Southway
So ugly, he made a train take a gravel road
Unhook the yellow and white wires that go from the upper switch to the preamp. You could just unhook the yellow one as long as you leave the switch in the passive position.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Jag with Tbird pickups= Thundercat
- Thread starter Toptube
- Start date
Unhook the yellow and white wires that go from the upper switch to the preamp. You could just unhook the yellow one as long as you leave the switch in the passive position.
Hey thanks a lot for the info! That is way more simple than I thought it would be.
-------------------------------
So it turns out, the distortion was something screwy with my amp. I hadn't turned it on for couple of weeks due to messing with my Jaguar and also having my other bass gutted.
I decided to wire up some pickups in my other bass, so that I would have something to play until the Thundercat was sorted...
...and I got distortion with the second bass! there had been a power outage or two, in the past couple of weeks. The amp was plugged into a surge protector and whatnot. I dunno what was up, if there is some sort of protection circuit in there that had to reset or what. I unplugged everything and then plugged it all back in and it seemed to work itself out.
I was still having issues with the Thundercat cutting out, though. But thanks to help in this thread, I figured out it was from the unshielded "ground" wrap wire touching stuff too firmly, in the tight control cavities. (I had done a quick job with masking tape, but apparently it wasn't good enough) So I blanketed a bunch of stuff in electrical tape and it all works great now!
pictures in about an hour, once my camera battery has some charge! Tone impressions, too!
-------------------------------
So it turns out, the distortion was something screwy with my amp. I hadn't turned it on for couple of weeks due to messing with my Jaguar and also having my other bass gutted.
I decided to wire up some pickups in my other bass, so that I would have something to play until the Thundercat was sorted...
...and I got distortion with the second bass! there had been a power outage or two, in the past couple of weeks. The amp was plugged into a surge protector and whatnot. I dunno what was up, if there is some sort of protection circuit in there that had to reset or what. I unplugged everything and then plugged it all back in and it seemed to work itself out.
I was still having issues with the Thundercat cutting out, though. But thanks to help in this thread, I figured out it was from the unshielded "ground" wrap wire touching stuff too firmly, in the tight control cavities. (I had done a quick job with masking tape, but apparently it wasn't good enough) So I blanketed a bunch of stuff in electrical tape and it all works great now!
pictures in about an hour, once my camera battery has some charge! Tone impressions, too!
Its alive. ITS ALIVE. The Thundercat!
before/after
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2ozjonx9joal5t/jaguarbass.jpg
vanity
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7iri7oh6k9jmd0x/P1013868.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/llr1t4epx4jtnz5/P1013884.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/me471a9udjuwp82/P1013916.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ttblurwjomjsw5b/P1013930.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wryg92l61z5kqzv/P1013922.jpg
before/after
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2ozjonx9joal5t/jaguarbass.jpg
vanity
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7iri7oh6k9jmd0x/P1013868.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/llr1t4epx4jtnz5/P1013884.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/me471a9udjuwp82/P1013916.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ttblurwjomjsw5b/P1013930.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wryg92l61z5kqzv/P1013922.jpg
Sweet, so when you hold it above your head and shout "Thunder, Thunder, THUNDERCAT!" does it grow into a 35" scale?
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,625
- 222,187
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
The chrome buckers & ashtray are visually suitable in that context - well done! I bet it sounds beefy!
Good stuff! The tbird pups blend nicely with the body. At least it's visually appealing - gotta have clips for some aural inspection though. Hint hint.
there will be clips, but probably not super soon. I'm currently investigating a couple of ways to do it. And over time, plan to post several clips of a few different types/brands of strings.
This is absolutely the hottest pickups configuration I have ever used.
Its the only pickups configuration I have ever used, where I haven't had to boost the lows from "flat".
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y3sfm71tvzu685b/thundercatroughdemo.zip
here is a quick, rough demo I did, from my amp's line out, into my computer soundcard's microphone in/line-in. I didn't play along with anything or even use a click track.
I deactivated the EQ on my amp. so it is "flat" for this particular amp, which is an Ashdown MiBass 220.
I'm still hoping to get a proper mic setup so that I can Mic my cab. Because I can actually hear the tone being recorded and it will better represent the tone I play with, rather than the tone of "direct". it will also be a cleaner signal (my computer has a bit of noise on the line-in. It also will just occasionally cut. For some reason, it usually happens in the 4th bass riff in each sample). Anyway, it is far from ideal. But it does give you an idea for the tone.
