Is There a Thunderbird Voiced Bridge Pickup in a 5-String J Shell?

[Smallmouth_Bass]

One of the things I dislike about a P/J pickup set is that I find that the upper register can sound a bit thin when both pickups are on.

Does a thick voiced bridge pickup (humbucking in a Jazz shaped shell) exist? Maybe something in Thunderbird territory. I would be looking for something that would be sized like a Delano JMVC 5.

The one set that sounds great, but would not be a drop in fit is a Dingwall SuperPhatty, which I have on a Dingwall PJ 5-string. I sounds great across the board.

 

[bholder]

Fitting that into a J shell is going to be a challenge, I think. FWIW, my Wallybird 5 has Thunderbuckers in it (63 and 66) and I love it!

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Fitting that into a J shell is going to be a challenge, I think. FWIW, my Wallybird 5 has Thunderbuckers in it (63 and 66) and I love it!

Yeah, I don't know if the size means that's all coil wrap. If so, then you'd be hard pressed to squish it all in.

 

[Basvarken]

Yes, Gemini pickups from the UK has them. In 3 different voicings.

Dominator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, vintage tone

Dominator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, vintage tone

www.geminipickups.co.uk

Degenerate thunderbird bass pickup, dual tones, hot jazz and humbucker

Degenerate thunderbird bass pickup, dual tones, hot jazz and humbucker

www.geminipickups.co.uk

Devastator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, modern tone

Devastator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, modern tone

www.geminipickups.co.uk

I've used them on several 12-string bass builds.

Brooks DDB - aka Double Duane Bird

Brooks DDB aka Double Duane Bird. This is a hand built double-neck Thunderbird. With a short-scale twelve-string neck and a long-scale four-string neck

www.brooksbassguitars.com

Brooks EXB-12-TP

CUSTOM BUILT FOR TOM PETERSSON

www.brooksbassguitars.com

Brooks SparkleBird

BUILT FOR DUANE DANIELS

www.brooksbassguitars.com

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Yes, Gemini pickups from the UK has them. In 3 different voicings.

Dominator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, vintage tone

Dominator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, vintage tone

www.geminipickups.co.uk

Degenerate thunderbird bass pickup, dual tones, hot jazz and humbucker

Degenerate thunderbird bass pickup, dual tones, hot jazz and humbucker

www.geminipickups.co.uk

Devastator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, modern tone

Devastator Thunderbird bass pickup, 4 or 5 string, alnico 8, modern tone

www.geminipickups.co.uk

I've used them on several 12-string bass builds.

Brooks DDB - aka Double Duane Bird

Brooks DDB aka Double Duane Bird. This is a hand built double-neck Thunderbird. With a short-scale twelve-string neck and a long-scale four-string neck

www.brooksbassguitars.com

Brooks EXB-12-TP

CUSTOM BUILT FOR TOM PETERSSON

www.brooksbassguitars.com

Brooks SparkleBird

BUILT FOR DUANE DANIELS

www.brooksbassguitars.com

The photos don't show them in a Jazz shell format.

 

[Basvarken]

Sorry I missed the J-part. Focussed on the 5-string Thunderbird part. ;-)

Maybe one of their 3 Jazz pickups have something that comes close?

Ocean Lightning vintage alnico 5 jazz bass pickup

Ocean Lightning vintage alnico 5 jazz bass pickup

www.geminipickups.co.uk

Dawn Lightning alnico 2 jazz bass pickup, old school tone

Dawn Lightning alnico 2 jazz bass pickup, old school tone

www.geminipickups.co.uk

Mountain Lightning hot alnico 5 jazz bass pickup

Mountain Lightning hot alnico 5 jazz bass pickup

www.geminipickups.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I'm not sure if this will give you what you're looking for, but I generally find that stacked coil J-bass pickups have more of a humbucker-like tone than split coil (or single coil) J-bass pickups. In fact, that's probably why people looking for a classic J-bass tone generally don't like stacked coils. Maybe some sort of "hot" overwound, stacked coil J-bass pickup could be worth trying? It won't sound like a T-bird, but it will certainly get you closer than a standard single coil J-bass pickup.

Maybe something like the Seymour Duncan Hot Stack? I'm sure there are lots of other (and possibly better) options, but stacked coil J-bass pickups aren't really my thing so I have rather limited experience with them.

 

[Iristone]

What about a double rail or split J? It still won't be exactly like a Thunderbird (mine is almost like a P bass), but will get closer to the humbucker vibe.

 

[sunbeast]

A big part of the Thunderbird tone is the wide aperture (they pick up a relatively long portion of the string) of the combined coils, which can't be reproduced in a thin aperture space like a J pickup. A double J (side-by-side) shape could be wound to get something similar but not a single J. The original Thunderbird pickups were basically like standard side-by-side coil guitar humbuckers but with alnico bar magnets run through the center of the two coils, then the 90s-era (TB+) ones used ceramic magnets and more windings for a much thicker tone.

Dingwall Super Phatty bridge pickups look to be basically a relatively thin/tall-coiled version of a P pickup inside the shell, so maybe a split-coil J pickup would be a good option to try though the Dingwall pickups are able to fit more overall wire in there and longer offset coils than would be possible in a J form. Maybe something like the Delano JMVC FE/M2? I've used the 4-string version of those pickups (including in a PJ paired with the P version of that design) and they can be nice and chunky though maybe have too much treble still for your needs. I've always found the Dimarzio Model J to be a good bridge option in a 4-string PJ, but they don't make that pickup in a 5-string version (and a split-coil in 5-string form is always a bit of a difficult proposition because of the odd number of strings which means unbalanced coils in one way or another at least in a thin-aperture space like a J). Bartolini humbucker J pickups are traditionally pretty warm sounding.

I have used the Joe Barden dual-coil J pickups and they cold be a decent option though they require a deeper cavity than a typical J pickup in my experience. I've never tried one in a PJ

 

[Malak the Mad]

Does a thick voiced bridge pickup (humbucking in a Jazz shaped shell) exist? Maybe something in Thunderbird territory. I would be looking for something that would be sized like a Delano JMVC 5.

Is your bass something you would be open to routing out a bit or is it an expensive and/or sentiment-charged beastie that shouldn't be heavily altered? If routing is within consideration, you could always open up the bridge pickup spot into something P2 or E40-sized to get way more options that something strictly Jazz-shaped.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Is your bass something you would be open to routing out a bit or is it an expensive and/or sentiment-charged beastie that shouldn't be heavily altered? If routing is within consideration, you could always open up the bridge pickup spot into something P2 or E40-sized to get way more options that something strictly Jazz-shaped.

Not yet. I don't dislike the sound I currently have (was originally Delanos, but now has a set of Lull/Seymour Duncan PJ's in it), but am wondering if I might like something better.