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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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Haji
Supporting Member
Whoever came up with the idea of factory relics is a dang genius and probably got a nice bonus for it.
"Hey, if we let Rick in maintenance swing a sock full of nickels at all those factory seconds, we can sell them as road worn at first quality prices!"
"Hey, if we let Rick in maintenance swing a sock full of nickels at all those factory seconds, we can sell them as road worn at first quality prices!"
A cool winter project may come of all this... a distressed grille thing is easy enough to build a frame for, got a wood shop I can go use almost any time.
LaBella Tapewound flats this weekend, and proper pix of "The Darkness"! That's the name of my new Bird.
Ive wondered for a while now, how it would look to take a bird blank(before any routing is done. Flip it over so the lower bout is on top. And essentially rout the pups and neck out of what is normally the back of the bass.
Has anyone done this before?? I can't be the first! My Google Fu has not generated even one picture of one...
Then, where would a guy secure an unrouted blank?
Has anyone done this before?? I can't be the first! My Google Fu has not generated even one picture of one...
Then, where would a guy secure an unrouted blank?
Does Warmoth do a bird body? If so I bet they'd send you one unfinished, maybe even with the raised center... I'd ask them.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I like it. Life and everything is all about the f-holes. Just saying.
- Jul 1, 2005
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It's definitely been done, I've seen pix and someone will check in with them....
I'm doing it with a modded Explorer type body. I like to have access to all frets., that's why it has the modded lower (formerly upper) horn. Gonna be a Fiver.
Once you figure out exactly what you want, post in Luthiers' Corner. There's probably someone near you who can do it.
@Gaolee - I started out as a 'cellist - f holes and sound post...
It's chambered, not fully hollow.The central string spacing is a little off but I'm scared to monkey with the bridge saddles as I don't know how they connect to the piezo.
It's chambered, not fully hollow.The central string spacing is a little off but I'm scared to monkey with the bridge saddles as I don't know how they connect to the piezo.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I play an upright more than just about anything else, and my only bass guitar was an EB-2 for more than 30 years. Plus, my favorite six string guitbox is an archtop with f-holes. Saying f-holes makes my inner immature little boy giggle, too. Is there any more to say about it?
My son was in the jazz band in middle school and high school, and I noticed that bass players become bass players from two directions. The female bass players generally moved from cello. The male bass players generally progressed from guitar. That's not a hard and fast rule, but it was consistent enough to be a recognizable pattern. Way back in the 1970s, I moved from piano to guitar to bass, so I conform to the pattern. As a former cellist, you do as well unless you got to cello from guitar or something, even though you are in a completely different hemisphere. It's one of those great mysteries.
Another pattern I have noticed over the years is that bass guitar players divide into those who gravitate back to six string guitars and those who gravitate eventually to playing double bass. It's less consistent, and I play both six string and DB, so there's an immediate exception to the rule. But it is notable.
- Jul 1, 2005
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- 21,932
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- CataldoBasses: Designer/Builder ThunderBuckerPickups:Consultant
The piezos are part of the saddles. There's a tiny wire from each piezo that goes thru the body to the pre. It's not that easy to damage them if you're careful.
The piezo bridges on this bass work that way...but the first thing I did when I got it was install a '64 TBird pup in the sound hole as a completely independent stereo system.
Then I break the mold. As a kid i went Piano > Trumpet > Barritone > Tuba > great big giant break from playing music > Thunderbird.
I went from drums, to nothing (a kind of existential panic/void there), to bass. I'm definitely a rhythmic player, and definitely am very interested in the relationship between melody and harmony.
I don't relate to guitar very much at all, as a player.
I don't relate to guitar very much at all, as a player.
My mother tried to interest me in the piano but I wasn't having any of it. Started cello @ 11, then bass @ 17 (plus a bit of guitar and drums) then gave it all up in my late 30s. Apart from bass I fully intend to go back to cello ... and I'm messing about with an EMS VCS3 synth emulation on my iPad.
I started on bass at 17 too. I'm kind of thinking that perhaps it saved my life. Kinda really did, I felt like living as soon as I started. True story.
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Well, you do play a Thunderbird, so that means being contained isn't a priority. I had a long hiatus when my son was growing up and I was spending all my time making money to pay the bills associated with raising a kid, paying the mortgage, etc. There's probably a lot of us like that, and it makes it somehow sweeter to be able to play now.
My brother (Marial around here) has gone off on the synth tangent. He's a 7ender Jazz guy, and I just can't seem to get him to come over to the side of truth, light, and angry pianos.
I went trombone -> bass -> bass viol. Learning double bass definitely helped by left hand technique a lot. Even though it's not necessary, I still use it on electric.
I play guitar a bit, too, but it's kinda boring after a while for me.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I play the big fat violin completely different from how I play a bass guitar, and that's completely different from how I play a guitar. Left hand and right hand both.
More fun than Sudoku for keeping the little grey cells ticking over as well.
I'm interested in creating a few textures rather than disappearing down a synth rabbithole. The only keyboards I'm really interested in are brought to you by the letter B and the number 3 ... and a forklift.
Well, since I don't use a bow on electric, that rules out using the same right hand technique. My hands aren't particularly big, though, so I actually found that using the bass viol left hand technique on electric helped me massively.
I'm a nuthin'. No ability on anything, did try? (No commitment) to a bass guitar and a guitar as a teenager.
Then last year at 53 decided to have a go at the bass guitar. Still no good, but loving it.
(can't play guitar at all, except the bass strings on a classical guitar, finger bass style.) 
I must confess though that when I see/hear a DB being played - I am transfixed. Rooted to the spot, can't leave except under duress.
And most of the stuff I want to play are oldies with a DB playing a minimalist line. I just love it.
I did want to join the high school band but practice etc was the same time as footy. And the teacher looked ascance at any 'athlete' that had an interest. Regretfully I didn't have the confidence to push the issue.
So, am I fitting the theory?
Then last year at 53 decided to have a go at the bass guitar. Still no good, but loving it.
(can't play guitar at all, except the bass strings on a classical guitar, finger bass style.) I must confess though that when I see/hear a DB being played - I am transfixed. Rooted to the spot, can't leave except under duress.
And most of the stuff I want to play are oldies with a DB playing a minimalist line. I just love it.
I did want to join the high school band but practice etc was the same time as footy. And the teacher looked ascance at any 'athlete' that had an interest. Regretfully I didn't have the confidence to push the issue.
So, am I fitting the theory?
