Lull, Lollar or Thunderbucker for Gibson Thunderbird?

[Travelrock]

Hi,

I've got a beautiful Gibson Thunderbird 2011 but feel it's missing some "definition" and real bite and consider replacements pickups.

From my understanding Mike Lull, Jason Lullar and Thunderbucker are all great options. Right?
Anyone tried more than one of them? If so - how do you think they compare?
If you've just tried one of these - how would you say that one compares to standard Gibsons?

Can anyone confirm if they all fit in a standard Gibson T-bird? I don't want to carve in the body and prefer not to even drill extra holes - however I do love the look of the Nickel/Chrome covers so that is something I would like.

I'm glad to receive any recommendation and comment on this! Thanks!

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Lull. The Lull FenderBird plays and sounds great. Were I a "rocker" - that'd be on my list.

 

[Furious_Man77]

Thunderbuckers in my '14. More balanced and smooth across the fretboard with terrific articulation. Better than stock? Subjective based on your needs like everything, but if you're out for a more precise tone you'll be closer with them than the stock pickups. You can install any of those pickups without altering the body (unless you install rings too) but you will need to create some spacers (wood blocks) as all the vintage style pickups are much more shallow.

 

[Travelrock]

Thanks for your comments!
Those spacers isn't something you could get from the manufacturer of the pickups? Or are there lots of variations through the years on the Thunderbirds?

What variant of the Thunderbuckers did you go for?

Do you think all three options gives a bit more "bite" and definition but keeps the signature "T-bird thunder"?

I'd love to hear from more people who tried any of these three - I'm strongly considering buying from one of them but all three seems pretty good and hard to compare which one is my best bet.

Thanks!

 

[Mikaelbass]

Bump! Interested

 

[jeff62]

After playing a Lull t-bird pickup you will never, ever want for anything else. So, big and huge and sweet. Nothing else compares. He modeled this after the '64 Tbird.

 

[Travelrock]

@Mikaelbass
Lull and Thunderbuck are the two makers that I've heard most great comments about online, often similar to @jeff62 nice comment above - the Lull might be the one that most people praise.
Lollar and Seymour Duncan Custom shop have also been mentioned as great options. (http://www.talkbass.com/threads/thunderbird-pickups.1100816/)
All of these four aim for vintage style and sound (60's style), none of them are cheap, but Thunderbuck are the cheapest of the four and Lull the most expensive.

The Thunderbucks will not fit a modern T-bird without carving. The Lull are close to measurement but MIGHT still need some minor carving. The Lollar and Seymour Duncans should fit perfectly, from my understanding.
Most of them need spacers/shims since they're not as high as the standard Gibsons.

Since I don't want to do any carving (I always want to be able to restore instruments) the Thunderbucks are not for me. (But I might consider if I find a great deal on a used T-bird to get a second one that I would consider carving some).
The Lull would be my first choice - but since I'm still not sure if they will fit and unable to go to Seattle and try them out, I'll doubt I'll buy them.
The Lollar is probably great too - but I've not heard any praise of them like Jeffs about the Lull above.
Right now I'm considering Seymour Duncans custom shop which also gives me the option to ask for personal customization for the sound.

Still would love to hear from more people that tried all of these and their experience - both mounting them (does the Lull fit without carving or not) and how people feel about the sound.

 

[Toptube]

@Mikaelbass
Lull and Thunderbuck are the two makers that I've heard most great comments about online, often similar to @jeff62 nice comment above - the Lull might be the one that most people praise.
Lollar and Seymour Duncan Custom shop have also been mentioned as great options. (http://www.talkbass.com/threads/thunderbird-pickups.1100816/)
All of these four aim for vintage style and sound (60's style), none of them are cheap, but Thunderbuck are the cheapest of the four and Lull the most expensive.

The Thunderbucks will not fit a modern T-bird without carving. The Lull are close to measurement but MIGHT still need some minor carving. The Lollar and Seymour Duncans should fit perfectly, from my understanding.
Most of them need spacers/shims since they're not as high as the standard Gibsons.

