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HengistPod

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Everything posted by HengistPod

  1. No "Smoke On The Water"? Here's a good one ... "Smoke On The Water", but play it properly. Particularly the guitar solo bit. Same goes for Black Night ... not as straightforward as you think once you actually listen to the bass part (and inevitably look at transcriptions and online tabs at Songster etc)... Roger Glover is quite a handy compositor of melodic bass lines! Another good exercise is the bass bit in the middle of "All Right Now", with top notes fretted properly and including bouncing off the A string in between ... quite entertaining on a Thunderbird where access up there isn't all it could be!
  2. Deckils. Emphasis on the first syllable. (As any fule Airfix aficionado from 40 years ago kno.)
  3. Gratuitous bump-support. For anyone thinking about this ... I have one and it's very handy for keeping in the living room for the odd fiddle-about. As stated, they're very compact - smaller than a 6-string, I'd wager - so they don't take up the missus-annoying space that a regular bass does. And they sit on their bum on the floor without a stand, so are even less noticeable round the side of the sofa. Also, you really can get a great sound out of them.
  4. It is a big lump of metal, but surprisingly comfortable. Mostly because the bolt that catches your hand on the 3-point isn't poking up anymore. It also seems to balance the bass a bit better, though neck-dive can be almost completely eliminated via strap-button positioning and strap type anyway. There's similar comfort on the Pro-IV bridge, and it seems to balance better out of the box - it's half a kilo heavier than the Classic Pro, so perhaps the body has a lump of lead hidden in it somewhere. (The Gibson seems somewhere in between, weight-wise)
  5. Just a quick pic. Apologies for slightly crappy phone-pic quality. The bridge on the active Pro-IV is also nice and comfy - and a bit less chunky than the Hipshot ... (L-R) Hipshot on Gibson, standard 3-point on Epi Classic Pro, standard on Epi Pro-IV active.
  6. Thread resurrection to add tuppence worth ... I just replaced the 3-point bridge on my 91 Gibson with a Hipshot Supertone bought from USA. 1. Yes, it does look a bit out of place. It's a fair lump of metal. 2. Installation was easy. Unscrew old, screw in new, throw away front bolt. String heights needed adjusting, as saddles were flat to the bridge (for shipping?). Intonation was only a tiny bit out. 2. It's [i]far[/i] more comfortable on your right hand than the 3-pointer (if you play down by the bridge). There are no spiky or pokey-out bits. It also feels much more substantial, as if it's actually attached to something. Which it is. 3. I had to pay import VAT duty, an extra £18. Which means you'd be as well buying it from one of the few UK suppliers at £99 or so, as this VAT nonsense means no saving by getting it at US price. 4. Sound-wise it doesn't seem much different to my ears. Overall, if you have £100 to spare it seems like a good investment to me.
  7. [quote name='fumps' timestamp='1413881807' post='2582977'] I just think older guys who dress dapper look much cooler than ones who walk into pubs in a Motorhead shirt at 50.....just look a little odd to me.[/quote] Well, I've only got a year and a half to go till I'm 50 (aargh!), and I still wear Motorhead T shirts from 1983. However, I'm not overweight and I have more than my fair share of my own hair which possibly helps. In fact, my gig clothes are generally a pair of black jeans (somewhat tighter than everyday ones) and an old cut-off tour T shirt of some description. Cut off to ventilate the old armpits a bit, y'unnerstand. And white baseball boots (that were white when they were new). I'd much rather be comfortable when playing, whilst going some way towards the appearance of what a rock musician's supposed to look like!
  8. In my experience, you need to just buy things like this when you first see them. Otherwise you go off and debate it in your head for a couple of days, decide it's definitely worth getting - then go back to the shop and it's gone. This is not good for your mental stability. Much better to forget that the roof / boiler / car needs fixing and just part with the cash straight away. Formulation of a plan to get it into the house un-noticed is a secondary consideration.
  9. Surely, given the flawless scientific proof, this must be close to the ultimate bass (why, oh why, is the headstock black?): It seems that customers of "hifisoundconnection" in America may not agree, though: [i]Was: $1297.00[/i] [i]Savings: - $1098.00 (85%)[/i] [i]Your Price: $199.00[/i] I've been thinking of refinishing one of my Thunderbirds. Now that I've been enlightened, I think I may well do it in some kind of Ninja Turtle green, like this American guy's Jackson:
  10. Aye, a right-angle jack helps. I just don't like to have too much nonsense going on that can get in my way. Socket on the side of the body keeps things clean and tidy. Probably it's cheaper to drill a hole in the front of the body whilst cutting the pickup bays, rather than have another router working on the side. Hence, I imagine, similar positioning on the cheap Epiphone T-birds.
