Some don’t. My beloved 2013 MIM Standard P, strung with Chromes, sounds great to my ears with PUPs that many on TB say are total rubbish. I like ‘em. Not changing a thing.

 

[D.M.N.]

I’ll make do. Not planning any work on my Casady any time soon.
View attachment 3782464

Couldn't you also just get a set of long socket wrenches for about the same price?

 

[D.M.N.]

Also, my band put out a "new" song last week. We were tracking our first singles, and got tired of too many takes, so decided to throw this in to mix things up, and liked the impromptu results enough to mix it and pop it up. BaCH Thunderbird with Swing 66s straight into a Sunn 2000s and matching cab, can't recall the mic, into a UA Apollo, with just a bit of compression (LA-2A or 1176, also can't remember).

 

[GBassNorth]

Cobalts have plenty of length. The RS66s come in a long version (LS?). You’d need that.

Actually my Cobalts had barely enough length to fit a VP. On the G string peg I was only able to get just a tad over one wrap, two or three is ideal. They did fit a non VP thunderbird just fine though.

 

[Thumper]

THUNDERBIRD club public service announcement:

It appears that the Epiphone Embassy Pro is discontinued.
None of the big retailers I checked have any, and they aren't on the Epiphone website anymore either.
A very few that are said to be new are still on Reverb.

I'm glad I got 3 already. I'll play these as long as my Hard Rock band will have me. I Soooooo love playing 7 lb basses, especially at my age.

 

[Engle]

Couldn't you also just get a set of long socket wrenches for about the same price?

For sure and I have lots of tools.
I think the Allparts tool holds the inner part of the jack from spinning though.

 

[BklynKen]

I hated Pro-steels. They are bass and treble with no midrange (OK there is some, but you have to crank the mid-range on the amp to get a balanced sound).

Agreed. I put the Pro Steels on and took them off fairly quickly. Just sounded really hollow to me. I guess that translates to lack of mids. Just not enjoyable. The SIT Power Steels have everything I need. DRs always sounded too laid-back to me. Rotosound RS66 I love, but not as much as the SITs. Ernie Ball rounds I didn't like at all. Didn't love the sound or the feel. No experience with any flats; no interest. Other side of the spectrum from what I like.

 

[Thumper]

First I had to accept that my favorite bass tones were solid state, for example Carl Radle with Eric Clapton, JPJ Ramble On, David Hood with Traffic. Had no idea that it wasn't tubes. Had to accept it. My avatar is a part of the Acoustic 360 schematic.

You posted a great tone and I heard it and thought to myself, yeah, that has to be solid state.

And then... something I had already been thinking about recently... I noticed you said "black pups" and googled it and saw that at least the stock pickups on a Gibson Thunderbird these days have ceramic magnets.

My Glarry J (about $80) continues to compete (not stuck in a closet yet) against the more expensive basses I've accumulated (all of them with alnico pickups), and I'm preparing myself to accept that it's the ceramic pickups. This is a little disturbing.

My favorite pickups for 6-string electric were Dimarzio Super Distortion (at the bridge of a Les Paul), and they were ceramic. Totally addicted to them and never could switch.

That's all I'll say for now.

I'm certainly no expert, but did play a '76 back in the 80s-90s, have a T5 and 3 Embassy's. I just spent time listening to YouTube reviews and comparisons, and would yield to Scott's expertise. It seems the alnicos have sweeter mids and snarl, while the ceramics have more lows and growl.

I would love to see an Embassy Pro vs Thunderbird Pro comparison but couldn't find one.

 

[MCF]

I’ll make do. Not planning any work on my Casady any time soon.
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Oh man. Maybe the only reason I didn’t wish I was Canadian. Or Australian.