Thunderbird Club

[Furious_Man77]

http://forums.vintageguitarandbass.com/showthread.php?1141-76-79-Thunderbird-pickups-and-wiring

This has a good dialogue and a few helpful pictures.

 

[James P]

Am I allowed in?

It arrived yesterday and I haven't told the wife yet....

 

[Larry V]

Am I allowed in?

It arrived yesterday and I haven't told the wife yet....

Awesome! It's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Enjoy your Goth!

 

[Eatapeach1965]

I have a TB on the way.. Can't wait!!

I have brought this up before,asking what strings you all prefer on your birds. And since then done alot of reading,and now more confused than before....

I am new to bass,but have played guitar for years.
I have a P bass with Chrome Flats,that is my reference point as far as flexibility goes for playing. I'm primarily a finger player. My amp is a GB Contour 15" combo.

When I tried some TB's I noticed I could play faster/easier. I liked that alot. I have no idea what brand/gauge were on the birds I tried.
I'm sure neck size had something to do with it it too. But I'm wondering if it was the flexibility of the rounds that were strung on the Birds I tried as well.

For strings on my Bird I want to keep the brightness toned down and prefer a smooth feeling string. I play mostly blues/classic rock,so I want punch and deep thump,but not an overly bright string. The TB will get me there( I think) plus EQ'ing..

Tape wounds sound/read interesting,as well as grounds etc...

Thought/suggestions?

Thanks

 

[hillerup]

Am I allowed in?

It arrived yesterday and I haven't told the wife yet....

She will find out soon enough...

Mine wasn't too happy when she eventually counted 11 basses and 5 guitars...

 

[hillerup]

Awesome! It's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Enjoy your Goth!

+1... Enjoy your Goth - It's a really nice bass for the money!

 

[hillerup]

I have a TB on the way.. Can't wait!!

I have brought this up before,asking what strings you all prefer on your birds. And since then done alot of reading,and now more confused than before....

I am new to bass,but have played guitar for years.
I have a P bass with Chrome Flats,that is my reference point as far as flexibility goes for playing. I'm primarily a finger player. My amp is a GB Contour 15" combo.

When I tried some TB's I noticed I could play faster/easier. I liked that alot. I have no idea what brand/gauge were on the birds I tried.
I'm sure neck size had something to do with it it too. But I'm wondering if it was the flexibility of the rounds that were strung on the Birds I tried as well.

For strings on my Bird I want to keep the brightness toned down and prefer a smooth feeling string. I play mostly blues/classic rock,so I want punch and deep thump,but not an overly bright string. The TB will get me there( I think) plus EQ'ing..

Tape wounds sound/read interesting,as well as grounds etc...

Thought/suggestions?

Thanks

Considering your preference with flats and the tone you want I would suggest either going with groundwound/pressurewound ones or some coated roundwound ones like DR Black Beauties (or another coloured one of theirs) which are real smooth to the touch, and have a real nice "broken-in" sound to them with little fingernoise and not being overly bright.

The DR Black Beauties are quite popular in this forum and seem to lend them self very well to the sound of a Thunderbird - But there are so many other options available, so you're likely to get a lot of suggestions.

 

[Eatapeach1965]

Considering your preference with flats and the tone you want I would suggest either going with groundwound/pressurewound ones or some coated roundwound ones like DR Black Beauties (or another coloured one of theirs) which are real smooth to the touch, and have a real nice "broken-in" sound to them with little fingernoise and not being overly bright.

The DR Black Beauties are quite popular in this forum and seem to lend them self very well to the sound of a Thunderbird - But there are so many other options available, so you're likely to get a lot of suggestions.

I love DR's on my guitars.. So I imagine the bass sets must be nice too..

The flats came with the P bass,and I enjoy the tone and feel..

But I seemed to play differently with my right hand when trying out the TB's. I liked ( what I presume) the flexibility of the strings that were on them. I know there are probably other factors.
So I 'm trying to get a compliment to my flatwound P bass,while keeping string noise and brightness to a minimum.

