Thunderbird Club

[Engle]

That's a good idea, everything is unwired currently - ordered some new wires, and some connectors that should work. Won't have them for a few days yet. It'll be a great time to do that, and save the tone for last.

They say "experience is the best teacher". The more you screw up, the more experience you get!

For sure! And in your case the worst outcome is your bass doesn’t quite work until you figure it out.

 

[JIO]

In all seriosity, central FL(basically along I-4 from Tampa through Orlando to Daytona Beach)is[or was] the number one/numero uno/ichiban/nummer eins/etc. tourist destination in the world.
Tampa has Busch Gardens, Zoo Tampa, Florida Aquarium, and some craft breweries; Orlando has Disney, Universal, Sea World, Gatorland, and craft breweries; and Daytona has the Speedway and the beaches plus they're a short distance from Cape Canaveral so, yeah, we get folks from all over. Some even speak Southern, y'all.

I've been to Miami twice- once for biz (below), once for visiting relatives (at the time)... both short visits in the '80s.

Front & center (#38 in blue & red) for a Trek bicycles racing ad - shot in Miami in September '83 for the 1984 Trek ad campaign. Long story... I also did the illustration in the ad for the Chicago based design firm.

small one page insert version -

2 page spread version - the rider in the orange/blue wrote the ad copy ... the other two were professional sports models hired locally.

 

[PillO]

Some meters can, by charging the capacitor. A different model of the one I have can do it.

I have a VOM that has slots in which you can insert the legs of capacitors. I’ve never tried an electrolytic, but it seems to work on the ones we use for tone controls.

Well, there you go. Back when I was in school we knew how to calculate capacitance (or at least I did) but I would have to look up how to do it now.

 

[Larry V]

I've been to Miami twice- once for biz (below), once for visiting relatives (at the time)... both short visits in the '80s.

Front & center (#38 in blue & red) for a Trek bicycles racing ad - shot in Miami in September '83 for the 1984 Trek ad campaign. Long story... I also did the illustration in the ad for the Chicago based design firm.

small one page insert version -
View attachment 3984045
2 page spread version - the rider in the orange/blue wrote the ad copy ... the other two were professional sports models hired locally.
View attachment 3984334

Very nice! I have an older 80's road bike that I garbage picked and put back into service. Couldn't believe it when I saw it just sitting by the curb with a bunch of other unwanted content from this person's garage. Walked up to it, checked it out for fit, bingo! Just my size so in the back of my truck it went. New tubes and tires, a good cleaning and a regrip and it was as good as I need.

Now for my more serious pursuit, mountain biking, I have a race ready dual suspension carbon fiber Trek Fuel that has gone through many upgrades since new. I haven't raced in a number of years but it lives its life as my weekend trail bike bombing downhills, rock gardens and log piles all over SE Michigan.

 

[Gaolee]

yep...i am...i'm new to the club...but i was really into thunderbirds since i started listening to music...sonic youth, marilyn manson (twiggy ramirez's white thunderbird looks awesome!!), nirvana, etc...finally i pulled the trigger after being hesitant coz of the ergonomics,stupid ain't i?, that's why i really wanna read about our beloved bass.besides, who dont want to see those awesome birds...and the aforementioned tomfoolery of course...

Don't tell anybody that the ergos are actually very good. That's our secret in here.

 

[Gaolee]

I got a chance to try this, with the unused jack from my GZR pickup set. Straight to the jack, even without proper grounding (or connections... ), the p/u sounded a lot better.

View attachment 3983973

Would this indicate a bad pot? Or just a bad wiring job?
Or something else?

Start with wiring, then pot. What else is there? Maybe an evil spirit that lives in the cavity.

 

[GonePlaid]

Well, look what came today and took less than a 1/2 hour to swap out. I'm amazed at the amount of sustain it added.

 

[bylar13]

Well, look what came today and took less than a 1/2 hour to swap out. I'm amazed at the amount of sustain it added.
View attachment 3984457

Don't tell that to the "3 Point Bridge Believers Club"...they will tell you it isn't happening and that you don't need sustain when playing bass.....Congrats! Nice bass!

 

[GonePlaid]

Don't tell that to the "3 Point Bridge Believers Club"...they will tell you it isn't happening and that you don't need sustain when playing bass.....Congrats! Nice bass!

TBH, the 3Point wasn't bad, this is just whole bunches gooder. Looks better, too.

