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Thunderbird Club

#37,601
Gaolee said:
It's a hot rod. I like it a lot.
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Thanks! :) It exactly is a hotrod - my hotrod! It was a "closet classic" when I bought it in '78 - barely played, everything original in it's HSC. I played it for years "as-is" but added a Seymour Duncan Hawkbucker bridge pu in '86. It's hard to image a day when 'modding' ones own bass was just, normal. (er.., wait a minute... everyone mods their basses today!) Someone looking at my bass today could say "how dare you violate this classic valuable vintage instrument!!!" and the pile-on ensues with torches flaring. (luckily not here in the Thunderbird Club - everyone's way too classy to level the heavy hand of "how-dare-you" - so "vintage Fender"...) No regrets, no apologies - it's going the distance w/me so no concern of "vintage resale value" etc. I've owned and played it for so many years I only think of it as the bass I'd never sell. (and I have quite a few now) ... but when I first owned it - it was my only bass. We "bonded" then, and that's all she wrote. But once I'm gone someone most definitely will continue to rock this bass, and it will continue to knock their socks-off.

We are all just guardians of our instruments. They will live on to inspire many players after we're gone! Rock yours mightily while you own it! :bassist:
 
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#37,608
kat888 said:
You could remove or disconnect the bridge pup...
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Yeah, but then there'd be a hole, and from an aesthetic standpoint that's just something I won't stand for, so then I'd need to get the route filled, and then get the whole thing refinished, and while I was at it I'd probably want to move the middle pickup to the proper vintage spot ala T-IIs (I believe the new ones have pups in slightly different places? If not disregard that whole step) and put the output jack on the face instead of the side, so, you know, it just seems like a whole lot of work. :D
 
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#37,609
D.M.N. said:
Yeah, but then there'd be a hole, and from an aesthetic standpoint that's just something I won't stand for, so then I'd need to get the route filled, and then get the whole thing refinished, and while I was at it I'd probably want to move the middle pickup to the proper vintage spot ala T-IIs (I believe the new ones have pups in slightly different places? If not disregard that whole step) and put the output jack on the face instead of the side, so, you know, it just seems like a whole lot of work. :D
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The difference between the pup on my Cataldo NRBird and the neck pup on the Epi TBird PRO IV (as was) is a whopping 6mm. The Epi is now a Thunderbird II. The hole will be covered with a suitable slice of pickguard material or styrene -- probably forget it's there after a few weeks.
 
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#37,612
RedVee said:
What do you think of the pickups on the Epi NR? I've read that they are no good, but I don't think that was from within the Thunderbird Club.
As they say "Ask the man that owns one" . @Nocturnal - you may want to chip in ?
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I will defer to Andy's musings on the PJ pups in these basses. I really don't have the ear to hear the subtleties you all can hear. It goes thump thump and sounds good through a 15" bass amp. Oh and it also does the thump thump thing through a 10" practice amp. I'm not trying to be a wise guy, I'm just being honest. I'm guessing my ears are saving me lots of money swapping out pups.
 
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#37,614
Larry V said:
I will defer to Andy's musings on the PJ pups in these basses. I really don't have the ear to hear the subtleties you all can hear. It goes thump thump and sounds good through a 15" bass amp. Oh and it also does the thump thump thing through a 10" practice amp. I'm not trying to be a wise guy, I'm just being honest. I'm guessing my ears are saving me lots of money swapping out pups.
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:) I suspect they'd sound good enough to me also.
 
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#37,615
RedVee said:
What do you think of the pickups on the Epi NR? I've read that they are no good, but I don't think that was from within the Thunderbird Club.
As they say "Ask the man that owns one" . @Nocturnal - you may want to chip in ?
Click to expand...

Larry V said:
I will defer to Andy's musings on the PJ pups in these basses. I really don't have the ear to hear the subtleties you all can hear. It goes thump thump and sounds good through a 15" bass amp. Oh and it also does the thump thump thing through a 10" practice amp. I'm not trying to be a wise guy, I'm just being honest. I'm guessing my ears are saving me lots of money swapping out pups.
Click to expand...

The stock pickups are okay and do not need to be replaced. They don't sound "great" to my ears but not something you need to change. I don't find them to be as aggressive as I like them to be, but that is a matter of taste. I replaced the stock pickups in my refinished white one but the green still has the stock. The green sounds better than the same "looking" pickups in my Fernandes flipped over Bird. Those are noisy and not as up front sounding if that makes sense.

FWIW, when I bought the blue Epi NR the original owner stated that he had planned to replace the pickups but liked the stock too much to replace them. The guy that I sold that bass to loves it and decided not to change the pickups either. Maybe this particular Epi has something special to it that others may not.

If you are super picky you will probably want to replace the stock pickups, but I don't think its necessary. Hope that helps.
 
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#37,616
Nocturnal said:
The stock pickups are okay and do not need to be replaced. They don't sound "great" to my ears but not something you need to change. I don't find them to be as aggressive as I like them to be, but that is a matter of taste. I replaced the stock pickups in my refinished white one but the green still has the stock. The green sounds better than the same "looking" pickups in my Fernandes flipped over Bird. Those are noisy and not as up front sounding if that makes sense.

FWIW, when I bought the blue Epi NR the original owner stated that he had planned to replace the pickups but liked the stock too much to replace them. The guy that I sold that bass to loves it and decided not to change the pickups either. Maybe this particular Epi has something special to it that others may not.

If you are super picky you will probably want to replace the stock pickups, but I don't think its necessary. Hope that helps.
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Yep, great. Thanks :thumbsup:
It's funny (peculiar) what you read tho.
 
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#37,618
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