Thunderbird Club

[PillO]

Thanks man. This thread gave me good info. I Will defenitly try some different strings first. And then would look for some pickup options. So what is the biggest difference going from active to passive?

When talking Active vs Passive it's important to remember that tone wise one is not better than the other, they both have pros and cons.

Generally speaking, an active preamp will offer a broader array of tone shaping options. Some active preamps have just two bands (bass and treble) others have three four or even five bands and others like Alembic go even further.

Passive controls (there is no preamp) offer basic tone shaping usually with a single knob called a tone pot that combined with a capacitor of a specific value determines the maximum amount of treble in the output signal.

I have many of both and they all work great. Beyond sound and the number of pots required the biggest complaint about active preamps is that they require a battery while in active mode. So unless you get one that can be switched between active and passive you're dead in the water when the 9 volt battery dies. This inevitably happens mid song while on stage (although it's never happened to me).

I'm not sure which pickups your Eppi TBird has but the pups in my Eppi Goth were less than stellar. I replaced them with Bartolini pups, which were nearly a drop in replacement (had to sand the rout a bit wider) and at the same time I dropped in an Aguilar OBP-2 two band active preamp and installed a coil split switch. It's quite stellar now and does everything from Thunderbird on steroids to baritone guitar.

It depends upon the pickups. Some systems are passive p/u with a preamp. Others (like EMG) have a transistor (maybe more than just a transistor) under the epoxy. In that case, the p/u requires power (no bypass option) but it allows low impedence (so p/u doesn't get "loaded" by low input impedences). The EMG p/u does not require the use of a preamp, but do require a battery.

One thing to keep in mind - I don't think the p/u in the Pro-IV/V is the same size as other Thunderbird p/u. No matter what you choose, you will have to do some modification. If you are OK with routing, it opens up your choices.

 

[PillO]

Real bass players don't drink fizzy yellow beer!

I asked for a Corona(it was free)w/o the lime. They put one in anyway. I took it out and wiped the bottles neck with a [clean] napkin, then took a sip...............Then I put the lime back in, took another sip and left it on the bar.

They put the lime in to give it some flavour.

Thunderbird players drink single malt scotch, high quality gin, and interesting craft beer. Probably other things too.

 

[BklynKen]

They put the lime in to give it some flavour.

Thunderbird players drink single malt scotch, high quality gin, and interesting craft beer. Probably other things too.

Bourbon. Cask strength. Neither shaken no stirred.

 

[GBassNorth]

They put the lime in to give it some flavour.

Thunderbird players drink single malt scotch, high quality gin, and interesting craft beer. Probably other things too.

I'm not really fond of beer at all. That's why I drink Corona and Fosters. They don't taste any more crappy to me than Bud or Coors.

I do like my G&T though.

 

[dagrev]

Gibson has springs pushing them up. As I recall, the P has springs, too. The P-Bird certainly does.

I don't know if size of the magnet makes much difference. It's going to be the strength of the magnet, however big it is, and the amount of windings. Other than that, I'm sure there's about a zillion other things that have an effect on the sound that comes out. It's all in what you want and how to get it, not what's "better" or not.

Great answer. I would only add makeup of the mag and wire as well can make varying degrees of difference--depending on the zillion other things and how they combine. Noticeable to others? Nope. Noticeable to us? Yep. We're weird that way.

 

[PillO]

I'm not really fond of beer at all. That's why I drink Corona and Fosters. They don't taste any more crappy to me than Bud or Coors.

I do like my G&T though.

Hendricks with cucumber! (not lime)

 

[Engle]

Well that was an interesting experiment. Here's the findings...

Neck Pickup - volume setting full on, tone set at zero
Both basses sound virtually identical on the open E, A, and D strings with the Gibby slightly brighter on the G string. Tele volume is very linear from 0 to 10, no effect on tone and much louder than the Gibby in every setting until the Gibby volume hits 10. At that point the Gibby jumps up over the Tele in volume and the Gibby tone becomes noticeably brighter (even with tone knob still set on zero). The max tone setting on the Tele was about equivalent to the 8 tone setting on the TBird.

Bridge Pickup - volume setting full on, tone set at zero
Again both basses sound virtually identical on the open E, A, and D strings with the Gibby still slightly brighter on the G string. On this Pickup the Tele is much louder in every setting but the Gibby gets closer at max volume. The max tone setting on the Tele was about equivalent to the 8 setting on the Gibby.

Conclusions
If you normally play a modern Gibson TBird on a tone setting of 8 or less and play either Pickup on a volume of about 8 or 9 you'll likely find the TBird indistinguishable from the Tele MP. If you play the TBird at any of the lower volume settings it will sound thin as compared to the much beefier Tele at the same setting. The TBird is capable of going slightly brighter than the Tele If you max out the birds tone knob but it's not as much of a difference as you'd expect. Where the TBird starts to differentiate itself from the Tele is when you turn the volume of the bird past 9 to the max. It's then that the TBird throws away any linearity and makes a noticeable mid and upper mid tone bump and perceived volume increase as well.

In other words, To get the most balls to the wall sound out of your bird just max only one of the two volume knobs (more likely the neck) the tone knob and other volume knob really won't help or hurt much where ever they are set. In nearly every other setting the Tele MP matches or bests the TBird.

So there you have it, the Fender Telecaster Modern Player is pretty much a mocking bird capable of delivering nearly all of the TBird greatness, except in a bulkier, less sleek and more clunky kind of way. Get one if you want to retain your TBird sound roots but visually look like every other bass lemming out there.

