Thunderbird Club

[Gaolee]

And Bettie's butt looks very happy.

Bettie's butt always looks very happy.

 

[bobyoung53]

I read somewhere that these were hard to hear on stage but in the audience they would be liquefying people’s guts…

They are long throw cabs but you can hear them onstage. They're really good at outside gigs. I've only used them twice, once inside and once outside and they sounded good up close too both times. I'm curious too I haven't played through one since I was a kid.

Edit, they do not have a lot of top end.

 

[JJR58]

humm... I'd say multi-talented

I'll take that.

 

[Engle]

Pretty much. To my ears the Gibby NR pup in the bridge position (which is roughly the same location as the VP bridge pup) sounds a bit warmer and fuller even when both basses have identical strings. The Gibby NR pup in the neck position (which is closer to the neck than the NR pup is) sounds noticeably warmer and richer, but a good portion of that may be because of the different pup location. Richer warmer and fuller isn’t everyones cup of tea, but it is something I tend to gravitate to on bass pickups. Overall, I like the sound of my 2021 NR a bit more than my VP but only very slightly. They both sound very good in just about any mix. String selection and EQ settings will go a log way towards minimizing any significant difference between the two

I think the other factor that comes into play is plucking/picking position. I will move my right hand around a fair bit without really thinking about it, so I might not notice a subtle difference between pickups as much as a player that anchors their picking/plucking hand.

 

[Engle]

I have been trying to get a country project off the ground. The guitarist just broke his ankle hiking. Jeez!

Merde! Hopefully he can rehearse sitting down.

 

[GBassNorth]

I’m guessing you meant to say “…closer to the neck than the VP pup is.”

I don’t suppose there is a way to get these Gibson NR pickups without buying that whole bass?

Good catch! Typo on my part, sorry. I’ve corrected the original post to eliminate any further confusion.

For right now, the only ways you can get a 2021 NR pickup is to either buy the bass or find someone parting one out. There has been rumor that Gibson might start selling the Tbird bass pickup separately like they do with their guitar pickups, but it hasn’t happened yet.

 

[bobyoung53]

You know more about it that I might, but I'm going on what others and JimmyM has said over the years about the pre's not being the same or even similar, hence the very different sound. Even my V-4B reissue is pretty different. Louder and not a big and smooth. I think if you sent any V4-B and SVT (and the V4-BH) flat, the latter will sound almost the same but not so much with the V4-B. I'm not sure about the position switch, I'm ignorant there.

I've never tried a new V4-B but the seventies heads had almost identical settings on the preamps as an SVT, on 70's SVT's the mid center frequencies for the switch are 220 hz & 800 hz, vs the 300 & 1000 on the V4-B the third position on both is 3000 hz. Ultra hi and ultra lo are identical. They sounded pretty similar to each other except for volume. V4-B's were not as common as SVT's back then, that's why they stopped making them.

Top is a 70's V4-B, below it is a 70's SVT, look at the frequencies right above the mid pots. V4-B's only had one channel with two inputs and two volume controls, SVT's had two separate inputs with their own set of volume and tone controls. Neither amp is stereo, only the preamps on the SVT has two channels, they combine and both use the power amp.

Link Removed

 

[Stealth57]

Well, the 200s is alive but will definitely need some help from @Chucky Stiletti . Sounds maybe a bit more boomy than the Concert Bass but can’t really let it fly as there is a high pitched hum at any volume over 2-3. Gets worse as you turn it up. Seller said he thought there was a cap issue.

 

[bobyoung53]

A band I was in 70-72 on keys and sax, the bassist had a V4 and 2 2x15 cabs. He played a Ric.

How'd it sound? Heavy?

 

[BklynKen]

How'd it sound? Heavy?

Sunny?

 

[bobyoung53]

Sunny?

Ampegy

 

[JIO]

Ok, having not wired up that many basses, this is what I have, the three conductor is the new pickup, what wire goes where?

Your basic VVT wiring is anything bare wire is ground - white is usually hot (+), black is also ground (-) This is for a J w/250k pots, but it would be the same for a T-bird w/500k pots.

 

[Stealth57]

How common is it to have both a braided shield and a black wire?

I’ve replaced a number of pickups on other basses and never seen a three wire design.

 

[Ringhammer]

View attachment 5071565 View attachment 5071566

Maybe better to start with ebony stain as opposed to leather dye? Or, if I start with the stain and don’t get the results I’m looking for, will that be a problem for the dye? Being oil/stain?

 

[bobyoung53]

Well, the 200s is alive but will definitely need some help from @Chucky Stiletti . Sounds maybe a bit more boomy than the Concert Bass but can’t really let it fly as there is a high pitched hum at any volume over 2-3. Gets worse as you turn it up. Seller said he thought there was a cap issue.

View attachment 5071583

Is it a hum or a fairly high pitched tone? If it's high pitched it could also be a tube problem, some very old (usually pre-amp) tubes will oscillate like that. With bad caps usually you'll usually get low frequency hum, 60 Hz, sometimes 120 Hz.
How long did the amp sit without being played? when they sit the electrolytic caps dry out which causes low frequency hum. Moisture is not good for them either and will led to hum.

 

[Stealth57]

Is it a hum or a fairly high pitched tone? If it's high pitched it could also be a tube problem, some very old (usually pre-amp) tubes will oscillate like that. With bad caps usually you'll usually get low frequency hum, 60 Hz, sometimes 120 Hz.

The tubes look new and the seller said he replaced them not that long ago. But, anything is possible until the Chuck-meister does his magic.

 

[bobyoung53]

The tubes look new and the seller said he replaced them not that long ago. But, anything is possible until the Chuck-meister does his magic.

By high frequency is it like around high A on your bass? If so that would be 120 Hz hum and would be an electrolytic cap. I've had new preamp tubes oscillate but not often.

 

[Gaolee]

They are long throw cabs but you can hear them onstage. They're really good at outside gigs. I've only used them twice, once inside and once outside and they sounded good up close too both times. I'm curious too I haven't played through one since I was a kid.

Edit, they do not have a lot of top end.

Sounds like an original 360 stack. You can get top end by using the bright switch. A Grexa reissue has a treble horn, so no top end problems. Those are high-fi as well as liquefy.

You can hear both just fine on stage, but they do sound different in the audience from what you hear on stage.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

How common is it to have both a braided shield and a black wire?

I’ve replaced a number of pickups on other basses and never seen a three wire design.

quieter with a shield…

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

The tubes look new and the seller said he replaced them not that long ago. But, anything is possible until the Chuck-meister does his magic.

yeah, oscillating….flick the hi lo switches back and forth and turn down the treble to 0 and see if it goes away…..
bring to Gardinos on Sat if all else fails…