Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

Since I haven't decided whether to sell Leon or rework him into the mythical THUNDERBIRD VI, I'm selling a couple of guitars. I almost never play them. I'll hold onto Helen, my Hagstrom. But Hot Black (Epi Goth V) is up here and on Reverb. One more to follow, gotta replace the pots first. And then make myself sell her.

 

[BklynKen]

But Hot Black (Epi Goth V) is up here and on Reverb. One more to follow, gotta replace the pots first. And then make myself sell her.

Why not just let it take a year off dead for tax purposes?

 

[StephnG]

And Now For Something Completely Different (Almost)

 

[Engle]

Yup...I've been going back and forth quite a bit, and that's exactly true.
When my band can start gigging again (remember those?), I'll probably bring both the VP and the JCB. Love the JCB especially for tunes where I can deliberately get some feedback from my amp....

Oh yeaaah! That’s a dynamic duo

 

[dagrev]

Hey fellow TB Thunderbirders.
Due to some privacy issues online, I changed my TB username from DWLANG to FlyingPigSound
(long story that involves the name of my music studio / jam space / live sound hobby that came from a lost bet on the Chicago Cubs going to the World Series and ultimately then a tattoo)

Since no watermelons were involved as a penality, we can deduce one person not involved in the bet.

 

[MCF]

Since I haven't decided whether to sell Leon or rework him into the mythical THUNDERBIRD VI, I'm selling a couple of guitars. I almost never play them. I'll hold onto Helen, my Hagstrom. But Hot Black (Epi Goth V) is up here and on Reverb. One more to follow, gotta replace the pots first. And then make myself sell her.

Good call hanging on to the Hagstrom.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

So like this?

pretty cool...Ampeg bass...he was playing a 4001 in the other video of that song..

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Why not just let it take a year off dead for tax purposes?

That’s what it just did! Been in a coffin the whole time.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Good call hanging on to the Hagstrom.

Thanks. My first electric. Toms of time and energy in mods and experiments, never mind all the time playing.

 

[D.M.N.]

OK, THUNDERBIRD players, let's talk right hand technique.
Static anchor? Floating anchor? Movable thumb? Movable hand? What's your pleasure?
If you have a thumb or pinky rest, do you use it? If not, and you use a rest, what (thumb, palm, arm) rests where (pickup, body, strings, inconveniently close mic stand, guitar player's belt, what?

Always floating thumb when playing with fingers. I play either in between the pickup cover and neck or just behind the pickup cover, depending on what sound I want. Probably above the pickup cover near the neck most of the time. With a pick, I keep my bridge and pickup covers on, so I always rest the side of my palm on the cover, most typically on the bridge cover, though sometimes the pickup cover, again depending on what I'm trying to achieve.

 

[fasterpussycat]

After you switch back and forth between your Casady and Tbirds, over time you’ll probably find you don’t notice the neck difference as much.

The thing was, I didn't really notice a difference at the time, it just seems to have become apparent over the period of weeks. More of a reminder not to neglect the Birds.

 

[PillO]

And Now For Something Completely Different (Almost)

Charlie, beat the beats, the beats you beat
The only thing harder's the smell of my feet
So listen up 'cause you might get dissed
Go drain the lizard or take a...
Chair!

 

[fasterpussycat]

Charlie, beat the beats, the beats you beat
The only thing harder's the smell of my feet
So listen up 'cause you might get dissed
Go drain the lizard or take a...
Chair!

Take a seat....

 

[Klondike]

Yup...I've been going back and forth quite a bit, and that's exactly true.
When my band can start gigging again (remember those?), I'll probably bring both the VP and the JCB. Love the JCB especially for tunes where I can deliberately get some feedback from my amp....

What area's of Chicagoland do you guys usually play?

 

[Toptube]

Both my new sets of strings for the VP are in transit and will probably arrive on the same day lol

 

[FlyingPigSound]

What area's of Chicagoland do you guys usually play?

Small venues usually in the burbs (Between Elgin - Tinley Park) and occasionally at dive bars in the city (Hidden Cove, Indy Tap, etc.)

