hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
Damn! That is too bad...
I remember you posting pictures of this and the mirrorbird, like a gazillion pages back... What a shame - I hope you get your bird back.
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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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Damn! That is too bad...
I remember you posting pictures of this and the mirrorbird, like a gazillion pages back... What a shame - I hope you get your bird back.
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
Nice collection - It seems you got all the important ones nailed...
But you're missing one capable of "the sea of mud" sound: an EB-0 with a mudbucker - although I'm not entirely sure it qualifies for being essential...
OK, I'll give it a go.
I am not great on the electrical theory behind how a pickup works. I am not proud and more than happy for correction. I think I can answer your questions (or some of them) in a layman's fashion.
As I said, I am happy to be corrected by those who understand this stuff better than me.
In short, a pickup is a copper wire coil wrapped around magnets.
When a string moves in the magnetic field of the pickup, a current is induced in the coil.
A pickup works by producing an electrical signal that is transferred from the guitar to an amplifier and converted to sound by a speaker.
The signal is affected by the resistance of the coil. A so called "overwound" pickup has more wire wound on and all other things being equal (wire specifics, magnet characteristics) produces more signal than a pickup with less winds. The amount you can overwind depends on the amount of wire you can wind on.
The answers to your questions depend a little on the specific multimeter you have.
I have a Digitech DMM Autoranging.
To measure resistance of a pickup, I connect up as per the instruction with my unit. That is black probe lead to COM socket, red to VOhmmA. I set the rotary switch to Ohms and then select the desired range. Pickups are typically single digit or low double digit k Ohm resistance when working. Touch a probe to each end of the circuit being tested and note the display.
My TB plus pickups I just pulled out were about 9.7k Ohms.
You will notice a TBird pickup has a single lead. This is one of the Chinabuckers. The lead on a Gibson TB + is a little different but essentially the same.
As I understand it, the hot is inside the outer braiding, which is earth. The hot is exposed for the last little bit. Touch one probe to the end and the other to the outer casing of the lead and you should get a resistance reading, if you have done all the rest correctly and the pickup doesn't have a discontinuity (busted). In mine a discontinuity is indicated by a 0 reading or O/L, I can't remember.
Hope that helps and to be corrected/ educated.
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I have two or three multimeters. One was my dads from the sixties that I dont use. The one I do use is an el cheap'o from radio shack.
And I forgot to say as a novice electro dude, talk to my like im a noob.
And I forgot to say as a novice electro dude, talk to my like im a noob.
hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
OK, I'll give it a go.
I am not great on the electrical theory behind how a pickup works. I am not proud and more than happy for correction. I think I can answer your questions (or some of them) in a layman's fashion.
As I said, I am happy to be corrected by those who understand this stuff better than me.
In short, a pickup is a copper wire coil wrapped around magnets.
When a string moves in the magnetic field of the pickup, a current is induced in the coil.
A pickup works by producing an electrical signal that is transferred from the guitar to an amplifier and converted to sound by a speaker.
The signal is affected by the resistance of the coil. A so called "overwound" pickup has more wire wound on and all other things being equal (wire specifics, magnet characteristics) produces more signal than a pickup with less winds. The amount you can overwind depends on the amount of wire you can wind on.
The answers to your questions depend a little on the specific multimeter you have.
I have a Digitech DMM Autoranging.
To measure resistance of a pickup, I connect up as per the instruction with my unit. That is black probe lead to COM socket, red to VOhmmA. I set the rotary switch to Ohms and then select the desired range. Pickups are typically single digit or low double digit k Ohm resistance when working. Touch a probe to each end of the circuit being tested and note the display.
My TB plus pickups I just pulled out were about 9.7k Ohms.
You will notice a TBird pickup has a single lead. This is one of the Chinabuckers. The lead on a Gibson TB + is a little different but essentially the same.
As I understand it, the hot is inside the outer braiding, which is earth. The hot is exposed for the last little bit. Touch one probe to the end and the other to the outer casing of the lead and you should get a resistance reading, if you have done all the rest correctly and the pickup doesn't have a discontinuity (busted). In mine a discontinuity is indicated by a 0 reading or O/L, I can't remember.
Hope that helps and to be corrected/ educated.
I too have a couple of multimeters, but must be doing something wrong when I try to measure a pickup, as I can't seem to get a stable reading from them... The values jump up and down, and then settle for a very low reading...
Greetings Gibson lovers... - I came across a 2015 Gibson Thunderbird IV today at the GC in Plymouth Meeting, PA. I believe the color is root beer. This model has the new pickups and two coil tap switches. The clearance price for this new instrument is $999 with case. I believe the original retail price was $2200. It's 76% off list right now. It sounded and played great (a little bit of buzz on the first four frets of the E string but that was about it). Anyway, the GC kids didn't mangle her too much. Looked to be in pretty good shape. The plastic was still (mostly) on the pick guard and I couldn't find any issues with the bass. I have no affiliation with GC. Just passing along a good (great?) deal if someone is interested.
Okay. I have no idea regarding the going retail rate of Thunderbirds (I did look quickly online and I was seeing used Thunderbirds on the GC website and on here between $1000 and $1300 (non-vintage). And yes, I realize that nothing sells for list price. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. Haha However, 76% off of list price sounds like a good deal to me.
