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Thunderbird Club

#29,365
JJR58 said:
@Dadagoboi, correct me if I'm wrong, but besides those incredible sounding p'ups.
Isn't that neck pick up closer to the the bridge p'up.........?
Click to expand...
Those are the original Gibson 60s pickup positions.
P1050252_zps3985661e.jpg


...as used on the original FenderBirds
DSC02502.jpg
 
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#29,369
RikiP said:
Yeah, the earlier video was about how good is a Thunderbird with Orange amp and fuzz.
This is video is about which is the best custom Thunderbird pickup. That's really hard to answer, because the surroundings of pickups are always different which can cause difference in tone and sound. In this video the surroundings are almost the same (same camera and microphone, same amp, same cab, same type of bass, same strings i guess etc.) with two different pickup.
One thing is sure, all of them are really good compared to the modern stock Gibson pickups.
Click to expand...

I guess my point was that if the quality of the recording of the NR T-birds was equal to the Reverb vid, even if not though a quality amp (like the Orange) you should have been able to distinuish subtitles of differences between basses/pu's. As in, all of them sounded sub-standard to my ears where as in the Reverb vid - the bass sounded exactly as a Thunderbird should in all it's richness and clarity. The Reverb vid is more recent I presume and probably used better, more advanced recording equip/mastering etc. It's just going to be asking a lot to distinguish nuance from a bad recording.
 
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#29,370
Nocturnal said:
This *might* be an option. It's cheap and you could make it your own style so to speak. You could sell off some of the other parts to recoup part of the $$. Not connected with the seller in any way, just thought I would share.

Epiphone Thunderbird Parts Kit and Neck
Click to expand...

yikes! what were they trying to do with that hs???!!! :rollno:
 
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#29,373
willsellout said:
God dammit I love this stupid Thunderbird. It's really perfect but I'm seriously considering dropping some aftermarket pickups in it. My initial thought are Lull's. I've heard them in person. Huge, ballsy, and pure rock and roll sex. Of course they are also 5 bills...what are some other good options?
Click to expand...
Having it routed for two sets is even better.
 
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#29,374
RedVee said:
Why sand it to bare? Couldn't they just rub it back a bit, put undercoat on it and then the fancy colour?
Use the Matt black as a base and move on from there?
Click to expand...
there's some dings and holes to fix, and there's kind of a lot of paint on it now. Once I determine the color I'll have a better idea where it'll go. Kinda thinking a red metalflake, or maybe silver metal flake.
 
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#29,376
ubernator said:
FML!!!!!

I never noticed till now.... It is stamped 2ND on the back of the neck.

That does mean I got ripped off doesn't it?

How much less did the 2nds sell for? What were the usual defects?
Click to expand...
About $200 without the case. Most often, defects are finish flaws, but occasionally there are hardware issues. Frinstance, the tuning machines on my TBIV were buggered. I replaced them with Hipshot Ultralights and all is well.
 
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#29,379
JIO said:
I guess my point was that if the quality of the recording of the NR T-birds was equal to the Reverb vid, even if not though a quality amp (like the Orange) you should have been able to distinuish subtitles of differences between basses/pu's. As in, all of them sounded sub-standard to my ears where as in the Reverb vid - the bass sounded exactly as a Thunderbird should in all it's richness and clarity. The Reverb vid is more recent I presume and probably used better, more advanced recording equip/mastering etc. It's just going to be asking a lot to distinguish nuance from a bad recording.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the video is not so good quality, but at least with professional headphone u can clearly hear the tone difference (Lull has much more mid, Lollar brighter highs etc.) Both is really good, it's about personal taste. I know it doesn't sound as it should, but u won't find better pick up tone comparison of these two big name on the whole internet. Just a very very few better quality, but separated recordings uploaded by different people with different process and equipment. I might be wrong, but i think comparison like this would be less relevant than the video i showed.
Since Thunderbird is not that popular in these days, the custom pickups appeared just in the recent years and just a handful of people buy more than one pair of 500$ pickups from different manufacturer in the same type of bass, and who does, doesn't feel the necessity to put effort to make a real pickup comparison... That video is the Holy Grail.
 
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