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Thunderbird Club

#328,501
GBassNorth said:
I should have my Warwick Thumb based Thunderbird put together in the next couple of weeks. Was hoping to bring it up to Monterey in early November so you could try it out. Should be a slap demon and will hopefully have all the grit and grind my Thumb bass has. If your plans change and you’re available would love to hook up with you for some bass abuse on it’s trial run.

Here’s the layout…
View attachment 7343767

MEC Jazz pups (including exact locations) and MEC preamp all to Thumb BO5 spec, Warwick bridge and hard tail, and Wenge/Wenge neck. We’ll find out how much impact the different fret material on this build makes vs the Warwick brass frets. And for the tone wood folks, there’s always the potential impact of a mahogany body vs bubinga or okanvol. Then there’s the headstock and body shape camp that would also be concerned about the impact on tone, not to mention the finish camp that would be concerned with poly vs nitro vs oil and wax (I haven’t decided on the finish yet so there’s still hope for that camp).
My gut feel is I’ll be at least 90% there, which is close enough for me.
Click to expand...
Thumbderbird?
 
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#328,502
Pbass through the ages Monday, right?
1760406025368.png

'55, '64' 05.
 
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#328,509
GBassNorth said:
I should have my Warwick Thumb based Thunderbird put together in the next couple of weeks. Was hoping to bring it up to Monterey in early November so you could try it out. Should be a slap demon and will hopefully have all the grit and grind my Thumb bass has. If your plans change and you’re available would love to hook up with you for some bass abuse on it’s trial run.

Here’s the layout…
View attachment 7343767

MEC Jazz pups (including exact locations) and MEC preamp all to Thumb BO5 spec, Warwick bridge and hard tail, and Wenge/Wenge neck. We’ll find out how much impact the different fret material on this build makes vs the Warwick brass frets. And for the tone wood folks, there’s always the potential impact of a mahogany body vs bubinga or okanvol. Then there’s the headstock and body shape camp that would also be concerned about the impact on tone, not to mention the finish camp that would be concerned with poly vs nitro vs oil and wax (I haven’t decided on the finish yet so there’s still hope for that camp).
My gut feel is I’ll be at least 90% there, which is close enough for me.
Click to expand...
Looks amazing!! Would absolutely love to have a play on this!

Was thinking about them thumb pick-ups other day and what it would be like to have 3 in a row right close to each other. Could be cool. Or 3 in a row like a super humbucker.
 
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#328,510
Gaolee said:
I really like a lot of yellow things, but Markbass cabinets bug me. I am shallow. But I have never played through a Markbass head and cabinet. Sound and light weight might overcome shallow.
Click to expand...
I always thought Markbass stuff looked like a sneaker display. Kinda still do, but the sound, and these cabs' strange ability to throw into a space has always been impressive. Now I'm a believer... Still an not into the heads though.
 
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#328,513
ectoflanger said:
Nice- so what is the color name of the red on the middle one?
Click to expand...
I'm guessing it's supposed to be Candy Apple Red. The body was refinished decades ago long before I got it. It's so worn it looks original. I have no history other than I got it from Teddy Gentry (Alabama) who was selling off some things. A friend he works/records with sold a couple basses of his for him a number of years ago, so I have no way to ask him what the story was on it.

When I got it it was supposed to be original other than the refin. When I got it the electronics were from 1967. I contacted the seller and he said it was checked out by a good luthier in Nashville. I showed picks of the pot and writing on the back of the pickups and politely suggested that tech look a little deeper as he missed some very obvious things. I got some money back and since it came with the original (to that time anyway) case, I called it good. I found a harness from '64, sold the '67 pups and ordered Klein Epic 62 pups from Texas and was very pleased how I came out and the improved sound. His pickups sound great and he goes about replicating vintage pups like no one I know of. I have nothing to compare from that time, but can say it was a big improvement.

1962 Epic Series Precision (P Bass) Pickups - Klein Pickups
Magnets, Our Epic Series 1962 Pickups use Original Fender Alloy Alnico 5 Magnets From 1962. [This is some poor wording.] We sent Original magnets from a 1962 pickup to an Independent Laboratory for Metallurgical Chemical Analysis Testing. We then contracted direct with our magnet manufacturer to get the Alnico 5 magnets Specially Poured to the exact composition of the Originals. We are the only manufacturer who offers this. Pure, Sweet, and Authentic Tone.
Wire, our 42ga Plain Enamel wire is not just stock wire. We have sent dozens of samples of wire from early Precisions for analysis. We get our 42ga Plain Enamel built to the exact specs of the samples we have had analyzed. Exact Resistance, Exact ID & OD, & Color matching. Our 42ga Plain Enamel Wire is the most authentic and accurate Magnet Wire Available. As Authentic as it can possibly get.

How much any of this matters is anyone's guess, but they do sound great. Whould be my choice if I needed Fender pickups. I confess he's a bit of an odd dude.
 
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#328,515
dagrev said:
Klein Epic 62 pups from Texas and was very pleased how I came out and the improved sound. His pickups sound great and he goes about replicating vintage pups like no one I know of. I have nothing to compare from that time, but can say it was a big improvement.
Click to expand...
I have a set of these in my Japanese 1987 Fender PB-331, medium scale Precision, and a pair of his Epic 62 Jazz bass pickups in my 2010 JB-62M medium scale Jazz bass. These two basses are pretty much twins, upgraded with the same bridges, tuners, and pickups, both with the Dunlop SS flats. Both of these play really well and sound great. Lower output than my other Fenders, which all have some form of aftermarket pickups, but still nice.
 
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#328,516
_Tay_ said:
Looks amazing!! Would absolutely love to have a play on this!

Was thinking about them thumb pick-ups other day and what it would be like to have 3 in a row right close to each other. Could be cool. Or 3 in a row like a super humbucker.
Click to expand...
That’s kind of the way my Dingwall Tbird is set up…
IMG_1661.jpeg

Three in line Jazz size split coils all back to back and near the bridge. I like the sound of it but was not overly fond of the stock pickup switching so I rewired it a bit and it sounds much better now.

It’s a rare bird so I don’t intend to cut into it, but if I were in the routing mood I’d route for two more pickups back to back with the existing three for a five total pickup layout. The Dingwall pickups are readily available after market for reasonable costs. Then I’d change the controls out for a stacked knob vol/tone for each pickup. That would be super flexible and would add some deeper darker tone options to this relatively bright bird.
 
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#328,518
Count Bassie said:
I always thought Markbass stuff looked like a sneaker display. Kinda still do, but the sound, and these cabs' strange ability to throw into a space has always been impressive. Now I'm a believer... Still a not into the heads though.
Click to expand...
I’m in the shallow club here, so I kinda back off the Markbass stuff because of the tonka toy yellow plastered all over everything. But I have to admit, I’ve never heard a louder and better sounding super compact 12” combo than the CMD121P. Pricey and fugly but it really fills a room with an amazingly small footprint and only 25 pound weight.
https://reverb.com/item/92607598-markbass-mini-cmd-121p-500-watt-1x12-bass-combo-2010s-black
 
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