Thunderbird Club

[devnulljp]

Mine came with all black hardware and swapped it for chrome. Congrats and good luck!

View attachment 4585736

I like that. So what is that, Babicz bridge and what are the pickups? Lulls? Thunderbuckers? (I've been doing my homework).
Any real advantage of the Babicz over Hipshot? (Hipshot is cheaper and easier to find in Canada, haven't found a source for Babicz up here).
What did you replace the tuners with? Did they drop in or did you need to ream the holes?

 

[dagrev]

How long does it take for those EBCFs to settle in?
Mine had a wicked case of sticky string when i first got them. Finally slid some heavy paper over the fingerboard and let loose on the 00 steel wool
They still have a brite bite to the tone though

I've not been able to keep them on anything long enough. I'm one of the few special people here who can't get along with them. After few minutes of playing my fingertips begin to get sore and hurt. It's not from the texture, but the plutonium 238 that's in the cobalt. They are bright for a "flat." You might need lard. Another option would be GHS Pressurewounds. Pretty similar in sound. Likely as close as anything I can think of. Less upper clanky tones, but great mids (alloy52) and lows. Possibly the best all-purpose string IMO.

There's a special club for the special people. The princess fingers club.

 

[Bent77]

I've not been able to keep them on anything long enough. I'm one of the few special people here who can't get along with them. After few minutes of playing my fingertips begin to get sore and hurt. It's not from the texture, but the plutonium 238 that's in the cobalt. They are bright for a "flat." You might need lard. Another option would be GHS Pressurewounds. Pretty similar in sound. Likely as close as anything I can think of. Less upper clanky tones, but great mids (alloy52) and lows. Possibly the best all-purpose string IMO.

There's a special club for the special people. The princess fingers club.
View attachment 4586491

I deny your reality and substitute my own. I almost never use finger on the bass anymore. Maybe for mowtown

 

[Bent77]

I've not been able to keep them on anything long enough. I'm one of the few special people here who can't get along with them. After few minutes of playing my fingertips begin to get sore and hurt. It's not from the texture, but the plutonium 238 that's in the cobalt. They are bright for a "flat." You might need lard. Another option would be GHS Pressurewounds. Pretty similar in sound. Likely as close as anything I can think of. Less upper clanky tones, but great mids (alloy52) and lows. Possibly the best all-purpose string IMO.

There's a special club for the special people. The princess fingers club.
View attachment 4586491

oh, and clang



I did have a set of those pressure wounds before. I liked them, not sure why I've never bought another set, other than not really a GHS fan

 

[JIO]

I've not been able to keep them on anything long enough. I'm one of the few special people here who can't get along with them. After few minutes of playing my fingertips begin to get sore and hurt. It's not from the texture, but the plutonium 238 that's in the cobalt. They are bright for a "flat." You might need lard. Another option would be GHS Pressurewounds. Pretty similar in sound. Likely as close as anything I can think of. Less upper clanky tones, but great mids (alloy52) and lows. Possibly the best all-purpose string IMO.

There's a special club for the special people. The princess fingers club.
View attachment 4586491

I like those strings also - I read somewhere that Dave Pomeroy (long list of accomplishments bass related and a major collector) prefers them on his basses.

 

[Klondike]

I like that. So what is that, Babicz bridge and what are the pickups? Lulls? Thunderbuckers? (I've been doing my homework).
Any real advantage of the Babicz over Hipshot? (Hipshot is cheaper and easier to find in Canada, haven't found a source for Babicz up here).
What did you replace the tuners with? Did they drop in or did you need to ream the holes?

try www.solomusicgear.com they are in Ontario and have the three point Babicz at $219 C. I've ordered from there and had nothing short of good experiences. no affiliation

Hi guys!

 

[Bent77]

try www.solomusicgear.com they are in Ontario and have the three point Babicz at $219 C. I've ordered from there and had nothing short of good experiences. no affiliation

Hi guys!

Hey, how ya been?

 

[PillO]

Thank you. I think I needed a hit of funk this evening.

 

[RedVee]

View attachment 4585475 Meditation.

You look well set.

 

[PillO]

How long does it take for those EBCFs to settle in?
Mine had a wicked case of sticky string when i first got them. Finally slid some heavy paper over the fingerboard and let loose on the 00 steel wool
They still have a brite bite to the tone though

It isn't how long until they settle in, it is how long until you join the princess fingers club...

 

[PillO]

oh, and clang



I did have a set of those pressure wounds before. I liked them, not sure why I've never bought another set, other than not really a GHS fan

Perhaps try DR FatBeams. Pressure wound steel.

 

[Bent77]

Perhaps try DR FatBeams. Pressure wound steel.

I don't really buy a lot of strings, other than when i get a new bass. I guess since I just went from 6.5 to 7, I should do that. But I have 9 sets in the draw. Oh, Conundrum!

 

[Nocturnal]

try www.solomusicgear.com they are in Ontario and have the three point Babicz at $219 C. I've ordered from there and had nothing short of good experiences. no affiliation

Hi guys!

Howdy stranger!!

