Thunderbird Club

[veebass]

But that single pickup is where the money is at. The Greco TB pickups are amazing. I currently have thunderbucker 66's in my Gibson but will put greco's in there today to compare, but with my TBII through the svt-VR berg610 there is no sound like it. Huge, full, angry across the board and very receptive to what your hands, fingers/pick are doing.

Yes they sure are!

 

[JELLIS78]

Apparently this dude was known to play a T'Bird in his time... Quality gig in Birmingham UK tonight.

 

[Gaolee]

I spent 1500 Aus dollars on mine, they are becoming more collectable. If I were to compare it to my Gibson the price becomes justified. The neck is great, straight taper like a rick with vintage style frets. Much closer to the 60's bird body style, and the stop bar definitely improves the 3 point design IMO. The tuners in mine aren't the best, very stiff and a little inaccurate BUT once in tune it doesn't seem to move at all. It feels sturdier to the Gibson but this is probably due to the thicker and hardened 40 year old finish and wider nut. But that single pickup is where the money is at. The Greco TB pickups are amazing. I currently have thunderbucker 66's in my Gibson but will put greco's in there today to compare, but with my TBII through the svt-VR berg610 there is no sound like it. Huge, full, angry across the board and very receptive to what your hands, fingers/pick are doing.

My babicz arrive today! Going to install that ASAP...the brushing a on my Gibson have raised a little, I believe the fix is t shirt over them and light hammer hits?

I would probably put a piece of hardwood between the t-shirt and bushing. That way you aren't hitting the insert directly and possibly peening it or putting divots in the bass body if you miss the insert. My Gibson is going to have a Babicz shortly as well.

 

[ThaCoast]

Tonight i order my new fretboard & some new frets for my Goth neck rebuild. It's actually quite surprising how easy it will be (how short i'll be working on it altogether). So in the next few weeks, expect an update on this refurbish project.

I'm going to kick myself for having set myself back on this one, but mistakes come with new knowledge. + i could potentially paint the body already & just let it dry but i don't have the paint for it yet sadly + i need to finish up some other client builds/mods first before painting this one.

& i've decided to do one colour red instead of a burst. so maybe something like this in the end

 

[nismaniac]

You'll have to make the routes slightly larger but not much. ThunderBuckers will definitely solve your B string problem. They're the same pickups I use in Cataldo Fivers. Steve Soar and I spent a lot of time making sure they would do the job.

ThunderBuckers in a Pro IV and other assorted bling from ThunderBucker Ranch.

Thanks for the info Carlo, according to the picture it looks like the rings and the pickup cover fit great too. Since I'm going to make the Epi Pro 5 passive, considering the Thunderbuckers, any recommendations for brand/value of pots I should use? Can all the recommended parts be purchased from Thunderbucker Ranch or will I need to get those on my own? I don't know much about pots and correct tone pot values/capacitors etc...

 

[Bent77]

So I took only the White '06 to rehearsal last night and it is SO much more growly and mid-rangy than the Burst '12. It cut through the mix quite a bit sharper than the '12. It reminded me of playing the Burst '12 through the MTI early 80's SVT in the other jam room. It was surprisingly snappier. I'm guessing the painted neck and ebony vs. rosewood board has something to do with that. I love the tone. The other guys were kind of on the fence about it. Drummer liked the loud. Guitar players were a little "hey man, that's eating some of my frequency".

Tell them, "yep i own this frequency"

 

[TBird1958]

So I took only the White '06 to rehearsal last night and it is SO much more growly and mid-rangy than the Burst '12. It cut through the mix quite a bit sharper than the '12. It reminded me of playing the Burst '12 through the MTI early 80's SVT in the other jam room. It was surprisingly snappier. I'm guessing the painted neck and ebony vs. rosewood board has something to do with that. I love the tone. The other guys were kind of on the fence about it. Drummer liked the loud. Guitar players were a little "hey man, that's eating some of my frequency".

Mid Range Rawr!
Eat those guitarists alive Geoffy!

 

[Dadagoboi]

Thanks for the info Carlo, according to the picture it looks like the rings and the pickup cover fit great too. Since I'm going to make the Epi Pro 5 passive, considering the Thunderbuckers, any recommendations for brand/value of pots I should use? Can all the recommended parts be purchased from Thunderbucker Ranch or will I need to get those on my own? I don't know much about pots and correct tone pot values/capacitors etc...

