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Thunderbird Club

#309,103
Miles_ONeal said:
The black rectangle that has BBE 2150AD JRC 2503C is an audio processing chip. Of the smaller components, R is for resistor, C is for capacitor, L is for lunch.
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I'm thinking you pulling my string just a bit and being intentionally vague so as to not let the real secret out. The chip says BBE 2150 on it. That clearly means part of the magic is the chip takes the sound and transports it to the carefully selected time of 2150 where it would sound the best and then transports it back after it's corrected in 2150. I see what's going on. You can't fool me that easily.
 
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#309,110
dagrev said:
I'm thinking you pulling my string just a bit and being intentionally vague so as to not let the real secret out. The chip says BBE 2150 on it. That clearly means part of the magic is the chip takes the sound and transports it to the carefully selected time of 2150 where it would sound the best and then transports it back after it's corrected in 2150. I see what's going on. You can't fool me that easily.
Click to expand...
Well now you did it.
When people find out it’s actually a time travel machine, prices will sky rocket. :smug:
 
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#309,114
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#309,115
GBassNorth said:
You bring up a good point and something to clearly watch out for when modding basses to three or more pickups. There’s actually two major factors to consider, one as you noted is the magnetic pull on the strings which can cause chorus and warble effects and even effect intonation, the other is signal phasing and cancellation due to multiple pickups offsetting each other at various frequencies.

The magnetic pull is an easy issue to design out by not using exceptionally strong magnetic pickups and positioning the height of the pickup correctly to avoid unwanted string pull. The cancellation issue is best dealt with by using non similar pickups in close proximity to each other.

In Jeff’s case (@JJR58 ) he wisely used a thunderbird sidewinder pickup between the two Thunder ranch pickups. This dissimilar pup layout eliminated any cancellation effect and gave his Tbird a truly unique and beautiful voice. I’ve had similar luck with ChinaBucker pickups. Again, dissimilar layout is the key. Mine are bridge at the neck, neck at the middle and bridge at the bridge positions. Works phenomenally good with each pickup having its own volume and tone stack and allowed me to use a unique tone cap for each pickup as well. Super flexible sound palette that goes from bark to thick fat bottom and everything in between even simultaneously. She’s called the BlingBird…
View attachment 7119601

I’m in the middle of a four pickup build now that will use a similar control spec except it will have a bridge/neck/bridge/neck pickup configuration. The magnetic pull will be the real challenge on this one since I’m using Epiphone Goth pickups (not overly strong but certainly not weak magnets). The pup cavities will be routed extra deep to allow possibly needed space between the strings and pickups.
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That's a beautiful bird! Of course, they all are. Such a classic design.

This is my little frankenstein shortbird. I've owned a few proper Thunderbirds, but ultimately find that I enjoy short scale basses most. Was on the look-out for one of those 2011(?) short scale Thunderbirds for quite some time, when this woodshop DIY bolt-on body popped up on facebook marketplace. Not sure what wood it's made from, but actually executed quite well, though with a poorly done but charming natural finish. It already had a Fender style bridge, PJ pickup cavities, and a neck pocket ready for a long scale Fender neck, but I took it on as a challenge to create my own short scale t-bird, where I could go nuts with electronics experiments without much at stake. This was the end result and I actually enjoy it enough to where I'm no longer in the market for a Gibson shorty. The neck is from an Ibanez TMB-30 short scale, which fit the pocket perfectly and only required new bridge placement. The added tailpiece covers the 5 original bridge screw-holes, but also allows me to use medium-scale strings which my Alembic, Rickenbacker, and Guilds require, so I always have plenty of those on hand. Pickups are two passive EMG's from an 80s Steinberger, along with a wide/flat single-coil underneath the chrome mudbucker cover. Controls are volume and tone, 3-way toggle between neck and middle pickup, 3-way toggle to add in the bridge pickup full signal OR high-passed (which combats the mid-scoop and frequency cancellation that you've mentioned, but also allows for two very different and equally useful voicings). Finally, one of my favorite things about this bass is that it's pretty lightweight and balances 100% perfectly with no dive.

shortbird.jpg
 
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