Let's talk about Thunderbird cloning

The T bird club would love to have you.

And yes it’s been done

 

Short answers:

• Thunderbird pickups are very shallow, so bridge height is not a problem. You will have to route out a shallow cavity for them though. Trim rings are optional.
• Yes, they’re wired same as a Jazz Bass. Different value pots, but same circuit.

 

It depends if you mean one pu compared to two, or the sound of a one (Hum-Bucker) pu compared to two HB Pu's. T-birds have buckers and 500k pots, whereas P's have one split-coil & J's have two singles and 250k pots. (not to mention where you choose to locate each) Each choice will give you a different sound. Narrow it down to exactly what you are after and a clearer tact will follow.

 

This shows yet another option - a Fender-style (mid 60's Teisco Del Rey) thin mahogany body with an Epic Goth T-bird neck and 1 Guild Darkstar/Bi-Sonic single-coil pu with 500k pots. The pu poles are located in a different spot than a P-bass or a one pu T-bird (hum-bucker). It can sound more like a P-bass, but different and it will never sound like a two pu bass with singles or HB'rs. (or two P-bass split-coils) If you want a one pu HB'r, you can wire it series/parallel for tonal variety. It can also be wired to split the coils so it can function as a single-coil, top or bottom.

 

I used a Hipshot B style on my Fenderbird, that’s with the Thunderbucker Ranch pickups. Works great, wired up like a stacked knob jazz

 

What the story on the pg and translucent knobs?

 

Pickguard is from Decoboom, the upper knobs are from Dcline design. They’re both very cool folks!

 

Oh yah, should have figured - I had Dcline make a brass/ebony knob for my '64 T-bird. Thanks for the info on the pg