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A Muddy Sounding Bass That's Not A Thunderbird?

#22
The Embassy is a really nice bass. I was initially curious about them because a lot of posters were raving about their "Ric-like" tone, except for a lot less money. I decided to try one out as a comparison and was pleasantly surprised. Not because they sound like a Rickenbacker (they don't), but because they absolutely nail the Thunderbird tone, minus the neck dive. They're not bad at all -- just don't expect them to sound anything like a 4003.
 
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#23
#25
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better pic of front.jpg
forgive the less than stellar pictures, but if you're looking for EB style mud in a fender package that could outmud certain muddy sounding TBs any day of the week, this is the bass for you. It's a Squier Precision Bass TB bassed on the old 70s' telecaster basses, they're discontinued but if you can find them used, they will fit your needs. These basses are the closest you can get to the 60s gibson Eb-0 basses in terms of muddiness (seriously the output on it's pickup was around 21k ohmns if I'm remembering right).

The bass in pic related has been sold a while back, but I remember even with roundwounds, an orange drop capacitor, a maple fb (if that's your gauge on tone) AND a series to parallel switch set to parallel, it was always mud city no matter how I played even with a pick. Rock a set of flatwounds on it and you could record a good dose of mud if that's what your looking for. I do admit it sounded great with distortion and the tone rolled off though..
 
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#33
OP, what rig are you using? What are your settings? What other basses have you played through it that you consider "not muddy" as a comparison to the t-bird? My experience with t-birds is similar to that of any two pickup basses - using both pickups on full can have a bit of a natural scooped sound (which is in no way a bad thing), but I wouldn't characterize it as muddy.
 
#34
FranF said:
Oddly, my two T Birds are anything but muddy. And as mentioned, don't have mudbuckers in them. But ergonomically, that Epi will indeed be the anti-Bird!
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Also, my Gibson Tbird has no neck dive whatsoever. It is beautifully balanced, really light, has a slim fast neck and is rather quite versatile tone wise too. I have no idea where these negative assumptions come from.
 
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#35
I've got an Embassy PRO. Those PROBucker pickups are sweet. But it doesn't sound muddy if that's your thing. However, I was not disappointed with the tone. It is also lightweight and comfortable to play with no neck dive. I've been playing it live now for 2 years. It turned out to be a better bass than I expected.
 
#36
One thing I liked about every T-Bird I've tried is the narrow nut width and neck profile.

The only thing I didn't like on the Embassy basses I've tried is the wider nut width and chunkier neck profile.

To me they sound very similar but play very differently.

I went with the Squier VM Precision TB and Epiphone EB-0 both with their respective mudbuckers. I prefer the tone of the Squier and I prefer the playability of the EB-0
 
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#37
Gare Boo said:
Hey guys I kinda like the muddy/dark Thunderbird sound when playing with a pick but hate the guitar's ergonomics. Is there another option that comes with two mud-buckers and better ergonomics? The Epiphone Embassy looks like it's gonna have less neck dive than the Thunderbird due to the longer upper-horn. Please lmk more, thanks!
View attachment 4449314 View attachment 4449314 View attachment 4449314
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I agree with everyone who has said I never found T-birds to be muddy sounding.
SG, EB3, EB-0 have a deep rich tone sometimes referred to as muddy, also warm, mellow
 
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#38
P-Belly Evans said:
Also, my Gibson Tbird has no neck dive whatsoever. It is beautifully balanced, really light, has a slim fast neck and is rather quite versatile tone wise too. I have no idea where these negative assumptions come from.
Click to expand...

There are a bunch of different models/years of Thunderbird but I for sure have noticed on the Epiphone IV non pro and the goth having more of the issues being described. Mostly the thick neck. I still didn’t find those models muddy either though and your right I wouldn’t call it a “norm” with Thunderbirds. I bet most people have just played the Epiphone or a model or Gibson and assumed they were all like that.
 
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