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Thunderbird Club

#15,202
ubnomnar said:
It seems like there are very few of these NR's on the market. There's one on eBay unsold for a few weeks at $1399.99 OBO.

I miss my 2014 USA Thunderbird walnut edition which I sold last year... and I've also been looking for a nice Pelham Blue set neck Thunderbird... or a great deal on a Mike Lull NR (keep dreaming)... or a Cataldo NR... or an Epiphone PJ NR... or a Brad Lowe NR body with a Fender neck...
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In digging around, I saw mention a couple of times that there were 400 of these 2012/2013 Non-Reverses made... Anyone have any input on that? Seems NR's as a whole are a little more rare than I originally thought, although that wasn't part of my reason for buying one.
 
#15,203
Gaolee said:
Interesting. I generally like the bridge pickup rolled off even if it's a lower output pickup. The bridge pickup is there to add flavor to the neck pickup, or on a 'Bird, it's more the sweet spot pickup. We must be going for completely different sounds. I don't want huge amounts of treble and brightness, since that tends to get lost in the mosh of guitars. If you are playing in a trio, it could really work.
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You have hit the nail on the head. I don't compete with a mosh of guitars anymore. We only have one and he is very good at keeping out of "my" sonic space. Helps that he is my son and still lives at home- we have a great understanding and he has a great ear for EQ and mixing.
I have been in the same band for the last seven years. We play pub rock/ pop covers 70s to present day. Initially, we had two guitarists, plus a guitarist who played keys about half the time, female singer, bass and drums, three backing voices. After about two years, we dropped a guitarist. After a further two years we dropped the guitarist/ keys player. For the last three years we have been a trio with a separate singer (two backing voices). Reasons for the changes? People move on and the pay is better split four ways rather than seven, so we never replaced people who left- we just adapted.
With two guitarists and keys, my job was pretty easy really and I wasn't looking for much top and there was always someone there to fill a space that needed filling. When we became essentially a trio I rethought my approach and the sound I was looking for. I even got a few pedals (compressor, chorus, fuzz and overdrive). The fuzz has high and low pass filters- I use the high pass filter. I am able to use the footswitchable, motorised pot feature of my GK Fusion 550 to effect- virtually instantaneous volume and/ or tone changes when need be, such as when the single guitarist takes a solo. He probably only does about six or seven solos in a four hour show (pub crowds looking to dance turn off to endless solos IMO) and only on songs that the solo is an integral part of the song (Sweet Child O' Mine, I Love Rock and Roll, Cherry Bomb (Runaways), All The boys In Town etc ). If you look just at those songs as examples you see the challenge of keeping the intensity and solidity when the single guitarist takes the solos. I find I don't get that with just more bass- it works best for me with more mids and a little more top. I usually have my tone pot fully open.
So in this bass, I was looking for a really solid sweet spot pickup and some flavour, as you say. I wanted the most I could get out of that bridge pickup through raising it physically- I can always back it off with the volume pot if I want, but if it ain't there in the first place, it ain't there.....I EQ my amp in the slightly "reverse smiley". That amp is a big part of my overall strategy actually- that GK growl but with some warmth from the tube pre.
All that said, I really like the space I now have in a trio. I have to work harder and smarter. It is easier to coordinate things and I have learnt that you don't have to fill every space- sometimes less is more.
 
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#15,205
Gaolee said:
I don't want huge amounts of treble and brightness, since that tends to get lost in the mosh of guitars. If you are playing in a trio, it could really work.
Click to expand...

veebass said:
That amp is a big part of my overall strategy actually- that GK growl but with some warmth from the tube pre.
All that said, I really like the space I now have in a trio. I have to work harder and smarter. It is easier to coordinate things and I have learnt that you don't have to fill every space- sometimes less is more.
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+1
Finally I end up playing in 2 trios :woot:. It's fun and leaves a lot of space for the bass guitar. I started with a Rick years ago (it's knocked out, needs some serious tlc), was waiting a long time for a G&L L1k (they're really hard to get in Germany) but pulled the trigger on an Epi TB IV. All of them different animals, the TB is making his way through the sound so irresistibly, even though it's the cheapest one. In my TB-trio I use a GK 400RB iv, lots of growl... . But I miss a bit of bite. I got a Gibson pup lying here, is it a good idea to put in this for the bridge position?

thx
 
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#15,206
It depends on the Gibson pickup most likely.

I play upright in a band that's nominally a rockabilly band. The guitarist in that one is busy, but he's more of a rhythm player when he's not playing slide. The drummer is rock solid and the singer is very good as well. With all that, though, the bass can really drive the sound, similar to what you are talking about, veebass. The other band I play upright in is more of a blues tinged jazz band with a very sparse guitarist and a singer who likes to float over the top. No drummer. I play the bass completely differently in that one and get a very different sound. If I played electric in either of those bands, the stronger bridge pickup would be important. Instead, I play electric in a cover band these days, and that's it. That band has more guitars than it needs, but so it goes. I really ought to play the EB-2 or the P-Bass to get a really thumpy receding sound, but the 'Birds are so much more fun to play that they get all the work.

As far as amps, I play through an Acoustic 360 or 360M depending on whether I feel like pushing my luck and going with the 1968 or don't want to risk it and stick to the 2012. Those have a different sound, but it's what I have used for pretty much ever and it's what I like.
 
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#15,207
Played the nr saturday, worked perfectly,I! Love! This! Bass! PS: we are Demolition Bastards, its the headliners backdrop there ;-)

FB_IMG_1460922733366.jpg
 
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#15,208
Mike A said:
In digging around, I saw mention a couple of times that there were 400 of these 2012/2013 Non-Reverses made... Anyone have any input on that? Seems NR's as a whole are a little more rare than I originally thought, although that wasn't part of my reason for buying one.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure, I had a 2013 one. In summer 2014 I sold it on Craigslist for $750....after dropping the price for months. It was minty to. I regret that but was moving.
 
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#15,211
Bill the guitarist and I recorded an interview with Breaking Metal Radio yesterday. It'll air on Thursday, 7-9. They'll post a podcast of it shortly thereafter, at www.breakingmetal.com. There is Tbird content in the interview. The guy who owns and runs Breaking Metal is Kyle Nidiffer, bassist of Outlaw Serenade. He also plays a 12 string bass like a BOSS. Look him up on YouTube for his covers of The Star Spangled Banner (Jimi version) and Amazing Grace. He's got a couple Gibson Thirds with knobs that go to 11 (literally).
 
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#15,212
RedVee said:
OT: I'm told that when I visit the US I must ask for 'Canadian Bacon' as it is what I as an Aussie expects to receive as bacon. And that the US bacon is somehow different.
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If you ask for Bacon in the U.S. you'll get this...........


It's sinful good tasting, not really good for you tho.

Bacon_zpssdndniz4.jpg
 
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#15,217
Gaolee said:
Instead, I play electric in a cover band these days, and that's it. That band has more guitars than it needs, but so it goes. I really ought to play the EB-2 or the P-Bass to get a really thumpy receding sound, but the 'Birds are so much more fun to play that they get all the work.
Click to expand...


Yes, when we had 2 guitars and keys, I would generally use a P Bass for exactly that reason, although I always left the tone pot right open. I have been looking for a bit more now it's just the three of us and our singer.
 
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