Since I don't want to do any carving (I always want to be able to restore instruments) the Thunderbucks are not for me. (But I might consider if I find a great deal on a used T-bird to get a second one that I would consider carving some).
The Lull would be my first choice - but since I'm still not sure if they will fit and unable to go to Seattle and try them out, I'll doubt I'll buy them.
The Lollar is probably great too - but I've not heard any praise of them like Jeffs about the Lull above.
Right now I'm considering Seymour Duncans custom shop which also gives me the option to ask for personal customization for the sound.

Still would love to hear from more people that tried all of these and their experience - both mounting them (does the Lull fit without carving or not) and how people feel about the sound.

I have a set of Lollar T-bird pickups and absolutely love them. I was looking for the Gibson Non-Reverse thunderbird sound. I am VERY familiar with that sound, as one of my two bass inspirations plays two of them, exclusively. Based on all the sound samples I could find, the tone of the Lollars were the closest. Which is to say, near exact.

The Lulls sound good to me, but aren't what I was looking for. They sound a bit overwound or something, as they have more of a mid-range focus and don't grab as low on the initial attack. Still a good tone, however.

Based on samples, I like the thunderbuckers better than the Lulls, but they were still missing something, for what I'm was looking for. Could just be the specific samples.

I've never heard a clip of the Duncans, but I have heard some of their other vintage repros and rewinds. I'd trust they are probably pretty close to spot-on.



Here's a video which compares the real thing, to Lull and Lollar (The yardbirds which don't specifically say they have Lulls----have Lollars in them. For example; the white one which he plays twice, for some reason.



chicago bass exchange also reviews a few lull birds. and Lollar has clips on his official page. Some of which were provided by Lowe guitars.

 

[Travelrock]

@Toptube Thanks a lot for your comment - really interesting to read about your view on this.

Did you put your Lollar in a modern Gibson T-bird? If so - did they fit perfectly or did you need any spacers/shims?

The video was quite interesting and, even if it's always difficult to judge by a video or recording like this since there is so many factors involved (amp, strings, attack, finger or pick, miking of amp and so on) - this was at least a comparison in tone where I could get an idea on how the Lull and Lollar sound compared to each other and compared to vintage Gibson. First one I've seen/heard so far. BTW wouldn't that be a great article for Bass Player Magazine or similar mag? Put these four pickups up agains each other and let a few bassplayers give their opinion?

May I ask who your bass inspiration playing T-bird is?

 

[Travelrock]

It's been a while but if you are curious about what I decided... I went with Seymour Duncan Custom Shop pickups. They fitted the routing of my Gibson Thunderbird. The pickups really did magic to the tone of the bass, think vintage with a bit added bottom and bite. Lots more definition of tone.

If you've got a modern Thunderbird bass with those stock black pickups - replace them! Lollar, Lull, Thunderbucker or Seymour Duncans custom shop will all do magic to the instrument.

 

[winegamd]

Lull. The Lull FenderBird plays and sounds great. Were I a "rocker" - that'd be on my list.

After playing a Lull t-bird pickup you will never, ever want for anything else. So, big and huge and sweet. Nothing else compares. He modeled this after the '64 Tbird.

I can attest to this. I stopped by his shop and played the orange JT-5/24 he has on the wall, and was blown away. I have never heard a bass with so much tonal variety. You can get old school woofy dub tones all the way up to bridge stacatto Jaco type Jazz tones. Just amazing pickups.

 

[depalm]

I can attest to this. I stopped by his shop and played the orange JT-5/24 he has on the wall, and was blown away. I have never heard a bass with so much tonal variety. You can get old school woofy dub tones all the way up to bridge stacatto Jaco type Jazz tones. Just amazing pickups.

I bought a Lull TBird in November. It isn't the most comfortable bass I've ever played and overall construction/finishing is just ok but these pickups sings a lot. Worth every $.