Thunderbird Club

[GonePlaid]

I think I read somewhere on the internet that Jacob, Bob Marley’s brother, used to play bass in his brothers reggae band. His bass of choice was the Thunderbird up until that horrible accident when the headstock flew off and struck some poor little kid in the audience named Tim right across the kneecaps. The kids been a cripple ever since.

Hard to hit such a tiny kid, too.

 

[JIO]

Somewhere in India or Latvia there are coders trying to tell Waymo that a signal with no lights = a stop sign.

you'd think...

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Ok here’s take two with the Gibson Bicentennial and the BaCH Bicentennial.

Both sound very similar on my amp and in my recording monitors BUT the volume level on the Gibson is noticeably higher than the BaCH so the only difference in the two recordings is that I had to adjust the recording volume of each bass to reach parody (Gibby came down a bit to keep it from clipping and BaCH went up a bit to match Gibby recording volume).

Both basses have the tone knob full on, the bridge full on and the neck just rolled in for warmth at approximately 2. The caps are all set at .047uf on both basses. I did a repeate of the first test and followed that with a short riff on the high end (high G with melodic fills on the D and A strings).

All observations welcome (just stick to the sound and not my cruddy playing)…

These two recordings are from the same bass at the same settings - Is it Gibby or BaCH?
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These two recordings are from the other bass - is it BaCH or Gibby?
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nice clips, wish it was more apples to apples....did I miss a description of the recording setup? aer you getting a sticker with the 76?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

riding around in Mike's Dodge this morning......

 

[dagrev]

This is perfect! You can clearly see that both pots are <solder>K ohms and <blob> taper!

Great. My ability to be helpful and provide quality information remains unchanged.

 

[JJR58]

I did manage to "score" a Bag End Q10 X-D, deep version 4x10.
I know. But it's a taller, better design, and sounds absolutely stupid.
Edit: ...and for half what I paid for the Ampeg...

Bag End cabs are……
And I quote from Tuco in Breaking Bad.

Tight, tight, tight!

 

[JJR58]

To my ears, in monitor-style headphones, the BaCH sounds a bit less muffled. If that's a thing. The Bicentennial is good - but kinda dull in comparison. Almost like there was a thin blanket over the speaker cab. Or as if the tone knob was rolled back 50%. I am assuming the pickups are essentially the same - and only the strings are different? I run 500k pots in my 'Birds just to brighten things up.

500k is the only way with TBird pick ups.

 

[dagrev]

Ok here’s take two with the Gibson Bicentennial and the BaCH Bicentennial.

Both sound very similar on my amp and in my recording monitors BUT the volume level on the Gibson is noticeably higher than the BaCH so the only difference in the two recordings is that I had to adjust the recording volume of each bass to reach parody (Gibby came down a bit to keep it from clipping and BaCH went up a bit to match Gibby recording volume).

Both basses have the tone knob full on, the bridge full on and the neck just rolled in for warmth at approximately 2. The caps are all set at .047uf on both basses. I did a repeate of the first test and followed that with a short riff on the high end (high G with melodic fills on the D and A strings).

All observations welcome (just stick to the sound and not my cruddy playing)…

These two recordings are from the same bass at the same settings - Is it Gibby or BaCH?
View attachment 7394372
View attachment 7394373


These two recordings are from the other bass - is it BaCH or Gibby?
View attachment 7394374
View attachment 7394375

The second set of two sounds more like the BaCH from the first post. To my ear with buds in the '79 sounds (first set here), like it has more heft and the BaCH sound thinner, less heft and bigness. Being in the room with them they no doubt sound different.

 

[GBassNorth]

nice clips, wish it was more apples to apples....did I miss a description of the recording setup? aer you getting a sticker with the 76?

Thanks Chuck.

My observations are that both are very similar but the Gibby has more balls. The pickups in the 1979 bird are quite a bit further from the strings yet it has massive output. I think Veronica noted at one point that there was a lot of variation from bass to bass over the four year Bicentennial run, so that might be part of the reason as well. I’ve heard some say the bicentennial pickups come alive when you dig in, that’s very true on my Bi BaCH. However, the ‘79 is a screamer right out of the gate, you have to force yourself to play with a light touch or else they’ll slam the preamp even when set down around 2 on the volume knob.

When I get the two basses at about the same volume they both sound very similar through my bass amp. When I play them back through a hifi system with a nice subwoofer and good tweeters I hear much more difference with more overall content in the BaCH but a thicker sound from the ‘79. It’s almost a series vs parallel difference, even though they are wired exactly the same. The strings are physically the most impactful difference between the two basses (assuming the pickups are identical), but not accounting for volume levels I think you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference when played thru a rig in a mix.

Both are fantastic sounding basses, with the ‘79 a bit closer to the phenomenal end of the spectrum.

Not looking for a ‘76 sticker, just the Bicentennial non ‘76 version so it matches my ‘79.

 

[JIO]

500k is the only way with TBird pick ups.

As it is for all humbucker pu's. Depending on the bass/pu's I run 500k pots for singles as well. (but not always)

 

[JJR58]

As it is for all humbucker pu's. Depending on the bass/pu's I run 500k pots for singles as well. (but not always)

Once again, a personal preference.
No right or wrong.

 

[GBassNorth]

The second set of two sounds more like the BaCH from the first post. To my ear with buds in the '79 sounds (first set here), like it has more heft and the BaCH sound thinner, less heft and bigness. Being in the room with them they no doubt sound different.

That’s actually a pretty accurate description of what I’m hearing as well. Almost a series vs parallel difference even though both are wired series.

 

[GBassNorth]

As it is for all humbucker pu's. Depending on the bass/pu's I run 500k pots for singles as well. (but not always)

My default with humbuckers is 500k volume and 250k tone both in audio taper with a .047cap.
After a final set up and string selection I sometimes revisit the cap value and go up or down as needed. On rare occasions I’ll switch out a pot, but not very often.

 

[Gaolee]

Hard to hit such a tiny kid, too.

That is why only a Gibson will do.

 

[JIO]

My default with humbuckers is 500k volume and 250k tone both in audio taper with a .047cap.
After a final set up and string selection I sometimes revisit the cap value and go up or down as needed. On rare occasions I’ll switch out a pot, but not very often.

I always use a .047uf cap for all my basses - I'll try the 250k T pot w/500k V on your advise

 

[Gaolee]

My default with humbuckers is 500k volume and 250k tone both in audio taper with a .047cap.
After a final set up and string selection I sometimes revisit the cap value and go up or down as needed. On rare occasions I’ll switch out a pot, but not very often.

I just play them and work with whatever they do.

 

[JIO]

Once again, a personal preference.
No right or wrong.

Well, industry standards (what was loaded at the factory) is/was the norm. Lot's of post factory variables depending on personal preference as you say -

 

[JIO]

I just play them and work with whatever they do.

commonly referred to as default...

 

[dagrev]

That’s actually a pretty accurate description of what I’m hearing as well. Almost a series vs parallel difference even though both are wired series.

If I were to just go on the sound clips, the '79 would be what I grab. Just sounds bigger and more full. Sounds lime more going on.

 

[Count Bassie]

"Happy hernia to you,..."

I forgot I had hernia surgery three years ago... Lol