Thunderbird Club

[Korladis]

I pushed for the discontinued MAX which is the hottest possible output with the same form factor (more wire, hotter magnets). Three db hotter in fact than a 66. I wanted to call them 666's but Steve thought we'd lose the Fundamentalist market.

For every 3 DB increase volume doubles BTW. The MAX pup I have is ridiculously loud.

Personally I prefer a 63 neck and a 66 or 66S bridge...actually I'm fine with one 63N

Heh, who cares about that market anyway?

I like having a hotter bridge pickup than neck. I like my bridge pickup to be nasty and my neck pickup to be smooth and pillowy.

What's the actual output of the 66, 66S, and MAX?

 

[fjadams]

I was just reviewing some of my old faves last night & came across this image:

We used to be very friendly many years ago

 

[kat888]

Gibson hasn't made production 1/2" high (12.52 mm to you) Thunderbird pickups since 1969. Since then they've been 3/4" thick and a different design. TB+ pickups have ceramic magnets and the wire is a thicker gauge.

I've had close to 1.5 million pieces of furniture manufactured in China and lived there on and off for a decade. My experience is many Chinese will tell you what they think you want to hear. Not unlike salesmen the world round.

'vintage-ish' would be a better description of Chinabuckers IMO. I have no doubt perfect clones of the real thing could be done in China, including proper radius size covers and correct diameter screw holes for the same price.

Before Steve tooled up to make his own covers I sent one of my 64 covers to my Taiwanese ex partner in China. The price quote per cover for an exact copy was $2 each plus a tooling cost of $1500.

Hmmm well at the beginning of the email exchange to sort out my phasing problem, when he was saying it must be dodgy control cavity wiring*, he did say they've shipped many thousands to Gibson and never had a problem, and that they're the same bar the logo, which gave me the impression they're stock. But hey you know your sh1t, therefore I bow to your undoubted expertise.

*That was a horrible experience, given I had to buy the correct pots to actually wire the pups in a standard config to test the phase properly, because the luthier who installed the pups was incapable of following simple instructions - 'two 500k V pots'. I probably should have insisted he redo it for no charge but I was so angry/disgusted all I wanted was to get my Bird away from him.

 

[Dadagoboi]

Heh, who cares about that market anyway?

I like having a hotter bridge pickup than neck. I like my bridge pickup to be nasty and my neck pickup to be smooth and pillowy.

What's the actual output of the 66, 66S, and MAX?

I don't know, I'd guess the S is 1.5 db hotter than a 66. Steve has the numbers, if you ask I'm sure he'd tell you. They're all plenty loud for me. I just prefer the sweeter sound of the 63 to build on, all the rest can be done by the preamp/amp.

 

[BTL]

[...] I got a neck and body from Lowe Custom guitars and will be building a Fenderbird with a P pickup. The neck is maple with rosewood, and I'm really happy with the way Lowe prepared it. The body is outstanding as well. [...]

@Gaolee I'm glad you're happy with the body and neck!

Ping me when you finish...I'd love to see it.

 

[Gaolee]

I will do that. I'll also post pictures. For the time being, I'm a little stalled due to other things on the schedule, plus prepping the TeleBird body. It's nowhere near as nice as the P-Bird body, so it's taking some time to polish up. The plan is to send 'em both out for paint. Metallic medium green was the first choice before I saw how nicely matched the grain was on the P-Bird body. Now, I'm thinking tobacco burst like every other guitar or bass I own, save two. That should look good with the black headstock. The TeleBird headstock is clear finished maple. I'm thinking painting it black would make things consistent, even though it has a maple board, not a rosewood board. That's the idea for now. I'm hoping to be able to get the bodies painted in January.

 

[BTL]

I will do that. I'll also post pictures. For the time being, I'm a little stalled due to other things on the schedule, plus prepping the TeleBird body. It's nowhere near as nice as the P-Bird body, so it's taking some time to polish up. The plan is to send 'em both out for paint. Metallic medium green was the first choice before I saw how nicely matched the grain was on the P-Bird body. Now, I'm thinking tobacco burst like every other guitar or bass I own, save two. That should look good with the black headstock. The TeleBird headstock is clear finished maple. I'm thinking painting it black would make things consistent, even though it has a maple board, not a rosewood board. That's the idea for now. I'm hoping to be able to get the bodies painted in January.

Sounds fantastic, and thanks!

 

[D.M.N.]

