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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
Two words pal, one of them, the second one is off!
And seeing as I'm in such a good mood, here's the finished Bumperbird, set up and playing well like a bright T Bird
My Blackbird, at gig volume, w/ those Deep Sixx pups and a new set of roundwounds, reminds me of one of those African elephants, howling and bellowing, sprinting full-tilt up out of a deep dry well, pulling along in the vacuum of its wake a large, plywood box full of scrap metal and steel shavings, violently slamming and careening along against the walls with the erratic, terrible force of its ascent.
Doesn't really conjure a food thing for me.
Doesn't really conjure a food thing for me.
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Two words pal, one of them, the second one is off!
And seeing as I'm in such a good mood, here's the finished Bumperbird, set up and playing well like a bright T Bird
View attachment 997109
Sweet.
Not a thunderbird owner per se, but my main bass has significant thunderbird influences including 3 Lollar T-bird pickups (more details here). I have a pickup question for you guys:
I've found recently that the combination of 3 Lollar T-bird pickups plus a high fidelity tube preamp (Noble) that I'm using yields a significant amount of hum in my bass. Not 60 cycle hum or grounding-related buzz, but a a constant hum that I hear when the bass is plugged in and I'm not playing. I recently took the bass to SF Guitarworks to see if they could solve it. They got in touch with Jason Lollar and described the pickup + electronics configuration (all passive, but several switches are involved) and he basically said that his Thunderbird pickups have been known to create some hum, especially when 3 or more of them are used together.
Not the answer I was looking for. Obviously hum's not a big issue while playing, but it gets in the way when recording and when playing live, in between songs, etc. SF GW shielded my bass which seems to help a tiny bit, but I was wondering: has anyone had similar experiences with the Lollar thunderbird pickups? I love the tone of the pickups, but would consider switching one or more of the p'ups out for a different t-bird variety if I can reduce hum without sacrificing tone.
What might my options be? Mike Lull? Thunderbuckers?
I've found recently that the combination of 3 Lollar T-bird pickups plus a high fidelity tube preamp (Noble) that I'm using yields a significant amount of hum in my bass. Not 60 cycle hum or grounding-related buzz, but a a constant hum that I hear when the bass is plugged in and I'm not playing. I recently took the bass to SF Guitarworks to see if they could solve it. They got in touch with Jason Lollar and described the pickup + electronics configuration (all passive, but several switches are involved) and he basically said that his Thunderbird pickups have been known to create some hum, especially when 3 or more of them are used together.
Not the answer I was looking for. Obviously hum's not a big issue while playing, but it gets in the way when recording and when playing live, in between songs, etc. SF GW shielded my bass which seems to help a tiny bit, but I was wondering: has anyone had similar experiences with the Lollar thunderbird pickups? I love the tone of the pickups, but would consider switching one or more of the p'ups out for a different t-bird variety if I can reduce hum without sacrificing tone.
What might my options be? Mike Lull? Thunderbuckers?
7enders just can't produce that hit of salty goodness that the anchovies add to the sound.
I'm curious if three pups is the issue and not the "brand"
Does this hum if one of the pups is rolled off or un-wired?
Possible the pickups are out of phase with each other?
Yes, all shielding and grounding has been checked and re-checked.
If I solo one of the three pups (via blend knobs and switches, not via un-wiring, hum is reduced but still present.
How would I test for out of phase?
Two words pal, one of them, the second one is off!
And seeing as I'm in such a good mood, here's the finished Bumperbird, set up and playing well like a bright T Bird
View attachment 997109
That looks great and you finished it so quickly!! My projects take for evvvvvvvveeeerrrrr to get completed. How does is play? Are you happy with the results?
That's the joys of being semi house bound, I have some time to make stuff but I have no chance of playing them with other people or a band
The neck is a bit too wide for me and it's heavy compared to a T Bird but other than that it's very nice, way better than I could have hoped for; the tone is brilliant sort of half way between a jazz and a bird
My 5 string thunderbird did sound like this
But after adding a graphic EQ to boost the low B sounds like
Mind sharing what EQ you're using? I have an Epi Pro V running through a couple TC Electronic BG250 combos (115 and 210 together), would be interesting to see what diff it might make with my rig.
- Jun 30, 2010
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Two words pal, one of them, the second one is off!
And seeing as I'm in such a good mood, here's the finished Bumperbird, set up and playing well like a bright T Bird
View attachment 997109
Cool hybrid of the 2 60's T-bird pg designs - perfect for a Bumperbird
Then here is this its Classic pro IV and the tone difference is pretty obvious, even though the pickup is same, so there should be the difference somewhere in the body. That's why i don't want Epiphone.
Fair enough so you want the 64 Tbird sound not the modern version, your options will be Thunderbuckers or Lull pups I guess. My 2015 Epiphone and 2011 Gibson sound identical with the same strings, I couldn't tell them apart to save my life
I know you already talked to Lollar.
I would get in contact with Lollar again and ask about how he would want it wired, and make sure it is wired that way
I would also inquire of him what else you may be able to do to make it better
Are you using any high gain pedal or preamp in front of it?
The preamp on my tube heads have some hiss.
I just clang harder to blend it in...
Thanks, I just reached out to Jason myself to ask about other wiring options. I'm using a Noble tube preamp at the end of my signal chain and it does amplify the hum, but there's definitely hum without it. My P bass has 0 hum through the Noble.
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True, don't know if he talks about strings in the video, but that alone could make a huge difference, type, brand, age, etc.
I had a Pro. Removing the elctronics and installing new pickups transformed it from a Bird-shaped bass into a Bird-sounding bass. It is no longer a Pro.
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