neepheid

Great gig last night with Nine Lives at the Tolbooth in Ellon. It was decently busy, and as a bonus, a couple of the guys from the 'Spoons came down to heckle us also. Always fun to see some familiar faces in the audience. Lots of dancing, a few singalong moments, and a splendid time was had by all. I am also delighted with some new gear which got a first proper run - namely the EHX Battalion preamp and my super sparkly Epiphone Thunderbird, which is an absolute effin' beast. So pleased to be back in Thunderbird land, it's been too long. Gear was the Sire Z7 followed by the Epi T-bird into the usual Markbass tone cubes: Are we still obsessing about footwear? I was wearing these - Vans Calf Hair classic slipons. Is that OK?

Only two threads about the same thing? That's pretty good going, actually

Get poked! Singer tells me how to bass and I'll stick the bass up them sideways. What a cheek!

Mine arrived today, ahead of schedule. Thanks for the heads up, OP

Tonight, for what it's worth (given the geographic distribution of the membership of this forum), Nine Lives playing at the Tolbooth in Ellon. That's a wee town north of Aberdeen, fact fans

There's a pattern here, but I can't quite put my 'F'ing finger on it...

I know, shocking that I sold the Epiphone Explorer, innit?

This thread's gonna get long real quick. The ones with asterisks are current squeezes. Epiphone EB-3 Epiphone EB-0 Epiphone Les Paul Standard bass * Epiphone Embassy Pro Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro Epiphone Jack Casady (gold) Epiphone Jack Casady (blue royale) Epiphone Jack Casady (20th Anniversary) * Custom build Squier Precision bitsa OLP MM3 Takamine acoustic Ibanez AEB-10E acoustic AXL Player Deluxe perspex P Squier Jazz (with Bartolinis) Yamaha BB300 Yamaha BB350F Yamaha BB450 Yamaha BB434 Yamaha BB614 Yamaha SBV500 G&L Tribute L-2000 G&L Tribute L-2500 G&L Tribute SB-2 G&L Tribute M-2000 G&L Tribute LB-100 * G&L El Toro G&L CLF L-1000 * Guild B402-A Sterling SB14 Gibson G-3 Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Gibson IV Gibson Ripper Gibson Victory Artist Gibson RD Artist Gibson Non-reverse Thunderbird Gibson SG-Z Gibson EB (2014) Gibson Midtown Standard Gibson Grabber 3 70s Tribute (returned x2) BC Rich Mockingbird Heritage Classic Fender Cabronita Precision Fender Starcaster Italia Maranello Z Ibanez Talman TMB-100 Reverend Triad * Squier Bronco DeArmond Starfire Danelectro Hodad Tokai Thunderbird Warwick Rockbass Corvette Traben Chaos 4 Sire D5 * Gear4Music Santa Monica (returned) Epiphone Korina Explorer Harley Benton HB-50 (prototype) Soloking MJ1 Classic Yamaha BB1200 * Gear4Music LA Select rat P bass * Sire Z7 * Squier Affinity Jaguar H (charcoal, damaged in transit, returned) Squier Affinity Jaguar H (LPB)* Epiphone Thunderbird '64 * Fazley Hot Rod (the ratlet) (on back order)

Nah, I'm a set and forget merchant. I bought the Z7 because I like how it looks. The last time I changed the settings on the Z7 on the fly I was playing on a boomy stage and had to roll the bass back a bit. And no, I didn't have to stop someone and ask for directions to my bass pot

Yes, it is. And while my brain knows that it's sitting proud of the surface of the body by 4mm or so, my eyes feed back a picture sometimes that looks like it's sunken into the body instead because of an optical illusion, probably based upon the way the light is hitting the edges of the pickguard, or how it's reflected/refracted/whatever.

Yes, I've seen that too at certain angles.

Pickguard arrived yesterday, and here are the final results - I'm done tinkering with this now, it's as perfect as I can be arsed making it!

Yes indeed I imported it - none of the US retailers carrying it would ship internationally so someone in the US I know bought it on my behalf and forwarded it on. It is supposed to be a US dealer exclusive (zzounds, Long & McQuade) but a few have leaked across the pond - Musicstore/DV247 had a few a few weeks ago but they're sold out now (they still have blue sparkle in stock) and Strumenti Musicali in Italy seem to have the purple one in stock right now... https://www.strumentimusicali.net/product_info.php/products_id/190410/epiphone-thunderbird-64-bass-purple-sparkle.html (apologies to your wallet)

A pox on Epiphone for discontinuing the white Vintage Pro! Easily the nicest of the original issue.

Well, I had a wee razz through the amp tonight, and even at levels which won't incur the wrath of neighbours it sounds punchy and solid. Felt like a complete and utter rock god even without an audience, but any T-bird will do that to you I reiterate - NO NECK DIVE (caveat this by saying I use a Neotech Mega strap - but it isn't pulling at the shoulder of my jumper either). It will hold a 40-ish degree angle up from the horizontal, and is quite happy at 20 also, I kid you not. There are a couple of things I might change though. The electronics mostly - I don't like the taper on the pots - it's a bit all or nothing in the final quarter turn. Tone pot does very little also, so I think an experiment with different caps may be in order. Also, I'm not convinced by the stock choice of knobs - there's no context for them to be gold, they're the only gold coloured thing on the entire bass, save for the Epiphone logo on the TRC. I think I'd prefer black and silver top hats instead.

Sorry, not a fan of the slim BB.

Really? That's what caught your eye? Should have gone to Specsavers!

Snagged one! It's a Thunderbird, it does Thunderbird-y things (except neck dive, which is apparently a Thunderbird-y thing). Only had a quick razz in the headphones but it sounds good to me! It's a hard so-and-so to photograph for the camera in my mobile, it only shows the true sparkle when it's pulling focus and I catch it in the act thus: Sod it, have a video. 07_thunderbird 64 purple moving.mp4

Not quite, it's the Harmony pitch shifter, and yes, they are cool little pedals - I laughed my ass off the first time I opened the box! So cute, like doll house furniture or suchlike...

Me too - Brian is on the case making me a clear guard, hopefully will get it this week.

I wouldn't read too much into it - there's always a bias towards the negative in reporting. No-one ever seems to mention the fact that mine arrived pristine and in perfect working order. Did I mention, for balance, that mine arrived in excellent condition, fit and finish? The only "issues" I had were my dislike of the stock knobs and my ham-fisted exploration of the internals pulling the connector off the bass pot - both "me" problems.

Nah mate, post them up here - don't make us do work and stuff.

Sorry for the sidebar, but could you Tamworth boys go and pull UPS's effin' hair for me? Got a bass stuck at UPS Tamworth for the past 3 days...

A wee change of preamp (and removal of old compressor, think it's gone a bit pecuilar - unsurprising considering it's about 40 years old!) Battalion has a built in compressor, and a noise gate too, so some consolidation and an extra feature gained. Lose the headphone out from the Monomyth, but I rarely used it - really needs aux in to be truly useful IMO.

Good old Super 10 to the rescue! It ain't called "magic spray" in my house for nothing...