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Thunderbird Club

#82,802
stockplus said:
Hi guys -- 2013 TBird reporting for duty. Longtime reader, first time poster. I'm not an official member yet...maybe I will find a good pic and join soon. I posted this question about replacement pickups in another forum and maybe some of you could chime in?

School me on Thunderbird pickups please

Thanks!
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There's quite a lot out there and you'll find we all have some pretty strong opinions about pickups. Hopefully several users of the options available will chime in.
I've used Mike Lull Thunderbird pickups in a couple of my 'Birds in addition to having a Lull T4 single pickup, mike's are accurate reproductions of '63 Gibson- they're warm and growly, not overdriven. The covers are made by the same company Gibson used for their '60s production, they're expensive, I like them a lot, but don't use them exclusively as several of my 'Birds have other pickups that are really nice on their own merit, i.e. Greco or the new Epiphone V.P. pickups.
 
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#82,804
GBassNorth said:
Darn near. I think the only box Gibson/Eppi didn't check off with the TBird is the fretless box. But that's easily solved. Other than that, the Bird can deliver the goods in just about any setting, but don't bother telling the Fender fanboys that, they won't believe you. :smug:
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As the new owner of a VP, I'd say you are right. My Casady is also like that. With flats, I've had several people comment on how it sounds like a nice Pbass.
 
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#82,806
Some things that are pointy - I like them!
4xm810m.jpg
 
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#82,807
Chucky Stiletti said:
Why did you remove the back pickup?
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This bass came to me with no Gibson parts on it. Hacked into the bridge position was a early Bill Lawrence humbucker. The bass started life as a Thunderbird II and thats what I like, In general I have no use for bridge pickups except for on a EB3. So I yanked it and put a cover over the unsightly gouge. I left tge added vol. Control to mess with people.
 
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#82,809
Engle said:
As the new owner of a VP, I'd say you are right. My Casady is also like that. With flats, I've had several people comment on how it sounds like a nice Pbass.
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Gotta love those VP's. They play like butter and the pickups are some of the best I've tried. Still trying different strings on mine to see what works best. Will be putting Fender nickel rounds on it today in place of the Cobalt flats it currently has. The Cobalts sound really good so I may come back to them. I also have a set of Roto round nickels to try on it.
 
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#82,811
GBassNorth said:
Gotta love those VP's. They play like butter and the pickups are some of the best I've tried. Still trying different strings on mine to see what works best. Will be putting Fender nickel rounds on it today in place of the Cobalt flats it currently has. The Cobalts sound really good so I may come back to them. I also have a set of Roto round nickels to try on it.
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Curious to hear what you think about the nickle rounds. I tried em, were good at first, but died pretty quick. But you know the story with me and rounds.
 
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#82,812
godofthunder59 said:
This bass came to me with no Gibson parts on it. Hacked into the bridge position was a early Bill Lawrence humbucker. The bass started life as a Thunderbird II and thats what I like, In feneral I have no use for bridge pickups except for on a EB3. So I yanked it and put a cover over the unsightly gouge. I left tge added vol. Control to mess with people.
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What kind of pickup is in it now?
 
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