Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

He was called that among other things! Clinton story. My cousin's husband grew with with him. Lived next door if I recall and went through school together. They stayed in contact over the years. Clinton would call even while president. "Buck" (not his name) a high ranking officer in the service and Bill both had women issues so maybe that was also a bond. Buck said he was the greatest person to be around, everyone's best friend you might say. He would say, "He was a great and fun person to be around, but knowing him there's no way I'd ever vote for him."

Interesting about bicycle racing. I'll have to try to learn more.

NASCAR and many other car racing events are actually very family oriented. (I know there are plenty of Bud Light Bobs as well.) Whole families get involved in the sport on the smaller or regional levels. They build cars at home and going to events is a family thing. Lot's a families in the stands as well also like to travel together to a race and possibly meet their favorite drivers (who tend to be accessible than most large sporting events). It's an interesting sport in that the driver is only one of many components of it all, and he/she has to be a great shape in addition to having skill and nerve to at times drive at 200MPH inches from others and a wall. Temps at times are 130+ in the cars and you are in them about 4hrs. There are now some cooling features, but it's still ungodly hot with a fire suit on and the heat from the car. On Super Speedways the passenger side window is sealed off for more speed greatly limiting air flow. Then there is the building of the cars and engines that teams do. There's something for engineers, fabricators, mechanics, leadership, pit crew (those guys are also real athletes) as well and run out and do their thing inches from other cars coming and going, and transportation as well. Not to mention those who design and apply the "paint" scheme. There are jobs for all kinds of people with very different skills. Most people think of much beyond cars going in circles.

 

[Larry V]

You need not question. Just believe. What do you think I am, the interwebs and this is Facebook or Twitter?

Well, when you consider that it's damn near 3,000 miles to cross the USA, visualizing 2,300 miles of coastline in a lake takes some doing.

 

[Larry V]

So do you like purple?

According to Reverb is Gibson Thunderbird IV 1977 Metallic Purple/ Metallic Blue Tiger Stripe

View attachment 4556162

View attachment 4556163

View attachment 4556164

Not quite a Gibson or Epiphone

View attachment 4556165

Our Queen shall be along shortly to tell you exactly what that bass is as it was hers awhile back.

 

[GBassNorth]

…..Then there's Kentucky Lake the 12th largest man-made lake in the US (2,300 miles of shoreline about half of all of Cal), and Lake Barkley right next to it.

To put that in perspective, if you stayed close to the bank in your boat and stuck to the 5mph no wake rule, it would take you just under one and a half years of nonstop 24/7 boating to make one lap around the lake.

Edit: pay no attention to the obvious error in this post. Kids, this is what happens when you fry perfectly good brain cells at a young age.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

To put that in perspective, if you stayed close to the bank in your boat and stuck to the 5mph no wake rule, it would take you just under one and a half years of nonstop 24/7 boating to make one lap around the lake.

Nah. Only 460 hours. A bit over 19 days. Probably do it that quickly in a canoe or kayak, paddling with a Thunderbird.

 

[GBassNorth]

Nah. Only 460 hours. A bit over 19 days. Probably do it that quickly in a canoe or kayak, paddling with a Thunderbird.

LOL - remind me never to do math in my head again before lunch and while watching TV.
On second thought, my calc might be correct when you consider how many times I’d get lost and turned around in all those thousands of little backwater fingers of the lake.

 

[Gaolee]

No worries, Bill Clinton used to be referred to as "Bubba" and he's a Rhodes scholar! Bicycle racing is like most competitive events - it is inherently dangerous especially considering speed, hard pave and thin lycra. Luckily standards for head protection are much better now, a bicycle helmet has saved my scalp a number of times over the years riding, training and racing. Had a couple concussions, broken collar-bone, cracked ribs, stitches and plenty of 'road-rash'. It's part of the deal if you are a serious advocate of two wheels. (ask Gaolee) The Tour de France can be a bit confusing to a novice but it can be broken down enough to enjoy watching. A lot easier to understand than Cricket! I bet there's short on-line tutorials on how to understand how it all works. For local amateur races - a criterium (less than a mile circuit around-and-around for multiple laps with left and right hand turns - usually flat) is exciting to watch and you can walk the whole course to get different perspectives. They can be held in city squares or industrial parks. Any time I attend one these days my juices start flowing! (I don't race anymore)

Track racing (which I also did) is a very specific arm of racing bicycles. Not all roadies do track, and some track racers only race the track. A whole 'nother kind of adrenaline-fueled excitement - 1 gear, no brakes (except by back-pedaling on the "fixed" gear), really tight proximity, very fast split-second moves and lots of aggression. Needless to say - not for everyone, even for a lot of experienced road racers.

I have a close, personal relationship with the ground. Knowing how to fall has saved my bacon more than once. Plus, I crash well even when it's not graceful. Funny thing about it is that I rarely bang my head falling off. The few times I needed a helmet, I sure was grateful to Arai or Shoei for making good ones. I miss racing. Just not enough to dedicate the time and money to do it. I don't miss falling off on the track and try to avoid it on the street. It does happen, though.

 

[Gaolee]

So do you like purple?

According to Reverb is Gibson Thunderbird IV 1977 Metallic Purple/ Metallic Blue Tiger Stripe

View attachment 4556162

View attachment 4556163

View attachment 4556164

Not quite a Gibson or Epiphone

View attachment 4556165

That tiger stripe 'Bird is very familiar to this club. I like the purple burst guitar. If Gibson made a Thunderbird in that finish, or something close, it would ignite some serious GAS.

