Thunderbird Club

[Stealth57]

The Ibanez multi-scale 5-string I bought new a few months ago is the only active bass I've owned (other than an ABG ) that has a passive option from the factory.
My Squier Contemporary Jazz does now, with the Sadowsky pre-amp I put in.

The rest - including my Thunderbird Pro 5, which has passive pickups and could have, maybe should have, had the option from the factory, but doesn't - battery dies or is removed, no signal.

Is there a mod for the Pro to provide a passive setting?

 

[MCF]

The B-stock Gator Thunderbird case arrived yesterday while we were out all day. Thankfully it was still there when we arrived.[1] I opened it today. There was no description I could find on the Gator page of why iot was B-stock. The sticker on the bag the case was in said there was slight wood damage on the corner. It's really more cover material damage. Unless someone has a better idea, I'll put some clear mail polish on it to keep it from tearing more.
As the photos show, the VP fits with a little room to spare at the headstock. The body cutout isn't form-fitted, but that means it can hold nearly an Thunderbird, I hope. I tried shifting the body, and it's held firmly in place by the points of contact. For the price, I'm quite happy with this. The inspection date was two years ago.

View attachment 5139785 View attachment 5139786 View attachment 5139787 View attachment 5139788

[1] I had noted on the Gator page that I wanted it dropped off at the back door. It was at the front but I have no way of knowing whether Gator failed to pass that on or the UPS driver just didn't do it. Thankfully our neighborhood crime rate is very, very low and we've not heard of any stolen packages; I just don't like chancing it. It does seem to be random whether such requests result in the packages being at the back door, by the garage on the side of the house, or on the front porch. This is true regardless of shipper.

I use a black sharpie to mask slight tears. Clear nail polish sounds like a good idea. I’m surprised the VP fits!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I’ve never owned a pickup truck, but if I did it would be a Red Ram.

Bloody pickup...

 

[JIO]

The Ibanez multi-scale 5-string I bought new a few months ago is the only active bass I've owned (other than an ABG ) that has a passive option from the factory.
My Squier Contemporary Jazz does now, with the Sadowsky pre-amp I put in.

The rest - including my Thunderbird Pro 5, which has passive pickups and could have, maybe should have, had the option from the factory, but doesn't - battery dies or is removed, no signal.

A active bass that does not offer a passive option just seems like a bad design. The Kubicki Ex-Factor (mid '80s) was 18v and had 2 passive settings along with 2 active settings and off/kill. The G&L L2000 (early '80s) is 9v with a passive setting along with 2 active settings.

A little history of active basses - Jim Burns pioneered them in 1963, and it was stated the battery would last 6 months. (so no by-pass) 9v batteries have also much improved since then.
The History of Active Electronics.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Default answer from Mike for every bass

Too complex. My answer is just EBCFs.

 

[JIO]

I use a black sharpie to mask slight tears. Clear nail polish sounds like a good idea. I’m surprised the VP fits!

I have the same Gator case and yes, the VP fits well.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I never owned a pickup, though I've been seriously considering a beater to use just for hauling stuff. I wish someone rented out non-luxury pickup for that.
I did own a pair of 1966 Ford E100 Econolines, both straight six 170CI work versions (only the two front seats, no side windows behind them). The first was a pale yellow and came with a tiny drag racer steering wheel, shag carpet, and two home-made 15" bass bins the seller didn't want). Other than needing too much work to keep running (they'd been workhorses, rode hard and hung up wet), I loved those things.
I bought the yellow one when I was a fledgling jesus Freak. The guy who brokered the deal for me and loaned me the money to buy it spray painted "Jesus saves" on the side. It also had 2x12" wooden bumpers sprayed black; you couldn't tell until you got close they were wood. The rear windows were sprayed black, too. People gave me a wide berth, which in Atlanta was great.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Not entirely true. D'Addario ETB-92M(tapes)for my Ibby.

 

[KaraQ]

Is there a mod for the Pro to provide a passive setting?

I don't know of any thing specific, but should be easy enough..... depending on how much you want to change things, I guess.

Probably easiest, and is the way I'd go if I were to make that mod, would be to swap the pre-amp (which most people consider to be the weak point on the Pro 4/5 Thunderbirds, it's not an awesome pre-amp) with one that has the passive option built in.
Least amount of wiring/mods/etc., imo, and gets you a better pre-amp at the same time.

If you want to keep the pre-amp for whatever reason, there's a couple main ways to add a passive option, afaik. Both involve a switch of some kind to bypass the pre-amp. Either a push/pull pot (usually volume, for on/off bypass, or treble, that works as a passive tone when pulled) or a toggle.

I've never really considered putting a passive option on an active bass that doesn't have one, it's not really a feature I need, so I haven't really explored the available options further than that.

