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Thunderbird Club

#191,001
PhR75 said:
Well, our librarian/tour manager/primus motor will have to start woodshedding his english skills then or I have to do a double duty...:D

I must confess I haven't even heard Grand Funk's version but I will. The idea for that arrangement came from me. I just thought what I could nick from John Martyn.
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And it was a great arrangement. It's hard to take a classic song and tweak it and it come off well, but you certainly did it. I didn't think it sounded like Grand Funk's version as much as it captured the higher energy in their version.
 
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#191,003
PhR75 said:
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.;)

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PhR75 said:
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...
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I think everything you're doing in both those videos is great. Keep it up!
 
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#191,005
JJR58 said:
All of those options are on the list, and as you say Geo, minus P clone. :thumbsup:
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I've not known anyone to have it done, but depending on what's going on with the neck and where, some luthier's can steam them and get them back in shape. I don't know if it lasts or how much it costs. If you love the neck, it may be an option.
 
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#191,007
kitsune said:
Hi guys I am new to this forum, I am a guitarist but switched to Bass recently and got my first one, it's a Tokai Thunderbird Limited Edition (I think from 2009 for the french market)

Not sure what is so special about it but I think it is a basic Tokai TB with better pick-ups.
If anyone know more about it let me know.
I kinda wonder what the Tokai is worth compared to a Gibson or other manufacturers, I kinda guessed it should be a bit better than an Epiphone due to its glued neck and not a bolt-on like on the Epis.

Anyway, I hope it's good enough to get in the club!

View attachment 4493806

For the moment I love the sound of the neck pick-up alone but still need to check other combinations in band conditions.
I also found out it is neck diving hard when standing with a strap, been looking into some workarounds but overall it's not a big deal. I think the sound itself is good enough to get along with it.
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Welcome! Don’t know much about the Tokai Thunderbirds, I don’t think many made it over here. Enjoy!
 
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#191,011
JJR58 said:
All of those options are on the list, and as you say Geo, minus P clone. :thumbsup:
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Over the years I have bought a few AllParts necks and can attest to them being really good quality. If I needed a standard P-neck in maple, w/rosewood or ebony fb (I like ebony boards) I'd hunt down (eBay) the best price and be guaranteed a very nice neck for a decent price.
 
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#191,012
Engle said:
Warmoth long scale bass necks have steel reinforcement bars in them. They are beautiful necks, really solid, but also heavy unless you go for the carbon fibre reinforcement option.
Just something to be aware of.
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Yep - carbon rods instead of steel for a light neck. But, for a 4-string neck if made well with a good double-action truss-rod - you really don't need reinforcements. For 5r's yes.
 
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#191,013
^^^^^^^^^^
Having said that - my '68 Coral Deluxe Bass and two '68 Silvertone Hornets (all Dano made) don't have a tr - instead they have 2 steel beams and yes, the necks are heavy.

upload_2021-12-5_21-46-2.jpeg
upload_2021-12-5_21-36-21.jpeg

Both have "tilt-neck" adjustment (inset metal bolt-stopper) Strap-peg not in original location - it was that way when I got it and it was relocated on the upper horn. Head-stocks are different but the necks are the same.
upload_2021-12-5_21-53-27.jpeg
 
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#191,014
JJR58 said:
All of those options are on the list, and as you say Geo, minus P clone. :thumbsup:
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Just one more data point on the China P clone neck.

A couple of months ago I bought a P clone neck on eBay from China. Supposedly built to Fender spec. It was for my bling bird on a budget build. I received the neck and it was actually pretty good quality on the fit and finish (or so I thought), the truss seemed to work fine and the frets were nicely finished along with a nice rolled edge. Slipped it into the fender spec neck pocket of the bling bird body and it was a tad sloppy but still a very useable fit, certainly within Fender spec. With the neck properly aligned and bolted in place I proceeded to drill pilot holes for the two piece bridge. Then I ran across a used Fender neck that was much more to my liking. So I purchased it and tried it on the bling bird body. It was a much much better fit in the neck pocket.

HOWEVER, much to my surprise, the Fender neck when bolted into the body was almost 1/2” closer to the bridge. As luck would have it, the China Clone turned out to have a longer heel than the Fender neck. So even though they both were the same scale it changed the location of all the pilot holes. On a painted body bass no big deal, but on a stained wood grain featured bass it’s a huge deal. I was planning on doing a blonde transparent stain myself for maybe a couple hundred bucks. Instead I ended up having to take it to Pat Wilkins and going with a much darker tiger eye burst finish for quite a bit more money to help hide the filled holes.

Lesson learned - sometimes saving a dime may cost you a buck.
 
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#191,017
dagrev said:
And it was a great arrangement. It's hard to take a classic song and tweak it and it come off well, but you certainly did it. I didn't think it sounded like Grand Funk's version as much as it captured the higher energy in their version.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, and I didn't think you thought it sounded like GFR either. :D Actually I'm glad nobody have ever accused me of ripping off poor old John Martyn (I've done it before too), that dotted 8 note Echoplex stuff. Sorry John, rest in peace and thanks for the inspiration.
"Live At Leeds" is one of the best live albums of all time. Either The Who's or John Martyn's. ;)
 
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