Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

I love the sleeve of "What Comes After", something ominous in it. Even if it's just a photo of a white line.
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After studying your record collection, I thought it would be fun to post mine. Many are hard to read because they are a bit tattered from being pulled out to play for decades now. Some have a protective sleeve, but most don't. This is most of them, but I have another box of overflow LP's.

 

[JIO]

I don't remember this one but I never owned the album, he was great. I read a biography of him, bad alcoholic.

Yah, and got John Lennon on his binges. They were kicked out of a few clubs in the '80s for being, disorderly...

 

[JIO]

Except when they don't.

Hey, a little superglue and patience and it'll be good as new!

 

[bobyoung53]

Yah, and got John Lennon on his binges. They were kicked out of a few clubs in the '80s for being, disorderly...

I know there's one notorious Smothers Brothers show they got unceremoniously tossed out of for heckling, haha!

Why John Lennon and Harry Nilsson Got Tossed From the Troubadour.


"It wasn't the first time, however, that Lennon raised a ruckus at the Troubadour. A month earlier, Rolling Stone reported that a similarly inebriated Lennon, at the club to see soul singer Ann Peebles, somehow ended up with a sanitary napkin attached to his forehead. "Do you know who I am?" Lennon said, when a waitress questioned why he wasn't leaving a tip on the way out. "Yes," the waitress reportedly shot back. "You're some ******* with a Kotex on your head."

 

[bobyoung53]

Except when they don't.

 

[MCF]

Had some time to kill today (not a big football fan) so I put the BlingBird through its paces back to back with 5 of my other birds on a recorded shoot out. I set each volume knob on each bass at 80% and all tone knobs at 50% before running each bass through three different heats. I kept the on board volume and tone settings unchanged throughout the three heats. However, I did adjust the recording levels so every bass would be roughly the same recorded volume.

The First heat was a bit of G and D string noodeling, highlighting clarity on the top end and uncovering any mid and upper mid register weaknesses, dead spots and unbalanced outputs.

The second heat was a trip up the A string with a simple Led Zeppelin riff, again checking for clarity of notes as well as presence of mids and low mids and pickup and string response to some minor vibrato.

The third heat was a short E and A string bass riff to check note definition and balanced output in the low register as well as highlighting any punch and grind or smooth and creamy nature of the bass.

The results were very interesting and very much a mixed bag, I’m sure different people will have different favorites, but the experience was very enlightening and informative (especially once you get past my playing ability). It’s all on cassette right now, so I’ll need to figure out how to convert it to something I can post here (anyone that’s done this before is welcome to PM me with some helpful advice).

Test notes
Basses and their configurations were:
BlingBird with Three China Buckers and Optima Gold round wound strings
Gibson 2013 Anniversary Bird with stock Tbird pups and Optima Gold round wound strings
Epiphone VP with stock Probuckers and Fender 7150 nickel round wound strings
1990 Greco with stock pups and GHS Boomer nickel round wound strings
Epiphone Goth with stock pups but a .022 tone cap in place of the stock cap and fitted with Cobalt flat strings
Gibson 2015 Tbird with stock DeCola pups and light gauge La Bella Black tape wound strings

All basses used the same cables, recording console tone stacks were set flat, no compression and no pedals of any type. Recording levels were adjusted at the console so each bass had the same recording level, this eliminated clipping and over saturation from the hotter basses (BlingBird, Greco and Goth). I chose not to adjust volume levels at the bass because that can have an impact on the tone of the bass. While sitting on the couch recording a couple of the passages I received some unanticipated K9 assistance, I’m sure you’ll be able to spot the passages. And good bad or indifferent, I chose to only do one take on each recording, no practice runs, that way I couldn’t massage the output of any bass to make it sound better than the others.

(Fingers crossed) Hopefully I’ll be able to post the sound clips in the next couple of days.

About twenty-five years ago (I was using window 98) I started converting all my analog (LPs, cassettes) stuff to digital. Gave up because it all had to be done in real time. There was no way I would ever get it all converted. I used an inexpensive analog to digital converter from my receiver out into my PC and the free audacity program to edit. I have no clue what I did with my converter, but they ought to still be available pretty cheap.

 

[JIO]

Bird craze….
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[GonePlaid]

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Will this bass make me look fat(ter)?

 

[JIO]

Will this bass make me look fat(ter)?

clearly...

 

[5StringBlues]

Might not make you look fatter but you'll definitely be putting on weight

Will this bass make me look fat(ter)?

 

[Nocturnal]

Completed my Thunderbird collection (for now?) with an Orville by Gibson 1994
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Nice collection!!

