Thunderbird Club

[BklynKen]

I have the Pluses in the ‘05 Studio, the ‘11 short scale, and the ‘13 NR. They all sound good to me!

Yeah, I'm a big fan. But the 2001s are brighter, with a lot more clarity and punch.

 

[Engle]

I'm coming to the conclusion that the magic of the pixie dust 2001 is in the pickups. Gibson used a number of different designs for pickups over the years, with no rhyme or reason that any of us can discern. There's no telling who made the pickups for Gibson, if Gibson didn't make them internally. I don't see why they wouldn't make them internally, but if they did, why would the design change? It doesn't make a lot of sense. All that said, there's a 2001 on Reverb in New Jersey if anybody has cash burning a hole in a pocket and wants to test my theory.

https://reverb.com/item/83458925-gibson-thunderbird-2001-sunburst

Just guessing, but differences in available magnets could alter the sound of the pickups without changing their design or appearance.

 

[JJR58]

Just guessing, but differences in available magnets could alter the sound of the pickups without changing their design or appearance.

The luthier Ken and I go to would absolutely agree with that.
And after quite the talk with him about the subject, it makes a lot of sense the influence magnets have.

 

[JIO]

The luthier Ken and I go to would absolutely agree with that.
And after quite the talk with him about the subject, it makes a lot of sense the influence magnets have.

This guy?

 

[JIO]

It’s a legit store. Although I haven’t been in it since 2019. Pretty much the only music store in Stockton anymore. It’s a franchise of the national company. From looking, it appears there is now one up the road in Elk Grove too. Likely the same owner who from my recollection was nice enough. There aren’t any others in California. Looks to be a ninety minute to two hour drive one way for you, depending on traffic. About an hour or so for brother Dave. Again, depending on traffic.

The Baldwin is in St Charles MO... a bit further a drive

 

[MCF]

Pretty big day today. Guinness Storehouse experience followed by Christ Church Cathedral. Probably an odd combination!

A young American guy thought I was English! The cheek!

Walked back to my hotel via Temple Bar, some good music in some of the places that I had a short listen too.
Plus my going through in the other direction to last time I found something:

View attachment 7033817

Where is that? Awesome! Next trip to Dublin I’ve got to make the pilgrimage to the Kid’s guitar!

The Guiness place is a bit touristy, but still loads of not to miss fun. I need to find my graduation certificate confirming that I’m a master pint puller.

Are you making your way down to Middleton to hit the Jameson Distillery? That is a very cool tour. The museum in Dublin is fun, but the big distillery is a not to be missed excursion. Fun fact. Marconi was John Jameson’s great grandson.

When are you going to Trinity?

I have a hard time distinguishing New Zealand and Australian accents at times. But English? Where was the guy from?

I wish I was there with you Geoff.

 

[JJR58]

This guy?

View attachment 7033987

Who might that be?

 

[MCF]

Another SoCal passing. Very sad.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/j-d-souther.1660302/

On a lighter note, L.A. Dodger Ohtani just became the first player to hit 50 home runes and have 50 stolen basses in a single season.

The downs and ups of life.

 

[Gaolee]

I have the Pluses in the ‘05 Studio, the ‘11 short scale, and the ‘13 NR. They all sound good to me!

Having compared the 2001 to the Flamingo, with Thunderbuckers, I cannot tell them apart with the same strings and same settings. There was a moment when I thought the 2001 pickups weren't up to the same level, but I figured out that it had dead strings and the Flamingo had fresh strings. With the same strings, DI into the interface, they sound almost exactly the same. Into the 360 stack, they sound almost exactly the same. If you ever see a 2001 or 2001 pickups, think about it. The pickups seem to be just a tad noisier than some others, but that washes out in a mix anyway.

I haven't done a comparison with the '15, but I suspect it would be hard pressed to top either of those.

 

[MCF]

Having compared the 2001 to the Flamingo, with Thunderbuckers, I cannot tell them apart with the same strings and same settings. There was a moment when I thought the 2001 pickups weren't up to the same level, but I figured out that it had dead strings and the Flamingo had fresh strings. With the same strings, DI into the interface, they sound almost exactly the same. Into the 360 stack, they sound almost exactly the same. If you ever see a 2001 or 2001 pickups, think about it. The pickups seem to be just a tad noisier than some others, but that washes out in a mix anyway.

