Thunderbird Club

[MCF]

For reference, here's mine...
View attachment 3696090





Took the black spacer off of my 2015 bird, wasn't necessary and it was lifting the bridge up to the point the break angle was almost non existent on the E string. All is good now.

Is the bottom of the spacer completely flat or are there cutouts that would accommodate Epi inserts?

 

[PillO]

Ya shoulda windmilled.

Windmills and birds do not mix well. Unless you are playing Sunday Bloody Sunday.

 

[BklynKen]

500 is chicken head all the way right (clockwise) and it is really gainy. I am content at 250 usually unless I want a softer sound in which case I go 50.


Is there a setting other than 11?
View attachment 3696316

 

[fasterpussycat]

500 is chicken head all the way right (clockwise) and it is really gainy. I am content at 250 usually unless I want a softer sound in which case I go 50.

Someone has already done a fair bit of work to stealth the bass out. There's the bridge, the knobs were black knurled Tele knobs and the indicator ring was removed.

The chicken head has a different orientation:

/ (L)
-- (CCL)
\ (D)

Gainy is good.

 

[PillO]

Someone has already done a fair bit of work to stealth the bass out. There's the bridge, the knobs were black knurled Tele knobs and the indicator ring was removed.

The chicken head has a different orientation:

/ (L)
-- (CCL)
\ (D)

Gainy is good.

That is why I added the description fully clockwise. Fully anti-clockwise is 50. 250 is somewhere in between.

/ (50)
-- (250)
\ (500)​

 

[fasterpussycat]

That is why I added the description fully clockwise. Fully anti-clockwise is 50. 250 is somewhere in between.

/ (50)
-- (250)
\ (500)​

Oh, I can rotate it 90 degrees in my head without much effort. It was more the actual numbers I had to think about for a minute, as opposed to 'gainy', 'less gainy' and 'gen pop'.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Is the bottom of the spacer completely flat or are there cutouts that would accommodate Epi inserts?

recessed..

 

[dagrev]

Thanks! Paul (drummer) and I just click without having to think about it. That was recorded with new Fender flats on the VP

Fender Flats + VP =

 

[RedVee]

yep, lotsa bass for the price though...tried this one out (locally) the other day and was pretty impressed..
View attachment 3696165

the only thing I don’t like about the Artcores is their f holes. They seem a bit fat around the middle... I really should like that.

 

[GBassNorth]

Is the bottom of the spacer completely flat or are there cutouts that would accommodate Epi inserts?

IIRC The Babicz bridge spacer plate is flat.
However, the question really is - are the spacer plate holes a large enough diameter to fit over the Epiphone stud shoulders? I don't have that answer right this second but if I get a chance tonight I'll take some measurements to see if the Bab will work with the Eppi studs. I suspect not, but it would also be an easy fix to drill out the spacer plate to fit over the shoulders. That leaves the question of the thickness of the spacer plate being enough to overcome the height of the shoulders. I'll check and get back to the club.

 

[GBassNorth]

recessed..
View attachment 3696352

Is that the bottom side of the Babicz?

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Is that the bottom side of the Babicz?

no, just realized you guys are talking about the Babicz...the pic is of the HS..I'm so FIRED!!..

 

[Miles_ONeal]

On none of my Epi birds (IV, VP IV, Pro IV) have I been able to raise my pickups as high as I want to try. They all start flopping around; there's not enough foam under them to get them as close as I think I would like to the strings.
Do y'all find you can crank them way up, out of the box? Or do you have to add foam? I'm not sure why they went with foam vs springs to begin with, but I know a lot of the club members seem to like foam. Bonus question: why do you prefer foam?

 

[GBassNorth]

Is the bottom of the spacer completely flat or are there cutouts that would accommodate Epi inserts?

Ok, I just checked out the Babicz spacer plate and it is indeed flat, it is also nearly twice as thick as the Eppi shoulders are high. Unfortunately, the bolt holes in the spacer are sized for a slip fit of the Eppi/Gibby bolts threaded section only. To clear the Eppi shoulders the Bab spacer holes would need to be at least .625" diameter. If you tried to drill out the spacer holes to fit over the Eppi shoulders you'd quickly run out of meat on the spacer plate (see pic below).