 

[Gaolee]

Will this bass make me look fat(ter)?

clearly...

Might not make you look fatter but you'll definitely be putting on weight

This whole discussion is way to heavy for me to handle. I would rock that bass, though.

 

[BklynKen]

This whole discussion is way to heavy for me to handle. I would rock that bass, though.

You're being really transparent.

 

[bylar13]

Anyone in Nashville with $6,500 to burn?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[GBassNorth]

Favourite from your live run through?

Excellent and tough question. I ranked each bass from most to least favorite in each heat (allowing for ties if necessary).

According to the total ranking of scores across all three heats my most favorite to least favorite would be:
1) Greco with scores of 1, 1 and 2 for a total of 4 - clearly at the top of every category
2) Goth with scores of 3, 1 and 1 for a total of 5 - darn close to the Greco (the Cobalt flats and cap job really make this bird shine)
3) BlingBird with scores of 2, 3 and 1 for a total of 6 - not shabby at all, a solid performer
4) 2015 with scores of 1, 5 and 1 for a total of 7 - this speaks more to the pros/cons of tape wound strings
5) 2013 with scores of 3, 2 and 3 for a total of 8 - unbalanced output on the A string did this bass in
6) VP with scores of 4, 4 and 1 for a total of 9 - shocked, never noticed any shortcomings until this shootout

The Greco on top doesn’t surprise me at all, it’s just a great sounding bass in every setting. However, the VP on the bottom sure surprised me, it’s a fantastic sounding bass, until you play it back to back with some of the others which just seem to have a bit of something extra (more content, expression or character) in their sound. That said, I’d still take my VP over just about every Jazz or P bass I’ve played.

The 2015 faired better than I thought it would, it tied for first place in two of the three heats, but failed miserably at the vibrato heat. Blame both the wins and losses on the tape wound strings. With different strings I suspect this bass would still place a hair below the Greco/Goth/BlingBird, roughly in the middle of the pack. The 2013 Tbird was also an eye opener, the third heat highlighted a major flaw that I wasn’t aware of, there is a noticeable volume drop between the E and A string. Might be a bad string, might be a set up issue, might be some odd phase cancellation or might just be the nature of the bass. I’ll be looking closer at that one.

 

[dagrev]

Felt like a stab in the heart reading the word “refinished.”

It is written in the holy book of 2 Gibson that, "Thou shall not refinish anything Pelham Blue; such a one shall be cut off from among the sane and considered worse than a Philistine from Jersey. But if thou finds anything in Sunburst it must be refinished immediately before the uncleanness spreads, or it must taken outside the city and burned to atone for the sin of the dirt bag who ruined a piece of wood set apart for the making of music."

 

[dagrev]

Excellent and tough question. I ranked each bass from most to least favorite in each heat (allowing for ties if necessary).

According to the total ranking of scores across all three heats my most favorite to least favorite would be:
1) Greco with scores of 1, 1 and 2 for a total of 4 - clearly at the top of every category
2) Goth with scores of 3, 1 and 1 for a total of 5 - darn close to the Greco (the Cobalt flats really make this bird shine)
3) BlingBird with scores of 2, 3 and 1 for a total of 6 - not shabby at all, a solid performer
4) 2015 with scores of 1, 5 and 1 for a total of 7 - this speaks more to the pros/cons of tape wound strings
5) 2013 with scores of 3, 2 and 3 for a total of 8 - unbalanced output on the A string did this bass in
6) VP with scores of 4, 4 and 1 for a total of 9 - shocked, never noticed any shortcomings until this shootout

The Greco on top doesn’t surprise me at all, it’s just a great sounding bass in every setting. However, the VP on the bottom sure surprised me, it’s a fantastic sounding bass, until you play it back to back with some of the others which just seem to have a bit of something extra (more content, expression or character) in their sound. That said, I’d still take my VP over just about every Jazz or P bass I’ve played.

The 2015 faired better than I thought it would, it tied for first place in two of the three heats, but failed miserably at the vibrato heat. Blame both the wins and losses on the tape wound strings. With different strings I suspect this bass would still place a hair below the Greco/Goth/BlingBird, roughly in the middle of the pack. The 2013 Tbird was also an eye opener, the third heat highlighted a major flaw that I wasn’t aware of, there is a noticeable volume drop between the E and A string. Might be a bad string, might be a set up issue, might be some odd phase cancellation or might just be the nature of the bass. I’ll be looking closer at that one.

Nice. Now rotate the strings and do it again! I'm only half joking. I would be interested in seeing how various string changes affect how you rate each bass, and would help clarify how much of a role strings play on each bass verses the bass itself.