 

[Gaolee]

Active basses have to offer a passive setting to be usable if the battery dies, or to choose passive over active. Most active basses have that, but some don't.

Another reason it was probably defective.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Do they still make those? Death on wheels. Flimsy and prone to rollover. Kinda a fun little car though.

We almost bought my wife one years ago in Georgia, but the A/C was much too wimpy; she'd have arrived for work at the hospital sweaty every day. Then the rollover news came out and I was happy we hadn't!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

View attachment 5138614

Ha! I was thinking "The Ultimate One Look Guy".

 

[KaraQ]

I never owned a pickup, though I've been seriously considering a beater to use just for hauling stuff. I wish someone rented out non-luxury pickup for that.......

Not sure their level of luxury-ness, but U-Haul and home Depot rent work pickups, at least here in Sacramento.......

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Got it. I have been experimenting with various preamp tubes to see what happens. That's an experiment I won't try, seems like. There's not a whole lot of experimenting to do with power tubes that I'm aware of. They are either EL-84s or 6V6s in the amps I have. I don't see that the variants would make much difference. I had some ambitions to swap a few components in the Valve Junior, but like usual, haven't got to it.

Tube brand can make a tonal difference, more so in some amps than others. EL84s and 6V6s, 12A?7s, I found lots of differences when I was building guitar amps.
I still have a bunch of components (passives, tubes, speakers) if anyone needs them. PM me if interested.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Just a token of my extreme. TT

View attachment 5138680

"Just A Token" by My Extreme". First hit and band name, right there.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

A diode and resistor(s) can be arranged to clip the signal.
Bass Bench: Passive Distortion

if you look attentively at the top half of the signal and compare it to the bottom one before and after the diode gets connected via the alligator clip you’ll observe the clipping/distortion……”passive” because other than the energy from the pup, there is no battery or other power source involved…
https://youtube.com/shorts/M0-ZK3c4Lgk?feature=share

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Active basses have to offer a passive setting to be usable if the battery dies, or to choose passive over active. Most active basses have that, but some don't.

my P deluxe, doesn’t. huge oversight…..the elite models now do…

 

[KaraQ]

A active bass that does not offer a passive option just seems like a bad design. ........

I don't necessarily disagree, but it seems to only be a common option on more upper-end basses, at least until maybe recently.
Personally, I've had I think 11, maybe 12?, active basses, including my first bass and seven atm, and only the one came from the factory with the option.

 

[Gaolee]

I never owned a pickup, though I've been seriously considering a beater to use just for hauling stuff. I wish someone rented out non-luxury pickup for that.
I did own a pair of 1966 Ford E100 Econolines, both straight six 170CI work versions (only the two front seats, no side windows behind them). The first was a pale yellow and came with a tiny drag racer steering wheel, shag carpet, and two home-made 15" bass bins the seller didn't want). Other than needing too much work to keep running (they'd been workhorses, rode hard and hung up wet), I loved those things.
I bought the yellow one when I was a fledgling jesus Freak. The guy who brokered the deal for me and loaned me the money to buy it spray painted "Jesus saves" on the side. It also had 2x12" wooden bumpers sprayed black; you couldn't tell until you got close they were wood. The rear windows were sprayed black, too. People gave me a wide berth, which in Atlanta was great.

I have had a pickup. Now I have a van and have had vans for close to 20 years now. Before that, the haulers were big cars like old station wagons. Nothing like dry cargo in the winter in Seattle.

 

[GonePlaid]

The B-stock Gator Thunderbird case arrived yesterday while we were out all day. Thankfully it was still there when we arrived.[1] I opened it today. There was no description I could find on the Gator page of why iot was B-stock. The sticker on the bag the case was in said there was slight wood damage on the corner. It's really more cover material damage. Unless someone has a better idea, I'll put some clear mail polish on it to keep it from tearing more.
As the photos show, the VP fits with a little room to spare at the headstock. The body cutout isn't form-fitted, but that means it can hold nearly an Thunderbird, I hope. I tried shifting the body, and it's held firmly in place by the points of contact. For the price, I'm quite happy with this. The inspection date was two years ago.

View attachment 5139785 View attachment 5139786 View attachment 5139787 View attachment 5139788

[1] I had noted on the Gator page that I wanted it dropped off at the back door. It was at the front but I have no way of knowing whether Gator failed to pass that on or the UPS driver just didn't do it. Thankfully our neighborhood crime rate is very, very low and we've not heard of any stolen packages; I just don't like chancing it. It does seem to be random whether such requests result in the packages being at the back door, by the garage on the side of the house, or on the front porch. This is true regardless of shipper.

But still none that will fit my 67NR.