Again, these are Lollar Thunderbird pickups (60's reproduction), in black chrome. Installed/modded into a Crafted In Japan Fender Jaguar Bass (now referred to as The Thundercat). Strung with a brand new set of Dean Markley Helix Stainless Steel Bass strings.
three of the samples should be labeled in a way that you know what you are listening to.
there is a 4th sample called "akkotone3". This is an estimation of the tone I perceive, when listening to one of my two inspirations to play bass (a Japanese women named Akko/Akiko Noma). She plays single pickup, vintage non-reverse thunderbirds. Her tone and playing is a big reason why I bought these pickups. My other main inspiration (stage name "Tokie") plays jazz basses. Her primary tone is very big and growly, both pickups full, tone knob all the way up (no treble roll off) eq from her amp. These pickups actually have gotten me closer to her tone than any jazz pickups I ever tried. So it's a double win for me.
Actually doing this through my amp sounds a bit different and probably uses less tone roll off. But this will get you in the ballpark for Akko's tone. How I got this tone:
Hartke VFX Bass Attack pedal (this is a stock photo, not mine or my settings)
"shape" button engaged, (on/off is for the "harmonics" circuit. this knob was off. This also means the "harmonics" "mix" and "brite" knobs are all inactive).
bass knob at 9 o'clock, treble knob at 10 o'clock, "shape" knob turned all the way clockwise, which ends up at 5 o'clock.
Tone knob on my bass turned so that most of the treble is rolled off, but not all the way.
Amp eq engaged to my preference.
the result is a smoother, yet very punchy sound.
*if you have the means, I recommend running these clips through your own amp setup. Otherwise, start by setting your computer EQ "flat", if you use EQ at all. These pickups have very thick lows, which can be very overhyped through computer speakers, especially with EQ.
here is a quick, rough demo I did, from my amp's line out, into my computer soundcard's microphone in/line-in. I didn't play along with anything or even use a click track.
I deactivated the EQ on my amp. so it is "flat" for this particular amp, which is an Ashdown MiBass 220.
I'm still hoping to get a proper mic setup so that I can Mic my cab. Because I can actually hear the tone being recorded and it will better represent the tone I play with, rather than the tone of "direct". it will also be a cleaner signal (my computer has a bit of noise on the line-in. It also will just occasionally cut. For some reason, it usually happens in the 4th bass riff in each sample). Anyway, it is far from ideal. But it does give you an idea for the tone.
Again, these are Lollar Thunderbird pickups (60's reproduction), in black chrome. Installed/modded into a Crafted In Japan Fender Jaguar Bass (now referred to as The Thundercat). Strung with a brand new set of Dean Markley Helix Stainless Steel Bass strings.
three of the samples should be labeled in a way that you know what you are listening to.
there is a 4th sample called "akkotone3". This is an estimation of the tone I perceive, when listening to one of my two inspirations to play bass (a Japanese women named Akko/Akiko Noma). She plays single pickup, vintage non-reverse thunderbirds. Her tone and playing is a big reason why I bought these pickups. My other main inspiration (stage name "Tokie") plays jazz basses. Her primary tone is very big and growly, both pickups full, tone knob all the way up (no treble roll off) eq from her amp. These pickups actually have gotten me closer to her tone than any jazz pickups I ever tried. So it's a double win for me.
Actually doing this through my amp sounds a bit different and probably uses less tone roll off. But this will get you in the ballpark for Akko's tone. How I got this tone:
Hartke VFX Bass Attack pedal (this is a stock photo, not mine or my settings)
"shape" button engaged, (on/off is for the "harmonics" circuit. this knob was off. This also means the "harmonics" "mix" and "brite" knobs are all inactive).
bass knob at 9 o'clock, treble knob at 10 o'clock, "shape" knob turned all the way clockwise, which ends up at 5 o'clock.
Tone knob on my bass turned so that most of the treble is rolled off, but not all the way.
Amp eq engaged to my preference.
the result is a smoother, yet very punchy sound.
*if you have the means, I recommend running these clips through your own amp setup. Otherwise, start by setting your computer EQ "flat", if you use EQ at all. These pickups have very thick lows, which can be very overhyped through computer speakers, especially with EQ.
updated link for before/after image. the link appears to have been broken and for some reason I can't edit the original post:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uj9rypjgau89g0j/jaguarbass2.jpg
*check the post above this one, for new sound clips!
I did some updated, rough demos.