Personally I prefer a 63 neck and a 66 or 66S bridge...actually I'm fine with one 63N

Out of curiosity, do you have any experience with the Greco TB pups? I really love the way mine plays and sounds, but I've heard the '63s are a bit more...Fender-like in their sound and output. I'm most used to the Precision bass sound wise, and sometimes the Greco pup just seems to be wound a bit too hot/a bit burly in the low mids (not that that's a bad thing). Just thinking the '63 might be a bit more of an in-between option to look at.

 

[Dadagoboi]

Out of curiosity, do you have any experience with the Greco TB pups? I really love the way mine plays and sounds, but I've heard the '63s are a bit more...Fender-like in their sound and output. I'm most used to the Precision bass sound wise, and sometimes the Greco pup just seems to be wound a bit too hot/a bit burly in the low mids (not that that's a bad thing). Just thinking the '63 might be a bit more of an in-between option to look at.

'Greco pickups' are also used in 'Orville by Gibson' TBirds. They're 3/4" tall with huge ceramic magnets and thick wire. Very aggressive sound if that's what you're after. We took one of mine apart and were amazed how large the magnets were. The MAX is as loud but also more 'musical' IMO, whatever that means.

The '63 ThunderBucker Reverse Neck clones are similar to a Precision sound but with more bottom and top, and less mid emphasis. They're a little hotter than a mid 60s Duncan Antiquity Precision pickup which is supposed to be a Fender clone of that era.

 

[TBird1958]

Out of curiosity, do you have any experience with the Greco TB pups? I really love the way mine plays and sounds, but I've heard the '63s are a bit more...Fender-like in their sound and output. I'm most used to the Precision bass sound wise, and sometimes the Greco pup just seems to be wound a bit too hot/a bit burly in the low mids (not that that's a bad thing). Just thinking the '63 might be a bit more of an in-between option to look at.

If you are ever incline to sell the pup out of your Greco please just let me know!

 

[JIO]

I like it a lot....

Beautifully done incorporating a Thunderbird and a Kubicki Factor....

Thanks! And a later version referencing both - (Epi) T-bird body, Saunders P-neck, Wilkinson buckers, and the early 90's 9v Fender/Kubicki pre. Only bass I own that goes toe-to-toe with my '64 T-bird.

 

[Gaolee]

One and three are ThunderBuckers. More defined than the CBs and closer to sound of my '60s TBirds. Actually, EXACTLY the sound of my 60s.
Can't seem to get the clip to stay uploaded, here it is again.

I finally had a chance to listen to these clips. The Thunderbuckers do sound better to my ears. Which ones are those?

 

[shandou]

Been playing a 5-stringer 'bird for months now, I have to say, that the neck dive is not an issue for me. Bought a wide leather strap and it stops the neck dive even with the default (silly) strap button location

 

[kat888]

Been playing a 5-stringer 'bird for months now, I have to say, that the neck dive is not an issue for me. Bought a wide leather strap and it stops the neck dive even with the default (silly) strap button location

It's only silly if it's NOT on the neck heel.

 

[Dadagoboi]

I finally had a chance to listen to these clips. The Thunderbuckers do sound better to my ears. Which ones are those?

one: 66 N+B
two : CB N+B
three: 66 N
four: CB N

 

[Gaolee]

one: 66 N+B
two : CB N+B
three: 66 N
four: CB N

I really like the sounds of those. You aren't kidding about how much clearer and more defined they are.

 

[GBassNorth]

I really like the sounds of those. You aren't kidding about how much clearer and more defined they are.

Spot on!
The Thunderbuckers should give you a ton of tone shaping options that the Chinabuckers won't, so I'd definately opt for those if given the chance. However, the funny thing is, when all is said and done, the tone that I normally shape my Bird to is very close to the Chinabuckers, go figure.

 

[Bent77]

NR Lull in the classifieds

 

[Christine]

However, the funny thing is, when all is said and done, the tone that I normally shape my Bird to is very close to the Chinabuckers, go figure

Me too, I'm really liking the TB+ pups on my current basses, they give an emphasis on the lows and with the RS66LDs they give a solid clank. Even then in the Bumperbird they are bordering on too bright, compared to the Classic VI which is identical in all but woodwork. I suspect we might be in the minority liking that sound. I wouldn't mind trying Thunderbuckers in a TBird with cobalt flats, I suspect that would be a good match for me, the cobalts are slightly too dead for my liking with TB+s

 

[Gaolee]

I have Cobalt Flats on the '91 that has Chinabuckers. It sounds great and has the kind of controllable bark and bite that I like. But, it would probably be even better with Thunderbuckers. Ah, well. One more thing on the list of things to spend money on one of these days.