The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: ilan on May 26, 2023, 11:48:45 AM
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This time a real bass player (i.e. not Norm) is doing the demo.
https://youtu.be/dMypRTe65nI
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That sounds exceptionally good, at least over YT.
Not listed yet on his website. The EB-0 is already gone -- no surprise there.
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Unbroken headstock, so we will increase those odds by getting it out the case in a narrow storage room and start waving the headstock around near shelves.
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With those flatwounds is is hardly recognizable as a Thunderbird.
I really miss the characteristic low-mid growl that I like in a Thunderbird...
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Sounds like a Thunderbird with flatwounds. Not what you usually expect, but sounds good to me.
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It also sounds/looks like he's palm muting a lot. Unusual to see that with fingerstyle, I think I would find it difficult. Clearly he's a good player.
I also love the middy roar of a bird with roundwounds, but they do sound nice with darker tones like rolling off the tone control.
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Great sound from that T-bird!
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It also sounds/looks like he's palm muting a lot. Unusual to see that with fingerstyle, I think I would find it difficult
He's playing with the thumb and index finger. I like this technique, takes some practice to sound even but it's very effective. You can do pick stuff without sounding thin, you can palm-mute, add ghost notes, sound like slap if you want, skip strings easily.
https://youtu.be/gUXY540adCM
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I often do that to get a pick sound. Thumb and first three fingers , I just thought of it as playing guitar fingerstyle. You can get a nice bit of nail , even if they’re trimmed fairly short.
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I have D'Addario Chromes on my '64 TB II and I sure recognize that sound (and like it). But then Rob - together with Fräulein Rommel - belongs to the diehard "we hate flats" faction. :mrgreen:
This is after all how TBirds sounded when they came out - that and a little flat of course. 8)
(https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/sites/default/files/A%20Bridge%20Too%20Far%20Movie%20Poster.jpg)
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That's Clark! I've built him a pedal, he's a fantastic bass player, he's been over a couple times and tried out my old Tele bass before I sold it thru my big Sunn rigs. Great guy, love seeing him giving the basses a proper play thru at Norm's.
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I think that bird sounds great! I guess I need to try some flats on one of mine.
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He's playing with the thumb and index finger. I like this technique, takes some practice to sound even but it's very effective. You can do pick stuff without sounding thin, you can palm-mute, add ghost notes, sound like slap if you want, skip strings easily.
https://youtu.be/gUXY540adCM
That sounds real nice. More tone than slapped too.
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I have D'Addario Chromes on my '64 TB II and I sure recognize that sound (and like it). But then Rob - together with Fräulein Rommel - belongs to the diehard "we hate flats" faction. :mrgreen:
This is after all how TBirds sounded when they came out - that and a little flat of course. 8)
(https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/sites/default/files/A%20Bridge%20Too%20Far%20Movie%20Poster.jpg)
I utterly detest flats on two fronts -
Tactile, I just hate the way they feel on my fingers, just awful.
Sonically, they suck the life out of a Thunderbird - for me at least.
When I bought my '06 Studio it had flats on it, talk about beating dead meat, that poor bass sounded so bad! I installed a set of SIT Powersteels on it and the TB Plus just came to life!
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There are some flats that can feel a bit gooey, true. Not D'Addario Chromes though.
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There are some flats that can feel a bit gooey, true. Not D'Addario Chromes though.
TIs feel gooey. But I dislike Chromes. Too bright for flats, too high tension. LaBella DTB or Ernie Ball "group" flats are in-between in feel and IMO sound better. To each his own.
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I've never had a problem with flats either, and I've used Chromes and some others, but the Labella 760FL sets are on almost all my basses.
I'm not fond of rounds at all, either their abrasive texture on the fingers or the bright sound.
It's all OK, you get to play what you like. ;D
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"Too bright for flats, too high tension."
Both true.
But they also have the slinkiest feel of all flats I've played (slinkier than Labellas, Pyramids, Rotos or the honey fly trap TIs) and their initial presence subsides eventually and they then keep their sound for a decade or more, not just years. And the high tension makes them excellent practice strings. I have Chromes on - inter alia - my Washburn AB-20. I have way better acoustic basses (strung with Ernie Ball or D'Addario bronze rounds mostly), but no bass gets as much playing time as the AB-20 and the Chromes on it just never age. Noteworthy, their extreme pull is withstood by the AB-20 bridge and top (but has pulled the plastic nut into pieces more than once!), the action of this bass approaching now close to 30 years in my hands remains fine. And if you can play a bass line with a lot of note pulling on my AB-20, I swear you can play it on any long scale bass in this world. It's boot camp for the fingers! :mrgreen:
The AB-20 actually even rests in a stand in our kitchen close to the kitchen table so I can grab a hold of it at whim to run a couple of lines or new ideas. (I do most of my lap top work there unless I'm outside on our porch like I am just now.)