Thunderbird Club

[MCF]

The orange Lull is the one I would go into a cage match for. It probably wouldn't end well for my head and body, but my ears and fingers would be happy.

Yeah. I love that Thunderbird. It fits me perfectly. And it isn’t even blue.

 

[MCF]

This is probably an odd question, but here it goes. Are there any suppliers of black plastic pickup rings for Thunderbird pickups? I would probably have to square off the corners a bit, but I cannot use metal pickup rings with the Alumitone pickups I'm putting back into the fretless 'Bird. The finish looks close to perfect everywhere except right around the pickup routes, which is hardly a surprise. It's not bad there, but pickup rings would finish it off just a bit. Besides, I like the way pickup rings look.

Ask Ken. He knows a guy.

Or commission Irv to print you some.

 

[MCF]

Why yes, both of mine wear them. I agree about the look. Zero function in my case. Dave at Frets on the Net made them for me. I'm sure he still has the measurements for them, at least for TB+.


View attachment 7131538

Beat me to it. Doesn’t anyone around here work?

 

[MCF]

Checked again this morning to make sure I wasn’t misremembering things.
Here’s the trim rings…
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Here’s the pickups…
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Here’s a close up of the trim ring forced onto the pickup as far as it will go. The pickup should slip all the way through the ring.
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The metal pup cans on the Gibby pickups I have are flared out at the base plate where the solder joints are.
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Solution - file the trim rings out so they are large enough to fit these pickups. Alternate - remove the solder on the pickups, compress the housing, and then resolder them while compressed so they fit these rings. Filing the ring is the route I’d choose. It’ll look fine from a foot out but close inspection will be far from perfect.

Lastly, you can see the corner radius difference between the Artec pups and the Gibby pup trim ring. The ring will cover the Artec corner radius over cut so not a huge issue. Just less than ideal from a quality routing standpoint .
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Odd. It was a perfect fit on mine.

 

[MCF]

As I was typing that response I gazed out the window here in SoCal near Simi Valley and it looked like it was snowing outside.
Yikes! That’s ash! Must be a new fire nearby and it’s windy again today. Figures, I just put all the evacuation goods away yesterday.
So much fun.

There is a potentially bad one that started on Lake Hughes Road. There are a lot of hidden homes and horse ranches out that way. A lot more people than most folks realize.

 

[TBird1958]

Yeah. I love that Thunderbird. It fits me perfectly. And it isn’t even blue.

It's still Orange

Interesting fellow as well.

 

[MCF]

Sounds kind of like a challenge.

I’m willing to take it. So long as I can crash in the spare room if needed. He also has a nice selection of assorted red wines.

 

[MCF]

Mon dieu!..
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Now where?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It's still Orange

Interesting fellow as well.

Are you getting that second one? I like the detachable neck!

 

[Stealth57]

Beat me to it. Doesn’t anyone around here work?

Just you

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Just you

Ha!

 

[MCF]

yeah who cares if it don't fit at the bottom....
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I could live with it on both of mine if I had to. But I like really low action and for that the pickups need to go down about a millimeter or so. Not a huge issue. But it’ll get done just the same to make great basses even that much more playable.

 

[TBird1958]

Are you getting that second one? I like the detachable neck!

I wish, it's the only one with the pickups arranged that way - Lull necks are detachable

 

[MCF]

Are you getting that second one? I like the detachable neck!

My wife’s favorite bass of mine is the natural finished swamp ash Peavy Foundation. She likes the clean, no plastic look. Maybe I could talk her into that someday. It’s gorgeous.

 

[MCF]

This is not good.

Fast-moving Hughes Fire breaks out in Castaic, prompting evacuations

Around 19,000 people are under evacuation orders after the fire quickly grew to more than 8,000 acres. The 5 Freeway corridor is also closed.

laist.com

 

[GBassNorth]

I wish, it's the only one with the pickups arranged that way - Lull necks are detachable

Is that lull listed for sale? Haven’t seen it before.

 

[GBassNorth]

I’m willing to take it. So long as I can crash in the spare room if needed. He also has a nice selection of assorted red wines.

Three spare rooms, your choice. Hint, one of them is right next to the bar, it’s the one I’d go for.

 

[TBird1958]

Is that lull listed for sale? Haven’t seen it before.

It was a couple years ago, would not blame its owner for hanging on to it! With so few made, they’re all rare!

 

[Engle]

Probably a stupid question/suggestion. But what if you install the Gibson pickup and adjust to your preferred height, then add the ring afterwards? If the ring fits over most of the pickup, that seems like a possible solution, at least in my weird brain.

That's probably what I did on my Orville.

 

[Engle]

As I was typing that response I gazed out the window here in SoCal near Simi Valley and it looked like it was snowing outside.
Yikes! That’s ash! Must be a new fire nearby and it’s windy again today. Figures, I just put all the evacuation goods away yesterday.
So much fun.

Yikes! Stay safe!