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Thunderbird Club

#18,201
GBassNorth said:
Hey, a nice lookin butt is a nice lookin butt regardless of who it's on! Besides, how can it get any better than wrapped up tightly and topped off with a bow. ;)
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Porsche owners... I ask ya! :roflmao:

JIO said:
I'm going to assume these sorts of conversations don't go on over in the Fender P-bass threads… :rolleyes:
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Can you imagine; bows? Strictly jeans and T shirts over there :roflmao:
 
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#18,202
marko57 said:
In view of our Queen's Royal birthday, I think it's only proper that we offer up a cake befitting the one true Queen!
Happy Birthday Mark! Cheers to many more! Slainte!

P.s. It appears we are now the same age, for about 3 months anyway! :)

View attachment 941778
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Hey!

That's a Mandobird cake (or maybe a Ukubird)! :)
 
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#18,203
marko57 said:
Just curious, what kind of sound do you get with the La Bella black tapes? I put a set of DR Black Beauties on my Alpine white, to complement the black hardware/pups, just wondering
what the LB black tapes would get me sound-wise, do you still get a bright sound Ala round-wounds?
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Tapes are an acquired taste and not for everyone. That said, what you get with DR Black Beauties is a warm nickel round wound tone with substantial but not boomy bottom end, a solid mid range and the harsh edge taken off the highs. I use BBs on all my Stingrays to tame the top end without loosing the bottom end.

The La Bella black tapes are a different beast. They provide more of an upright bass tone (obviously will not duplicate a DB but it's in that direction) but with a very Motown type sound. They are close to a non bright nickle flat but with more thump and more complex bloom. They have zero finger noise on slides and certain brands can be ultra firm for super low and fast action or lower tension for ease of left hand fretting. They won't be as bright sounding as DR Black Beauties but won't be as dark as many flat wounds (exceptions are Chrome flats and Cobalt flats, those are bright flats).

I find String experimentation to be as fun as useful as bass or pickup experimentation. Strings have a huge influence on how the bass plays, how it looks and how it sounds. It's probably the least understood aspect in your bass tone chain and for very little time and dollar investment can transform an undesirable bass into your favorite player. All my Jazz basses get La Bella Black tapes, all my P basses get Chrome flats, all my Stingrays get Black Beauties. I personally would give black tapes a try on a Goth type Bird and if they were too dark and deep I'd step towards the Black Beauties.
 
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#18,204
Count Bassie said:
Ok, since we're all in a party mood (cake even!), Here's the post-pots-shot of my new-to-me-and-now-us -too Blackbird (Epi)...
View attachment 941809

Knurled brass barrel knobs, replete with surface scratches. The kill switch, and the girth of the CTS pots apparently necessitated the close spacing here. We'll see if I need to do something about it, probably not...
View attachment 941810

Ye olde LaBella 760Fls, tuned down to low "D"... a little floppy, but do-able...
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... And one for the Harry Potter fans out there...
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Pardon the edits!

At some point I'm going to do the fingerboard in a matte black finish, lose the Iron Cross theme. Nothing wrong with it, it's just not really my vibe. But I love playing it, esp in the lower tuning. Playing the same tunes on it is much like playing a 32" scale, with an extended range. Like a Kubicki, but without the lever.
Ok, sort of. :D
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Very nice! I agree about the cross inlays. Kinda detracts from the 'blacked out' look. Plus, I think they're a little corny.
 
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#18,206
JIO said:
I'm going to assume these sorts of conversations don't go on over in the Fender P-bass threads… :rolleyes:
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I'm part of that club as well and nope, they don't have many tangent discussions there. Seems like anytime someone in that club mentions a butt it's in reference to anyone stupid enough to play a Gibson.:roflmao:
 
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#18,207
TBird1958 said:
Gentlemen and Ladies thank you very much for the Birthday Wishes. It's a pleasure to be the Queen here, you all make it the nice place that it is.

Here's a little Green on Green that I shot this morning.

Thunderbirds always!

1472917528_zpsmzyvetfg.jpg
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Nice!

And Happy Birthday! Long may you rule.
 
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#18,217
Leiria said:
It looks like Gibson is back to making basses. Nothing on TBirds but heres a thread about the new incredibly generic looking EB

2017 Gibson EB redesign
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How very blah. If they're going to copy Ibanez, I wish they'd copy the old ones that actually looked cool. I liked the Mosrite-looking EB better.

Christine said:
Off topic:

Any vinyl fans in here? I'm talking records not fetish wear!

It's always been my medium of listening to music, I only bought my first CD player about 4 years ago to save changing sides whill cooking or helping the missus with the houswork :woot:
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I like to get records on vinyl. Most recent one was SubRosa's new album.

ctmullins said:
I'm always amused when I see a NBD post in which somebody is gushing over their new...


...Precision.


Really??

I mean, they play fine and they sound fine, but honestly, does it get any more pedestrian than a Precision?
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There's nothing wrong with a P-bass. But I can't see myself gushing over one. Unless maybe it was one of the Big Block P-basses with the big humbucker closer to the bridge than the usual P-bass pickup is.

veebass said:
I am not sure what it is- some pack mentality thing, maybe? People looking for a rise from someone else on the internet to make themselves feel better? Sometimes I wonder whether there is the odd individual that slams anything not Fender (they do it to other brands as well) because they have some connection with the company. Who knows? What is certain is that some of them are not interested in alternate views.
Doesn't worry me as much as it used. I am learning that not all nonsense on the internet requires a response from me.
I have said here before, I have some lovely Fenders and they are fine for what they do, same as Gibsons.
Funnily enough, the talk of perfection of the P and J Basses frequently avoid the topic of fretboard dead spots.
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Ha ha, I know right? A lot of them seem to think that dead spots are just unavoidable and a part of playing bass. But there are no dead spots on either my T-bird or my Rickenbackers.

Toptube said:
Lollars in black chrome. I got them because, based on sound samples available at the time (2 years ago), they seemed like the best copy of the Non-reverse thunderbird sound. I couldn't be happier. the black chrome looks great on my Jaguar:

*the pickup rings and spacer under the bridge ring, I actually bought from thunderbucker ranch ; )
p1013916-jpg.jpg
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By far the coolest Fender bass style. Looks even better with those big chrome humbuckers.
 
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