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Thunderbird Club

#198,706
Count Bassie said:
@GonePlaid That Kasino is a 200? There's one for trade locally. I just don't need another amp...
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Yes. Model 252, which means 2(x)15, 200W(supposedly). I've heard it's not actually 200W, but if I crank it beyond 9[starts at 7]o'clock, things in the house rattle.:cool:
 
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#198,709
Thumper said:
Which is a better deal, an excellent condition (still has plastic on pickguard) CP with a gator case, asking $400

Or a 2010 Epiphone Goth, good to very good condition, OHSC, asking $600.

I see the CP has a 1.73 wide neck, a plus for me as I don't get along with 1.5 necks. I don't know what the width on the Goth neck is.
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my CP was my first firebird bass, and it inspired me to continue my firebird bass journey.

got mine with the hardcase for $200, I have seen them without a case for $750 lately.

with mods I have about $255 into her… $30 is the pickguard.


335186-B7-70-CA-47-E2-8344-95-CE4-F91-F631.jpg
 
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#198,710
GBassNorth said:
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 (not necessarily recorded in this order) 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.
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Finally some sound clips of the Tbird Shootout! (Test details are listed in the post quoted above).

Recall there were six Tbirds in the shootout (two Gibsons, two Epiphones, a Greco and the BlingBird) and a total of three different heats. I’ll wait until tuesday to reveal the actual order they were recorded in each heat, but I will say that I did keep the recording order the same for each heat. So if the Greco was the first bass recorded in the first heat it is also the first bass in the second and third heats, and so on.

Keep in mind that each bass is sporting different strings, and that can also go a long way in how a bass sounds. Finally, don’t forget, this was meant to be a quick and dirty test of the basses, not my playing ability, so please try to overlook the clams and sloppy playing. And as always, better speakers or headphones will make it easier to hear the differences between basses.

On with the shootout…

Heat One - noodeling around on the G and D strings (I forgot to trim the 30 second dead air time before the first bass)


Heat Two - a slow run up the A string with LedZep in mind


Heat Three - a short walk on the A and E strings


Did you have an overall favorite? Or a favorite in each heat? Was there as much difference as you were expecting? Can you spot the Nylon Tape strings or the Cobalt Flats or the Optima Golds?

fingers crossed that the sound files loaded correctly.
 
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#198,712
We had a family get together yesterday to celebrate my Mother's 90th Bday, this is the view from the 41st floor in the building my brother lives at. The left margin faces due west and wraps around to the northeast. The building to the left and just behind the Space Needle is Climate Pledge Arena, I saw many concerts there, Alice Cooper, Led Zep, Tull, Deep Purple, Rush.......

tvjSYMK.jpg
 
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#198,713
Thumper said:
Which is a better deal, an excellent condition (still has plastic on pickguard) CP with a gator case, asking $400

Or a 2010 Epiphone Goth, good to very good condition, OHSC, asking $600.

I see the CP has a 1.73 wide neck, a plus for me as I don't get along with 1.5 necks. I don't know what the width on the Goth neck is.
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The CP had the 1.5 nut. Most Goths are 1.73. There have been reports on here of Goths with a 1.5 nut, but Ive never seen one. That CP sounds like the better deal.
 
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#198,714
GBassNorth said:
I have two Goths. The one made in China has a nut width of 1.50”. The one made in Korea has a nut width of 1.73”. Literally everything about the Korean model is better - the fit, the finish, the hardware, the sound, the tuners, etc. I don’t know if that’s typical of all Korean vs Chinese made Goths but if I ever buy another one it’ll be Korean.
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My Chinese Goth has the 1.73 nut.
 
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#198,715
dagrev said:
Cool amp! I've never played one, or seen one in person for that matter.

The 70s V4-B had a more aggressive sound (just like the recent V4-B reissue), the later series like the BH has a bigger, smoother. I have one of the reissues as well. It's a great head, but it has inherently less heft or bass. But that sucker is really loud. It sounds fantastic cranked and those power tubes start working their magic. But it's so loud you can't do that in normal settings.
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Sounds like it is voiced differently, most of an amp's power goes into the deep frequencies, with less bottom an amp can go a lot louder. I think part of the reason an SVT can go so loud with so much bottom is because of the big output transformers they use and the big power supply section, the power tranny also weighs a ton.
 
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#198,717
Count Bassie said:
Got one, great cab! And I can still get it up and down the rough stone steps to my house ok...

View attachment 4594007
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I bought my first one on ebay and it was fairly close to my house in Mass, I wanted something easier to move than my 810 cabs, turns out it was just as heavy and twice as hard to move until I got used to it, but it's still more of a pain to move :laugh:. It doesn't scare people as much as an SVT bottom, but it sounds very different than a sealed 810. I think they're great cabs for certain types of music, blues, soul, Motown etc. I bought a second one as it was cheap too. Talk about hard to move I also bought a 70's V4-B cab, it's the same size as a 70's SVT cab but twice as deep, I got that cheap too.
 
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#198,719
MCF said:
I had the separate head and cab version. It was freaking loud. And godawful heavy. Nice amp for the money in those days for those of us who couldn’t afford ACCs.
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I got mine in 70 for $397*. IDK what it weighs-I'd hafta load it in the van and take it to a commercial scale and pay to find out. ORRR. I could guess it at ~165 +/-. Hmm. WhutIgonnado?

*still have the bill of sale. Wish I had the one for the TBird.:banghead:
 
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