I haven't done a comparison with the '15, but I suspect it would be hard pressed to top either of those.

Interesting. The Thunderbucker Ranch pickups are Alnico V magnets as far as I recall. The Tbird+ in your ‘01 should be ceramic magnets. Do you have them set at the same height?

 

[JIO]

Who might that be?

Apparently not who you referred to... for some reason I thought his name came up at one point. Mas Hino https://www.instagram.com/mashinonyc/

 

[Stealth57]

@Engle is world renowned. Someone on Facebook is looking for a VP PG and everyone said Irv is the man. Word travels fast.

 

[JIO]

@Engle is world renowned. Someone on Facebook is looking for a VP PG and everyone said Irv is the man. Word travels fast.

And an example of 'careful what you wish for'... don't ask me how I know...

 

[Gaolee]

Interesting. The Thunderbucker Ranch pickups are Alnico V magnets as far as I recall. The Tbird+ in your ‘01 should be ceramic magnets. Do you have them set at the same height?

More or less the same height. Output is very similar. My Thunderbuckers are 63N and 66S versions. The bridge is a lot hotter. I thought about swapping them for a while. Lately, I have developed an appreciation for pickups that are more nuance than raw power.

 

[Kindness]

I'll take my number!

In my eyes, 'm just the caretaker of this bass. It belongs to a friend. He bought it from Action Music of Arlington, VA, in 1998. They shipped it to him in Tuzla, Bosnia, where we had a NATO peacekeeping gig. It was his main gigging bass for many years before it was refinished and had the parts swapped.

He passed several years back and his widow recently decided she was ready to rehome his gear. I'll keep this one loved and played and as a memory of a friend and a reminder of the value of the limited time we have with each other.

She's as nice as she looks. I love her.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I think not, take a look at Mr. Squire's. It is the way, clearly.

Both are valid as they come from the factory both ways. But the NR is suppose to be more asymmetric, and different from the R, so the angular approach is the way. Unless you’re wearing a cape while you play during your career’s peak.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The Reissues are probably an upgrade over the Probuckers. The black plastic TB-plus, OTOH, doesn't sound that good.

It depends on what sound you want. For early Allman Brothers and Skynyrd styles, the TB+ are wonderful.

 

[BklynKen]

View attachment 7034262View attachment 7034263

She's as nice as she looks. I love her.

Beautiful. Congratulations. I play through the same amp at our practice space. Sounds great. I'll be recording with it at the end of the month.

 

[Iristone]

It's not the pickup position so much as the pickup that's in my EB-2. It's been there since I got it in the early 1980s. Compared to a number of other bass guitar pickups, its output is fairly low, which is not the usual thing from an EB-2. Mudbuckers had the reputation for being speaker cone killers due to the massive output. Mine, with a Model One, doesn't have anywhere near that kind of output but it sounds great. That's all I meant.

Funny that I'm just thinking of modding my EB-3 style bass. It's a Tokai that I've wired the Series 1 circuit in it: 30K mudbucker, either low-cut or mid-choked, blended with the bridge mini-humbucker. The non-choked neck sounds weak, as there's no top from the mudbucker and no bottom from the low cut.
I'm thinking of changing the electronics into the Series 2 circuit. I'll use the 1.2K low-Z-bucker from current Epiphone, and remove the low-cut in the non-choked positions. Hopefully this will help with the clarity, especially im the neck-soloed position.

 

[Iristone]

It depends on what TB+ pickups you have. Gibson made them a whole lot of different ways over the years. I'm absolutely convinced that whatever it was Gibson was doing in 2001 caught some magic that didn't get spread around much to other years. I have a 2001, and it is the pixie dust bass. Several others here have played it, I I put the same strings on it as on the 1991 which has Thunderbuckers. 2001 pickups sound amazingly similar to Thunderbuckers, to the point that I'm not convinced you can tell them apart without looking. That's not strictly true of TB+ pickups from other years. I don't know what's in there and will probably never find out. Gibson sure isn't saying, and it's all potted in with epoxy or something like it. They are slightly noisier than some other humbuckers. Only slightly. That may be a hint at what's going on, or maybe not.

That explains it all. My experience with TB+ is from a 2019 Thunderbird. They are dark, middy, muffled and nasal, not unlike Epiphone bolt-on Birds (but less extremely dark). The 760 Probuckers are so bright it's a revelation, but I'm sure the Vintage Reissues will open up my Bird even more.