 

[FlyingPigSound]

Both my new sets of strings for the VP are in transit and will probably arrive on the same day lol

What did you order?
I'm keeping TI jazz flats on my ebony, and think I'll put rounds on the tobacco burst that arrives next week. Recommendations for rounds?
(I could keep the stock ones or I do have a new set of D'Addario nickel wound EXL160TP mediums I've never used or even tried)

 

[dagrev]

What did you order?
I'm keeping TI jazz flats on my ebony, and think I'll put rounds on the tobacco burst that arrives next week. Recommendations for rounds?
(I could keep the stock ones or I do have a new set of D'Addario nickel wound EXL160TP mediums I've never used or even tried)

Obviously it depends on what you're shooting for tone-wise. I'm like big, thick, fat with some punch. No raspy clank. It's just not me. I surround the sound of the band and don't try to cut through anything. GHS Boomers, GHS Round Core Boomers seem to get me there with the VPs. String Joy out of Nashville does it as well, and you can custom order whatever you want in a set as well. GHS Progressives sounded really good as well. GBassNorth swears by Fenders in seeking similar tones I as do if I recall correctly. The strings mentioned all add some lowend bigness and heft to the VPs. But you may want to go in another tonal direction altogether.

 

[GBassNorth]

What did you order?
Recommendations for rounds?
(I could keep the stock ones or I do have a new set of D'Addario nickel wound EXL160TP mediums I've never used or even tried)

As @dagrev noted below, he and I are after a very similar sound - deep dark and delicious with enough mids to punch hard when wanted and only a touch of top end for definition. With that in mind, I found the stock VP strings to have too much zing and clank for my tastes. So off they went. The two best sounding strings on the VP that I've tried are Fender 7150 nickel rounds and Cobalt Flats, which to my ear are about the most round wound sounding flat on the market. Unlike most flats they retain a touch of the top end, similar to a very mellow round, while still delivering that super powerful bottom end and low mids that we all love on flats.

Obviously it depends on what you're shooting for tone-wise. I'm like big, thick, fat with some punch. No raspy clank. It's just not me. I surround the sound of the band and don't try to cut through anything. GHS Boomers, GHS Round Core Boomers seem to get me there with the VPs. String Joy out of Nashville does it as well, and you can custom order whatever you want in a set as well. GHS Progressives sounded really good as well. GBassNorth swears by Fenders in seeking similar tones I as do if I recall correctly. The strings mentioned all add some lowend bigness and heft to the VPs. But you may want to go in another tonal direction altogether.

I haven't tried the Boomers yet but they are on my short list.

 

[Toptube]

What did you order?
I'm keeping TI jazz flats on my ebony, and think I'll put rounds on the tobacco burst that arrives next week. Recommendations for rounds?
(I could keep the stock ones or I do have a new set of D'Addario nickel wound EXL160TP mediums I've never used or even tried)

A. I'm generrally a fan of stainless (however, my Carvin Icon 5 tends to want other stuff)

B. youtube videos of the VP exhibit a mid heavy tone, which tells me that stainless is a good route, to open up the sound a bit more

C. I have Lollar thunderbird pickups in a Japanese Fender Jaguar bass which acoustically is very warm and very very loud. It has always worn stainless and DR stainless Low Riders are the second best tone I've had on the Thundercat (discontinued Dean Markley Helix Stainless were the best tone), and overall the best balance of feel and string to string balance.

D. soooooooooooo The VP is gonna start life trying out stainless. I have a set of Low Riders on the way and a set of GHS Super Steels.I have said before, I think that Low Riders are overall, the best stainless on the market right now. One of the best tones, good feel (although I don't even mind the feel of rotos). And while they aren't technically a balanced tension set: they feel more balanced than some others. Even others from DR.

I have only ever personally used Super Steels on a shortscale Dano 63 bass I had. It definitely lacked the warmer and more interesting mid character I am used to with Low Riders. However, it had a real nice and grindy growl. and the feel of the strings was quite slick?! Also, nowadays, most of GHS strings are now sold standard as balanced tension sets. So I thought I would try them on the VP. Especially with the limited saddle adjustment, a more balanced E string in particular, could be a real good thing on a VP. And the VP's pickups may be so mid heavy, that the super steel tone should balance out fine.