Cool! I find my VP is loudest with neck on full and bridge on about 8. That usually where I keep it and I adjust the tone somewhere between 5-10.
I also vary my right hand position according to the tune.

 

[fasterpussycat]

Well that was an interesting experiment. Here's the findings...

[...]

In other words, To get the most balls to the wall sound out of your bird just max only one of the two volume knobs (more likely the neck) the tone knob and other volume knob really won't help or hurt much where ever they are set.

Think this is where I come in....

 

[fasterpussycat]

Well i do have An active bass from around 2008 i think. I was Just wondering what your picks are and trying to get the right ones for me. And me maybe differences and sound and types of pickups. I couldnt Find much info on the internet.

As a former PRO IV owner ... I would reckon just about any replacement pickup (and removing the preamp -- and preferably incinerating it) will be an improvement. You will need to do a minimal* amount of woodwork to fit a standard Thunderbird pickup.

BTW, I'm not suggesting all active electronics/pickups should be incinerated, just the ones in the PRO IV. To my ears they sounded a bit like wet cardboard. If you're into MM and active electronics, it's definitely worth checking out the EMG soapbars and preamps. Maybe @Gaolee's Lace suggestion would be worth a look as well.

For passive pickups, at the cheap end, these work well: Thunderbird Bass Pickup Vintage Style for Gibson,Chrome/Nickel

Or you can spend a bit more, eg these: Link Removed


*minimal enough that when I saw how much had been removed and compared it to the price the luthier charged me, it would have been cheaper to buy a Dremel and do it myself.

 

[fasterpussycat]

They put the lime in to give it some flavour.

Thunderbird players drink single malt scotch, high quality gin, and interesting craft beer. Probably other things too.

Tea

 

[JIO]

Well that was an interesting experiment. Here's the findings...

Neck Pickup - volume setting full on, tone set at zero
Both basses sound virtually identical on the open E, A, and D strings with the Gibby slightly brighter on the G string. Tele volume is very linear from 0 to 10, no effect on tone and much louder than the Gibby in every setting until the Gibby volume hits 10. At that point the Gibby jumps up over the Tele in volume and the Gibby tone becomes noticeably brighter (even with tone knob still set on zero). The max tone setting on the Tele was about equivalent to the 8 tone setting on the TBird.

Bridge Pickup - volume setting full on, tone set at zero
Again both basses sound virtually identical on the open E, A, and D strings with the Gibby still slightly brighter on the G string. On this Pickup the Tele is much louder in every setting but the Gibby gets closer at max volume. The max tone setting on the Tele was about equivalent to the 8 setting on the Gibby.

Conclusions
If you normally play a modern Gibson TBird on a tone setting of 8 or less and play either Pickup on a volume of about 8 or 9 you'll likely find the TBird indistinguishable from the Tele MP. If you play the TBird at any of the lower volume settings it will sound thin as compared to the much beefier Tele at the same setting. The TBird is capable of going slightly brighter than the Tele If you max out the birds tone knob but it's not as much of a difference as you'd expect. Where the TBird starts to differentiate itself from the Tele is when you turn the volume of the bird past 9 to the max. It's then that the TBird throws away any linearity and makes a noticeable mid and upper mid tone bump and perceived volume increase as well.

In other words, To get the most balls to the wall sound out of your bird just max only one of the two volume knobs (more likely the neck) the tone knob and other volume knob really won't help or hurt much where ever they are set. In nearly every other setting the Tele MP matches or bests the TBird.

So there you have it, the Fender Telecaster Modern Player is pretty much a mocking bird capable of delivering nearly all of the TBird greatness, except in a bulkier, less sleek and more clunky kind of way. Get one if you want to retain your TBird sound roots but visually look like every other bass lemming out there.

A few obvious things are going on - first off the pu location is radically different, secondly Fender uses 250k pots and Gibson uses 500k pots, and lastly the rest of each bass differs in wood and construction. No comparison really - 2 different animals. Any overlaps are purely coincidental.

 

[Glenn Johnson]

I'm not really fond of beer at all. That's why I drink Corona and Fosters. They don't taste any more crappy to me than Bud or Coors.

I do like my G&T though.

I'll take a dry Martini, stirred, not shaken.

 

[Glenn Johnson]

Tea

Tequila - real tequila, not Cuervo

 

[fasterpussycat]

@Nvdshot

NB. I'm not claiming that all active electronics and pickups should be incinerated, merely the

Tequila - real tequila, not Cuervo

Even the smell makes me heave.

 

[PillO]

Think this is where I come in....

I thought this is where you came from
Link Removed

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Yes, there's a lot of franchises now, like harvester. Massed produced food in God knows where and reheated on site and it still takes them ages.
The far and few independent pubs usually do very decent grub, but not many left as they are being taxed out of business.

Scotland and Ireland still have pubs aplenty. Some have live music. A scarcity of THUNDERBIRDS, though.

 

[JIO]

I'll take a dry Martini, stirred, not shaken.

As long as it's a Vodka martini...

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Some Canadian content from Saturday’s gig. Just an intro, but for a change, you can see and hear my Thunderbird!

That was cool, but not the Fly By Night intro I expected.

 

[fasterpussycat]

Scotland and Ireland still have pubs aplenty. Some have live music. A scarcity of THUNDERBIRDS, though.

I was asked to move in in Edinburgh pub as the seat I was in was reserved for 'musicians'. Those are the sorts of moments a Precision is called for.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Thanks man. This thread gave me good info. I Will defenitly try some different strings first. And then would look for some pickup options. So what is the biggest difference going from active to passive?

My Pro seems to have a lot more tonal range, but less thunder, than my plain old IV.