The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: Barklessdog on July 04, 2008, 04:48:42 AM
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In the latest issue of Bass Player, Shavo talks about his T bird being made of oak, with a 70's T bird body (I though they never changed the body, except for the studio???) and a jazz neck.
He also said he likes to have his strings dipped in gold to soften the tone????
His current job is a rap band, directing music videos and writing film scores.
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Whats he been smok'n ? ;D
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Maybe he replaced the wings with oak? Or maybe he just doesn't know better.
Never heard of dipping strings in gold. Of course I always have my strings dipped in platypus venom to make the tone more aggressive.
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i have read that oak makes a terrible tone wood besides the huge open grain and heavy weight.
I'm sure Uwe will let us know one he receives his Tbird Frigate.
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i have read that oak makes a terrible tone wood besides the huge open grain and heavy weight.
Well if we're judging using THIS guy's tone...
(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/07/25/brianmay_narrowweb__300x399,0.jpg)
...I'd say that Oak does make for some cool tones.
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Are any species of Ash ever refered to as Oak?
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Are any species of Ash ever refered to as Oak?
Not that I've ever heard of.
I've never heard that oak makes a terrible tonewood, just that the weight and the amount of grain-filling compared to the more established guitar woods have kept it from commercial use.
Then again, I wonder who ever came up with the idea that grain ought to be filled and wood ought to have a glossy finish?
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Well if we're judging using THIS guy's tone...
(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/07/25/brianmay_narrowweb__300x399,0.jpg)
...I'd say that Oak does make for some cool tones.
All you need is a decent century-old mantlepiece, and you're in business.
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I am still up in the air on whether I would prefer the new Nikki Sixx bass or the Shavo bass even though I am a fan of SOAD.
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I think the new Sixx model looks killer!! I love the look of the flamed pine wings (Just kidding about it being pine. Don't blast me!!).
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Last I heard, I thought the Shavo was made with ash wings which (unless it is the light variation) is hardly any lighter than oak. What Shavo means with a seventies body is probably one without gut beveling (seventies models didn't have that in contrast to earlier and later models) and with the larger headstock. Anyway, any TBird variation is interesting for me and if it's oak - that most Germanic of woods, jawohl! - then so much the better.
Speaking of the Nikki Sixx signature, here's a pic of it from the fair in Frankfurt earlier this year. The young man beside it is my son Leon, matching red eyes accidental.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/DSC03613.jpg)
It does look good, no comparison to the kind of drab look of the original Blackbirds. Speaking of Nikki Sixx: The new Mötley Crüe album I like. Sixx' bass playing is pretty much mixed into the background of Tommy Lee's drumming (which for all the criticism he receives, I find the most idiosyncratic component of the Crüe sound), but Neil sings in ranges that make sense for him and the songs are catchy. Great production, that CD really roars in my car stereo. First time that I actually find a Crüe album appealing since the one they did without Neil.
Uwe
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Nice pic!
On the right you see that badly damaged LP model I saw one last week in the normal black colour and I like it. It needs normal knobs instead of the wooden ones. but it's bery nice!
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Nice pic!
On the right you see that badly damaged LP model I saw one last week in the normal black colour and I like it. It needs normal knobs instead of the wooden ones. but it's bery nice!
I think the kill switch is a bit much.
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The six bird looks great in that pic. Handsome son too, must take after his mother!!!
;D ;D ;D ;D
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I do have pictures of each that were posted, I just forget who they were posted by.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Dr_Mayhem/GibsonNikkiSixxthunderbird.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Dr_Mayhem/GibsonChavoThunderbird.jpg)
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I do have pictures of each that were posted, I just forget who they were posted by.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Dr_Mayhem/GibsonNikkiSixxthunderbird.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Dr_Mayhem/GibsonChavoThunderbird.jpg)
They came from my visit to Frankfurt. Glad to see that someone saved them.
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I actually saw one of those new Sixx 'birds on the Japanese site "IshiBashi" or something like that......I think it was about $2300CDN/US
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Yo are you Blackbird from the pit ?
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I think the new Sixx model looks killer!! I love the look of the flamed pine wings (Just kidding about it being pine. Don't blast me!!).
