• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Thunderbird Club

#83,001
Nocturnal said:
I like it with and without the rings, but better with. My only warning about the rings would be that if you don't find another set of these pickups to use and you installed the rings, you can end up with holes in your finish that are obvious and would be an issue if you were to sell it. Buuuutttttt.........you can also pickup the rings for pretty cheap now so you could always get a pair from eBay and leave them installed.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily, this ring is double sided taped on. Screw heads glued with cyano.
Rings look way cool....
wloWUytVTL4Zd9Ke0pAau1wL8QU-QTmLIQJhbr6gIS3Za-FKycyFHe1k_-i1AlGEFgGYzK3wEa-4X5A&owa=outlook.live.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: hillerup, Larry V, Nocturnal and 7 others
#83,002
Instagator said:
View attachment 3037992 View attachment 3037993
Under the hood of the Embassy..It looks like they drilled the ring holes too big and had to use wood shims to seat the screws..no big deal...just an observation.
Click to expand...

I find myself moderately interested in the new embassy. But those knobs - did they have a contest to find the ugliest knobs to put on it? Some no doubt like that aesthetic and I know that it is the vintage look, but I hate it. If I were to buy one, some additional knobs would be coming home with me. <insert uber passenger joke>
 
  • Like
Reactions: GonePlaid, theFixer, JJR58 and 2 others
#83,004
GBassNorth said:
Here's an amp question for those in the know...

It's said that to double the output volume of an amp you need to increase the wattage ten fold. Said another way, a screaming loud 300 watt Ampeg SVT which can easily exceed any safe or sane volume levels when connected to an 810 cab is theoretically only twice as loud as a 30 watt amp through the same cab. Which if true causes me to wonder - why a 150 watt amp is considered by many as underpowered when theoretically a 300 watt amp is only 10% louder.

In real life usage I've never been able to dime my SVT-VR through my Berg 610 cab, and likewise I've never been able to dime my Musicman HD150 through the same cab. Both are incredibly too loud to max out at any normal indoor venue. However, the advantage I get with the Musicman is I can half the output to 75 watts and then crank the volume for some very sweet tube overdrive, that's harder to do with the SVT-VR which wants to stay fairly clean even at high volumes. Just an observation.
Click to expand...
IMHO... theories and formulas mean jack squat to the end user. "Underpowered" is relative. Are you a lounge act, or arena rock? Are you trying to keep up with a plexi stack or a Line 6 1x10 combo? John Bonham or Charlie Watts? PA & monitors, or stage volume only? As for me... I've spent a lotta years with my left ear about 4 feet away from a 50 watt plexi head screaming through a Marshall 4x12. To me... "underpowered" means that it can't keep up with that. Everyone has their own benchmark for deciding what is or isn't underpowered, and as we already know... people have a tendency to confuse "their" rules, for "the" rules.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RedVee, Nocturnal, GonePlaid and 4 others
#83,005
PillO said:
I find myself moderately interested in the new embassy. But those knobs - did they have a contest to find the ugliest knobs to put on it? Some no doubt like that aesthetic and I know that it is the vintage look, but I hate it. If I were to buy one, some additional knobs would be coming home with me. <insert uber passenger joke>
Click to expand...

