Thunderbird Club

[Chucky Stiletti]

Yep, from the Brits I guess

we have outlets with breakers…..do you guys have fused plugs like in britain?

 

[RedVee]

we have outlets with breakers…..do you guys have fused plugs like in britain?

No, I had to look up what a fused plug is.
Australia and New Zealand have our own standard.

AS/NZS 3112 is the unified Australian and New Zealand guideline for electrical AC plugs (male) and sockets (female). It is commonly used in places like Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, Tonga Archipelago, Solomon Islands as well as Papua New Guinea to name a few. This standard ensures safe power transmission throughout these countries. What Electrical Plug Does Australia Use? | Finnley Electrical.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

No, I had to look up what a fused plug is.
Australia and New Zealand have our own standard.

AS/NZS 3112 is the unified Australian and New Zealand guideline for electrical AC plugs (male) and sockets (female). It is commonly used in places like Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, Tonga Archipelago, Solomon Islands as well as Papua New Guinea to name a few. This standard ensures safe power transmission throughout these countries. What Electrical Plug Does Australia Use? | Finnley Electrical.

interesting, yeah saw that plug in BA recently…..a plug for the southern hemisphere?..

 

[Ringhammer]

Yep, from the Brits I guess

My Orange AD200 has the power and standby switches backward (to me) where up is off (power) and up is standby mode.
My Ampeg’s are the opposite.

 

[GBassNorth]

I just tried texting it to you. Let me know that you got it. Otherwise, PM your email address and I’ll send it that way.

If anyone else wants a copy, let me know.

Got it. Thx!

 

[RedVee]

interesting, yeah saw that plug in BA recently…..a plug for the southern hemisphere?..

For most of the Pacific anyway.

I don’t know how Argentina got it? Maybe whatever they were doing was close enough that the standards converged.

My Orange AD200 has the power and standby switches backward (to me) where up is off (power) and up is standby mode.
My Ampeg’s are the opposite.

The Orange is correct. (To me).

Like toggles in old race and sports cars.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

good comparison…
500 Watt Class AB 28 lbs (left)
500 Watt Class D 10 lbs (right)

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

For most of the Pacific anyway.

I don’t know how Argentina got it? Maybe whatever they were doing was close enough that the standards converged.



The Orange is correct. (To me).

Like toggles in old race and sports cars.

down is “On” with the rocker switches in the Triumph…

 

[RedVee]

down is “On” with the rocker switches in the Triumph…

Yes - the same as our switches for lights, power points etc

 

[GBassNorth]

I think it's maybe been touched on before, but how does the 2015 Thunderbird sound different from the EB bass with the same pickups? I know there was some lamenting in some places that the EBs were pretty bright to the point of it not being a good thing for some. I know there is no switches for added flexibility, but seems they should sound pretty similar, but maybe they don't at all.

George has a 5 string EB and a ‘15. He is best suited to answer this re the sound. The ‘15 Thunderbird is bright if I want it to be. The bridge pickup is very hot. The tap switches on the EB are volume push/pull pots. The micro switches on the Thunderbird are likely due to the thinner body.

Marshall is spot on. The thunderbird body wing where the control cavity is is too shallow for a standard push pull pot, so the Tbird got micro switches instead. Gibson refers to their coil split method as “tuned coil tapping”.

The MSRP for the 2015 Gibson Thunderbird Bass was $2,599. More info at this link…
Gibson Thunderbird Bass 2015 (Guitarsite)

As for the 2015 vs the EB - I had zero issues setting up my EB, pretty much like every other bass I own. But the 2015 took me the better part of a year and numerous string changes to iron out. It’s a great sounding bird, a little more hifi than a modern Gibby when the coils are tapped, but just as deep and dark as a modern Gibby when it’s in the normal mode. Both the EB and the 2015 suffer from the same design quirk - if the volume knob on either pickup is at 8 or lower you have full use of the tone knob. However, if you dime the volume knob it acts like it’s overriding the tone knob and you get what sounds to me like an uncapped tone pot. From a set up standpoint I run the 2015 pickups screwed down into the body quite a bit further. Once you get it all sorted out it’s a very nice sounding bass, very light and a very fast neck.

Edit:
Did some digging around on the switches and apparently they are a “tuned coil tapping” arrangement. IDK if “tuned” is just a word added to make it seem fancy or if they are in fact specially designed to offer something different than standard coil tapping. Here’s an interesting run down on the 2015 Tbird sound options (which is identical to the 2013 EB bass)…

The pickups and electronics were also improved, with the official description saying that the 2015 Thunderbird Bass now has increased tonal Versatility, with eight distinct sounds.

• 
  
  • Neck pickup: Balanced tone, most bass, mids give some “bark”
  • Tapped neck pickup: Scoops some mids, rounder sound, retains low end
  • Bridge pickup: Less low end, more midrange bite
  • Tapped bridge pickup: Scoops mids, lighter low end, defined highs, good “pop” bass sound
  • Neck and bridge pickups: Retains strong low end, adds midrange but there’s an apparent slight scoop in the lower mids because the higher and lower frequencies are louder
  • Tapped neck pickup and untapped bridge pickup: Major scooping around 500Hz-1kHz, good lows, a hint of brightness, lays back in a track
  • Tapped bridge pickup and untapped neck pickup: Adds some upper mids back in compared to the tapped neck pickup and untapped bridge pickup
  • Tapped bridge pickup and tapped neck pickup: Like the tapped neck pickup and untapped bridge pickup sound, but adds slightly lower midrange frequencies back in.

