retroman

Have you got the "Our God Has Landed" DVD? He's using the Eagle on the vid for "Stained Glass Horizon". There are some pretty good shots of it IIRC, with it being the original promo vid for the song.

Think its mostly down to the fact that it is the old skool germanium transistors that give it that sound. the Sasquatch comes close, as that is a Germanium fuzz also. My Tonebender sounds fat and huge!! You're right about the wiring inside though.............Probably worse than the wiring in a 70's scalextric car!

Was very happy, but decided to use the Ampeg SVT CL at practice the other night, and the old girl seems to be turning her toes up....... Not much volume, and strange occassional popping noises.........

That's about as cheesy as it gets..........

Big +1 Andy, It's great being in a band that helps each other out with loading, set up, and break down. Find my 610 really easy to move about, thanks to the large wheels and sturdy handle. The large wheels are great, as it means that it doesn't snag on small stones, etc, like small wheels would, and they do make it relatively easy to drag up steps............Just to put it into context though, I am used to heavy lifting as part of my job, and the 610 is quite a weighty beast.......But then again, my old rig was a full TE V-Type with the 4X12, and 2X15 cabs, and those had no casters, and really were back breakers! If you're not that strong, or have a bad back, then it might pay to look else where

Rather partial to "AutumnGlo" myself, but my 4001 is "JetGlo". Wouldn't mind another in either "MapleGlo" or "FireGlo"

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1319620177' post='1416369'] Or Monteczuma Brown ... also known as ShitGlo. [/quote] That gave me a good lunchtime chuckle!

Michael Manring comes up with some pretty intersting tones. "Adhan" springs to mind.

Can't help but keep looking at the Mike Lull Thunderbird's at the moment.........

Not really a totally original tone, as he does sound a little bit like Geezer Butler in the early Sabbath days, But Scott Reeder of Kyuss fame. Very under rated player, with a very distinctive tone. Would also put forward Dave Sherman from the days of the mighty Spirit Caravan for the huge wall of woolyness, courtesy of a Gibson EB2. Check out the album "Jug Fulla Sun" for some bowel loosening low end

Saw a Tonebender for sale a while back at a vintage giutar fair.......Was a horrendous amount of money. Don't see them about too much anymore. Think it was the one with the brown/ orange/ white enamelled casing. Mine has the Silver/ blue/ white enamelled casing. Keep mine for home entertainment purposes only now. Closest I have found is the Tortouga Sasquatch, which is a bit more versatile, but not quite as wolly as ye olde Tonebender

Last time my early Tonebender packed up, it was down to a dry joint on one of the battery wires. Fantastic vintage fuzz pedal

LOL!! Great (or insane) minds think alike........The Marshall VBA gets a hell of a lot dirtier than the SVT CL............Hmmmmmm......and I have a few old skool germanium fuzz pedals to throw in that mix as well (Appoliges for going off topic)

[quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1319473953' post='1414587'] if im honest im actually thinking of adding another 610 to my collection at some point! [/quote] +1!! Been contemplating this as well......Got two heads that will drive either 4 or 2 ohms.........hmmmmmm

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1319472771' post='1414561'] Not to mention another user (sorry to drag you into this retroman) has has similar experiences. [/quote] Not a problem I still maintain that if you can find a good one, you've got a great bass. I would hate to think of someone else going through the same upset as I did, so my main advice is make sure you try, and check it over carefully before handing over any sheckles. Funny enough, out of the basses I own, it was the '76 Bicentennial that I used for a recent recording session in the studio. Had the Alembic along as back up, and that got used for an overdub of about eight bars, where I wanted some low A action. Got a rough mix of the recordings from the engineer, and the '76 sounds amazing. Really glad I used it

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1319437569' post='1413960'] Never quoted myself before but seem to have been ignored here I use 50, 75, 75 110 gauge strings in standard tuning and when I used a 5 string would use a 135 as a B [/quote] Not ignored, did give your comment some thought actually Had Roto flats on a couple of mine in the past, and used them for drop D tuning. Very high tension strings, that did require a good deal of tweaking on the truss rod. Should imagine that they can handle some drop tuning quite well actually. Loved the initial sound of them, when they were still quite bright out the packet,, and especially liked the feel of them, and the reduced string noise, but settled to that warm flat wound sound very quickly, but I prefer bright sounding strings, so went back to rounds. Often considered half rounds actually.........Best of both worlds?