I'm sure ,and hope,there will be a variety of suggestions. But I thought I'd narrow it down by asking the TB owners.
I appreciate the time and experiences shared

 

[GreggBummer]

I thought I'd bump my question again:

Epiphone Classic Pro IV vs Epiphone Pro IV
I'm looking for advice on these. I've read up on both basses, so, I'm not looking for technical information. I'm looking for experiences that you may have. QA/QC, fit and finish, feel, tone differences, and so on.

I am looking for a growly T-bird tone. I have a mix of active and passive basses, so I'm not dead set on an active or passive system. I really like the look of the natural oil finish of the Pro IV, but I'm really attracted to the Gibson pickups (or the idea of them) in the Classic.

I've owned two previous EpiBirds. The first one, a Korean, was a good bass but was traded to make room for my '74 Artia EB3. The second EpiBird was a Chinese model that I never bonded with. It had no life in it and it felt cheap. I sold it to make room for a jazz bass. I'm ready to try another EpiBird. Hopefully one of you can tell me about yours and why you chose it over the other models. I will be playing the bass in a cover band.

Any love for the Classic Pro IV or Pro IV?

 

[hillerup]

I'm looking for advice on these. I've read up on both basses, so, I'm not looking for technical information. I'm looking for experiences that you may have. QA/QC, fit and finish, feel, tone differences, and so on.

I am looking for a growly T-bird tone. I have a mix of active and passive basses, so I'm not dead set on an active or passive system. I really like the look of the natural oil finish of the Pro IV, but I'm really attracted to the Gibson pickups (or the idea of them) in the Classic.

I've owned two previous EpiBirds. The first one, a Korean, was a good bass but was traded to make room for my '74 Artia EB3. The second EpiBird was a Chinese model that I never bonded with. It had no life in it and it felt cheap. I sold it to make room for a jazz bass. I'm ready to try another EpiBird. Hopefully one of you can tell me about yours and why you chose it over the other models. I will be playing the bass in a cover band.

I have several Epiphone T'birds - Mostly the regular bolt-on ones in different colours, but I also have a Classic Pro-IV in Alpine White and a Pro-V in transparent black...

I would say that both the Classic Pro-IV and the Pro-IV are both really really nice basses with excellent build quality, but somewhat different in sound.

The Classic Pro-IV has a really nice and slim neck, on which you can play really fast - I have not yet tried a Pro-IV, but would imagine the feel being pretty similar, since they share the same neck specs in regards to nut size. Both basses has the new deeper cut-away giving better high note access than regular T'birds. In regards to the Pro-IV the neck is REALLY wide and will take some time getting used to - somthing I personally will never bond with.

Sound wise both basses differ in some ways - The Classic Pro-IV has the passive Gibson pickups which have a wonderful warm and growly lo-fi tone which I like a lot. The Pro-IV with active sound circuitry (the pickups can be re-wired to passive) has IMO a more sterile sound to them with no real character like the passive pickups. You do however have more options for sculpting the sound with the active circuitry - from booming bass to a hissing treble monster! The active circuitry however is not exactly noiseless and hisses a lot when you boost the treble - others have described an inherent hum as well, which I have not yet observed (it may be there, but I havn't yet used mine IRL settings). In order to give my 5'er some more play, I may eventually rip out the active electronics and turn it to passive, which should be an easy mod that many have done with good results.

Both basses are neck through but are made of different materials which may add to the inherent sound of the basses as well:
The Classic Pro-IV being made of mahogany with a 9-ply mahogany/walnut neck (it really is 9-ply - not 7-ply as advertised), and the Pro-IV being made of mahogany with a 7-ply mahogany/maple neck.