Note that the Knobs did not make the trip with the pickups :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: JJR58, RedVee, GonePlaid and 3 others
#83,010
theFixer said:
IMHO... theories and formulas mean jack squat to the end user. "Underpowered" is relative. Are you a lounge act, or arena rock? Are you trying to keep up with a plexi stack or a Line 6 1x10 combo? John Bonham or Charlie Watts? PA & monitors, or stage volume only? As for me... I've spent a lotta years with my left ear about 4 feet away from a 50 watt plexi head screaming through a Marshall 4x12. To me... "underpowered" means that it can't keep up with that. Everyone has their own benchmark for deciding what is or isn't underpowered, and as we already know... people have a tendency to confuse "their" rules, for "the" rules.
Click to expand...
Well said!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JJR58, GonePlaid, theFixer and 2 others
#83,012
theFixer said:
IMHO... theories and formulas mean jack squat to the end user. "Underpowered" is relative. Are you a lounge act, or arena rock? Are you trying to keep up with a plexi stack or a Line 6 1x10 combo? John Bonham or Charlie Watts? PA & monitors, or stage volume only? As for me... I've spent a lotta years with my left ear about 4 feet away from a 50 watt plexi head screaming through a Marshall 4x12. To me... "underpowered" means that it can't keep up with that. Everyone has their own benchmark for deciding what is or isn't underpowered, and as we already know... people have a tendency to confuse "their" rules, for "the" rules.
Click to expand...
Easy there. Amplifiers would not exists without "theories and formulas". What I meant by "underpowered" is that it would have been nice if an amplifier with such great tonal character as the HD150 could have produced more power.
Spent a few hours at my friend's guitar shop doing some tonal comparisons last week between an SVT and his Dual Showman in the same way GBassNorth described in trying to dial the tone in with his SVT and got nowhere. He loves the tone of his DS with his 66 PBass. Solution? We found a second one that I'm getting dialed in right now...
X0jkpFjYEoJrfoJv_UjfCMSgzNjoRXaTXjROB9MRPcbe6wYsjijtRQinzviL_v7pN-wkil1mcHXabLA&owa=outlook.live.jpg


Now he'll be using two Dual Showmans live...
 
  • Like
Reactions: hillerup, RedVee, Nocturnal and 7 others
#83,013
Instagator said:
View attachment 3037802 View attachment 3037803


So what do you all think..With rings or without?
I’m doing a little experiment with the Epiphone 760 Pro pickups.
I removed the pickups from my Embassy and put them in my Gumby Bass.I used all CTS 500K pots and the same cap as the Embassy has.
No doubt that the sound of the Thunderbird Vintage Pro comes from these pickups.
Until I can find a source for these I may move them back and forth.
Just a little rainy day project for the weekend..
Click to expand...
With rings:cool::thumbsup:

I don't believe Epiphone has much of a history with making their pickups available as an aftermarket purchase. It is my opinion that we, as a club, should start hammering them with requests to do so with these 760s. There's strength in numbers y'all! :thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: hillerup, JJR58, Dr_Feelgoood212 and 5 others
#83,018
GBassNorth said:
It's a free new world, he can service anyone he wants as long as it's consensual.

Oh and don't forget in this free new world he'll need terms of agreement for the action documented in triplicate, signed and dated by both parties and witnessed by a third party who under penalty of law will confirm that no drugs or alcohol or any form of coercion was used to get either party to sign the agreement. Upon signing said document both parties will understand that they forfeit any future legal action against the other and that this document only covers this one action this one time, any further actions will require additional proper documentation. This message has been brought to you by the Gloria Allred school of dating, made possible by grants from the Bill Cosby foundation. ;)
Click to expand...

:roflmao::laugh::roflmao::woot:
 
  • Like
Reactions: GonePlaid, dukeorock, PillO and 2 others
#83,020
Chucky Stiletti said:
Easy there. Amplifiers would not exists without "theories and formulas". What I meant by "underpowered" is that it would have been nice if an amplifier with such great tonal character as the HD150 could have produced more power.
Spent a few hours at my friend's guitar shop doing some tonal comparisons last week between an SVT and his Dual Showman in the same way GBassNorth described in trying to dial the tone in with his SVT and got nowhere. He loves the tone of his DS with his 66 PBass. Solution? We found a second one that I'm getting dialed in right now...
View attachment 3038038

Now he'll be using two Dual Showmans live...
Click to expand...
I was careful to say that those theories & formulas don't mean anything to the end user. Designers, builders, engineers, obviously... but ya don't see yer average Joe walkin' into Guitar Center with probes, scopes, & calculators. The end user typically cares about how it sounds and if it will work for them in their setting. Much like buying a car. The average buyer doesn't care about gear ratios or air-to-fuel ratios, etc. They care about, "Can I afford it?" and, "Will it do what I need it to do?".
 
  • Like
Reactions: JJR58, RedVee, Dr_Feelgoood212 and 5 others

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back