The 55-115 set will be too heavy for standard tuning, I have tried it. Depending on the bass you have, you will probably need a serious truss rod tweak at the least. They're about right for C standard, which is what I use this guage of DDT's for. It's amazing how low you can go with the lighter guages. I've had my Les Paul bass tuned C standard on a 45-105 set, and the tunings were still stable, although you do have to play with a lighter touch. I have the 45-125 set on my 5 string Alembic, which gets tuned ADADG in one band, then the whole lot dropped down 1 for the other band, and they work like a charm.

Playing rock/ metal using the Ampeg 610, and using either an SVT CL, or a Marshall VBA400. Really like the 610, and wouldn't describe it really as lacking oomph. Much more managable than the 810 "fridge" in terms of portability, and perhaps a bit more versatile sounding. Recently played a gig at a medium sized venue, using the VBA & 610, and although the soundman mic'd the cab, he later admitted that he didn't need to run my bass through the PA! A punter commented that he could feel my bass, as well as hearing it, so I think that is a pretty good vouch for the 610

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1319391168' post='1413547'] Saying that, my fondest memory of Hawkwind was the naked dancer with the big norks. [/quote] Ah, that would be the ample charms of Stacia then! +1 for Space Ritual. Love the way that Lemmy's bass absolutely pounds things along, and proves that he really could play bass. There have been a few occasional Motorhead moments for his bass playing in recent years......"Joy Of Labour" springs to mind. Recommended early Lem listening would have to be Sam Gopal's "Escalator". OK, he is on guitar, and singing, but I love that album. The bass absolutely pounds the tracks along, and really love Lem's singing on them, a time before his voice got seriously gravelled.

Yeah, fair point. I've often wondered to be honest, why they never put a fine spring wire over the end of the screws to stop the saddles falling off, like they do on the Les Pauls, etc.

Been keeping tabs on this thread with interest, as I had somewhat similar experiences with another one of the major 3 from the USA. It is completely unacceptable to me, to spend all that money, and recieve a poor product/ customer service. I've kinda given up now on trying to find a decent bass, that is worth the asking price, from the US giants, although to be fair, the Stingray I had was gorgeous. There are some seriously gorgeous basses, with amazing build quality out there on the second hand market, that seriously eclipse run of the mill production basses with price tags of over £1k. You can easily pick up an Alembic for less than £3k, and I picked up my Orion 5 for the same money as a new Fender Jazz/ run of the mill Stingray, and it just oozes quality, and is amazing to play. The good thing with buying one of the more exoctic/ custom basses out there is someone has already took the hit on the depreciation, and generally you can sell it on for the same amount you paid for it, should things not work out, providing you haven't bought something outrageous that will only appeal to a very limited market. Very much feel for the OP, as I remember how much it upset me when I had problems

Was properly gutted......Love Gibson's, own three, and wouldn't part with my '76 Bird for the world. Would consider another new Thunderbird, as it did play and sound fantastic, but lesson learned, fingers burnt, wait until I see one in a shop that has actually been built with some care, and attention to detail. Know what you mean about the soft finish....had to leave mine hanging for around a month for the finish to harden. It was so soft, if you pressed it with your finger, it would leave an imprint. Finish wore through first time I played it with a strap.....

Hmmmmm........Pretty much the same experience I had with a brand new Thunderbird......... Managed to easily find over 20 faults on mine, and Gibson were next to useless........

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1317748589' post='1394131'] Yes, the three point bridge does suck. No individual string height adjustment means that it's functionally less capable than an old 4 saddle Fender bridge. If it bugs you, get a Hipshot Supertone. [/quote] Agreed, and valid point. The three point sucks if you want to do on the fly adjustments, but if you're willing to put a bit of time in, with some fine round files, you can get the three point playing as well as any bridge. Spent an hour or so on my '76 Thunderbird a few weeks back, getting the saddle to properly match the radius of the board, and it plays like a dream now. The bridge on an EB2 on the other hand.......That SUCKS!