Thunderbird Club

[JIO]

Most of the time when they announce who's doing the halftime show, my response is "Who?". This from a guy who marched in ~25 halftime shows w/ the marching band in h.s.

You must have had a long guitar cord!

 

[JIO]

Basically is a tone control.
But when set all the way up, or which ever way its supposed to be set.
It cuts out of the circuit altogether as if there is no tone pot at all.
So you have a tone control if so desired, but can also have it completely out of the circuit as well.
As if there was no tone control at all.

I had an '80s Czech Jolana bass with two pu's and two volume controls, one for each pu. (no tone pot) It was basically the N-pu as "bass" and the B-pu as "treble" tone control. Irv has/had the same bass but I can't recall if he wired his differently or not.

I've since wired other basses like that including this '70s German Musima hollow-body - Irv also helped out on this restoration by making the pg 'Musima' reverse-appliqué' so I could replicate the missing (sprayed under clear acrylic) pg.

 

[GonePlaid]

The only two I can recall watching that were Ok IMO were the Boss and McCartney shows. I haven’t watched a SB in years.

I watch them(except the halftime fiasco) depending on(1) who's playing-if I care about either team-and (B) what else is on TV/what else I might wanna do(we used to go to the South Florida Fair on SB Sunday-less crowded, but we moved).

 

[GonePlaid]

I often don't watch those at the college level, but when I do I have to admit they are very impressive. I have a hard time playing a song. No chance of choreographed marching added to that is possible. I have a hard enough time just standing still.

If ya do it as much as we did, it becomes fairly easy.

 

[GonePlaid]

You must have had a long guitar cord!

In them thar days I was a saxist.

ADDENDUM: Yeah, I know. S'posed to be 'saxophonist' but 'saxist' gets people's attention better.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Techie time ..
If I wanted to get more highs out of m the TB+ pups in my Classic Pro, and wanted to use a 500k pot, would you out it on the bridge pup, or the neck pup?
And one thing at a time, but how about caps?
It's a simple thing I want to do, looking for baby-step type recs here. Lately tech has been a booby trap for me, and I'm thinking less is more.
Thx.
Hope everyone's getting a good year shaped up.

I'd go 500k on both pickups. Otherwise you'll still get some loading and highs rolloff from the 250k on the other pickup, since they're wired in parallel.

As for caps, yes, a smaller value will bring back some high end in a basic tone pot.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Basically is a tone control.
But when set all the way up, or which ever way its supposed to be set.
It cuts out of the circuit altogether as if there is no tone pot at all.
So you have a tone control if so desired, but can also have it completely out of the circuit as well.
As if there was no tone control at all.

If you always want either no cap being used or a certain value being used (basically pot full off or full on) you could just use a switch with a cap in lieu of a pot and cap, too.

 

[JIO]

This guy is talking about strat wiring, but its a pretty clear demo of how to mod a tone pot:

Good mod. My ESP/Grass Roots Bass IV does the same thing in a different way. The 4 Fender Bass VI-style switches (from the top) are N-pu, M-pu, B-pu and the wiring of both pu's bypassing the tone control directly to the jack. A very useful option as any setting you have of the three pu's are boosted once switched. So if there's a point in a song that needs goosing - it's a simple matter of flipping the switch. I wish Fender would sell the 4-switch plate like they use on their Bass VI RI because I'd use this mod on other 3 pu basses. Their three-switch plate is commonly available so you could use it on a two-pu/two controls bass..

 

[Ringhammer]

Gosh this is terribly tempting, it’s just such bad timing for me….

https://reverb.com/item/93981299-gi...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=93981299

Maybe someone here will swoop it up…

 

[TBird1958]

Gosh this is terribly tempting, it’s just such bad timing for me….

https://reverb.com/item/93981299-gi...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=93981299

Maybe someone here will swoop it up…

Looks like it's a '79, with a little TLC and a clear gloss coat it would be pretty sharp. Not me tho, I have two already and we're running out of storage space for cases.

 

[JIO]

Gosh this is terribly tempting, it’s just such bad timing for me….

https://reverb.com/item/93981299-gi...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=93981299

Maybe someone here will swoop it up…

What's with the two holes? Didn't the '70s T-birds come w/a three-point bridge? It couldn't have been off that much or the bridge would touch the B-pu...

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Gosh this is terribly tempting, it’s just such bad timing for me….

https://reverb.com/item/93981299-gi...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=93981299

Maybe someone here will swoop it up…

dunno Rich......seem to suit you just fine....

 

[GBassNorth]

Gosh this is terribly tempting, it’s just such bad timing for me….

https://reverb.com/item/93981299-gi...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=93981299

Maybe someone here will swoop it up…

That one has some different wiring than most Bi birds I’ve seen.

 

[GBassNorth]

Techie time ..
If I wanted to get more highs out of m the TB+ pups in my Classic Pro, and wanted to use a 500k pot, would you out it on the bridge pup, or the neck pup?
And one thing at a time, but how about caps?
It's a simple thing I want to do, looking for baby-step type recs here. Lately tech has been a booby trap for me, and I'm thinking less is more.
Thx.
Hope everyone's getting a good year shaped up.