A couple of the luthiers I know here in Oz tell me that certain kinds of Pine makes top grade tone wood. Huon and Baltic pines have both been mentioned.
Of course there is always IKEA Pine? :popcorn:
(http://www.zacharyguitars.com/120300_13.JPG)
http://www.zacharyguitars.com/120300pics.htm (http://www.zacharyguitars.com/120300pics.htm)
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Several of the earliest Telecasters were made of pine, but there are a small few grades you can use. The clearest pine planks, if really dry can make an ok guitar/bass body. But it is a very soft wood, so you couldn't be banging beer bottles on it, or bumping into your amp. But as far as oak goes, I can't imagine a dried out and harder white or red oak plank would be too far off mahogany. They made dining room tables out of the stuff. I as always am open to making them out of anything that would be stable - even particle or laminates if they find a nice stable glue with some redeeming musical quality. To some degree, I suspect that may be "green" thinking.
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I guess Poplar or Basswood would be about the same as Baltic or Huon Pine wouldn't it? I mean the use it for floorboards here.
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Yo are you Blackbird from the pit ?
I am.....Mark (tbird1958) pointed me to here just yesterday!
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Yes, she (= Fräulein Rommel) is very good at exerting her corrupting influence.
Willkommen!
Uwe
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Yes, she (= Fräulein Rommel) is very good at exerting her corrupting influence.
Willkommen!
Uwe
Thank you - glad to have found everyone (again) !! :mrgreen:
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Welcome!
The more you think about it I bet it is ash. I can't see Gibson using oak just for him?
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If Shavo wanted an oak wing TBird and Gibson wanted his name to grace a signature model, they would build him one no sweat.
If you read about oak as a potential tone wood, you hear all kinds of things: too heavy, too fissure prone, too narrow a frequency spectrum, "unremarkable" sounding, "too short-fibred for good sustain and resonance","though over-abundant it was never used for instrument building in the Old World so there must be something wrong with it for acoustic instruments at least", "Brian May's guitar is made of oak and sounds fine", "I know someone who built an oak Jazz Bass and it sounds great, kind of like ash", "premium quality drums are built from oak, so it can't be that bad as a tone wood", "requirements for a drum wood and a bass wood are totally different".
Given that we are only talking about the wings of what will still be a maho/walnut neck thru structure, I don't see anything that would rule oak really out should Shavo want it. Weight doesn't seem to concern him much as the enlarged headstock and vintage open tuners of the model I saw evidence. He probably just wants a TBird he can beat the shit out.
The Shavo model I saw was very handicraft/robust looking: The headstock looked plump and rough, the open tuners strangely old-fashioned, the silver-grey fin all streaky and the wood of the wings beneath that streaky fin plain. In contrast, the Nikki Sixx model hanging right beside it was a real eye catcher, but then this is Nikki's/Gibson's second (third, if you count the Epi) attempt at it!
Uwe
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Maybe the Shavo will end up being like the last Nikki Six collectable, as I remember Guitar Center clearing them out for $499 back in the day.
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All I know, is that I sure hope I can grab one of those new Sixx-birds...........it's a shame how Gibson keeps their loyal bassists out in right field......
Given the fact that there looks to be some in Japan...any ETA for North America?
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I'm amazed it takes them so long to get these out. The Nikki Sixx ok - Mötley Crüe have ups and downs in their career (though I think the new album sounds great), but are meanwhile an established household name for driving under the influence, home videos in ill taste and heroin od induced heart stops plus 80ies noisy hair metal, people will always attach something to their name whether the bass is released now or in half a year.
But with System of a Down? Unlike Mötley members, you rarely see them in People magazine and Shavo is not a rock'n'roll outlaw icon like Nikki Sixx. That Shavobird should come out quickly while - given SOAD's uncertain future - the signature aspect still means something.
Uwe
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Another Gibson market failure!
The band is on hiatus for who knows how long, if they ever come back to any success, much like Korn.
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"Yes, she (= Fräulein Rommel) is very good at exerting her corrupting influence.
Willkommen!
Uwe"
Thank You Herr Moderator.......... ;D