SG Bass "EB Thunder" - Thunderbucker in "P" position

it's the pickups loading, or "fighting" eachother, which is normal in two-pickup basses with independant volumes. wire it up with a master volume and a 3-way switch and it'll solve that issue. or get a blend pot with the right value. i spoke to Mike Lull about this at length and what he said was if you're using a 250k volume pot, you need to use a 500k blend pot because it basically splits up the needed value evenly (500k blend = 250k on each side) so you dont get that volume drop in the center detente.

 

neither do i. i'm not an electronics guy either. i was just paraphrasing what a lot of other people have said concerning the volume drop on two-p'up basses when both volumes are dimed. if i was wrong about anything in my first post, i'm sure someone more techinically inclined will correct me.

 

It sounds like one pickup is out of phase with the other. Reverse the phase on one of the pickups and the volume drop should end.

 

I'd actually wire in an on/off switch for each individual pickup.

 

Assuming the mudbucker is wound to full vintage spec (30k ish) and the Thunder bucker isn't a super overwound pickup, I'm going to say it's the natural pickup loading and cancellation as well, but adding a 3 way switch (unless it's wired for series) won't help with that. It's just like on a PJ or jazz bass but more pronounced due to the difference in output.

 

I am not an electronics guy either, but can tell you from long experience that mixing pickups with vastly different windings does not work well, whether two or three.

This goes for P/J sets as well. Some mix well and compliment each other, others suck each other down. A balanced set is a beautiful thing, unbalanced a pain in the tail.

I built a P3 that mixes perfectly, but they are all similar pickups.

I have also been successful in putting a similar pickup to bridge "under the hood' of a mudbucker which is btw what Gibson did on the modern SG's to make V-V-T work in a balanced way.
If you put a third thunderbucker under the Mudbucker cover, put back the screw heads as dummys for looks, install V-V- and a third stackpot for V-MT, (master tone) you will get what you are looking for in your three pickup beast.

You wont be lacking for mud from the neck simply because of the position, if that is what you want.

 

Real mudbucker neck, single coil SD quarter pounder bridge, volume, blend, tone pots. PARALLEL WIRING. No problems.



...also works fine with a three way switch.


I'm the guy who commissioned Steve Soar to reverse engineer ThunderBuckers from my vintage Thunderbird pickups and develop the MAX. A MAX will definitely play nice with a real '60s Mudbucker and will work fine with the TB+ in an SG...as long as you get the wiring right.

A ThunderBucker (or any other USA Thunderbird pickup) is too wide to fit under a Mudbucker cover.

 

Who makes real mudbuckers these days? Also have you ever tried one in the bridge position?

 

I used a Novak in this long scale build at the customer's request, it was about 12k so it didn't sound like a real one. I guess he'd wind one that high.



A month later the bass came back for a ThunderBucker MAX transplant. Both of us thought it was a big improvement.


I've never put a Mudbucker in the bridge position. I'm perfectly happy with them in the neck in my 3 EBOs and an EB2 but they are what they are.

 

I'm just curious what it would sound like.

 

That's why I have this:



I can test any pickup or combo at any location, it takes out the guesswork. Since I always use the same body/bridge/strings the only variables are pickup(s) and pots. That's an original '64 TBird pup.

 

Oh nice. That makes a lot of sense.