Thunderbird Club

[RedVee]

According to Wikipedia... (I know) ...

Richie Richardson plays bass guitar. Curtly Ambrose is also a past WI Test cricketer. They both live on Antigua.

“Since 2001 he has also played bass guitar in reggae band Big Bad Dread and The Baldhead, alongside Curtly Ambrose and the band has released several albums.”

and what a surprise, evidently Wiki is incorrect.
Sir Richie plays guitar and Curtly Ambrose plays the bass.

 

[Thumper]

Ok, I'll play: John Kasich was born on my actual Friday 13th '52 day. Musicians: Stevie Wonder (wrote great bass lines), Darius Rucker, and bassist Mickey Matten (bassist Maroon 5).

 

[GBassNorth]

I’m not surprised to hear that. The only downside to the JC for me is I can’t use it for loud reggae sessions in rehearsal rooms due to feedback.

Sometimes a wad of foam stuffed in the sound holes helps.

So, can you compare the studio to a regular bird? I’m assuming there is no neck dive and is a lighter weight bass than the standard bird?

I don't own but have played a couple of studios back to back with my Gibson Anniversary TBird. Both were Studio 5 strings and both were noticeably much heavier than my bird. I didn't weigh them but I'd guess they were a couple of pounds heavier. Not sure if that would hold true for the 4 strings as well. No noticible neck dive, but I was playing sitting so who knows. I think they were voiced a bit lower as well but not in a mushy or muddy way. Notes rang very clear. Overall very nice basses but the weight scared me off of getting one.

Before I shell out for a Jazz Bass (since I don't have a slappable bass at the moment), I was wondering if there were any good passive four-conductor pickups that fit in the Thunderbird that deliver a credible J sound when split or parallel, while still keeping the power of the Thunderbird sound in series.

A couple of years back I dropped* a set of Bartolini Humbuckers in a Goth TBird along with a coil split and an Aguilar OPB-2 preamp. It does a reasonable active J bass sound in split coil mode and a massive Humbucker sound when the coil split is turned off. I don't do slap or pop so I can't tell you if it would work for that but I suspect with an active preamp you could get just about any sound you needed. The wiring diagram at the bottom of the pic is what I used...

Here's a link to the pup...
Bartolini 'Classic Bass' Soapbar Dual-Coil Humcancelling - Best Bass Gear

*dropped = enlarged the north/south dimension of the pup route by about 1/32" so they would fit. East/west I had room to spare.

 

[GonePlaid]

Ok, I'll play: John Kasich was born on my actual Friday 13th '52 day. Musicians: Stevie Wonder (wrote great bass lines), Darius Rucker, and bassist Mickey Matten (bassist Maroon 5).

So I googled 8/22. No bass players I've heard of; couple of actors/comics; one chef. Apparently, I'm it.

 

[GBassNorth]

Ok, I'll play: John Kasich was born on my actual Friday 13th '52 day. Musicians: Stevie Wonder (wrote great bass lines), Darius Rucker, and bassist Mickey Matten (bassist Maroon 5).

Mike Watt and I were born on the same day in 1957.
He got all the talent, I got the looks...
...FWIW, I get the looks from a lot of people.

 

[DesolationBlvd]

A couple of years back I dropped* a set of Bartolini Humbuckers in a Goth TBird along with a coil split and an Aguilar OPB-2 preamp. It does a reasonable active J bass sound in split coil mode and a massive Humbucker sound when the coil split is turned off. I don't do slap or pop so I can't tell you if it would work for that but I suspect with an active preamp you could get just about any sound you needed
Here's a link to the pup...
Bartolini 'Classic Bass' Soapbar Dual-Coil Humcancelling - Best Bass Gear

*dropped = enlarged the north/south dimension of the pup route by about 1/32" so they would fit. East/west I had room to spare.

I don't feel comfortable removing wood from my Gibson. Complicating things is that there's so many different sizes, though it seems the "BB" size seems to be slightly smaller than the EMG TB pickups (and presumably Gibson stock). I'm also probably going to stay with passive tone.

 

[MCF]

So I googled 8/22. No bass players I've heard of; couple of actors/comics; one chef. Apparently, I'm it.

Dude! Maybe not bassists, but you got John Lee Hooker, Dale Hawkins, Ron Dante, Barry Manilow (well....), Debi Peterson, Tori Amos, just to name a few.

 

[PillO]

Mike Watt and I were born on the same day in 1957.
He got all the talent, I got the looks...
...FWIW, I get the looks from a lot of people.

It is easy to get looks from people when you dress like this...

 

[MCF]

I don't feel comfortable removing wood from my Gibson. Complicating things is that there's so many different sizes, though it seems the "BB" size seems to be slightly smaller than the EMG TB pickups (and presumably Gibson stock). I'm also probably going to stay with passive tone.

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to route one of my Gibsons. But standard Epi bolt-ons are great mod platforms. Route away!

 

[MCF]

Mike Watt and I were born on the same day in 1957.
He got all the talent, I got the looks...
...FWIW, I get the looks from a lot of people.

For some that is a sacred day. Watt is The Man!

 

[GonePlaid]

Dude! Maybe not bassists, but you got John Lee Hooker, Dale Hawkins, Ron Dante, Barry Manilow (well....), Debi Peterson, Tori Amos, just to name a few.

Cool! (I only googled bassists.)

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Dude! Maybe not bassists, but you got John Lee Hooker, Dale Hawkins, Ron Dante, Barry Manilow (well....), Debi Peterson, Tori Amos, just to name a few.

you had me at Barry Manilow..

 

[TBird1958]

Don't ask me for any authentication here...........But, this was in my FB Feed.

 

[BklynKen]

Don't ask me for any authentication here...........But, this was in my FB Feed.

View attachment 4099194

Hipshot bridges. Hmmm.....

 

[KaraQ]

Don't ask me for any authentication here...........But, this was in my FB Feed.

View attachment 4099194

Oh.
Mygod.



I NEED that red? T-bird....




(...or a paint job like it....)

 

[TBird1958]

Oh.
Mygod.



I NEED that red? T-bird....




(...or a paint job like it....)

"need" is a funny and often dangerous word.

 

[KaraQ]

"need" is a funny and often dangerous word.

It is!

I'm going to go with....I was using it in the way the milennials do?
"I won't die without it, but I'd feel somewhat sad"

At least, as far as I can tell, that's what they really mean....

 

[PillO]

Don't ask me for any authentication here...........But, this was in my FB Feed.

View attachment 4099194

I would totally rock one of those!

 

[jd56hawk]

If only Epiphone would come out with that top one...black with red binding and the red mirror pickguard looks great!

 

[Engle]

Don't ask me for any authentication here...........But, this was in my FB Feed.

View attachment 4099194

I don’t recall Gene playing Thunderbirds, but it’s not like he stuck to any particular bass.
Yeah the red one!