In regards to hardware both models seem to share the same tuners, which do their job pretty well and stays in tune for the longest time...
The bridges are totally different and both work just fine for me. The 3-point bridge on the Classic Pro-IV seems to be quite unpopular with a lot of people, but I really do like it a lot and I have had no problems with it on my 9 T'birds so far, which all have pretty low action. The bridge on the Pro-IV is nice and have individual string height adjustment - which the 3-point doesn't have. However I prefer the classic look of the 3-point one over the generic look of the high-mass bridge on the Pro-IV.

All in all I would rate them both to having equal build quality and probably also playability (not having tried the Pro-IV) - The rest is pretty much a matter of taste and preference, whether you prefer the hardware of one for the other - Also bear in mind, that you can always mod the active Pro-IV to being passive, which should turn the sound closer to "classic" the T'bird sound.

I hope some of this helps...

 

[GreggBummer]

I hope some of this helps...

It absolutely did. I was sort of leaning tword the active Pro but your post has made me reconsider the argument for the Classic Pro.

Thank you for your insight.

I'm trying hard to find a shop near me that has both basses. Or one of them at least.

I'm happy to hear other opinions as well.

 

[hillerup]

I am looking for a growly T-bird tone. I have a mix of active and passive basses, so I'm not dead set on an active or passive system. I really like the look of the natural oil finish of the Pro IV, but I'm really attracted to the Gibson pickups (or the idea of them) in the Classic.

Any love for the Classic Pro IV or Pro IV?

You could always buy the active Pro-IV in natural oil and mod it with a pair of Thunderbird+ pickups from Ebay, if you don't like the sound of the stock pickups - both pickups seem to be identical in size.
You could rewire them VTVT instead of VVT as on the Classic Pro-IV.

And yes, I have great love for my Classic Pro-IV!

 

[hillerup]

It absolutely did. I was sort of leaning tword the active Pro but your post has made me reconsider the argument for the Classic Pro.

Thank you for your insight.

I'm trying hard to find a shop near me that has both basses. Or one of them at least.

I'm happy to hear other opinions as well.

I may add, the described hum on the active Pro-IV is an easy fix, as it appears to be a grounding problem from what I've read...

 

[Rocker47]

I too have a active pro IV in trans black that I have recently acquired via trade. I find the build quality very high. I am comparing it to my three Gibson tbirds. As far as the neck, I don't find it big at all. It plays fast and smooth. The active pick ups take some getting used to, but are a cool option to my passive tbirds. I haven't played a classic IV yet, but there is one at my local store that I'll try now for sure. They are great basses and this is one I won't be selling.

 

[TBird1958]

Am I allowed in?

It arrived yesterday and I haven't told the wife yet....

Of course good Sir, I think you'll find we're a lot easier to break the news of your purchase to than the Missus
Welcome, we loves our Thunderbirds and their players world wide! You are #436


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[Liam McMonigle]

Am I allowed in?

It arrived yesterday and I haven't told the wife yet....

I'm sure she won't mind, as it is a beauty!

 

[Rocker47]

Anyone check the Gibson website recently? I haven't gone in a long while until today. I see three different tbird tabs. One is the 50th anniversary and two are similar except the msrp. Is it the specs? Wood etc.? That makes the difference in price?

 

[blocka]

This is my Blackbird I got when I decided to take up Bass again after about 10 years. I'm in love with The tone on this and the simplicity of it. And it just looks badass

 

[Liam McMonigle]

This is my Blackbird I got when I decided to take up Bass again after about 10 years. I'm in love with The tone on this and the simplicity of it. And it just looks badass

+1 on the blackbirds!

 

[TBird1958]

Anyone check the Gibson website recently? I haven't gone in a long while until today. I see three different tbird tabs. One is the 50th anniversary and two are similar except the msrp. Is it the specs? Wood etc.? That makes the difference in price?

Gold 50th anni.
Cherry 120th anni
Standard TB IV

As I recall they're all the same construction, but a couple of the guys here have the 50th Anni model perhaps they could chime in.