I'm not recommending. Just point out what's there. If nothing else, it may inspire someone.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
I get it Miles. But there have been so many of these. And they make them seem special. But don't even offer the regular warranty. It saddens me more than anything else. The current NR is a great Thunderbird. Mine is going on four years old and I love it. The pickups are awesome. But do small runs of different colors, bridges, etc. Instead, they are refurbs that they creatively found a way to recoup costs for. It just bugs me. But I'm the Californian pinko commie on here. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.
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I've got a project bass I've been messing around with. It's a little short scale that I had planned on using thunderbird pickup covers to house whatever underneath.
I caught a demo of the Lull IMA4 Jazz bass and thought, hey, maybe instead of trying to be too fancy I should just try and put together some Thunderbird pickups! I did a lot of digging in this thread and some others about the Lull TB pickups, and learned that they're based on a '64 pickup. I think I also dug up this picture in here too:
I spent a while hunting down specs and parts - so here's what I've got so far:
Alnico 5 bar magnets
Humbucker bobbins cut out to take the bars (I managed to find the magnets and 7 pole bobbins on Philadelphia luthier tools)
7.9k neck, 9.2k bridge (or thereabouts)
42 AWG wire? No info on insulation or anything else.
I assume these coils are wax potted and wired series by default.
Any other details or info anyone has to share before I jump in?
I caught a demo of the Lull IMA4 Jazz bass and thought, hey, maybe instead of trying to be too fancy I should just try and put together some Thunderbird pickups! I did a lot of digging in this thread and some others about the Lull TB pickups, and learned that they're based on a '64 pickup. I think I also dug up this picture in here too:
I spent a while hunting down specs and parts - so here's what I've got so far:
Alnico 5 bar magnets
Humbucker bobbins cut out to take the bars (I managed to find the magnets and 7 pole bobbins on Philadelphia luthier tools)
7.9k neck, 9.2k bridge (or thereabouts)
42 AWG wire? No info on insulation or anything else.
I assume these coils are wax potted and wired series by default.
Any other details or info anyone has to share before I jump in?
And I get that. I didn't realize they didn't give the full warranty. That's dumb, IMO.
I have no issue with factory seconds being factory refurbed and upgraded, plus custom paint. But I would want a decent price *and* the normal warranty, or a really good price with some warranty. If it's not good enough to warranty, you shouldn't be selling it as anything but a second w/o warranty at a good discount. So that's good to know.
I have a work buddy I call a pinko. You have to come up with another description
Very cool!
But for $129 each, the currently available Gibson Vintage Reissues will get you most of the way there. The only thing is that they're only offered in one winding. Gibson Introduces Vintage Thunderbird Bass Pickup Reissue
There are plenty here would likely be interested in alternatives you come up with. That's what makes all of this interesting.
I'm a big proponent of DYI for education, if nothing else.
Please let us know what you end up doing!
Looks like he's 6'2"
I'm 6'3"
Sorry, that's what they've called me for fifty years.I have a work buddy I call a pinko. You have to come up with another description
I thought about buying that MOD bird when I was in Nashville, but decided it just wasn't different enough from my metallic burgundy NR to warrant the price. Besides, that pickguard and body color combo - big time clash, I'd have to change the guard right away.
Looks beautiful, unfortunately if I played that bass I'd have three times the opportunity to hit a wrong note, maybe I need a one string bass.I'm game ;-)
There have been a few MOD shop birds I wished I had jumped on over the years, truly modded with pickups and placements and hardware and paint schemes, but it seems like lately it's just color options.
Sweeeeeet!!...what pups ended up going into that BaCH? Did you swap them?
The white BaCH has ChinaBuckers and sounds great. The sonic blue BaCH has the stock pickups which also sound ok, but I have a set of Gibson Reissues that will be replacing them once I complete the routing. I might roll several other pickups thru the blue BaCH to see what works best. Greco pups, Sidewinders, ProBuckers, and Lulls are all potential options just depends on how difficult they are to obtain.
interesting, thinking of installing the Greco pups in the 79 to see what happens, don't think I'll be installing the sidewinders on the Greco however.....say, so the pups were already replaced in the white BaCH when you got it? asking cause I'm wondering about the pg and how it was (if it was, hard to tell from pic) cut for the pup and if it had the bird or did it get a decal......beautiful photo!..
- Mar 13, 2008
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- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Such a beautiful evening at The Museum of Flight
I bought that white BaCH as is on Reverb. I listed it FS after I found my Lull T4II (couldn't afford to keep both at the time). I think that guard is masonite like the old 60's Silvertone guards, not standard pick guard material.
That's like musical tension, part of the charm.
Yes, the white BaCH previous owner was @saltymonkeyinteresting, thinking of installing the Greco pups in the 79 to see what happens, don't think I'll be installing the sidewinders on the Greco however.....say, so the pups were already replaced in the white BaCH when you got it? asking cause I'm wondering about the pg and how it was (if it was, hard to tell from pic) cut for the pup and if it had the bird or did it get a decal......beautiful photo!..
I assume he installed the pickups and routed the body and guard. Not positive if the guard is original or aftermarket.
In looking at the blue BaCH I've found that the stock pickups are nearly square corners vs the more rounded radius of Tbird pickups. In essence it necessitates a trim ring to cover the corner radius difference on the body. As for the neck pickup, the guard would need to be replaced with a newly routed one if perfection is your goal or if you don't want to use a trim ring on the guard. I'll just probably go with trim rings on the body and guard at least until I settle in on which pickup sounds best, then I'll most likely have Irv fab up a good fitting guard.
