T-Bay

I never had a budget in mind but was minded to do it on a budget. Then I thought about and really wanted that Thunderbird sound, so a set of genuine pick ups was acquired, from then it seemed stupid to put cheap stuff on. I think I am around £230 at the moment and will be £260-280 when finished but that will be with genuine pickups, KiOgon custom loom, hipshot ultralights, decent heavyweight bridge so a decent spec. I barely drink, don’t smoke etc etc so see it as my hobby expenditure and have really loved doing it.

Forgot to say that I noe have a couple of weeks where nothing will happen again but it’s getting close now.

Had a little time yesterday so finished off the control cavity. I also did a little more sanding. I then tried the dye I bought on an offcut. Sadly the colour is awful, on a light wood it works well but is just muddy and horrible on the darker wood. So the quest for a finish continues. I have looked at both oiled and lacquered finishes. The lacquer has won out because I have the option of going for a solid colour at a later date should I decide to. A set of hip shot ultralites are on their way to me. They are 1/2 type, I don’t think they will fit on my Gibson or I would swap them over and use the Gibson ones on this. Build costs are adding up but it’s been a lot of fun so far.

Last minute booking at a place we have played a couple of times before. Due to work and illness in the band we haven’t played together since our last gig at the back end of January. We could only manage half an hour before the gig but all played incredibly well. As the last time we ended up playing half as long again as we planned as we were enjoying ourselves so much. By the end we were just shouting out stuff we hadn’t played by then and going for it which seemed to go down well. And a repeat booking for the summer. We did have one punter make us laugh, their friend is getting married next week so they asked if we could play a Bruno Mars song (really not our style) and was surprised we couldn’t learn it there and then.

Gigged my new (to me) Barefaced Midget and compact last night with my (also new to me) Orange Terror head and got a hell of a lot of compliments. Both guitarists and our drummer commented on how good they sounded. They impressed me most when I was loading in and out tbh!

I suppose the next question then is should people be expected (allowed?) to perform/ work in such a way as to have a significant chance of causing life changing disability. The answer would be no in any industry I know.

There is a duty of care on the employer to protect its employees health. If they have offered hearing protection and he refused it then it’s a different matter.

I remember my first big gig- Iron Maiden, my ears buzzed for days I was 16 at the time. Was I to blame? Can I sue them or the venue? (Doubt it). Suffered from tinnitus ever since, so I can imagine it can start from a single exposure, I (nearly) always wear protection at gigs, playing or listening.

Nothing else sounds or feels like the Thunderbird, for all the slagging off Gibson get, they made that one well. My Orange amp just growls beautifully and the barefaced cabs are amazingly light and perfectly transparent so allow me to get the exact sound I want. My small gig TE head sounds amazing and cost tens of pounds.

We do this all the time, never played live in standard tuning.

Would also love to try if it ever makes it to the midlands.

I have only been nervous once, that was the first time I had friends and family in the audience. Apart from that I am fine. A mate of mine is a truly stunning musician who can play almost anything to some degree and most things to a high standard but almost never plays live due to horrendous nerves. It’s really sad that he suffers so badly.

Look at Dr Pro plugs, they sit mostly in the outer ear with just a small insert into the canal. If that part of the ear was full of wax then your hearing would be gone weeks before. I didn’t find them the best and have now gone for mounded ones but in your situation they would be far better than nothing. Give me a shout if you can’t find them and I will dig up a link.

Pathetic fine and a one year ban so not a lot really. Also the UK is much smaller so many people walk or use public transport. Plus a car can hold five people so plenty of space for drunk punters.

I don’t like the finish generally but would more than happily give that house room. It’s subtle and has been done really well. Some sunburst finishes just look naff but that looks a very quality finish.

I don’t like tobacco sunburst generally and wouldn’t ever choose it, but there are a couple of basses I could forgive it on. Just generally looks dirty. But quilted maple? Especially dyed, it’s gorgeous.

Have you tried adjusting the truss rod? Is the nut loose? May just need to be nipped up and adjusted properly.

Welcome, here is a good place to start, loads of people on here with massive expertise who are happy to help.

Good jazz song

Not convinced on the uniform personally, possibly for some bands but most of the bands I love never had any sort of uniformity and I would have found it a bit strange if they did. As long as one isn’t in a suit and another in shorts and bare chested I think most things go. If you are a specific tribute band then I guess you need ‘the look’ but that is a different issue.

That is beautiful. I presume you do that professionally?

I put small yellow cable ties around lead ends and mike stands etc that could be ‘confused’ by other band members who think the rock wire cables could be their’s and the Aldi special ones could be mine at the end of a gig.

Saw these at Brum O2 on Wednesday as support for Feeder, great live performance