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Thunderbird Club

Sharp Dressed Man!

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that bass makes anybody look sharp V.....:drool::drool:
 
Of those of you that have a stock wired bi-centennial ‘bird, and a P or J, is the output of the ‘bird a little less than the typical P or J?
My 1979 Tbird (considered the last year of the bicentennial run) is bombastically louder than my 1968 Fender P Bass and my Jazz basses. I haven’t done an A/B with it and my Greco basses, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find it as loud or louder than those as well.

An equally interesting observation - recall I put a set of 1976 Tbird pickups and a 1976 wiring harness in my white BaCH. It sounds great, but it doesn’t have the same volume level or the exact same voice as my 1979 Tbird. It’s noticeably more tame in spite of the pickup heights and strings being identical. Has me wondering if maybe Gibson changed something about the pickups along the way. Of the two, I much prefer the 1979.
 
Wish I could tell you. My Bicentennial is now properly wired. But my PJ is at a shop that won’t to respond to calls and emails. Yeah. Not happy.
Marshall, is that the same shop we visited, where you dropped the TV Silver Eppi off for some work? If so, do you want me to swing by in person and rattle someone’s cage?
 
For sale locally, plastic still on pickguard and control cavity, includes case. Interesting color in that you can see the wood through the paint. Price is high IMO at $700. Still, it's a nice looking bass.
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If you like a nice deep sounding Tbird these are great choices. The pickups are unique to that model (which we call a CSLE) and it’s a relatively rare bass. The price is about on par with normal asking prices for that bass, looks to be in pretty good condition.

I bet four out of the five faves on the heart meter are from this thread- btw, the fifth one is mine!

Looks like an Ebony fretboard - Yum! Does the Pixie Dust bass belonging to Will have an Ebony board? If so, that might explain some of the unique sound he says he gets from it.
 
My 1979 Tbird (considered the last year of the bicentennial run) is bombastically louder than my 1968 Fender P Bass and my Jazz basses. I haven’t done an A/B with it and my Greco basses, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find it as loud or louder than those as well.

An equally interesting observation - recall I put a set of 1976 Tbird pickups and a 1976 wiring harness in my white BaCH. It sounds great, but it doesn’t have the same volume level or the exact same voice as my 1979 Tbird. It’s noticeably more tame in spite of the pickup heights and strings being identical. Has me wondering if maybe Gibson changed something about the pickups along the way. Of the two, I much prefer the 1979.

There's a lot of variation in the pickups over the years '76-'79 as Scott had noted, his '76 was underwhelming and both of mine are quite different and not nearly as vibrant as my '64. while I love two '76s they are a very different Bird from all others.