Thunderbird Club

[Miles_ONeal]

This is the person I used both times. Was easy to work with both times.

https://www.lazrart.com/home.html

Thanks! I've bookmarked it.

 

[GBassNorth]

Great, thanks! I bought the bass in September and I've been gigging* with it the whole fall but it seems I haven't been sweating enough.

*Duo gigs in libraries around my area so hard to break any sweat. And nobody gave us any sweat over the volume either which was kinda surprising.
And whoever says T-birds aren't versatile can eat my socks. I used it even for some slide stuff...View attachment 4492252

…and this, fellow Tbird players, is the proper way to play a thunderbird. Note the face up in lap orientation of the bass, this eliminates the possibility of losing any bridge parts when a string breaks. Also note that this position eliminates neck dive and has the added benefit of keeping the headstock below eye level where it will do much less harm to innocent band members when it decides to eject. Furthermore, the slide technique reduces the number of single distinct notes thereby hiding the muddy nature of the pickups. And finally, because the audience can only see the slim profile of your bass they won’t be able to spot the dozens of blemishes, finish flaws and other quality control issues that plague all thunderbirds.

I get it. Muddy, too long, dives like a duck, the headstock breaks when you look at it, can be used only for rawk, muddy like all Gibsons, and has a bad balance. Did I say muddy? And it dives, really.



Well, I used it for sonic landscaping for a lack of better description. Heavy compression, overdrive and delay-volume pedal swells. Bruce Kaphan of American Music Club was my inspiration for that sound. Not saying I sounded even a tiny bit that majestic but it served the purpose in a song that already had a dropped-D heavy guitar riffing which handled the real bass part at the same time.

[/QUOTE]
I’d love to hear how that song came out! The technique and how you’ve fit it in with the other players in the band sounds really creative and unique.

 

[PhR75]

The Force is strong in this one. The young Jedi learns quick.

I bought my first T-Bird in 2004, a natural '76. Needed some funds and sold it to a friend this fall and bought the Epi VP as a replacement. Do I miss it? Well, I've always wanted a sixties style T-Bird and I was sometimes afraid of getting the '76 to gigs. It lives nearby in a good home so a win-win I think.

 

[JIO]

trippy bass….not a fan of the quirky(?) setup but probably sounds phenomenal….

As you can see at the Winters gig - it (the Reverend Watt sig bass) started out pretty basic. But Watt is a chronic modifier and his vintage Gibson EB "little bass" that was stollen on an Iggy tour had highly modified electronics. The newest version Reverend of the "Watt-Plower" (the one I posted) is closer to that EB as far as a combination of eccentric pu's/electronics. (all passive) I wouldn't consider Watt's bass as a 'refined' tone - but he's very particular as that Reverend bass has gone through a number of modifications since it was released over 5 yrs ago.

 

[PhR75]

I’d love to hear how that song came out! The technique and how you’ve fit it in with the other players in the band sounds really creative and unique.

We "toured" as a duo. The idea of those gigs was that a librarian presented band or artist biographies to the audience and we played music from those artists. We could pick any song we liked or thought we could manage as a duo and make our own arrangements. Good salary, no drunks in the audience (or at stage) and we were home by 9 PM.
The slide bass song is by a band called Kotiteollisuus who play very heavy stuff and we actually uptuned it a notch (the original is in C).

I'm not a slide player by any means so think it really as a sonic landscape or ambience. And of course I had to battle with the neck dive, muddy sound and quality control issues during the playing.

 

[JIO]

We "toured" as a duo. The idea of those gigs was that a librarian presented band or artist biographies to the audience and we played music from those artists. We could pick any song we liked or thought we could manage as a duo and make our own arrangements. Good salary, no drunks in the audience (or at stage) and we were home by 9 PM.
The slide bass song is by a band called Kotiteollisuus who play very heavy stuff and we actually uptuned it a notch (the original is in C).

I'm not a slide player by any means so think it really as a sonic landscape or ambience. And of course I had to battle with the neck dive, muddy sound and quality control issues during the playing.

love it

 

[PhR75]

Another one from that aforementioned "tour". I don't think one should do things like this with the T-Bird either but at least I used a pick...

 

[GBassNorth]

We "toured" as a duo. The idea of those gigs was that a librarian presented band or artist biographies to the audience and we played music from those artists. We could pick any song we liked or thought we could manage as a duo and make our own arrangements. Good salary, no drunks in the audience (or at stage) and we were home by 9 PM.
The slide bass song is by a band called Kotiteollisuus who play very heavy stuff and we actually uptuned it a notch (the original is in C).

I'm not a slide player by any means so think it really as a sonic landscape or ambience. And of course I had to battle with the neck dive, muddy sound and quality control issues during the playing.