In other words, the Babicz bridge will not work on the Eppi unless you intend on mounting it above the body on top of the Eppi shoulders, which leaves a 1/8" air gap and kind of defeats the purpose of having a full contact bridge. Stick to the Hipshot on the Eppi and the Babicz on the Gibby.

 

[GBassNorth]

On none of my Epi birds (IV, VP IV, Pro IV) have I been able to raise my pickups as high as I want to try. They all start flopping around; there's not enough foam under them to get them as close as I think I would like to the strings.
Do y'all find you can crank them way up, out of the box? Or do you have to add foam? I'm not sure why they went with foam vs springs to begin with, but I know a lot of the club members seem to like foam. Bonus question: why do you prefer foam?

I have (had) springs on my 2015 bird pups. Hated them, replaced with high density foam.

I frequently anchor my thumb on the pickups, and when equipped with Springs the pup moves all over the place, drives me nutz. With good high density foam (the type you can get from the hardware store for weather stripping) I can get the pups up nice and high and rock solid.

If you use ordinary foam rubber it will be too squishy, try some of the adhesive backed weather stripping type foam, it works great. BTW - I keep my pups up as close to the strings as I can get them without the strings touching when depressed at the last fret (exception being the 2015 bird, it's a totally different beast when it comes to pup height).

 

[Miles_ONeal]

View attachment 3696471

This reminds me... I need a set of calipers. I don't want to spend a ton, but I want something reasonably accurate and consistent. They won't be rattling around in a truck or getting used a hundred times a week on a regular basis, but if they were to drop a few inches onto a hard surface, I'd like them not to become worthless.

Any suggestions?

TIA!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

I have (had) springs on my 2015 bird pups. Hated them, replaced with high density foam.

I frequently anchor my thumb on the pickups, and when equipped with Springs the pup moves all over the place, drives me nutz. With good high density foam (the type you can get from the hardware store for weather stripping) I can get the pups up nice and high and rock solid.

If you use ordinary foam rubber it will be too squishy, try some of the adhesive backed weather stripping type foam, it works great. BTW - I keep my pups up as close to the strings as I can get them without the strings touching when depressed at the last fret (exception being the 2015 bird, it's a totally different beast when it comes to pup height).

Thanks. That's what I'm wanting to try, based on yours and others' recommendations, plus my experience with guitars. I usually like my pickups as high as I could get them without string interference (mechanical or magnetic[1]).

[1] The early production Dimarzio SDS-1 pickups on my Hagstrom could seriously dampen string vibration well before they would touch the strings.

 

[GBassNorth]

This reminds me... I need a set of calipers. I don't want to spend a ton, but I want something reasonably accurate and consistent. They won't be rattling around in a truck or getting used a hundred times a week on a regular basis, but if they were to drop a few inches onto a hard surface, I'd like them not to become worthless.

Any suggestions?

TIA!

The whole purpose of calipers is extreme accuracy. A good set of Starrett calipers will last a lifetime with normal care and usage. I'm not fond of the digital type (seems like the battery always goes out at the most inconvenient time). Get the dial type. Make sure it has inside, outside and depth functions and comes in a hard case. Store it in the case and it won't matter if you drop it. I've had mine for nearly 50 years.

 

[GBassNorth]

Thanks....
[1] The early production Dimarzio SDS-1 pickups on my Hagstrom could seriously dampen string vibration well before they would touch the strings.

That's exactly the issue with the 2015 bird. The magnets in the pups are so strong that they will pull your G string out of tune if you raise them too high. It took me forever to do the set up on the 2015. Out of habit I would adjust the neck and bridge as needed to achieve my desired action, then I'd set the intonation and finish by raising or lowering the pup height to get the best sound. When I did that on the 2015 I'd constantly end up out of tune or intonation when I was done. Solved that with heavy duty strings and setting pup height first. Until I figured out what was going on it was driving me crazy.

 

[JJR58]

Fender Flats + VP =

To much tension. Otherwise love them myself.