 

[dagrev]

Marshall is spot on. The thunderbird body wing where the control cavity is is too shallow for a standard push pull pot, so the Tbird got micro switches instead. Gibson refers to their coil split method as “tuned coil tapping”.

The MSRP for the 2015 Gibson Thunderbird Bass was $2,599. More info at this link…
Gibson Thunderbird Bass 2015 (Guitarsite)

As for the 2015 vs the EB - I had zero issues setting up my EB, pretty much like every other bass I own. But the 2015 took me the better part of a year and numerous string changes to iron out. It’s a great sounding bird, a little more hifi than a modern Gibby when the coils are tapped, but just as deep and dark as a modern Gibby when it’s in the normal mode. Both the EB and the 2015 suffer from the same design quirk - if the volume knob on either pickup is at 8 or lower you have full use of the tone knob. However, if you dime the volume knob it acts like it’s overriding the tone knob and you get what sounds to me like an uncapped tone pot. From a set up standpoint I run the 2015 pickups screwed down into the body quite a bit further. Once you get it all sorted out it’s a very nice sounding bass, very light and a very fast neck.

Edit:
Did some digging around on the switches and apparently they are a “tuned coil tapping” arrangement. IDK if “tuned” is just a word added to make it seem fancy or if they are in fact specially designed to offer something different than standard coil tapping. Here’s an interesting run down on the 2015 Tbird sound options (which is identical to the 2013 EB bass)…

The pickups and electronics were also improved, with the official description saying that the 2015 Thunderbird Bass now has increased tonal Versatility, with eight distinct sounds.

• 
  
  • Neck pickup: Balanced tone, most bass, mids give some “bark”
  • Tapped neck pickup: Scoops some mids, rounder sound, retains low end
  • Bridge pickup: Less low end, more midrange bite
  • Tapped bridge pickup: Scoops mids, lighter low end, defined highs, good “pop” bass sound
  • Neck and bridge pickups: Retains strong low end, adds midrange but there’s an apparent slight scoop in the lower mids because the higher and lower frequencies are louder
  • Tapped neck pickup and untapped bridge pickup: Major scooping around 500Hz-1kHz, good lows, a hint of brightness, lays back in a track
  • Tapped bridge pickup and untapped neck pickup: Adds some upper mids back in compared to the tapped neck pickup and untapped bridge pickup
  • Tapped bridge pickup and tapped neck pickup: Like the tapped neck pickup and untapped bridge pickup sound, but adds slightly lower midrange frequencies back in.

Thanks George and Marshall!
It looks from various pics that the pickups on the EB are closer together than the 2015. Illusion possibly.
Seems Gibson had a hard time selling the EBs. I recall some being heavily discounted at various times.

 

[dagrev]

Spotted in another thread. Seems to have a thing for PB....

 

[MCF]

Thanks George and Marshall!
It looks from various pics that the pickups on the EB are closer together than the 2015. Illusion possibly.
Seems Gibson had a hard time selling the EBs. I recall some being heavily discounted at various times.

There was a short period of time around the time I got my ‘15 Thunderbird I recall EBs selling for as low as $699. Probably the warehouse liquidation thing. I should have grabbed one, knowing what I know now. Here’s a nice one on the GC used site. You don’t see them come up very often anymore.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[MCF]

Spotted in another thread. Seems to have a thing for PB....

Can you post the link to the thread please? I want to check something. The poster has an outstanding sense of color.

 

[dagrev]

There was a short period of time around the time I got my ‘15 Thunderbird I recall EBs selling for as low as $699. Probably the warehouse liquidation thing. I should have grabbed one, knowing what I know now. Here’s a nice one on the GC used site. You don’t see them come up very often anymore.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I had kind of forgotten about those. I was thinking of these as being similar. The EB 145 seems to have the same pickup spacing/location as modern Thunderbirds.
Gibson EB Bass 2018 - Satin Trans Black

 

[TBird1958]

Spotted in another thread. Seems to have a thing for PB....

Here's s Blue Thunderbird.

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[dagrev]

Can you post the link to the tread please? I want to check something. The poster has an outstanding sense of color.

Sure thing. I like that the blue kind of matches the Ashdown head.
OFFICIAL ASHDOWN CLUB

 

[dagrev]

Here's s Blue Thunderbird.

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I suppose it could be close to gaudy, but I kind of like it! It's funky.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Spotted in another thread. Seems to have a thing for PB....

great taste all the way around,,,, that rig must sound killer...although not a fan of PB, would take that MM in a second....one of the few exceptions where the 5 string sounds better than it's 4 string counterpart imho...

 

[MCF]

Here's s Blue Thunderbird.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

That’s s beautiful.