Very cool! Very creative and even a unique venue. The slide technique worked really well on that song.

 

[PhR75]

Very cool! Very creative and even a unique venue. The slide technique worked really well on that song.

Thanks! The audience at that gig consisted of two people or actually one since the other worked at that library. They *did* stay 'til the end of the set if I may add...
Luckily our payment wasn't tied to the number of people attending or I'd be still paying my debts...

 

[GBassNorth]

Another one from that aforementioned "tour". I don't think one should do things like this with the T-Bird either but at least I used a pick...

Excellent!
I also took a look at this…

You two sound really good together. Really loved the balance and blend of the instruments and the exceptional expression you each reached on this video especially during the instrumental passage at about the 2:30 mark. Lots of feeling and emotion in that passage (you do realize you’re single handedly destroying the myth that Thunderbirds are muddy one trick ponies). Well played by both of you.

 

[PhR75]

Excellent!
I also took a look at this…

You two sound really good together. Really loved the balance and blend of the instruments and the exceptional expression you each reached on this video especially during the instrumental passage at about the 2:30 mark. Lots of feeling and emotion in that passage (you do realize you’re single handedly destroying the myth that Thunderbirds are muddy one trick ponies). Well played by both of you.

Thanks, I really appreciate that! That song was an encore and when required we played our own stuff (the composer is the singer/guitarist). The passage you pointed out was actually an accident as the singer had a short black out and couldn't remember the lyrics (his own!).

 

[JIO]

Another one from that aforementioned "tour". I don't think one should do things like this with the T-Bird either but at least I used a pick...

Nice playing - always liked that Stones song.

 

[JIO]

Excellent!
I also took a look at this…

You two sound really good together. Really loved the balance and blend of the instruments and the exceptional expression you each reached on this video especially during the instrumental passage at about the 2:30 mark. Lots of feeling and emotion in that passage (you do realize you’re single handedly destroying the myth that Thunderbirds are muddy one trick ponies). Well played by both of you.

Love that good music is happening in a library - and one with a "Prisoner" molded white plastic chair!

 

[GBassNorth]

Thanks, I really appreciate that! That song was an encore and when required we played our own stuff (the composer is the singer/guitarist). The passage you pointed out was actually an accident as the singer had a short black out and couldn't remember the lyrics (his own!).

LOL - your train wrecks sound better than my best work.
Actually, I’ve always considered small personal venues the perfect place for low key instrumental passages in place of driving vocals. That kind of playing typically gets lost in a loud bar or arena setting but works very well in a dinner or café type setting, drop a verse of vocals and put some heart in the remaining instrumental passage.

 

[PhR75]

Stupid question perharps part 2:
Are the pickguards in 60's reverse 'birds and in Bicentennials the same in size?
Vintage Pro uses the same style as the other Epiphone 'birds which seem to be modelled after the modern Gibson version.

 

[KaraQ]

I made a change, a few weeks ago........

 

[JJR58]

VVT. The way God intended. Anything else is just more work.

We don’t need no stinkin tone control.

 

[Bent77]

Thanks @JJR58 for bringing the knobology topic back up. Unfortunately I wasn't able to log in yesterday and missed the conversation

For a 2 pickup set up:
1) How many have used the VVTT arraignment, what's your thoughts?

2) Parallel-series on a T-Bird. Who has tried it?

 

[dagrev]

…and this, fellow Tbird players, is the proper way to play a thunderbird. Note the face up in lap orientation of the bass, this eliminates the possibility of losing any bridge parts when a string breaks. Also note that this position eliminates neck dive and has the added benefit of keeping the headstock below eye level where it will do much less harm to innocent band members when it decides to eject. Furthermore, the slide technique reduces the number of single distinct notes thereby hiding the muddy nature of the pickups. And finally, because the audience can only see the slim profile of your bass they won’t be able to spot the dozens of blemishes, finish flaws and other quality control issues that plague all thunderbirds.

I’d love to hear how that song came out! The technique and how you’ve fit it in with the other players in the band sounds really creative and unique. [/QUOTE]

 

[MCF]

We "toured" as a duo. The idea of those gigs was that a librarian presented band or artist biographies to the audience and we played music from those artists. We could pick any song we liked or thought we could manage as a duo and make our own arrangements. Good salary, no drunks in the audience (or at stage) and we were home by 9 PM.
The slide bass song is by a band called Kotiteollisuus who play very heavy stuff and we actually uptuned it a notch (the original is in C).

I'm not a slide player by any means so think it really as a sonic landscape or ambience. And of course I had to battle with the neck dive, muddy sound and quality control issues during the playing.

Very cool.