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Thunderbird Club

#155,242
Iristone said:
My experience with long-scale Roto 77s is that they are not wound consistently across the same set. The E string sounds like rounds, gradually darkens until the G string which sounds like regular thumping flats.
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I've have two sets and don't recall that being a problem. Both sets have a little age on them now, but sound great.
 
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#155,243
JJR58 said:
What strings are those?
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Black Beauty Heavy gauge Taper wound. Had them on my 2015 bird prior to this. They are relatively high tension so I installed them on the BaCH NR to see how the neck would respond. Been on for a few days now and the neck is holding dead steady, no change in tuning or action. I doubt I'll keep them on but they do sound good.

dagrev said:
I've have two sets and don't recall that being a problem. Both sets have a little age on them now, but sound great.
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All my Roto flats are fairly consistent across the set in the look, feel and sound categories. I have yet to actually wear out a set. These and Cobalts are my two favorite flats.
 
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#155,244
GBassNorth said:
Black Beauty Heavy gauge Taper wound. Had them on my 2015 bird prior to this. They are relatively high tension so I installed them on the BaCH NR to see how the neck would respond. Been on for a few days now and the neck is holding dead steady, no change in tuning or action. I doubt I'll keep them on but they do sound good.


All my Roto flats are fairly consistent across the set in the look, feel and sound categories. I have yet to actually wear out a set. These and Cobalts are my two favorite flats.
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Thank you good sir, too bad they're high tension. Otherwise i'd give them a try.
 
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#155,245
JJR58 said:
Thank you good sir, too bad they're high tension. Otherwise i'd give them a try.
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Actually, I don't know that they are any higher tension than regular Black Beauties. They felt higher tension than the strings that came with the bass (no idea what brand they were).

Where these strings shine is on a VP, BaCH, or three point bridge where you can't adjust individual saddle height. The Taper wind allows you to drop the action on a given string without lowering the bridge.

So, if your bridge is already as low as it can go, using these strings will result in an even lower action by maybe a bit more than 1/64" on the E string. If I had a bass with one of the bridges mentioned above and the A string was as low as it could go but the E string was still too high I'd just slap one of these on in the E position (and use regular Black Beauties for the other strings).

In essence, these strings can in some cases allow you to avoid cutting the grooves in your saddles deeper by instead reducing the thickness of the string at the saddle. I'm sure there are other manufacturer claimed benefits about sustain or harmonics or whatever but this is what I use them for. To my ears they sound pretty much the same as regular Black Beauties.
 
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#155,247
dagrev said:
That's great. So glad to hear the good news!

Just from the feel, I think my VPs may be a tad heavier than the 06 Gibson, but not by much. I suspect the headstock is where all the extra weight is! I'm not sure what they were thinking. I know they likely did a few things to improve and others to make it impossible for someone to try to pass one off as a vintage instrument (with some work of course). I think the neck might seem just a wee bit thinner on the Gibson. I like it better if I had to make a preference.
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In a rock context, that huge headstock on the VP ensures guitarists and singers respect your stage space.
It’s a versatile bass, as far as genres you can play with it, but visually it’s a rock machine.
 
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#155,248
GBassNorth said:
Yes, it has the belly cut.

Interestingly, the bridge does not have grooved saddles. Not sure if that's the norm, but I don't have any saddle files so I'll probably have to find a local Luthier to bring the bridge up to snuff. Doesn't seem to effect playability, tuning or intonation but does seem odd. Might have a new nut put on at the same time, it looks like the G string groove is cut too deep.
View attachment 3878935 View attachment 3878936

All just minor set up stuff, the bass looks and plays wonderfully and the action is good and low.
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Or just buy a set of needle files for $15-20
 
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#155,250
Chucky Stiletti said:
View attachment 3878945 View attachment 3878946 View attachment 3878946
Nice, less stuff to do to it. Mine had the saddle grooves, I did replace the claw with one of Scott’s....also replaced the nut for a bone one. Have never seen a nut like the original BaCH one which is hollow and almost seems like an extrusion...
View attachment 3878945
View attachment 3878946
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Hollow nuts (ahem) aren’t unusual, but on an otherwise nice instrument, I would replace it.
 
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#155,251
Engle said:
My PF50T makes glorious noise when cranked. Especially with the VP!
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I bet it does! I wish I had one just so I could push those power tubes and not be crazy loud.

Engle said:
In a rock context, that huge headstock on the VP ensures guitarists and singers respect your stage space.
It’s a versatile bass, as far as genres you can play with it, but visually it’s a rock machine.
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It's a "Back up a Jack" headstock.
True. Mine can certainly go from mellow for soft songs to in your face, I'm the bass player. Don't think it can do upright well, but I personally don't care for that sound--as much as I love flats on an electric. But I bet it could suffice if tried.
 
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#155,252
dagrev said:
I bet it does! I wish I had one just so I could push those power tubes and not be crazy loud.


It's a "Back up a Jack" headstock.
True. Mine can certainly go from mellow for soft songs to in your face, I'm the bass player. Don't think it can do upright well, but I personally don't care for that sound--as much as I love flats on an electric. But I bet it could suffice if tried.
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I bet it could. One of these days when I’m in an early Elvis or Ricky Nelson mood, I might try different muting techniques and see what happens.
 
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#155,253
img-20200612-wa0000-jpg.3879784
 
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#155,255
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#155,258
Chucky Stiletti said:
mine
View attachment 3880142

yours had the sticker when you got it?
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....no, the only modification was adding the sticker....had her out in studio with the Artec PU, not bad, but not a Thunderbird sound....studio tech told that it sounded like an old Hofner....that‘s not bad if you need a sound like this....but I didn‘t :rollno:
 
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