Dropbox - TheThundercat_rdemo15.zip
Dean Markely Helix SS strings which at some point reached 2.5 months old and were put into an 93% alchohol bath----and forgotten about for like a month. Then they were played after that for about two more months and then the bass sat for a few months, until now!
all flat from the amp. DI signal is duplicated to right an left channel/stereo. and then the mic signal is mono in the middle and minus 4db from the mic signal. Gives a close enough approximation of what I hear from my cab. Albeit with less punch.
the first clip cycles through the pickups. bridge, neck, both
the second clip starts with both pickups and then the second riff is just the neck.
the third clip is just the neck, but my computer glitched out while recording. I didn't notice, so a middle chunk of the sample is missing and you hear it glitch ahead. It's a sample, whatever!
4th clip is both pickups on full.
5th clip is both pickups again. the last section has a bit of tone roll-off. There's a little bit of computer glitching in there.
Dropbox - TheThundercat_rdemo15.zip
Dean Markely Helix SS strings which at some point reached 2.5 months old and were put into an 93% alchohol bath----and forgotten about for like a month. Then they were played after that for about two more months and then the bass sat for a few months, until now!
all flat from the amp. DI signal is duplicated to right an left channel/stereo. and then the mic signal is mono in the middle and minus 4db from the mic signal. Gives a close enough approximation of what I hear from my cab. Albeit with less punch.
the first clip cycles through the pickups. bridge, neck, both
the second clip starts with both pickups and then the second riff is just the neck.
the third clip is just the neck, but my computer glitched out while recording. I didn't notice, so a middle chunk of the sample is missing and you hear it glitch ahead. It's a sample, whatever!
4th clip is both pickups on full.
5th clip is both pickups again. the last section has a bit of tone roll-off. There's a little bit of computer glitching in there.
Really nice looking Thundercat! Didn't get to connect to the amp yet for the audio clips,
but the cut-outs you're getting are all a ways into the recordings, and could be a buffering thing with the virtual memory. If it's Windows, it'll add more virtual memory when it thinks it needs it, so that may be when the cut-out is. There are settings you can make that set to a larger pre-determined block of virtual memory which may avoid the transition point.
but the cut-outs you're getting are all a ways into the recordings, and could be a buffering thing with the virtual memory. If it's Windows, it'll add more virtual memory when it thinks it needs it, so that may be when the cut-out is. There are settings you can make that set to a larger pre-determined block of virtual memory which may avoid the transition point.
- Jul 1, 2005
- 4,292
- 21,946
- 80
- Disclosures
- CataldoBasses: Designer/Builder ThunderBuckerPickups:Consultant
Nice work! I've done the Jazz to TBird pickup conversion (ThunderBuckers, EXACT TBird clones) more than once, using the standard Jazz passive VVT passive pot configuration. Spacing is the same as my '64 Thunderbirds. Using braided cable just involves a little extra care.
Nice work! I've done the Jazz to TBird pickup conversion (ThunderBuckers, EXACT TBird clones) more than once, using the standard Jazz passive VVT passive pot configuration. Spacing is the same as my '64 Thunderbirds. Using braided cable just involves a little extra care.
Nice jag! I hadn't seen that from you, before.
*regarding the braided cable with the braid serving as an actual transport for signal: It was a huge PITA. If the braid touched anything, to include the shielding paint coating the entire cavity: the signal would usually just cut out completely. If not, it would be super noisy and tone sucked. And the Jaguar does not have straight forward wiring pathing, either. I had to coat everything in electrical tape.
If I ever buy another set, I will ask for typical insulated wiring.
Last edited:
Great work Toptube!
I missed this thread at its inception, so happy it has resurfaced as I love both Jags and non-R T-Birds! The countryside where you shot your model is as stunningly beautiful as the Thundercat.
I'm a fan of Tokie, too. What an amazing player and the tones... Grrr! I'll have to check out Akiko Noma, I'm unfamiliar with her playing although I have listened to some Go!Go!7188 on YouTube.
@Dadagoboi , Equally impressive Jag. The PG compliments the pickups and body colour so well.
You guys have inspired me to rip out the pups in my Squier VM and ... well, you know.
Jags, NR T-Birds, modding, Japanese bass players, MTBing...
I missed this thread at its inception, so happy it has resurfaced as I love both Jags and non-R T-Birds! The countryside where you shot your model is as stunningly beautiful as the Thundercat.
I'm a fan of Tokie, too. What an amazing player and the tones... Grrr! I'll have to check out Akiko Noma, I'm unfamiliar with her playing although I have listened to some Go!Go!7188 on YouTube.
@Dadagoboi , Equally impressive Jag. The PG compliments the pickups and body colour so well.
You guys have inspired me to rip out the pups in my Squier VM and ... well, you know.
Jags, NR T-Birds, modding, Japanese bass players, MTBing...
