Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

John congrats on the Bird!

sloop_john_b wrote:Ah, what the hell. I bit the bullet. Had some store credit to burn. Never owned one. Had to satisfy my curiosity. YOLO.

Love this bass. My fav T Bird though was the Epiphone Elitist. Fine workmanship and I love the chrome pickup covers and chrome tuning keys. That said my friend gigs all the time with his Orville and swears by it

Like the look! I prefer the older 2 piece tailstop/bridge to the 3-point one,tho.

My band traveled up to Boston last weekend to play a couple of gigs, and not being sure what bass I wanted to bring as my backup, I decided to bring three – my #1 (Road Worn Precision), my #2 (Mark Jenny Precision), and the new Thunderbird. The T-Bird had a fresh set of Chromes on it that I was keen to break in, and I also slapped a Hipshot Supertone bridge on it the night before I left. I brought my Precisions just in case, because I still wasn’t sure how I felt about the feel of the 'Bird.

My rig was a Little Mark II head into a single 2x10 Markbass cab – this would simply be a monitor for the band and I, as the house would be handling most of the amplification through a battery of 18” subs underneath the stage.
During soundcheck, I mostly messed with the T-Bird and it sounded good, so I decided to go with it for the first set. I don’t feel like I play quite as naturally on it, but I had a blast with it, and it sure sounded good.

For set #2 – a 40 minute set consisting of 28 songs and zero breaks – I figured I’d better go with my #1. And much to my utter shock, it didn’t sound only half as good as the ‘Bird. All of a sudden, even with dead-as-a-doornail flats on the P, my tone was lacking in balls and and was more snarly (in a bad way) then with the T-Bird, which is a darker, full-bodied and richer-sounding bass. I went back to the ‘Bird for set #3.

The second night, I went with my Mark Jenny P for the 2nd set and stuck with the ‘Bird for the rest. The MJT sounded far worse than even the Road Worn had the night before. Furthermore, I was now putting in major time with the T-Bird, and – gasp – was starting to not only get used to the odd feel, but kinda digging it too.

Well, this is not the kind of revelation I have very often. My band’s shows are so demanding in every way, and I thought my P was the perfect foil. And it is, in many ways – low low low action, wide nut, 7.5 lbs, already beat-to-snot – but now I could see that the tone was lacking.

Naturally, I’m making all sorts of grand plans now. "Sell this bass, sell that bass, buy a Lull Thunderbird, put a T-Bird pickup in this bass", etc. I’m gonna take it easy and give it a few more gigs, just to be sure. But my #1 suddenly has some very stiff competition from a very unlikely source.

sloop_john_b wrote:...I’m making all sorts of grand plans now. "...buy a Lull Thunderbird..."

Sounds like a plan, to me!

jps wrote:

sloop_john_b wrote:...I’m making all sorts of grand plans now. "...buy a Lull Thunderbird..."

Sounds like a plan, to me!

I missed one for $1700 on TGP a few weeks back and boy am I kicking myself now.

Also, not in the same league, but Talkbass popular opinion seems to indicate that these are good: http://cataldobasses.com/REV.html

Nice price on the Lull! The Cataldo looks pretty nice, too, but I have not heard of them, before.

[quote="sloop_john_b"
For set #2 – a 40 minute set consisting of 28 songs and zero breaks – [/quote]

Is that even possible? Are you doing a medley of snippets?

Glad you like the bass, i am not surprised,i never got the p bass gene,evidently,even though a few people i like have made them sound good. (KC John Wetton comes to mind) oh,and that Jamerson fella.....
And i take it you like the hipshot bridge?

jps wrote:Nice price on the Lull! The Cataldo looks pretty nice, too, but I have not heard of them, before.

Cataldo basses are big favourites amongst the regulars on Talkbass! The builder, Carlos Cataldo, is present on the forum regularly and his customer service is fantastic - a lot of his business is conducted out in the open on Talkbass, so you have absolutely no worries at all in dealing with him. His prices are almost unbelievably low, for the quality of the guitars. It is hard to imagine how he can make a profit out of them!

I MUST mention here that I have never played one of his guitars! However, if you are looking for a stonkingly good Fenderbird, for the price of a MIM Fender, you cannot go wrong with him!

Don't feel bad, John Entwistle used to have the same problem with Tbirds and precisions.

Still loving this bass. Having a new nut cut for it this week (stock plastic one is terrible). What a friggin' blast to play on stage.

Bassmouse wrote: However, if you are looking for a stonkingly good Fenderbird, for the price of a MIM Fender, you cannot go wrong with him!

While the Cataldo basses are definitely nice, his prices hover around $1000.00, which is way more than a MIM Fender.

aceonbass wrote:

Bassmouse wrote: However, if you are looking for a stonkingly good Fenderbird, for the price of a MIM Fender, you cannot go wrong with him!

While the Cataldo basses are definitely nice, his prices hover around $1000.00, which is way more than a MIM Fender.

Not MY MIM Fender...