Thunderbird Club

[WillyW]

more power by just replacing the tubes with 6550s?….doesn’t sound right..

depends on where you put them...

 

[PhR75]

I find the Gibby NR pups to be a bit warmer than the VP pups, the VPs sound a bit more aggressive. Personally, I like the warmth of the Gibby pups and the ability to brighten them to taste with string changes if needed. The VP pups are also fantastic and regardless of string selection they seem to keep a lot of their aggressive nature. There’s probably at least a 90% overlap in tone between the two pups, with the VP reaching a bit further on the top end and the Gibby a bit further on the bottom end.
In my book, it’s Gibby pups to hold the foundation and drive the beat and VP pups to cut through and stand forward in the mix. YMMV

Have you tried each at the same bass? Swapping VP's pickups to Gibson NR's or vice versa?

 

[bobyoung53]

more power by just replacing the tubes with 6550s?….doesn’t sound right..

I don't remember where I read that, I just looked around a bit and it seems to be an urban legend. I found a thread on it here and common consensus seems to be that there's not much difference.

Ampeg V4 - 6550's vs. 7027's

More info here but you probably already know this stuff:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I don't remember where I read that, I just looked around a bit and it seems to be an urban legend. I found a thread on it here and common consensus seems to be that there's not much difference.

Ampeg V4 - 6550's vs. 7027's

there wouldn’t be unless you make use of the 6550’s more rugged construction by upping voltage and current….I can put a 426 big block V8 in place of a 225 slant 6 but if I don’t upgrade the fuel pump I won’t see any major gain….sure, one can say, “the motors already have properly sized pumps” which is true but you get the idea…

 

[bobyoung53]

there wouldn’t be unless you make use of the 6550’s more rugged construction by upping voltage and current….I can put a 426 big block V8 in place of a 225 slant 6 but if I don’t upgrade the fuel pump I won’t see any major gain…

Yeah, I thought you'd need to up the plate voltage and adjust all the voltages around the tubes along with a new transformer(s) to get more power out of them but I'm no expert and 20 watts is not a lot of power to mod an amp for. I did find a VT-22 schematic which is the same as a V4 (the forum says) and the schematic says you can sub 6550's for the 7027A's for 'improved performance' but again that may have been Ampeg hyperbole.

Schematics :: Ampeg V4.com | All Ampeg All The Time

 

[GBassNorth]

Have you tried each at the same bass? Swapping VP's pickups to Gibson NR's or vice versa?

I have not swapped my VP pickups with my NR pickups, just played them side by side (unfortunately with different strings on each bass). The only person I know that has swapped his Gibby 21 NR neck pup with an Eppi VP pup is @godofthunder59. I believe his thoughts on the swap were that the VP pup had a bit more grit and the Gibby pup was a bit more polite and clear, he can chime in and correct me or add more info.

 

[PhR75]

I have not swapped my VP pickups with my NR pickups, just played them side by side (unfortunately with different strings on each bass). The only person I know that has swapped his Gibby 21 NR neck pup with an Eppi VP pup is @godofthunder59. I believe his thoughts on the swap were that the VP pup had a bit more grit and the Gibby pup was a bit more polite and clear, he can chime in and correct me or add more info.

Yeah, was just thinking that the NR has the neck pickup closer to the neck so it definitely will sound more bassier.

 

[Stealth57]

depends on where you put them...

Ahem

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Yeah, I thought you'd need to up the plate voltage and adjust all the voltages around the tubes along with a new transformer(s) to get more power out of them but I'm no expert and 20 watts is not a lot of power to mod an amp for. I did find a VT-22 schematic which is the same as a V4 (the forum says) and the schematic says you can sub 6550's for the 7027A's for 'improved performance' but again that may have been Ampeg hyperbole.

Schematics :: Ampeg V4.com | All Ampeg All The Time

with that straight across swap, I would think the benefits would be more headroom (if that’s what you want) and longer tube life…

 

[bobyoung53]

with that straight across swap, I would think the benefits would be more headroom (if that’s what you want) and longer tube life…

"More headroom" That term has always confused me, does that mean instantaneous or sustained?

 

[godofthunder59]

I have not swapped my VP pickups with my NR pickups, just played them side by side (unfortunately with different strings on each bass). The only person I know that has swapped his Gibby 21 NR neck pup with an Eppi VP pup is @godofthunder59. I believe his thoughts on the swap were that the VP pup had a bit more grit and the Gibby pup was a bit more polite and clear, he can chime in and correct me or add more info.

Thats pretty much it in a nutshell. 60s Nonreverse Thunderbirds had hotter pickups than the 63-65 so that's probably why I like the Epiphone Probuckers better, they seem hotter with a little more grit. I don't have meter readings to compare the two though. Both are great pickups but the 760 Probuckers suit my playing style best.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

"More headroom" That term has always confused me, does that mean instantaneous or sustained?

both really, repeated instantaneous would become sustained…. you have a bigger plate structure that will not saturate as quickly due to reduced secondary emission not altering the gain characteristics as drastically in that region resulting in less compression, making it feel like you can drive the amp harder…make sense?..

 

[godofthunder59]

I've posted this to death but my Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird through my Hiwatts definitely plenty of treble and grit. The video is shot close close so it doesn't catch the low end from the subs. Im quite pleased with the sound.

 

[bobyoung53]

both really, repeated instantaneous would become sustained…. you have a bigger plate structure that will not saturate as quickly due to reduced secondary emission not altering the gain characteristics as drastically in that region resulting in less compression, making it feel like you can drive the amp harder…make sense?..

It does, in other words, the amp would have more perceived power but not really?

 

[bobyoung53]

I've posted this to death but my Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird through my Hiwatts definitely plenty of treble and grit. The video is shot close close so it doesn't catch the low end from the subs. Im quite pleased with the sound.

Great sound, I like that single pickup T-Bird.

 

[PaleAngel_90]

I've posted this to death but my Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird through my Hiwatts definitely plenty of treble and grit. The video is shot close close so it doesn't catch the low end from the subs. Im quite pleased with the sound.

Sounds good! What's the name of the band? Didn't knew you could sing!

 

[GBassNorth]

Yeah, was just thinking that the NR has the neck pickup closer to the neck so it definitely will sound more bassier.

I’d agree with that assumption. Sounds like Scott has tried both pickups in the same bass. I do know he changed the neck pickup position in one of his 21 NRs to match the 1960’s NR Tbird and has installed a VP pup there but don’t know if he tried each pickup in that new position or not. You have to ping him to find out.

 

[godofthunder59]

Great sound, I like that single pickup T-Bird.

It's a two pickup Epiphone Vintage Pro! The bridge pickup is of course off.

 

[godofthunder59]

Sounds good! What's the name of the band? Didn't knew you could sing!

Who's That, funnily enough I do most of the high backup vocals.

 

[BklynKen]

I probably could learn to play left handed. It wouldn't be all that much worse than my right handed playing. I can do plenty of other things more or less equally poorly with either hand.

Get tips from @PillO . He mastered that.