 

[bobyoung53]

That’s actually a very good point and something I briefly thought about doing.

Different string types make a huge difference in the sound of any given bass. I actually considered (for a very short time) buying six sets of a middle of the road plain Jane string (D’Addario XL nickel rounds come to mind). But figured I’d likely have to go thru a full set up on some of the basses, adjusting relief and action and intonation, etc. Big PITA.

With the exception of the BlingBird, I’ve played these basses enough that I kinda know each if their strengths and shortcomings and can pretty well predict how they’ll respond to different strings.

At this point I think it would be safe to assume that if all the basses had XL nickel rounds the Greco would still hold top dog position, the next two (Goth and BlingBird) could possibly flip positions (EBCF really bring the Goth to life, take those away and it would most likely drop in rank). The 2015 was born to have tapes on it, take those away and it definitely drops. The bottom two (2013, VP) could flip, the VP is very string sensitive and sounded phenomenal with EBCF but horrible with DR Silver Stars, the Fender strings are the best rounds I’ve found for that bass.

On the other hand, equip each bass with EBCF strings and the Greco would still dominate, the VP might jump up just below or tied with the Goth and possibly bump the Bling to fourth place. The 2015 would suffer immensely and possibly fall to last.

So it’s not just a matter of all the basses having the same string, it’s also a function of which string that is. Of the bunch, the one bass that seems to shine bright regardless if string selection is the Greco. I haven’t found a string yet that doesn’t sound perfect on that bass.

Another test I was seriously considering would have been soundly discounted in most TB discussions but actually makes a lot of sense to me. Basically I would take a bass and run it thru all three heats adjusting pup volumes and tone pots until I found the magic setting that sounded best overall for that bass. Then do that with each of the other basses. Once they’re all set to their best setting compare them all back to back. I’d expect the ranking to be much much harder with a lot of ties. I might still do this once I get the sound file posting figured out.

I've got Rotosound Swing Bass 66's on my 6 basses out here, 3 Fenders, 1 Ric and two Gibsons, they all sound different. I use mainly Ampeg and have been since approx. 1975. I do own a couple of old Fenders and a Marshall but the one thing I have noticed about every bass I've ever owned though is that they always sound better louder . Luckily since apartment buildings out here are made of thick cement they are virtually sound proof and I can play just about as loud as I want without disturbing anyone, even in my own apartment if I have the door closed to my music room. I don't always play loud though of course, I even play unplugged quite a bit, I leave them all out and they beckon to me which is why i leave them out.

Years ago I went through a Rickenbacker phase, owned a bunch of them and bought and sold them, I found they were all a little bit different from each other in both sound and playability. I was trying all different types of strings back then though, flat wounds and rounds, different brands etc. I started out on flatwounds when I was a kid mainly because there weren't any rounds that i knew over (1967) I switched over to Rotos sometimes during the early 70's when they started becoming popular, new basses still shipped with flats at that time though in fact most basses shipped with flats until the end of the 70s. I played them for about 25 years until I started getting dead E strings, then switched around with different rounds, Blue Steel for a long time, then went back to flats and finally settled on La Bella DTB and Fenders occasionally and then used DR sunbeams for some years. I always missed the Rotos though as I loved the way they feel and sound and tried some last year, sounded and played good, the problem is fixed so they're on most of my basses again.

 

[bobyoung53]

Somebody say toobs?(not mine) [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I had a bandmaster head like that years ago, it was the prettiest sounding amp with guitar I've ever heard, would have been perfect with a Ric 12 string.

 

[Count Bassie]

Please respect the Peavey.

Love the Fender as well.

The Peavey is not second best, it is it's own category. It's every bit as badass as the Fender in it's own right.
I want to hear the Peavey through the 810...
I am heartened to hear your protest! A good Peavey amp is a quiet and able Sonic weapon of considerable devastation.

 

[Count Bassie]

try www.solomusicgear.com they are in Ontario and have the three point Babicz at $219 C. I've ordered from there and had nothing short of good experiences. no affiliation

Hi guys!

Hey man!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

How long does it take for those EBCFs to settle in?
Mine had a wicked case of sticky string when i first got them. Finally slid some heavy paper over the fingerboard and let loose on the 00 steel wool
They still have a brite bite to the tone though

Not long. But I already had callouses from sliding around round wounds.

 

[Count Bassie]

You look well set.

Pretty much rigged for bear, lol, yeah. I don't generally go for deluxe, but, well... I'll try and not put an eye out!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I like that. So what is that, Babicz bridge and what are the pickups? Lulls? Thunderbuckers? (I've been doing my homework).
Any real advantage of the Babicz over Hipshot? (Hipshot is cheaper and easier to find in Canada, haven't found a source for Babicz up here).
What did you replace the tuners with? Did they drop in or did you need to ream the holes?

I don’t recall what the plusses of the Babicz are. The Hipshot has the ability to adjust string spacing. And the B has some sharper edges that work great if you like to windmill to splatter blood, per experience of a TC member. I’ve been super happy with Hipshot so haven’t tried Babicz. But lots of people love them.