 

[TBird1958]

So do you like purple?

According to Reverb is Gibson Thunderbird IV 1977 Metallic Purple/ Metallic Blue Tiger Stripe

View attachment 4556162

View attachment 4556163

View attachment 4556164

Not quite a Gibson or Epiphone

View attachment 4556165

That was my bass, it's '77 Gibson that was custom painted for me by Marty Bell - I sold it to help out a family member.

 

[dagrev]

Well, when you consider that it's damn near 3,000 miles to cross the USA, visualizing 2,300 miles of coastline in a lake takes some doing.

Add to that Lake Cumberland and the Ohio River which runs the length of the state we might (I don't know this) have as much shoreline as CA. (Not the same as coastline I know.)

 

[dagrev]

To put that in perspective, if you stayed close to the bank in your boat and stuck to the 5mph no wake rule, it would take you just under one and a half years of nonstop 24/7 boating to make one lap around the lake.

Edit: pay no attention to the obvious error in this post. Kids, this is what happens when you fry perfectly good brain cells at a young age.

I believe the lake is something like a little over 180 miles long.

 

[GBassNorth]

Add to that Lake Cumberland and the Ohio River which runs the length of the state we might (I don't know this) have as much shoreline as CA. (Not the same as coastline I know.)

Then again, don’t confuse CA coastline with East and Gulf Coast Coastline. Back east and in the Gulf pretty much most of the coastline is beaches with easy access. In CA the coast line is very rugged with probably more than half of it being cliffs with no easy access to what little bit of beach there may be. As access unfriendly as much of the west coast shore line is, it still some of the most beautiful and breathtaking scenery you can imagine. From about Moro Bay all the way to Alaska it’s just nonstop OMG scenery.

 

[Butcherboy]

That was my bass, it's '77 Gibson that was custom painted for me by Marty Bell - I sold it to help out a family member.

….someone is selling this one…?

Gerade bei #eBayKleinanzeigen gefunden. Wie findest du das?
Legendary GIBSON THUNDERBIRD BICENTENNIAL BASS 1976

 

[Miles_ONeal]

LOL - remind me never to do math in my head again before lunch and while watching TV.
On second thought, my calc might be correct when you consider how many times I’d get lost and turned around in all those thousands of little backwater fingers of the lake.

<== Oops! The boat tipped over.
I'm guessing you divided by 5 but forgot to divide by 24?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Then again, don’t confuse CA coastline with East and Gulf Coast Coastline. Back east and in the Gulf pretty much most of the coastline is beaches with easy access. In CA the coast line is very rugged with probably more than half of it being cliffs with no easy access to what little bit of beach there may be. As access unfriendly as much of the west coast shore line is, it still some of the most beautiful and breathtaking scenery you can imagine. From about Moro Bay all the way to Alaska it’s just nonstop OMG scenery.

Growing up on beach movies and movies that featured wealthy homes with nice beach access, it was a shock the time we drove from Monterey to Big Sur. Beautiful, though!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Then again, don’t confuse CA coastline with East and Gulf Coast Coastline. Back east and in the Gulf pretty much most of the coastline is beaches with easy access. In CA the coast line is very rugged with probably more than half of it being cliffs with no easy access to what little bit of beach there may be. As access unfriendly as much of the west coast shore line is, it still some of the most beautiful and breathtaking scenery you can imagine. From about Moro Bay all the way to Alaska it’s just nonstop OMG scenery.

yep, having grown in in FLA it still baffles me after 25 years of being here that developers haven’t ruined this….

 

[GBassNorth]

<== Oops! The boat tipped over.
I'm guessing you divided by 5 but forgot to divide by 24?

LOL - I did it in my head while very distracted. Who knows what number of math errors it took to get my original answer.
And now for the real laugh - in my last two years of High School I was on the math team and took 9th place in the state of California competition. *** happened to my brain since then can easily be explained by a chemist.

 

[GonePlaid]

What you said sounds much better than what the picture looks like. Probably some really good food there, might need to try it next time I’m in SF.

It does bring back some great memories of when I was working in China and the South East Asia region. Many of the restaurants had picture menus. Let’s just say as a westerner it was kinda hard to find an appealing menu picture of a plate of cooked chicken feet or roasted scorpion or suckling pig. But as the saying goes… when in Rome… so I tried just about everything you can imagine and some of it was pretty darn good.
View attachment 4555656
View attachment 4555657 View attachment 4555658

My Dad used to say "When in Rome, light a Roman candle".

 

[GBassNorth]

yep, having grown in in FLA it still baffles me after 25 years of being here that developers haven’t ruined this….
View attachment 4556470View attachment 4556473View attachment 4556471

Just a few minutes north of Morro…

for a sense of scale, you can see a couple of people standing at one of the over looks.

 

[icefly]

Our Queen shall be along shortly to tell you exactly what that bass is as it was hers awhile back.

That tiger stripe 'Bird is very familiar to this club. I like the purple burst guitar. If Gibson made a Thunderbird in that finish, or something close, it would ignite some serious GAS.

That was my bass, it's '77 Gibson that was custom painted for me by Marty Bell - I sold it to help out a family member.

Yeah.
Googled later and saw your pics and nick
To me, your Gibson is hors concours, unrivalled.

I had already looked at him on other occasions; if one day I decide to refinish a bass, I would seriously consider doing this paint scheme, but, nowadays, my first on the wishlist is Metallic Burgundy Mist.