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Thunderbird Club

#59,783
dukeorock said:
I have no idea what kind of strings are on the 2002, so I can’t say for sure,
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looks like Rotosounds
rotosound-swing-bass-5-string-roundwound-long-scale-040-125-rs665lc-7.jpg
 
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#59,785
I have a set of SIT Power Wounds on my Charvel 4B. They stay in tune almost exactly like my Dunlop Heavy Core sets that are on both my birds. Right now all are tuned Drop C. I liked the clank of the Power Wounds when they were new but that's pretty well gone now. I guess the Dunlops just stay in tune better, too.
 
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#59,789
Haji said:
I have a set of SIT Power Wounds on my Charvel 4B. They stay in tune almost exactly like my Dunlop Heavy Core sets that are on both my birds. Right now all are tuned Drop C. I liked the clank of the Power Wounds when they were new but that's pretty well gone now. I guess the Dunlops just stay in tune better, too.
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Never tried either of those strings, but I am gonna put the BEAD of a 5 string set of Dunlop nickel Super Brights on my Drake and tune it to C standard for some new Prayer Flags material I’m working on. Been running either Super Brights (which aren’t super bright) or SS DR Lo Riders. Always used 50-110 on most basses, but lately switched back to 45-105 on most of em. Still on the fence about that decision
 
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#59,790
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#59,791
dukeorock said:
I’m on it! At UPS now. Ironically, on my way in a driver asked me what my address was. When I told him, he said “I was your delivery man and made two different attempts today!” I told him one of us was in the living room, right by the front door the entire day. He said “You must not have heard me knock.” I said, “well, that’s strange because we happened to get packages from FedEx and USPS today and we heard them”
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A rare opportunity for a little satisfaction, well seized my friend;)

... and a Thunderbird! Great way to cap off an otherwise schitt day:thumbsup:
Unknown-1.jpeg
 
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#59,793
GBassNorth said:
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.
View attachment 2804437
View attachment 2804436

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.
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Delayed response.

@GBassNorth did you get any further on the aesthetic fine tuning?
( I envy that pickguard, mine has the Celtic Cross scratched away. :( )

On the Goth stnd pickups. I hear of people running mods (on other basses) of series / parallel, with a switch. Do you think that is possible with the stnd pickups? Any benefits ? Or more likely to turn to merde?
 
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#59,794
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#59,795
dukeorock said:
I’ll play around with em, but I know some folks prefer em jacked high and other cranked low. I’m sensing you have an opinion :)



It really isn’t! Thanks!
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It depends on the pickups. Standard 'Bird pickups should be high. '15 'Bird pickups have to be low or all kinds of bad sounds ensue. Alumitones vary depending on what sound you want. But Alumitones are not your problem for now. I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it over time.
 
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#59,797
Gaolee said:
It depends on the pickups. Standard 'Bird pickups should be high. '15 'Bird pickups have to be low or all kinds of bad sounds ensue. Alumitones vary depending on what sound you want. But Alumitones are not your problem for now. I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it over time.
Click to expand...

Me too! I’ll keep playing around :)
 
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#59,798
dukeorock said:
Never tried either of those strings, but I am gonna put the BEAD of a 5 string set of Dunlop nickel Super Brights on my Drake and tune it to C standard for some new Prayer Flags material I’m working on. Been running either Super Brights (which aren’t super bright) or SS DR Lo Riders. Always used 50-110 on most basses, but lately switched back to 45-105 on most of em. Still on the fence about that decision
Click to expand...
The thing about standard gauge strings and Drop C is that they tend to be more rubbery than I can stand. That's one feature of the Heavy Core that I love: the thicker core wire makes them feel like a medium light set tuned to standard tuning when they're tuned down.
 
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