Thunderbird Club

[Engle]

Yes and he is VERY aware of how great they are.



Yes sir!



That is about right for me.

I’m here with my VP:

 

[Funk With Me]

Absolutely true in that DLR was a showman throughout his career but Eddie definitely was too with his scissor kicks and rock star poses when he ripped his solos.

The thing is Eddie wasn’t doing that stuff before Dave came along.

Yeah, it was a 'click-bait' title. Any of these music biographies (except Neil Peart's) are factually suspect. But it had the ring of truth to it; EVH - virtuoso, difficult, AVH - hothead, MA - along for the ride, DLR - driving the business (backed by dad's money).

Whoever it was wrote that bio was clearly “not there” at the time. Among other mischaracterizations the dad’s money thing is often repeated hogwash. Dave had a cheesy PA. The band, with money they made playing, upgraded the speakers themselves. They made some light bars that Mike worked with footswitches. They worked their way up, every step of the way.

looking at it that way makes perfect sense….my brother in law is from Pasadena and saw them at a few backyard parties in the 70’s and was saying it was REALLY entertaining in every sense lol..

A friend and I once drove around an entire mountain range (The San Gabriels) looking for a rumored party. At each stop along the way we ran into others (including Mike’s brother Bob) and someone would say it was at such and such, drive some more, repeat… until we had gone all the way around. Never did find it.

 

[KaraQ]

Yep, that’s about where mine hangs. Just feels good there.

That's why I've moved (most of) my rear strap buttons to where Nikki's is, thats much easier than trying to find good straps that are long enough

 

[tomZbass]

I dig the bass, I'll bring the list forward in the morning

Thank you!

 

[Gaolee]

I'm ok with it, let's see what the guys say. regardless you're always welcome here.

Of course he should be a member!

 

[GBassNorth]

Thank you!

TomZ - welcome aboard brother!
There’s a few of us in the club here that rock both Tbirds and SG/EB basses. You should join the SG/EB club as well.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/sg-eb-bass-club.1118100/
It’s not as active as this one but there’s always some interesting SG stuff going on in it.
BTW - I still want to hear more about that black ice mod.

 

[GBassNorth]

I’m here with my VP:
View attachment 4443156

Looks like you shoot from the hip. I thought about trying that more often, it feels comfortable every time I’ve done it but for some reason, if I don’t think about it, my bass just gravitates back to front and center.

That's why I've moved (most of) my rear strap buttons to where Nikki's is, thats much easier than trying to find good straps that are long enough

I’ve struggled to find extra long straps. Most f mine are Levy brand leather and fully maxed out are just a couple of inches shorter than I’d really like. Moving the strap button makes a lot of sense, can’t believe I hadn’t tried that yet. Thx for bringing it to my attention, I might just make that the sweet spot on my Bling Bird build.

 

[KaraQ]

......
I’ve struggled to find extra long straps. Most f mine are Levy brand leather and fully maxed out are just a couple of inches shorter than I’d really like. Moving the strap button makes a lot of sense, can’t believe I hadn’t tried that yet. Thx for bringing it to my attention, I might just make that the sweet spot on my Bling Bird build.

One thing about that pic that's interesting to me, is where he has the front strap button....

 

[GBassNorth]

One thing about that pic that's interesting to me, is where he has the front strap button....

About half my basses have the neck pin on the upper horn. All of them have the bridge pin centered on the body vs 4” up like Nikki has.

The Bling Bird is still under construction and the strap pins will be about the last thing I do, so I’ll have a bit of freedom on where I put them to achieve best balance. I might try the Nikki location.

The challenge on the Bling Bird is it’s a semi hollow body, so it’s quite a bit lighter than a typical bird, which means it’ll be a diver if I’m not careful in the build. I already flipped through 3 necks to find an ultralight one that was about an inch shorter than the original neck but still 34” scale. It allowed me to set the bridge back closer to the butt of the bass, that helps. Then I reshaped the headstock to shave a bit more weight off the diving board, that helps, and I obtained Hipshot ultra light tuners vs the standard fender clovers that were on it, that helps a lot. Without any finish or pickups or strings the center of gravity of the bass is right at the center of the neck plate. I plan on installing three pickups and three stacked control pots. That should bump the center of gravity back even further towards the bridge, so I think I have the balance issue licked, we’ll see. If so, that gives me more flexibility on each strap pin location.

 

[KaraQ]

About half my basses have the neck pin on the upper horn. All of them have the bridge pin centered on the body vs 4” up like Nikki has.

View attachment 4443220

The Bling Bird is still under construction and the strap pins will be about the last thing I do, so I’ll have a bit of freedom on where I put them to achieve best balance. I might try the Nikki location.

