FrankenGoth Pickup and Control update...
The work has been done, a decision has been made and the transplant is a success!
After trying the stock Goth pups with several different pot and cap values, and doing the same with after market Bartolini pups the Goth pups were set aside in favor of the Bart's. The Goth pups were very mid range focused and lacking both the top end and bottom end of the Bart's.
Then after trying coil switching options (neck coil/Humbucker/bridge coil tap for each pup in parallel mode ) vs a single switch (that selects the neck pup neck coil in humbucking series with the bridge pup bridge coil or both pups in full Humbucker series mode) the hands down favorite was the more simplified and much more powerful single coil tap series wired switch. Two switches with three positions each and not a lot of tonal difference from position to position plus the weaker sounding parallel wiring conspired to sink the twin coil tap option. The single more powerful two position switch combined with the volume controls provides nearly as many options with much bolder series wired sound.
Finally, the passive coil tap wiring option was tested against an active option using a Spector Tonepump preamp, which failed to work properly (in hindsight I think I had the stereo output jack wired wrong) and an Aguilar OBP-2 two band preamp. The 18db bass boost of the Aggie preamp utterly destroyed the bottom end of the passive option and just completely hammered the front end of my 150watt Musicman HD150/Bergantino HT322 rig for gobs of thick gooey distortion with onboard dials maxed out and yet sounded like a concert grand piano at less insane settings. So the Aggie stays in this Bird as does the single coil tap switch. There's a time and a place for single coils (like when doing chord or harmonics work or with some effect pedals) and I now have the option to continue playing my Bird but switching from a single neck coil or a single bridge coil or both single coils in humbucking series all in one position of the switch or flipping the switch to the other position and running a full neck Humbucker or full bridge Humbucker or both humbuckers all wired in series for earth shattering effect if needed. I strongly recommend this $10 option to anyone with a Bird that has four conductor coil split capable PUPs regardless of which mode (passive or active) you have.
So here's the finished control pics...
From three knob passive (vol, vol, tone) with front mounted output jack, to four knob active (vol, vol, bass with 18db cut or boost sweep, treb with 18db cut or boost sweep) with two position coil tap switch (just the neck coil of neck pup and the bridge coil of the bridge pup combined in humbucking series, or both full humbuckers in series) and a side mounted output jack with a rear mounted battery box.
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Now that I have the engine finely tuned and running smooth I'll start to focus on the aesthetic features of the bass. Trim rings, a unique pickguard and truss cover and maybe even some contour routing and accent painting along with darkening that darn rosewood fretboard. I don't want to lose the TBird look or vibe but I do want it to be unique and personal. I'm half way to where I want to be and learning a lot along the way.