  11. That T-bird looks OK from here for the price. Has a battery compartment in a funny place, mind. Also, what a shame they didn't take the opportunity to move the jack socket to the edge of the body rather than the front. I like to tuck my lead in under the strap to help stop it popping out, and if the socket's on the front that means a big loop of lead getting in the way. This is my gripe with the standard Epiphones, too.
  12. My recent purchase of yet another Thunderbird has me sitting at 10 altogether (only 6 T-birds though) now ... 1990 ebony Gibson Thunderbird (gold hardware) 1991 ebony Gibson Thunderbird (black hardware) Epiphone Thunderbird Classic Pro IV (white) Epiphone Thunderbird Pro-IV active (trans black) Epiphone Blackbird (white scratchplate) Tokai TB48 Thunderbird (white) Epiphone Explorer Hohner Jazz Bass Custom 2 x Cort things - 1 active, 1 passive ... not counting a couple of my original cheapo basses from 19-oatcake that are still lurking around.
  13. I met Pete Way at a Quireboys gig in Birmingham back around 1990, he was a splendid chap as expected. Stood and spoke for ages and got the beers in a couple of times. Also chatted to him at the Scottish Rock & Pop Festival in East Kilbride in about 1984 after Waysted's set. Does Nigel Mogg count? He was more interested in my girlfriend. Lemmy bought me a Special Brew in the Bells (next door to the Capitol) in Aberdeen on the Another Perfect Day tour, but that wasn't unusual. He bought beer for anyone who spoke to him! Was on nodding terms with him at the old Marquee eventually too. I spoke to Chris Glen at the Tarlair Festival in Macduff when the Party Boys played there supporting Fish, Magnum and Jethro Tull. He was happy to yak on about MSG, SAHB and so forth. In other Banff-related encounters, I fixed a bad earth on Tracy Lamb out of Girlschool's bass when they played the local club. Their road crew were stuck somewhere in a traffic jam with most of the gear, and I was doing the DJ-ing for the evening. Really nice girls, the lot of them - Kim, Kelly and Denise too. Peter Trewavas was also very pleasant - aside from meeting Marillion after gigs back in the day, I had a good chat with him and Fish in 1983 in a rock club the night before they played Aberdeen on the Script tour. Pete gave me a complimentary ticket for the gig (I already had one, and nobody at school the next day wanted the comp. - I still have it, along with my sacred Script For Scotland T shirt.). Also spoke to Doug Pinnick on the phone from Texas when I worked at the Kerrang! office. Phil Wilding was interviewing him, and let me have a word. Chatted to him at an in-store in Nottingham prior to a Rock City gig too. King's X were all lovely blokes. Back in the day I had email conversations with Nikki Sixx, mostly about his Thunderbird variants (his email sticks in my mind - [email="[email protected]"][email protected][/email] - though that was in about 1995), and I've contacted Floyd London of the Almighty recently to confirm that my Thunderbird was built for him originally. He replied very pleasantly, and even sent me a pic of him playing it in Manchester supporting Alice Cooper! Graeme Murray, as mentioned above, is a chap I've spoken to a few times over the years being from Aberdeen myself. My son is best mates with Pallas's "new" singer's son. Graeme is mostly a lawyer in Torry nowadays. Finally, Phil Lynott told me to "f*ck off" when I asked him for an autograph out the back of the Capitol on (I think) the Renegade tour.
  14. My first bass was a [i]Fodic Jazz Copy [/i]in sunburst, bought for £99 from Bruce Miller's in Aberdeen by my folks for my Xmas in 1980. I'd seen UFO in the October, and decided I wanted to be Pete Way. It took me a couple of months to be able to afford a Marshall 12W, which i still have. I still have the bass too, but it's gone through several colour schemes over the decades. Never gets played anymore, but I know it's still up in the attic (unless the missus binned it, which wouldn't surprise me too much). [i]Aria Pro II XRB [/i]in a lovely metallic blue colour, bought from a shop in Nottingham up the top of the road from Rock City. That got sold in times of need. A [i]Rickenbacker copy [/i]which was my first gigging bass. Bought in a second hand shop in London. No idea what make it was now, but it was OK. A [i]Burns[/i] non-reverse [i]Thunderbird[/i], which was my second. Bought from a magazine ad, with me not knowing there was such a thing as reverse-nonreverse. I assumed it would be the T-bird shape I knew. It wasn't, but hey ho. It was dark green. A [i]Hohner Jack Custom 5-string[/i], dark-stain finish, and a [i]Hohner Jack Custom 4-string [/i]in natural. I still have the latter, but the 5-string was converted to cash at some point. Wish I'd kept it now, actually. I had an [i]acoustic Crafter [/i]bass around the same time, it got sold too. In the attic currently I have an [i]Epi Explorer[/i], a [i]Cort active [/i]thing, a [i]Cort passive [/i]thing, a couple of electric guitars and a couple of acoustics. And probably a bass or two I've forgotten about. My girlfriend of the time bought me my [i]Gibson Thunderbird [/i]for my birthday in 1996. A custom order originally built for Floyd London of the Almighty in 1990, she picked it up 2nd hand in Glasgow for a grand. Ebony fingerboard, gold hardware, gold mirror plate.
