Rayman

Technically….. mine’s a sofa bed.

1670s…. Henry Purcell was really kicking it with his baroque concertos around then.

There we go…. all up to date, including the Thunderbird and all the modifications done to the others. All that’s missing is an incoming set of Newtone strings for the Embassy.

I saw them a handful of years ago, supporting Saxon. I was never into them back in the day, but I tell you what, they were absolutely brilliant live.

I’ll take back a little of what I said, in that I’ve spent all morning on the bass in question and I’m really enjoying it a lot. The pickups are actually really great in terms of tone, very very nice indeed, however ….. the rest, in terms of the presentation of the pickups I stand by. One of the wires had come off when I opened the package, so I had to re-solder it. Not ideal for a brand new pickup, and really, I’d like to see professional packaging…. it looked like a used item from eBay. Nitpicking maybe, and at the end, they sound really good, so in terms of the point of the pickups I’m happy.

I’ve just put a PJ set into a jazz bass. They sound pretty good, very modern and clear, quite high output….. but in terms of the build quality and materials used, I’m not so sure. Some of the work looks a bit scruffy underneath, and the wiring is really fragile. At the price point (these are not cheap), I’d like to see cloth covered wires, and tidier workmanship….. and some nice professional packaging on delivery. I saw none of those things. All that said, they sound decent, and I know very little about building pickups.

Some years ago I saw Andrew Levy with Brand New Heavies. He was using some kind of active jazz type of bass for a few songs, but it just wasn't holding up the low end. A few songs in, out came the Precision and boom, there you go, instantly better. Just got me wondering, if something that sounded great in a small room might not always work in the sheds?

Ok, so as a final note.... I've spent the last couple of days with this bass, and it's really grown on me. Very very comfortable to play, one of my more ergonomically comfortable basses. The pickups, yep, they've grown on me too. I really love the bridge pickup on it's own, played over it, the tone is the most Jaco esque I've heard in a while. I've played mostly groovy trip hop and funk type stuff, for which it's really awesome..... no metal at all, but I'm sure it can do that too. The P pup is tight and modern sounding and together they sound.... tight and modern? Not a traditional tone, but they're not meant to be being Neodymium magnets. The bridge pickup is a bit noisy, so at some point I'll try and shield it, but as I've said, the electrics at home don't help, and if you move around the room the buzz comes and goes, so I don't think the bass is the problem, and jazz pups buzz.... so.... Anyway, that's it on that one for now. A nice addition to the collection, and very different to any of the others, so that has to be a good thing.

I haven't got any expensive basses

Do you have a bass that plays and sounds great at home…….but in a live situation just doesn’t cut it? Equally, do you have a bass that sits in the mix perfectly live….. but at home it’s just kind of meh?

Kinal MK5, Overwater Progress 5, ‘78 Precision, MIJ Marcus Miller Jazz, Lakland DJ5, Lakland JO4, Warwick $$, Shuker 5, countless Stingrays, countless Fender Precisions, Gretch Thunderjet, ESP Horizon 5 ……. on and on and on….

Well as the king of letting many basses go over the years and regretting most of them… All I can tell you is that Bongo is absolutely stunning and in my opinion you did good.

Neck dive sorted. With a strap button on the neck heel and a wide leather strap (thanks to @Mudpup). Awesome.

Absolutely wicked Jaco tone from the solo’d bridge pup, probably not the first thing that springs to mind when you see this bass…. Nice modern tone from the P bass pup, and similarly a modern clean tone from both together, although the bridge pickup is pretty noisy, but that could be down to the dodgy electrics in my old flat. It seems to be a thing here for some of my basses. These pickups were not cheap. It was a gamble, because I’d never heard of them, and honestly, looking at how they’re put together, the jury’s out on if they’re worth it….. the wire is very thin and fragile, one of the covers cracked very easily while fitting them and turning them over reveals hand cut circuit board as the base. I dunno…. I’m going to rehearse the bass and see how she goes. It’s certainly been a learning curve, but there’s no danger of this bass taking over the number one slot in my collection at this point.

🤘🏻

Oh **** I hate that too….. Pulls classic car into garage: ”Ooh she’s thirsty”

I have such a massive aversion to naming inanimate objects…. like cars and guitars. They’re just things…. not family members. But each to their own.

Indeed ….. very cool looking too, and sounding fabulous of course. Yep, you can play any genre on any bass. If the instrument fits you, then play whatever the heck you want on it, it’s just a bass, that’s all.

I think the assumption is, that a Thunderbird = ROCK !! But I’m finding mine to be perfect for funk, jazz, dub, hip hop and indie…. I absolutely love the tones. It’s more versatile than you think, if you move your fingering positions around and play with the controls. The only real downside is the ergonomics in terms of the neck dive, and you can’t get away from the stretch to the nut, unless you sling it low and hold the neck up. I honestly didn’t want to like it as much as I do, it was just a project, but it sounds SO good.

By the way…. I did email Entwistle pickups for help/advice on the previous pickups that I’ve just removed, as I was struggling to get the sound I wanted. They didn’t reply. FYI.

Update: I’ve had nightmares with this thing…. it wasn’t right as it was…. So much tinkering later…… I wanted black hardware, just because it looks more metal to me, and I wanted red pickups, like the ESP Frank Bello used to have…. So…. Herrick pickups fitted…. When they arrived one of the pickup wires had come off, so, out came the soldering iron, no big deal….. although I want to say they don’t appear to be amazing quality , they do sound good on first listen. I’m going to live with it for a bit and see if we bond. Still annoyed by the terrible Wilkinson tuners…. they will go when I find decent replacements, but for now I’ve spent WAY too much time and money on this bugger. All my other builds have been pretty straightforward, but this thing has put up a fight throughout.