 

[BklynKen]

TBH, the 3Point wasn't bad, this is just whole bunches gooder. Looks better, too.

Plus you get side-to-side adjustability in the saddles. Can we see a wider shot?

 

[Engle]

TBH, the 3Point wasn't bad, this is just whole bunches gooder. Looks better, too.

When I got the 2 point version for my Dan Armstrong copy, I tried it on my 68 EBO and it didn’t look right. Maybe it was the shiny chrome on the not-shiny bass.

 

[GonePlaid]

Plus you get side-to-side adjustability in the saddles. Can we see a wider shot?

Still some tinkering to do. Better(?)shot later. I'm just gonna leave them centered-for now.

 

[PillO]

Well, look what came today and took less than a 1/2 hour to swap out. I'm amazed at the amount of sustain it added.
View attachment 3984457

 

[Nocturnal]

that's good news! it literally could be anything now...careful with assuming value labeling on components are correct, spent a few hours troubleshooting a card the other day to find a 68pF cap that was labeled 680pF and should have been 680....some labeling conventions are different than those in the 60's....what value pots/caps are you using?

New parts can be bad even when brand new. I have had a couple instances of brand new pots being bad fresh from the package. Wired them up (Well, someone that knew what they were doing did.) and nothing would happen. Cleaned up the connections and re-soldered, no change. Swapped out the pot and everything worked fine.

Yeah! One thing I want to try that I read there, although I don't expect to like it, is crank the Contour knob, which as a rule I turn to 0 with extreme prejudice, and then dime the Mid knobs. Someone said they liked the effect. But that person did that after having tried a Traynor and liking but, but still preferring their GK, but wanting a similar effect.

I saved the details from that posting so i can test it. I think I use the same settings on my 700RB as you (and maybe Queen V) do.

 

[JIO]

Very nice! I have an older 80's road bike that I garbage picked and put back into service. Couldn't believe it when I saw it just sitting by the curb with a bunch of other unwanted content from this person's garage. Walked up to it, checked it out for fit, bingo! Just my size so in the back of my truck it went. New tubes and tires, a good cleaning and a regrip and it was as good as I need.

Now for my more serious pursuit, mountain biking, I have a race ready dual suspension carbon fiber Trek Fuel that has gone through many upgrades since new. I haven't raced in a number of years but it lives its life as my weekend trail bike bombing downhills, rock gardens and log piles all over SE Michigan.

The people who buy high end bikes upgrade often and sell perfectly good bikes for practically nothing just to offload them. Mid-range bikes they sell at a garage sale, leave on the street or drop off at a Goodwill. I got the bike model seen in the ad as my payment for the shoot and illustrations, a Trek 770 w/full Campy Record which was their high-end race bike that year. (when a new top-of-the-line race bike was in the $1,500 range) Still steel (531 Reynolds if I remember correctly) and pretty much a critirium set-up, which was most of the racing I did then. Only owned it for a year, upgraded to an Italian Pinarello ARCO (frame - kept the Treks parts/wheels) which had more of a classic road bike geometry.

Not mine - but this is the frameset - It was a version of the bike that Alexi Greywall won the 1984 Olympic Road Race on, held in LA.

 

[JIO]

Well, look what came today and took less than a 1/2 hour to swap out. I'm amazed at the amount of sustain it added.
View attachment 3984457

They are well made and a good design. 100% improvement over a stock Gibson/Epi 3 point bridge.

 

[MCF]

I decided the old nut was just too crappy looking, so I cut a new one from a piece of corian.
View attachment 3984221

Excellent! No complaints about the corian on the ‘13 NR from me. And it stays white.

 

[MCF]

BUY!

Decisions, decisions. The Mesa tt800 vs. the GK Fusion. Friendly rivals making great amps. Still in California.

 

[KaraQ]

Decisions, decisions. The Mesa tt800 vs. the GK Fusion. Friendly rivals making great amps. Still in California.

The clear answer to your dilemma is, of course, to get both!
Help out our economy twice as much!

 

[BklynKen]

Decisions, decisions. The Mesa tt800 vs. the GK Fusion. Friendly rivals making great amps. Still in California.

I think you need to try both and see which works best for you. Plenty of places seem to have generous return policies. Even if you have to cover return shipping, it seems a reasonable price for actually knowing first hand which you like most.