  15. I see the 2015 T-bird is retailing at a squid under £1900 on pre-order. Gasp.
  16. Agreed. Leave the white guard. I have white guards on all my Epi Tbirds - white Classic Pro, Blackbird, Pro-IV trans black - and my white Tokai. My Gibson currently has a gold mirror one, which is what it came with. If you do decide to change, make sure you get one the right shape. think the cheapo Epis, Blackbirds and and Pro-IVs have a different shape to Gibson/Classic Pro. Would have to check, though. I'm currently varying between the Classic Pro and the Blackbird. It has to be said the latter is a LOT lighter, though, whilst still barking acceptably. As for neck dive - it's undeniable. Even with the strap button behind the heel it's still there. A lot, however, depends on what strap you use. You need one that's going to give a bit of friction on your shoulder. Slidy strap = neck dive. I have a nice wide leather strap (like 4" or so) with some kind of dense foam padding that has seen severe sweat-soaking over the years. It sticks to my shoulder like glue now - so no neck dive!
  17. I had a girlfriend of similar quality once. She bought me a 1990 Gibson Custom Shop Thunderbird for my birthday. Jet black, ebony fingerboard, gold hardware. One previous owner, Floyd London of The Almighty. Those of you who kept your old "Bassist" magazines, it's featured in the "My Bass Is A ..." bit of the September 1996 issue (ZZ Top cover).
  18. Interesting that they've finally gone for the bridge change. I'll be looking forward to opinions on how this works out ... never had a huge problem with the 3-pointers, though. (Except all the bits fall out when you have all the strings off at the same time and then you've no idea which one goes back where, and so you end up having to do all your intonation again once you've found all the saddles under the sofa or wherever they went ...). Those pickups look horrendous on a T-Bird, though (IMO ). I wouldn't buy one for that reason. I don't care if it sounds fantastic - if it looks stupid you've lost before you play a note. Wonder if Epiphone are planning any T-bird updates of any kind?
  19. Just what I need myself, but three times too expensive for my poor pub-band pocket. Have a bump anyway. Angus
  20. Hey guys, Thought this was an appropriate place to post this, though I've not been a member up til now! My Thunderbird, although dearly loved, is starting to annoy me. It was a present from an ex-girlfriend, and now it just brings back too many memories. The lady in question was very dear to me, but recent events are such that I don't need or want reminders of her around me anymore. What I'm looking for is a straight swap for another Gibson Thunderbird of similar age and condition. Colour doesn't matter. I have a brown pink-lined hardcase for it, but this doesn't need to be part of the deal. It's a 1990 Custom Shop job, stamped "For Promotional Use" on the back of the headstock. Paintwork is black, all hardware is gold-coloured, and the scratchplate is gold-mirror with no logo. Twin EMGs, I believe. Could tell you the serial number, but can't remember offhand. I'm told it was originally used by Floyd London of the Almighty, but can't confirm that. I've owned it for 15 years or so, during which time it's been gigged hundreds of times with no problems whatsoever. It is showing relevant wear on the body, though - the odd ding, cracked paint and bits where it's worn through to the wood (e.g. right wrist area). Usual slight corrosion on bridge/pots due to much sweatiness. It is, however, fully operational and all works fine. I'd have no hesitation gigging it tomorrow if the chance came up. Not interested in any other type of base, or Epiphone/Tokai T-birds. Don't want to sell, either, cos I want a T-bird in my life still. These are the only pics I have to hand, obviously more are available if need be. The lefty is my son's Tokai ... A long shot, I know ... but hey, might as well try. Pete Way - are you watching? Angus Aberdeenshire
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