The challenge on the Bling Bird is it’s a semi hollow body, so it’s quite a bit lighter than a typical bird, which means it’ll be a diver if I’m not careful in the build. I already flipped through 3 necks to find an ultralight one that was about an inch shorter than the original neck but still 34” scale. It allowed me to set the bridge back closer to the butt of the bass, that helps. Then I reshaped the headstock to shave a bit more weight off the diving board, that helps, and I obtained Hipshot ultra light tuners vs the standard fender clovers that were on it, that helps a lot. Without any finish or pickups or strings the center of gravity of the bass is right at the center of the neck plate. I plan on installing three pickups and three stacked control pots. That should bump the center of gravity back even further towards the bridge, so I think I have the balance issue licked, we’ll see. If so, that gives me more flexibility on each strap pin location.

What bridge are you using? If you were to put something like the Babicz FCH-3 on, that'd give you some more weight in the back too

 

[godofthunder59]

That's why I've moved (most of) my rear strap buttons to where Nikki's is, thats much easier than trying to find good straps that are long enough

I have to extend just about every strap I own. I used to work in a furniture shop we had lots of leather scraps lying around I'd just cut something to length and sew it on. Now I take it to the local shoe repair shop and he does it for me.

 

[godofthunder59]

Up date pickup swap. For those of you who may have missed it Mark (our royal highness) and I did a pickup swap. His Epiphone Vintage Pro 760 Probuckers for my 2021 Gibson Nonreverse pickups. While the new Gibson pickups are very good they lack the grit I associate with 60s Thunderbird pickups, that mild inherent distortion I am always going on about. I put one Epi 760 in the neck position of my 2021 Nonreverse and it's a completely different animal! I couldn't be happier, for my style of playing it's a much better match. Very happy we made the trade.
I'll get some sound clips when I can. The next question is what to put the other Epi pickup in.

 

[ThaCoast]

That's why I've moved (most of) my rear strap buttons to where Nikki's is, thats much easier than trying to find good straps that are long enough

I have to extend just about every strap I own. I used to work in a furniture shop we had lots of leather scraps lying around I'd just cut something to length and sew it on. Now I take it to the local shoe repair shop and he does it for me.

This is why i've made my own for a solid decade out of old belts i use to wear, or were given to me by friends/gf who didn't use them. An Easier set & forget when it's custom made & there's only one adjust buckle x)

 

[Larry V]

Sold!

Did you buy it, Mike?

I've read music-regular notation-since I was 8 y/o. I have no effing idea what this means. I know what it is, but WT7?

Music notation for those of us that don't read sheet music.

Each line is your bass strings from E to G. E is the bottom line and G is the top line.

Of course this can be applied to any tuning but for Beds Are Burning it's E standard.

In the first measure the notes would be, (E string Open, 3rd fret, 5th fret, rest) or for musical types like you, (E, G, A, rest).

The thing that tabs doesn't give you is the length of the notes but these tabs are for quickly learning the fretting and you'll need to learn the song's tempo/feel by playing along with a recording or at least that's how I do it.

 

[GonePlaid]

Did you buy it, Mike?



Music notation for those of us that don't read sheet music.

Each line is your bass strings from E to G. E is the bottom line and G is the top line.

Of course this can be applied to any tuning but for Beds Are Burning it's E standard.

In the first measure the notes would be, (E string Open, 3rd fret, 5th fret, rest) or for musical types like you, (E, G, A, rest).

The thing that tabs doesn't give you is the length of the notes but these tabs are for quickly learning the fretting and you'll need to learn the song's tempo/feel by playing along with a recording or at least that's how I do it.

No. By the time I looked it was already gone.
Too confusing to try and pick up at this stage. It obviously has its place-as does "Nashville Notation"-which I read about recently. But not for me.

 

[GBassNorth]

What bridge are you using? If you were to put something like the Babicz FCH-3 on, that'd give you some more weight in the back too

View attachment 4443242

I currently have a two point with hard tail (similar to the VP). It is light compared to the Babicz, so I guess a swap would work if I need to add more weight.

 

[dagrev]

Yes and he is VERY aware of how great they are.
Yes sir!

He clearly isn't well read or he would know of all the inherent problems. Neck dive, one trick pony, uncomfortable to play just for starters. That's enough to turn off anyone with even a modest amount of intelligence.

 

[dagrev]

me? - sorta' mid with neck angle up
View attachment 4443133 View attachment 4443147 View attachment 4443154

This is what works for me as well for all basses. The Goldilocks zone.

 

[dagrev]

Thank you!

Welcome home. Please check your sanity at the door!

 

[dagrev]

Up date pickup swap. For those of you who may have missed it Mark (our royal highness) and I did a pickup swap. His Epiphone Vintage Pro 760 Probuckers for my 2021 Gibson Nonreverse pickups. While the new Gibson pickups are very good they lack the grit I associate with 60s Thunderbird pickups, that mild inherent distortion I am always going on about. I put one Epi 760 in the neck position of my 2021 Nonreverse and it's a completely different animal! I couldn't be happier, for my style of playing it's a much better match. Very happy we made the trade.
I'll get some sound clips when I can. The next question is what to put the other Epi pickup in. View attachment 4443255 View attachment 4443256 View attachment 4443257

Hummmm. A project maybe.