CTS 500k V, 250K T. .047 capacitor, you'll have to buy all of those separately.

 

[nismaniac]

CTS 500k V, 250K T. .047 capacitor, you'll have to buy all of those separately.

Awesome, thank you!!

 

[Mikaelbass]

Report:

Bridge makes a huge improvement, snappier attack with bigger fundamental, intonation and action far superior. Heavy as f$@k and balances the bass better.


Greco Pickups: in this bird the word "controlled" comes to mind. More even but does not have the inherent natural drive of the thunderbuckers. More responsive to EQ, allowing for a lot of tones and "different" approaches to large sounds. Cleaner all round with a big thump to each note. A more modern approach for sure.

 

[hillerup]

CTS 500k V, 250K T. .047 capacitor, you'll have to buy all of those separately.

I've read on several online sites that a .047 capacitor is commonly used for single coils (for removing some of the top end these pickups have), whereas a .022 capacitor would be commonly used for humbuckers to let more top end frequencies bleed through (since humbuckers are more dark sounding than single coils anyway)...

So why not use CTS 500k Volume, 500K Tone and a .022 capacitor?

 

[Dadagoboi]

I've read on several online sites that a .047 capacitor is commonly used for single coils (for removing some of the top end these pickups have), whereas a .022 capacitor would be commonly used for humbuckers to let more top end frequencies bleed through (since humbuckers are more dark sounding than single coils anyway)...

So why not use CTS 500k Volume, 500K Tone and a .022 capacitor?

Gibson used 500kV and 250kT for the original 60s pickups. ThunderBuckers are clones of them. They used .022 caps for singles and .047 for dual pickups. 250k T gives a more gradual slope to the tone shape in both mine and Steve's observation, a 500k acts more like a bass/treble switch.

Capacitors are sonically out of the circuit when the Tone knob is on 10. A larger value cap just gives more treble cut. This is often perceived as lower volume with tone zeroed.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, these are mine after installing around 200 ThunderBuckers.

 

[hillerup]

w

Gibson used 500kV and 250kT for the original 60s pickups. ThunderBuckers are clones of them. They used .022 caps for singles and .047 for dual pickups. 250k T gives a more gradual slope to the tone shape in both mine and Steve's observation, a 500k acts more like a bass/treble switch.

Capacitors are sonically out of the circuit when the Tone knob is on 10. A larger value cap just gives more treble cut. This is often perceived as lower volume with tone zeroed.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, these are mine after installing around 200 ThunderBuckers.

Interesting... Are Thunderbuckers more bright sounding than modern thunderbird humbuckers, since they use .047 caps?

Haven't had a bass in my hands in more than 20 years which didn't have a 500K tone pot in it, so I have nothing to compare to - But your observations about the 250K tone pot are quite interesting - Might just try this out one day...

 

[Larry V]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, these are mine after installing around 200 ThunderBuckers.

This is so like something my dad would say when we'd work on projects together. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry, automotive... whatever, if I questioned his advice.

Man, do I miss working on projects with him since he moved south to Florida.

The last time I was down there though, I installed a new garbage disposal for him. He was glad to not have to squeeze himself into that small space under the sink and I was happy to do it.

 

[Off-Beat]

I'll leave this here uncommented:

 

[Larry V]

It looks like a Thunderbird collector's starter kit.

Congrats! On the Alpine White Epi!

 

[Off-Beat]

It looks like a Thunderbird collector's starter kit.

Congrats! On the Alpine White Epi!

Haha yeah. My BL's Blackbird is next in line.

Maybe this the starting point to an 'Entwistle-esque' collection.

 

[TBird1958]

I'll leave this here uncommented:



























View attachment 723403

They're beauties!
Do I have you on the club roster? I took a quick look didn't see you?

 

[Off-Beat]

They're beauties!
Do I have you on the club roster? I took a quick look didn't see you?

Yeah, the classic was my ticket.


Btw the Gibson has a really tiny ding on the headstock, I even think it's a producton error. This got me a free strap and a polish for the fretboard.

Had a huge grin walking out of the shop yesterday. I oiled the fretboard; will check the setup today then give it my first shot.

 

[vdub75]

okay... i tried to get an active pro for 250€ but didn't finde one... so I bought a classic pro sunburst used for 300.... selling the tb+ for 100 makes this a good deal.

Will the hipshot ultralite "elephant ear" Tuners fit a bird? I think so?