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Thunderbird Club

#113,261
fasterpussycat said:
Nice to know the OBG is 'top of the line'.

I know you all think I'm a barbarian but the pickups which came in my OBG sounded pretty lifeless and the Thunderbucker was there, so there seemed little point in fannying about with things -- out they came. They are a very tall pickup, although possibly not as tall as the pups in an Epi IV Pro IIRC.

Just put the multimeter across them and they measure 7k89Ω and 7k96Ω.
Click to expand...

Makes total sense you'd want the Thunderbucker in there.
 
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#113,262
fasterpussycat said:
Nice to know the OBG is 'top of the line'.

I know you all think I'm a barbarian but the pickups which came in my OBG sounded pretty lifeless and the Thunderbucker was there, so there seemed little point in fannying about with things -- out they came. They are a very tall pickup, although possibly not as tall as the pups in an Epi IV Pro IIRC.

Just put the multimeter across them and they measure 7k89Ω and 7k96Ω.
Click to expand...

If you set the height of the Orville pickups the same as ThunderBuckers you were choking the sound. The ceramic magnets are so hot they'll kill string vibration. Similar to what happens when you get strat pole pieces too close to strings.

You might drop one of the Orvilles in the bridge position and fiddle with it. Overdrive is baked in, there's plenty of life in them.
 
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#113,263
godofthunder59 said:
Ugh why?
Click to expand...

Because I’m the curious sort. I’m sure they have their fans, though clearly you ain’t one of them :)

Dadagoboi said:
The Greco has the same pickups as in Orvilles and Orville By Gibsons (same factory, different levels of woodworking/hardware, Greco being at the bottom, OBG at the top).

60s 'bird pups are short with weak AlNiCo mags and lots of thin wire. Steve and I took apart one of my OBG's pups about seven years ago. Tall pup with really HOT ceramic magnets, and not a lot of turns of thick wire.

The Greco pup gets one great sound but has its limitations when it comes to clean. The now discontinued ThunderBucker Max was an attempt at getting close to it by using hotter AlNiCo and as much wire as Steve could wind on a bobbin. 12.7 ohms R. Still smoother than the Greco, though. I think Scott has a pair in a bass.

The BiCen pup is a sidewinder, it has more of a hot Jazz pup sound IMO. They seem to vary a lot from pup to pup.
Click to expand...

Great info, thanks!
 
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#113,264
Dadagoboi said:
If you set the height of the Orville pickups the same as ThunderBuckers you were choking the sound. The ceramic magnets are so hot they'll kill string vibration. Similar to what happens when you get strat pole pieces too close to strings.

You might drop one of the Orvilles in the bridge position and fiddle with it. Overdrive is baked in, there's plenty of life in them.
Click to expand...

I'm waiting for K-girls response to that. :)
 
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#113,265
Dadagoboi said:
If you set the height of the Orville pickups the same as ThunderBuckers you were choking the sound. The ceramic magnets are so hot they'll kill string vibration. Similar to what happens when you get strat pole pieces too close to strings.

You might drop one of the Orvilles in the bridge position and fiddle with it. Overdrive is baked in, there's plenty of life in them.
Click to expand...

The foam rubber mounts on them were paggered and they were sitting (well slumped) down at gen pop height. May play about with them one of these days, then again the current setup sounds pretty good, so it's probably best to leave well alone.
 
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#113,266
fasterpussycat said:
The foam rubber mounts on them were paggered and they were sitting (well slumped) down at gen pop height. May play about with them one of these days, then again the current setup sounds pretty good, so it's probably best to leave well alone.
Click to expand...

You're not really The (Arthur '2 Sheds Jackson) type, are you?

 
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#113,270
dukeorock said:
I know a few companies do early 60’s repros on T Bird pickups, but has anyone taken on ‘76 style pickups?
Click to expand...

I'd love a '76 Repro, they don't sound like a '60s and that would be the point :)

I find them glorious when played through a big amp, the factory wiring is a bit bizarre - that may be a factor as to why they haven't been done.
 
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#113,274
dukeorock said:
Great info, thanks!
Click to expand...

I had Steve analyze my spare BiCen sidewinder as well as the Orville pup. Orville was easy, pretty much fell out of the can. Humongous magnets and very aggressive.

The BiCen is encased in epoxy and underwhelming. There didn't seem any reason to pursue it further. If you want to try it out, let me know.
 
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#113,277
Dadagoboi said:
I had Steve analyze my spare BiCen sidewinder as well as the Orville pup. Orville was easy, pretty much fell out of the can. Humongous magnets and very aggressive.

The BiCen is encased in epoxy and underwhelming. There didn't seem any reason to pursue it further. If you want to try it out, let me know.
Click to expand...

There seems to be some variation with them then, as none of mine were in epoxy - As always with Gibson! :)
 
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