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Thunderbird Club

#196,924
dagrev said:
I know a good many are animals lovers here and can relate. Treasure them while you can. Sad day here. We lost our roughly 14 yr old rescued Maltipoo early this morning. He had been going down in recent months and needed to be rushed to the animal hospital several times, but always bounced back, kind of. Had to run him across town again about 1AM Sat morning but he eventually succumbed. Just sux. I thought he would live a long time being a little dog and very active and figured my black lab would go first. No more after Grady. Many years of great joy, but the end is just horrible.

Please don't comment. I didn't post for that reason. Non-animal lovers just don't understand. I just know there are a lot of dog and animal lovers who have been down this painful road before, as we have, and can relate.
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I hope this is Ok if not I'll delete it but my 15 year old cat, Gata is probably not long for this world either. She has four or five tumors in her liver but she's eating well and isn't in any pain. She's on some medicine and has been seeing the vet a lot, I don't know if it's cancer they said she's too old for a biopsy. I've had her since she was a little kitty and she's really attached to me. She's an international traveler and is bilingual, she knows her name in two languages :laugh: but I'll really miss her when she's gone, we've been through a lot together.
 
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#196,925
‘39 Magna!!!!:hyper::drool:
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#196,926
Bent77 said:
Is that one you did? Curious how well that finish holds up on the neck
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Yes, I made it to sell and sold it years ago so I can't really say as I didn't play it much. Pat Wilkins did a gloss poly clear-coat over the gilding on the body and neck and I had LaBella white tape-wounds on it so I imagine it would hold up pretty well. A lot of times a person buying a bass like this may be buying it as a collectors item to showcase more than it being a daily player. I did two fully gilded guitars and a bass for one guy who expressly was going to display them, not play them. He sent me glass-front display HSC's to ship them back in. Those were not my basses but they all were set up to play and sounded good. With any gilded/custom bass I create - if they don't sound as good as the look, I don't offer them for sale - full stop. One of my most artistic creations I sold years ago sounded killer, and could also be considered a 'showcase' collectors item. A guy somewhere in Seattle owns it.

This is an example of what I'm talking about, but on a slightly different level. It's a 1970 Czech Jolana Kolorbas that a Czech artist named Elena Konovalova did a beautiful metallic-pen and silver-leaf artwork on. When I got it (from Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation) I had to do some work to restore damaged finish/artwork and set it up correctly, but once I did it's a very nice sounding, very playable and beautiful instrument. So for me - a collectors showcase item but also a playable bass. Once my band starts performing live again (April?) I'll use it at one of our shows.
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#196,928
JIO said:
Yes, I made it to sell and sold it years ago so I can't really say as I didn't play it much. Pat Wilkins did a gloss poly clear-coat over the gilding on the body and neck and I had LaBella white tape-wounds on it so I imagine it would hold up pretty well. A lot of times a person buying a bass like this may be buying it as a collectors item to showcase more than it being a daily player. I did two fully gilded guitars and a bass for one guy who expressly was going to display them, not play them. He sent me glass-front display HSC's to ship them back in. Those were not my basses but they all were set up to play and sounded good. With any gilded/custom bass I create - if they don't sound as good as the look, I don't offer them for sale - full stop. One of my most artistic creations I sold years ago sounded killer, and could also be considered a 'showcase' collectors item. A guy somewhere in Seattle owns it.

This is an example of what I'm talking about, but on a slightly different level. It's a 1970 Czech Jolana Kolorbas that a Czech artist named Elena Konovalova did a beautiful metallic-pen and silver-leaf artwork on. When I got it (from Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation) I had to do some work to restore damaged finish/artwork and set it up correctly, but once I did it's a very nice sounding, very playable and beautiful instrument. So for me - a collectors showcase item but also a playable bass. Once my band starts performing live again (April?) I'll use it at one of our shows.
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That’s stunning, and thank you for sharing
 
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#196,930
GBassNorth said:
Honest enough, gotta admire that. Love my birds as well, along with most of my other basses. The most common feature in all the ones I like best - humbuckers. If you’re a fender guy and love the sound of thunderbirds you need to give one of the Telecaster Modern Player basses or possibly the Fender Starcaster bass a try.
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I always thought the original Starcaster guitar was cool. They had cool ads, too. I’d love to try the bass but have never seen one.
 
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#196,935
Bent77 said:
That’s stunning, and thank you for sharing
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It is, and thanks for your interest! :) The Kolorbas wasn't even that expensive - owning artwork is proportional to what a person is willing to justify its cost. I'm an artist but can't afford to be a "collector" of art. I see all kinds of beautiful art I can't possibly afford, so when I see something like this within my range of acceptance financially - I go for it! I believe in supporting gifted artists and have done so when I can. I also have artwork by artist friends which always takes priority. (I have only so many walls!) I'd seen stock Jolana Kolorbas's and liked them, but when saw this special one - I couldn't resist. In purchasing it (eBay) I developed a dialogue with the seller over the two months it took to arrive and he sent a very nice Christmas/holiday email thanking me for purchasing the bass. It made the whole transaction more human and in turn made the bass even more special. People complain about eBay all the time but if done right it's a way to connect with distant parts of the world in a positive way.
 
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#196,936
Miles_ONeal said:
I always thought the original Starcaster guitar was cool. They had cool ads, too. I’d love to try the bass but have never seen one.
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The Starcaster is truly a wonderful bass. It looks as good as it sounds and is voiced beautifully for Jazz and Swing. It along with my Les Paul Memphis Gold Top bass are my two go to basses for Jazz, Swing and Big Band genres and some Country Western music. The LP is lighter and balances better but the Starcaster really plays and sounds fantastic. The only downsides, it’s a rather heavy 9.5 pounds for a semi hollow short scale bass and doesn’t balance as well on your thigh when sitting. I think they have been discontinued for a number of years now so prices are going up and they’re gettin harder to find.
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#196,937
GBassNorth said:
The Starcaster is truly a wonderful bass. It looks as good as it sounds and is voiced beautifully for Jazz and Swing. It along with my Les Paul Memphis Gold Top bass are my two go to basses for Jazz, Swing and Big Band genres and some Country Western music. The LP is lighter and balances better but the Starcaster really plays and sounds fantastic. The only downsides, it’s a rather heavy 9.5 pounds for a semi hollow short scale bass and doesn’t balance as well on your thigh when sitting. I think they have been discontinued for a number of years now so prices are going up and they’re gettin harder to find.
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I always liked the original CBS Fender Starcasters but have yet to play one. (or these recent RI's) I think every bass-player should own at least one hollow-body bass - such a unique voice.
 
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#196,939
Engle said:
My Ric (copy) requires a light touch. If I dig in too much I can bounce the strings off the bridge PU. I’ve thought about lowering it, but I’m trying to develop a more “Geddy” style right hand technique and the present setup works well as a limiter.
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I struggle with exactly the same problem. I play only with fingers, and I play too hard. My 4003 requiers me to (try to) play light, otherwise a I get that nasty ”string touching the polepiece” sound. I know, I should work on my technique…
 
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