Thunderbird Club

[Engle]

Yep, GHS Pressure wounds do sound good on a Bicentennial T-Bird! Not that anyone would ever doubt that. I finally got a chance to use my younger Bird out today and and the PWs did sound nice. Not as good as TI SuperAlloys on my '64, but there is some special magic in that bass I think. (Both of those strings are alloy 52.) Had TI flats on the '76 and wanted to try another flavor. May give something else a try from the string drawer just for kicks.

Possibly it's been stated before, but what might be differences between the 60s PUPs and the 70s version? I never recall reading it anyplace. I suspect there is some minor differences.

I started prepping my JBS to put it up for sale and noticed the Pressure wounds have caused more fret wear than I expected (I do dig in pretty hard sometimes)

 

[Engle]

You description of Rdc is close. Rdc is the resistance (not impedance) to the pickup coil. Because copper has a resistivity the more wire the more resistance. Again, to a DC current. This parameter weighs the heaviest on overall signal output strength of the pickup. Impedance happens at AC when reactive factors (inductance and capacitance) get added into the picture by way of how the pickup coil is wound (type of wire, number of turns, winding technique and others) and these reactive parameters (along with Rdc) determine the overall frequency response (hence overall tonal character) of the pickup. Hope this makes sense..

^Great explanation! RDC is also used to describe the DC resistance of a speaker. It's only part of the picture because the speaker is operating with an audio signal that is AC.

 

[Inky13]

Both Armand Sabal-Lecco and Bakithi Kumalo are monster players! My cover band started playing Call me Al earlier this year and it was a challenge to come up with a way to pull off that 2 bar bass solo. Hammer-ons, chorus and an octave pedal are my friends!

The challenging thing about that solo break is that the second half is the reverse of the first half. Sometimes studio trickery is hard to duplicate.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

^Great explanation! RDC is also used to describe the DC resistance of a speaker. It's only part of the picture because the speaker is operating with an audio signal that is AC.

Careful in making the assumption Rdc only happens at DC. It happens at AC as well. A 100 Ohm carbon resistor will exhibit 100 Ohms AC or DC regardless. They call it "RDC" because resistance meters typically use a DC current to measure resistance. It's when a wire (which when straight is almost purely resistive) gets coiled that it starts exhibiting other current limiting properties to AC and these increase proportionally to the number of turns in that coil (as does Rdc) and the frequency of the AC. These reactances in combination with Rdc then create the overall impedance (Z)

Ok, no more tech stuff...

 

[GonePlaid]

Careful in making the assumption Rdc only happens at DC. It happens at AC as well. A 100 Ohm carbon resistor will exhibit 100 Ohms AC or DC regardless. They call it "RDC" because resistance meters typically use a DC current to measure resistance. It's when a wire (which when straight is almost purely resistive) gets coiled that it starts exhibiting other current limiting properties to AC and these increase proportionally to the number of turns in that coil (as does Rdc) and the frequency of the AC. These reactances in combination with Rdc then create the overall impedance (Z)

Ok, no more tech stuff...

It's good to know there's a technical term for "it sounds different".

 

[PillO]

Careful in making the assumption Rdc only happens at DC. It happens at AC as well. A 100 Ohm carbon resistor will exhibit 100 Ohms AC or DC regardless. They call it "RDC" because resistance meters typically use a DC current to measure resistance. It's when a wire (which when straight is almost purely resistive) gets coiled that it starts exhibiting other current limiting properties to AC and these increase proportionally to the number of turns in that coil (as does Rdc) and the frequency of the AC. These reactances in combination with Rdc then create the overall impedance (Z)

Ok, no more tech stuff...

I used to know all this stuff. Many years ago when I fixed TVs, built amplifiers and effects pedals...

Now my talents lie elsewhere.

 

[dagrev]

I started prepping my JBS to put it up for sale and noticed the Pressure wounds have caused more fret wear than I expected (I do dig in pretty hard sometimes)

Very interesting. I have the PWs on a couple other basses and never noticed any wear, but I play pretty light (and bad!). Though flattened out, that Alloy 52 might be a tad hard on frets I suppose.

