So in 2011 I modded my Epiphone Thunderbird goth, and today I had to re-solder it. At first I wanted it to be like a Gibson, but I didn't have a 250k pot so I kept the 500k tone pot, along with 2 500k volume pots, and replaced the capacitor (I don't know the value) with a .022μF. I took the strap and put it on the back of the body on that metal plate that holds the neck which reduces dive probably 95% of the time. I've also adjusted the bridge and action so it's comfortable to sweep pick. Okay now I want to know what mods you've done or heard of. Thanks
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my Epiphone Thunderbird mod
- Thread starter JDtheBassPlayer
- Start date
For those basses I think the 500k pots are better choice. Lets a little more treble top thru & isnt as prone to muddyness for neck pup. Hope it boradened your basses voice a little to good advantage.
Hi.
I did the usual strap button relocation.
I also installed a DiMarzio Model One:
Milled the neck heel and the neck pocket flat:
Because of this:
The balance in tone and sustain were both improved.
While on the table, I also routed the PG area for possible future needs
.
Regards
Sam
I did the usual strap button relocation.
I also installed a DiMarzio Model One:
Milled the neck heel and the neck pocket flat:
Because of this:
The balance in tone and sustain were both improved.
While on the table, I also routed the PG area for possible future needs
.Regards
Sam
I as well did the usual strap button relocation to the neck plate. I also rewired the whole bass, since the bridge pickup volume pot was scratchy as hell and would always cut off the neck pickup if i had them both full. It now supports a kill switch in place of the neck pickup volume and the neck pickup volume pot is now an overall master volume with the tone remaining the same. Overall output is monstrous. I also moved the jack to the bottom of the bass just like a gibson tbird
I'd like to do exactly this to my Goth Third. Master volume, Master tone, and 3 way toggle replacing the tone knob. Only thing is I don't know how to do this.
Some help/advice would be great
Invalid Link Removed Follow this diagram. Yes your bass pickups have only two wires (one lead, one ground), solder the ground wires to the back of the volume pot, & then follow the rest of this diagram it should be fairly easy. I'll post a diagram later tonight for your thunderbird bass to wire it up exactly like this.
I actually ditched the master volume & master tone controls & just left the killswitch for on/off use. It's better for my needs & the tone didn't change significantly after i removed the controls.
Hopefully this helps. It is a crude rendition made online but if you have any questions, feel free to ask 
good luck
good luck
Thanks a lot for the reply. Now since I don't know a whole lot about this (if at all) I'm gonna speak like a total noob so I hope you'll forgive me for all the questions I have and my poor explanations.
I have two red wires. One coming from (I'm guessing the neck pickup) to the neck volume pot, and then another red wire going from that to the tone pot.
Then there's a black wire that I'm guessing is from the bridge pickup since it goes to the second volume pot. Then a blue wire going from that to the tone pot.
In your diagram you have two wires coming from the pickups. I'm guessing I solder the two main wires to the switch. But my question is what do I do for the wires to the master volume?
Each pickup will have two wires each. (in my diagram i used black/red for the neck, black/orange for the bridge pickup) The neck pickup should have a red/red wires & the bridge pickup should have a black/white wires. The red & white wires are smaller & found within the thicker wire - they are your ground wires for each pickup. You solder those to the back of the volume pot. The thicker red & black wires are your hot for each pickup. You wire those to the outer tabs of the switch (shown in the colour happy diagram in my last post). The middle tab of the 3 way switch is wired to one of the outer tabs on the volume pot while the opposite outer tab is soldered to the back of the volume pot to ground the control itself (if you are using the stock controls, unwire everything & only install one of the volume pots (be it the bridge or the neck one) the tone pot & the 3 way switch.
If you can, post a picture of your control cavity. i can help you pin point what needs to be wired where xP
If you can, post a picture of your control cavity. i can help you pin point what needs to be wired where xP
Haji
Supporting Member
I had the guys at Music Central in Hopkinsville KY put a Tone Monster preamp in. What's tricky about it is that the circuit boards are too tall to fit in the cavity, so they had to remove them from the pots and jump the connections with wire. It required a lot of thought, trials, and tribulations, but they figured it out and it sounds amazing.
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Because there's very little room, the output jack had to be moved as well. Controls are master volume, blend, stacked bass and treble. The output jack is where the tone knob used to be.
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Because there's very little room, the output jack had to be moved as well. Controls are master volume, blend, stacked bass and treble. The output jack is where the tone knob used to be.
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Ah now It's all coming together. I'll have to widen the hole of the knob I'm going to replace for the switch.
I won't start on this today, but I will tomorrow. Thank you again for the diagram and the explanations. I've been trying to Google this stuff for a few days because I felt embarrassed asking this stuff, but I'm glad I did.
I'll post a photo of the cavity tomorrow.
It's what talkbass is about. There are no "dumb" questions. We've heard them all, but we can still give our answer to help out. Best of luck! keep us posted if you need more help
I'm using a Switchcraft 3 way toggle. How do I wire the green wire in your diagram?
Cosmetic mod, other than the strings. I had a pair of Deep Sixx pickups but never got around to putting them in.
The green wire is soldered in the middle position of the switch to the lug of the volume pot.
Okay so the lug at the front is wired to the volume pot. And the 2 things at the back are grounded on top of the pot?
indeed the rest of your wiring afterwards should follow the diagram above & work as intended enabling you to choose each pickup individually & control the volume & tone.
So I've wired up everything but no sound... I've doubled checked everything to the diagram but I'm not sure what the problem is.
What is Ground to 3 point bridge stud post?
Edit: I think the problem could be what I asked you about before. The ground on the switch is the one you said to connect to the volume pot. I switched those wires and got sound. So now I'm cleaning up everything. Thanks for the help and diagram.
What is Ground to 3 point bridge stud post?
Edit: I think the problem could be what I asked you about before. The ground on the switch is the one you said to connect to the volume pot. I switched those wires and got sound. So now I'm cleaning up everything. Thanks for the help and diagram.
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It's the wire going form the back of the volume pot & connects the bass' bridge post via a hole in the control cavity. The wire should be yellow (which is why i drew it yellow in the diagram). Post a picture of your control cavity & i can help you better if i see what you see
It's the wire going form the back of the volume pot & connects the bass' bridge post via a hole in the control cavity. The wire should be yellow (which is why i drew it yellow in the diagram). Post a picture of your control cavity & i can help you better if i see what you see
Well I did it. It took all day but I got it with some help. When I touch the switch and flick it there is a little popping but it works as I want it to otherwise.
Thank you so much for the diagram.