As others have noted, 500k pots all around and consider a no load tone pot or a .022uf cap.
That would really open up the TB+ pickups.

If you want to take baby steps and not do wholesale changes, try the .022 cap first. If that falls short then replace the pots. If it’s still not enough then go with a no load pot for the tone control.

 

[Thumper]

Looks like it's a '79, with a little TLC and a clear gloss coat it would be pretty sharp. Not me tho, I have two already and we're running out of storage space for cases.

Or in my case, I'd rather spend the $ on a Gibson Thunderbird, but swap out the PUPs for reissues. The savings would be Substantial.

 

[MCF]

Birthday Party at the harbor!
We're going with Fosters. After all it will be returning to pee from which it came shortly anyway.
The girl is supposed to be Olivia Newton John, but looks as much like Peter Frampton....

View attachment 7407700

Geoff is clearly the one in the middle still hammering on the Fosters! AI must know him.

I think I know Geoff well enough to say he doesn’t drink Fosters. Unless that’s the only alternative.

 

[ThaCoast]

Fixed up the bird today, little more explosion than i thought when drilling for the open type 1/4" output jack, but no matter. With the neck pocket routed lower, the bass no longer needs the pickup or bridge shims to set up properly. However, because this "mahogany" is ratter stupidly brittle, dry, & a pain after all these years, i've decided for late 2026/early 2027, i'll get a new Hard Maple body blank & start from scratch. I may fix up the neck some too, & while i aim to keep the same style, I'll see if i keep the Faux center raised portion on the new blank, or just go completely flat top. Not like it's a real neck through build, & my former TigerBird was completely flat top & back. It was also very oversized compared to this epiphone version (which i did want overall), however this time around, i may only opt to go 1-3% oversized on the body, & while this epiphone will survive until i have the funds to start this project, I'll use the time as a test bed electronic wise (testing tone control, having dual volumes, series/parallel which sound has more use for me overall. This way in the new body, i don't need to think so much, simply focus on the build & get it completed. Also, Brass nut to replace the Bone one - Might not be a full 80's bass because no EMGs, but kinda dig brass, at least for the overall look i'm going for.

Quoting myself, i've sat down over this weekend, drafting up a slight body redesign & jolting ideas down. & Just like my Tigerbird build, I'm taking inspiration from Spector's version, & while i don't think i'd ever have this as a bass 100%

I do kinda dig the flat body about it. The new build will pretty much be a slab body, Probably doing a 5% oversize all around (except for the top portion where body meets neck, want to keep those curves intact, & just add where needed. I'm seriously considering switching the bridge to a Gotoh bridge, or something else that simply uses wood screws & is quick release capable for the strings. As the pickups go, i'm moving the neck pickup a little closer to the neck, just to give a slightly bigger gap between it & the bridge pickup.

However everything else will be done to how i want visually & functionality. Still wanna test out series/parallel with the 60's pickups i've got, & potentially dual volumes, see how often i'd favor one pickup over the other, or not. 2027 project, right now it's all drafted up.

 

[GBassNorth]

Quoting myself, i've sat down over this weekend, drafting up a slight body redesign & jolting ideas down. & Just like my Tigerbird build, I'm taking inspiration from Spector's version, & while i don't think i'd ever have this as a bass 100%

View attachment 7407901

I do kinda dig the flat body about it. The new build will pretty much be a slab body, Probably doing a 5% oversize all around (except for the top portion where body meets neck, want to keep those curves intact, & just add where needed. I'm seriously considering switching the bridge to a Gotoh bridge, or something else that simply uses wood screws & is quick release capable for the strings. As the pickups go, i'm moving the neck pickup a little closer to the neck, just to give a slightly bigger gap between it & the bridge pickup.

However everything else will be done to how i want visually & functionality. Still wanna test out series/parallel with the 60's pickups i've got, & potentially dual volumes, see how often i'd favor one pickup over the other, or not. 2027 project, right now it's all drafted up.

Looks nice. The Spector bird is a nice one. If you’re planning on using a P/J set up you might consider Tbird sized EMG soap bars configured with P/J coils under the covers. That would give you a lot of freedom in the future if you wanted change out the pickups to something else without having to reroute the body.

 

[Ringhammer]

Or in my case, I'd rather spend the $ on a Gibson Thunderbird, but swap out the PUPs for reissues. The savings would be Substantial.

Which is what I have done to a few of my Gibson ‘birds. The Gibson re-issues (and other vintage style Thunderbird pickups from Lollar, Novak, etc.) are not the same as bi-centennial sidewinders. Different design and wiring. I’ll be attempting to emulate the bicentennial with some 916 pickups that are similar to sidewinders, in my only Epiphone Thunderbird, but it still won’t likely be the same thing.

 

[Engle]

What's with the two holes? Didn't the '70s T-birds come w/a three-point bridge? It couldn't have been off that much or the bridge would touch the B-pu...

It looks like someone put a 2 point on it in the same position as the 60's Reverses. Then realized it wouldn't intonate, so they went back to the 3 point. But there are no screw holes for the tailpiece...