 

[Engle]

The challenging thing about that solo break is that the second half is the reverse of the first half. Sometimes studio trickery is hard to duplicate.

It’s pretty impossible to duplicate. Most non bassists haven’t analyzed it so “something like it” seems to work for me.

 

[GonePlaid]

It’s pretty impossible to duplicate. Most non bassists haven’t analyzed it so “something like it” seems to work for me.

I thought it was Chevy Chase that played that solo.

 

[Engle]

Careful in making the assumption Rdc only happens at DC. It happens at AC as well. A 100 Ohm carbon resistor will exhibit 100 Ohms AC or DC regardless. They call it "RDC" because resistance meters typically use a DC current to measure resistance. It's when a wire (which when straight is almost purely resistive) gets coiled that it starts exhibiting other current limiting properties to AC and these increase proportionally to the number of turns in that coil (as does Rdc) and the frequency of the AC. These reactances in combination with Rdc then create the overall impedance (Z)

Ok, no more tech stuff...

It’s okay with me!

 

[Engle]

I thought it was Chevy Chase that played that solo.

I think Paul is holding the bass at that point in the video

 

[GonePlaid]

I think Paul is holding the bass at that point in the video

It's been a l-o-o-ng time since I've seen the video. Also since MTV played videos.

 

[Engle]

It's been a l-o-o-ng time since I've seen the video. Also since MTV played videos.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

It's good to know there's a technical term for "it sounds different".

all relative...bet you non musicians will say the same when listening to two musicians debate whether to play the third or the fifth somewhere..

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

I used to know all this stuff. Many years ago when I fixed TVs, built amplifiers and effects pedals...

Now my talents lie elsewhere.

sure you did...

 

[lloganbracee]

Question from a “new” T-Bird player: Last year around this time I was gifted an Epiphone T-Bird Pro IV by a family member who picked up a bass at one point (he’s a guitar player) & never really found himself playing it. I intended to do a setup- I don’t know if it’s normal on the Pro IV’s or just the one he gave me, but it has a lot of fret buzz on the E & A strings- but I never did end up setting that bass up. It’s about time I do.

I love the vintage sound of T-Birds, & would be interested in getting some ThunderBuckers for it. Has anyone done this? If so, how is the fit?

 

[Dadagoboi]

Question from a “new” T-Bird player: Last year around this time I was gifted an Epiphone T-Bird Pro IV by a family member who picked up a bass at one point (he’s a guitar player) & never really found himself playing it. I intended to do a setup- I don’t know if it’s normal on the Pro IV’s or just the one he gave me, but it has a lot of fret buzz on the E & A strings- but I never did end up setting that bass up. It’s about time I do.

I love the vintage sound of T-Birds, & would be interested in getting some ThunderBuckers for it. Has anyone done this? If so, how is the fit?

ThunderBuckers require a very slight amount of enlarging the original Pro IV pickup routes. It's easy to do with a flat file or 60 grit sandpaper if you don't have a router.

I gave this one a full makeover with ThunderBucker Ranch supplied parts, except for the pickguard and knobs.

 

[TBird1958]

Very nicely done, Carlo!



The gift of chrome

 

[Gaolee]

The challenging thing about that solo break is that the second half is the reverse of the first half. Sometimes studio trickery is hard to duplicate.

Exactly. My understanding is that they ran the tape backwards in the studio, and that is what we hear on the final recording. It can be done live but it is tough to figure out. At least for me.

 

[Engle]

Exactly. My understanding is that they ran the tape backwards in the studio, and that is what we hear on the final recording. It can be done live but it is tough to figure out. At least for me.

I think I figured out my (hack) way from watching this dude:

The trick is the 16th note rest that begins it - and you need to do the hammer-ons fast enough. I turn on the chorus for some melodic runs during the section before that and hit the the octave pedal on the rest.