• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Thunderbird Club

Maybe it depends which Barts?
When I got mine, I recorded my J with the Chinabucker, installed the Bart in its place, and immediately recorded the same piece. I didn't find it any darker. I posted links to recordings here, but I have no idea how I could find that:laugh:

I had Bart buckers in my Factorbird before installing the G&L MFD's and they sounded dark, but that was many years ago. I'll have to check my pu bin to see if there's a Bart in there.
 
Last edited:
They are sweet. I have them in my Flying V and a Warmoth Explorer.

View attachment 5029453
So will they fit in this ?
Screenshot_20230403-110825.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: PillO and MCF
TB+ set for sale. No connection. If you want to upgrade your vintage Thunderbird. :D

Gibson Thunderbird Bass Pickups | Reverb
LOL - title says Tbird pickups, picture shows two bridge Tbird pickups, write up says what’s for sale is a bridge off a Sterling bass. Shipping cost is only $38 and they have a note saying “ask me about reducing the shipping cost”. It’s coming all the way from Indonesia for $38 and they’re offering to reduce the shipping cost??? Probably all legit and just honest mistakes - maybe.
 
One of my uncles had a pink '59 Caddy convertible, you could see that thing coming from a mile away. I always wanted a hearse when I was a kid.
I came very close to buying a running 1950 Cadillac hearse for $100 back in the mid '70s. It had no glass. What could possibly go wrong? But it was far enough away that I couldn't get there to check it out. Oh, well. Probably saved me from a whole lot of hassle. Trying to find glass for a 1950 hearse probably would have been pretty tough, even that long ago. And I hate to think about what kind of floorboards it had left.
 
But most times when I play them, I get the sound I want, a sound not identical to a record or concert, but one that works.
This. I don't try to sound like anyone else, because it will never happen. So, I sound like a mediocre bass player, playing a Thunderbird through an ACC amp. It's what I sound like. My brother says I even sound like that playing drums.
 
Maybe you need more purple silk. :D
Seriously, I’ve had days where it seems like nothing I’m playing sounds right tone wise and other days where everything is just fine, even on the same bass through the same rig with the same settings. Maybe just an off day for my hearing, IDK.

That's what I figure. It has just been a while since that happened. I didn't miss it or invite it in.
 
I don't have a mental sound for either Barts or EMGs, although I understand both have a signature sound.

EMG's are low impedance and normally active (using their own pre). They have a very clean, neutral sound - The 9v EMGX system is in my Supersonic (with flats).

upload_2023-4-13_11-35-10.jpeg


I have the EMG Geezer Butler P-pu in my Glam P/J (passive) and it sounds more or less like a classic P-bass.

upload_2023-4-13_11-30-46.jpeg
 
‘15 Thunderbird. SIT Power Steels.

Been awhile since I worked on Dreaming or White Rabbit. The former is over produced on the record IMO; maybe try more compression than you normally use?

To me White Rabbit is all about the Bolero style rhythm. I’m happy when I get that right. I’ll never sound like Jack no matter what I use or how hard I try. So I don’t worry about it.

I don’t know the other song.

I’m not very familiar with your Rumble (I have a very humble Rumble 25 practice amp I use very occasionally), but I would think you ought to be be able to get there with it….

Just don’t use the ENT I have in a case against a client. That guy treated the plaintiff on a lien and billed $2,000 twice to remove ear wax. Gotta love Cali.

I was playing along to a live version of Dreaming. 8^) With songs like these, I try to play them as close to something the artist did as possible, just for reference and to work on my skills. Then I decide whether to do something else with it. For something as iconic as WR, I'll typically stick close, anyway, because if you play that song, people expect to hear something similar to the record, and the bass part is mostly easily identifiable.

The other song is one we play at church. I completely invented my part from tabs and jamming, so it should be a slam dunk.

I usually have no issues getting it to sound good through the Rumble, and the settings were the normal ones. Hence blaming my ears.

Yikes! That seems way off the map in terms of pricing. That ENT must think they're literally the gold standard.
 
This. I don't try to sound like anyone else, because it will never happen. So, I sound like a mediocre bass player, playing a Thunderbird through an ACC amp. It's what I sound like. My brother says I even sound like that playing drums.

I really need to hear you playing drums where it sounds like "a mediocre bass player, playing a Thunderbird through an ACC amp."