I'm always amazed how on some basses strings make a huge difference and on others less so. Regardless of my favorite strings at any given time, I always like to find what I think is the best match for each bass.

 

[MCF]

Excellent and tough question. I ranked each bass from most to least favorite in each heat (allowing for ties if necessary).

According to the total ranking of scores across all three heats my most favorite to least favorite would be:
1) Greco with scores of 1, 1 and 2 for a total of 4 - clearly at the top of every category
2) Goth with scores of 3, 1 and 1 for a total of 5 - darn close to the Greco (the Cobalt flats and cap job really make this bird shine)
3) BlingBird with scores of 2, 3 and 1 for a total of 6 - not shabby at all, a solid performer
4) 2015 with scores of 1, 5 and 1 for a total of 7 - this speaks more to the pros/cons of tape wound strings
5) 2013 with scores of 3, 2 and 3 for a total of 8 - unbalanced output on the A string did this bass in
6) VP with scores of 4, 4 and 1 for a total of 9 - shocked, never noticed any shortcomings until this shootout

The Greco on top doesn’t surprise me at all, it’s just a great sounding bass in every setting. However, the VP on the bottom sure surprised me, it’s a fantastic sounding bass, until you play it back to back with some of the others which just seem to have a bit of something extra (more content, expression or character) in their sound. That said, I’d still take my VP over just about every Jazz or P bass I’ve played.

The 2015 faired better than I thought it would, it tied for first place in two of the three heats, but failed miserably at the vibrato heat. Blame both the wins and losses on the tape wound strings. With different strings I suspect this bass would still place a hair below the Greco/Goth/BlingBird, roughly in the middle of the pack. The 2013 Tbird was also an eye opener, the third heat highlighted a major flaw that I wasn’t aware of, there is a noticeable volume drop between the E and A string. Might be a bad string, might be a set up issue, might be some odd phase cancellation or might just be the nature of the bass. I’ll be looking closer at that one.

I’ve not noticed a volume drop between any of the strings on the ‘15. I’m running Dunlop stainless steel Superbrights on it and couldn’t be happier.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Excellent and tough question. I ranked each bass from most to least favorite in each heat (allowing for ties if necessary).

According to the total ranking of scores across all three heats my most favorite to least favorite would be:
1) Greco with scores of 1, 1 and 2 for a total of 4 - clearly at the top of every category
2) Goth with scores of 3, 1 and 1 for a total of 5 - darn close to the Greco (the Cobalt flats and cap job really make this bird shine)
3) BlingBird with scores of 2, 3 and 1 for a total of 6 - not shabby at all, a solid performer
4) 2015 with scores of 1, 5 and 1 for a total of 7 - this speaks more to the pros/cons of tape wound strings
5) 2013 with scores of 3, 2 and 3 for a total of 8 - unbalanced output on the A string did this bass in
6) VP with scores of 4, 4 and 1 for a total of 9 - shocked, never noticed any shortcomings until this shootout

The Greco on top doesn’t surprise me at all, it’s just a great sounding bass in every setting. However, the VP on the bottom sure surprised me, it’s a fantastic sounding bass, until you play it back to back with some of the others which just seem to have a bit of something extra (more content, expression or character) in their sound. That said, I’d still take my VP over just about every Jazz or P bass I’ve played.

The 2015 faired better than I thought it would, it tied for first place in two of the three heats, but failed miserably at the vibrato heat. Blame both the wins and losses on the tape wound strings. With different strings I suspect this bass would still place a hair below the Greco/Goth/BlingBird, roughly in the middle of the pack. The 2013 Tbird was also an eye opener, the third heat highlighted a major flaw that I wasn’t aware of, there is a noticeable volume drop between the E and A string. Might be a bad string, might be a set up issue, might be some odd phase cancellation or might just be the nature of the bass. I’ll be looking closer at that one.

every Jazz or P?……hmm…can’t wait to hear them clips…

 

[dagrev]

Entirely unrelated....I was at work and talking with the secretary. She was telling me about a program she watched about a writer (Dorothy Kilgallen) who had been investigating JFKs assassination and who out of the blue "took her life." This was highly unlikely. Anyway, I'm pulling up Youboob and one of the suggestions for me was a 2 hr documentary about.....Dorothy Kilgallen. I have never even searched or looked for anything related to JFK, and don't recall ever hearing of this writer. Big Tech is listening, so if you ever say anything about Thunderbird's neck diving or anything negative about Thunderbirds, there is a record of it somewhere maybe even some whack job's computer or laptop.

I know this kind of thing happens as phones are always listening, same with Alexa, etc. For that reason I refuse to have one in my house. The phone is bad enough.