hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
I just LOVE this group.... 
These last post are cracking me up!
These last post are cracking me up!
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
- Start date
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- Tags
- club thunderbird
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,211
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Hey, we are on a need to know basis here, and we don't need to... Heck, who am I kidding - We NEED to know all your dirty little secrets...
I confess, I play with electric trains
After digging the Entwistle bass out of the vault and checking on the spare set of strings John left in the case, the answer is yes. He apparently did use Optima strings (most likely among others).
Please pardon me for a couple of hours, now that I have his bass out I'm gonna do some summer maintenance on it and play it for a while.
What scale?I confess, I play with electric trains
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
After digging the Entwistle bass out of the vault and checking on the spare set of strings John left in the case, the answer is yes. He apparently did use Optima strings (most likely among others).
Please pardon me for a couple of hours, now that I have his bass out I'm gonna do some summer maintenance on it and play it for a while.
No picture - No bass....
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
When you are as tall as our Queen, you know it's not short scale.
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,211
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
HO scale, I have about 550 pieces, most are custom painted and weathered, period correct for Utah in the mid '70s like these that have been shot outside on a diorama
Ok, all done playing and cleaning it now. Not a thunderbird or even a Fenderbird, but it's a very rare Rainsong graphite A/E bass custom made for John Entwistle. In talking with Rainsong they estimate they only made 4 or 5 total Acoustic Electric basses, one of them was customized to John's specifications and he took delivery of it in 1997. Here's a pic of him playing it outside the House of Blues in Los Angeles...No picture - No bass....
I bought it from Jimmy Haslip about 10 years ago, he got it from John. Here's some current pics of it (ignore the crazy reflections on the frontal shot)...
The graphite weave is striking...
Of course John had great taste in inlay selections...
It really is a phenominal sounding and playing bass and projects much better than any A/E bass I've heard. I don't currently have a recording of John playing the bass but Dean Felber from Hootie and the Blowfish had one of the very few other Rainsong basses made and used it on an MTV Unplugged video, enjoy...
Some additional background info...
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Ok, all done playing and cleaning it now. Not a thunderbird or even a Fenderbird, but it's a very rare Rainsong graphite A/E bass custom made for John Entwistle. In talking with Rainsong they estimate they only made 4 or 5 total Acoustic Electric basses, one of them was customized to John's specifications and he took delivery of it in 1997. Here's a pic of him playing it outside the House of Blues in Los Angeles...
I bought it from Jimmy Haslip about 10 years ago, he got it from John. Here's some current pics of it (ignore the crazy reflections on the frontal shot)...
The graphite weave is striking...
Of course John had great taste in inlay selections...
It really is a phenominal sounding and playing bass and projects much better than any A/E bass I've heard. I don't currently have a recording of John playing the bass but Dean Felber from Hootie and the Blowfish had one of the very few other Rainsong basses and used it on an MTV Unplugged video, enjoy...
Cool)
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
Ok, all done playing and cleaning it now. Not a thunderbird or even a Fenderbird, but it's a very rare Rainsong graphite A/E bass custom made for John Entwistle. In talking with Rainsong they estimate they only made 4 or 5 total Acoustic Electric basses, one of them was customized to John's specifications and he took delivery of it in 1997. Here's a pic of him playing it outside the House of Blues in Los Angeles...
I bought it from Jimmy Haslip about 10 years ago, he got it from John. Here's some current pics of it (ignore the crazy reflections on the frontal shot)...
The graphite weave is striking...
Of course John had great taste in inlay selections...
It really is a phenominal sounding and playing bass and projects much better than any A/E bass I've heard. I don't currently have a recording of John playing the bass but Dean Felber from Hootie and the Blowfish had one of the very few other Rainsong basses and used it on an MTV Unplugged video, enjoy...
Very nice...
Yesterday I bought a 2 year old Epiphone Thunderbird pro V. I saw it on the weekend. Apparently it had been there almost 2 months. They had sold it originally to a pro who kept it as a back up. It looks like it was barely played. The strings are rather dead - they can't seem to stay in tune. And I think it needs a new battery. I have only been playing a few months, but one of the first things I thought was that I would want a 5 string. At $350 Canadian, it seemed like an opportunity I couldn't pass up.
Two years old? To my knowledge they only made the Pro V from 2009 through 2012, my guess is it's a bit older than that. Should be able to tell from the serial number. At any rate that's a pretty smoking deal on it IMO, I gave quite a bit more than that for mine which is a 2009.
I bought two Epi's recently.
The first was the Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV EBTCAWBH1 4 neck thru with USA pickups. I tried that instore and loved it. Nothing needed to be changed on it.
Bang went the original idea of buying a Gibson. It does everything I want.
A day or two later, a bolt-on sunburst PRO-IV arrived from amazon uk. I bought it in a warehouse deal and ended up buying another new one from them and returning the first sunburst bass in the packaging from the second sunburst, due to horrific body damage. The second one, meanwhile also has very slight scratches on the upper rear of the body, due to staples in the packaging. It doesn't have the sound of the White one and was a pig to set up. After I 'imposed my will on it' it's a lot better than it was. I would go for the neck thru every time and certainly buy from a store.
Its not the size of the train that mattersI confess, I play with electric trains
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,211
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Shocking!!!
In most of my social circles it's easier to fess up about being a drag queen than it is to admit to being a model railroader.
Its not the size of the train that matters
It's the tunnel!
Hello, new here, new to talkbass even. From the UK Wales to be specific. Used to own a 1980ish Tbird but had to sell it about ten years ago and regretted it ever since even though jazz' are my guitar of choice. Eventually the lure just gets you and after some reading and the fact that an Epi Classic pro is so cheap I thought ***, lets give it a go. I'm glad I did, what a beauty and for £379 it's a bargain, would have been pleased if I'd paid double that. The neck is fantastic, the more I play it the better it seems; happy days!
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,211
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Post us a pic if you'd like me to add you to our club - and congratulations on your new Thunderbird
How rude of me, no truth in the rumour I'm an anti social tw.. well maybe a little but I'll try and get off to a good start, first impressions and all that
My jazz stripped down for a headstock repaint and the new epi with my prosthetic finger tip stuck on the end of the stand top