My apologies, japhy... I was just thinking 'out loud', more or less. Didn't mean anything by it.
TRUE
Attachments
You lost me at "That" ...
No worries, I was just running through the way my multimeter gets set up to measure resistance in a circuit (that is actually what you are doing). I'll write it in longer hand.
"That is (in the case of my multimeter, connect the lead from the) black probe to (the) COM (socket in the front of the unit), (connect the lead from the) red probe to (the) VOhmmA (socket in the front of the unit). I set the rotary switch to Ohms (as the multimeter will measure a number of different things depending on what setting you select) and then select the desired range (there is a function that allows you to select Ohms, k Ohms etc as appropriate to the resistance of the circuit you are testing). (For example) Pickups are typically single digit or low double digit k Ohm resistance when working (ie not broken) (so select K Ohms). Touch a probe to each end of the circuit being tested and note the display. (In this case, the leads as described below)
My TB plus pickups I just pulled out were about 9.7k Ohms.
The problem is I am not sure what your multimeter calls different things. Hope that helps a bit.
Pic of my multimeter set up for testing resistance and instruction sheet. The range referred to above is the middle button below the screen.
This bit is specific to TBird pickups that I have seen. (TBird pickups are different to a Fender pickup which will usually have a couple of separate leads coming from it.
"My TB plus pickups I just pulled out were about 9.7k Ohms.
You will notice a TBird pickup has a single lead. This is one of the Chinabuckers. The lead on a Gibson TB + is a little different but essentially the same.
As I understand it, the hot (lead ie the signal) is inside the outer braiding, which is (an) earth (lead). The hot is exposed for the last little bit (of the lead). Touch one (multimeter) probe to the end (of the pickup lead) and the other to the outer casing of the (pickup) lead and you should get a resistance reading, if you have done all the rest correctly and the pickup doesn't have a discontinuity (that is it is busted). In mine a discontinuity is indicated by a 0 reading or O/L, I can't remember.
Here is the underside of one of my TB+s from my 08 Gibson, just for reference.
This shows one shows how the pickup is wired into the basses circuit. This how the cavity ended up after I wired in the Chinabuckers into my 08 Gibson TBird. The hot (signal) is soldered to the wiper (middle) lug of the appropriate volume pot and the braided outside is soldered to the pot casing to ground the pickup.
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Yeah, Rexx. I played on that track and was in the video..
May 28th we are playing at The Viper Room in Hollywood..
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
If you don't jump all over it, you are crazy! Just saying. I already have one of those, and I bought it because I had (and now have again) an EB with those pickups and electronics. In a 'Bird, it all sounds a little different, as you would expect from a mostly mahogany neck through instead of a maple neck set into an ash body, but they are unique and versatile in a way that's hard to beat.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I think that's beautiful. Just to let you know. Not everyone appreciates a well wired panel or cavity, but I love seeing the guts done well. I especially like how you coiled the pickup wiring together to make it both reasonable to work with and neat when it's done. It's my idea of workmanship. Thanks for the picture. It made my evening.
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hillerup
There are basses, and there are Thunderbirds!
I tried with a pair of new unsoldered DeepSixx ones and with a pair of soldered Tb+ ones as well...
Must try again following your directions, assuming I should touch the ground wire with the black probe instead of touching the outer casing, since my soap bars don't come with a metal cover, as described in your instruction...
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No worries, I was just running through the way my multimeter gets set up to measure resistance in a circuit (that is actually what you are doing). I'll write it in longer hand.
"That is (in the case of my multimeter, connect the lead from the) black probe to (the) COM (socket in the front of the unit), (connect the lead from the) red probe to (the) VOhmmA (socket in the front of the unit). I set the rotary switch to Ohms (as the multimeter will measure a number of different things depending on what setting you select) and then select the desired range (there is a function that allows you to select Ohms, k Ohms etc as appropriate to the resistance of the circuit you are testing). (For example) Pickups are typically single digit or low double digit k Ohm resistance when working (ie not broken) (so select K Ohms). Touch a probe to each end of the circuit being tested and note the display. (In this case, the leads as described below)
My TB plus pickups I just pulled out were about 9.7k Ohms.
The problem is I am not sure what your multimeter calls different things. Hope that helps a bit.
Pic of my multimeter set up for testing resistance and instruction sheet. The range referred to above is the middle button below the screen.
This bit is specific to TBird pickups that I have seen. (TBird pickups are different to a Fender pickup which will usually have a couple of separate leads coming from it.
"My TB plus pickups I just pulled out were about 9.7k Ohms.
You will notice a TBird pickup has a single lead. This is one of the Chinabuckers. The lead on a Gibson TB + is a little different but essentially the same.
As I understand it, the hot (lead ie the signal) is inside the outer braiding, which is (an) earth (lead). The hot is exposed for the last little bit (of the lead). Touch one (multimeter) probe to the end (of the pickup lead) and the other to the outer casing of the (pickup) lead and you should get a resistance reading, if you have done all the rest correctly and the pickup doesn't have a discontinuity (that is it is busted). In mine a discontinuity is indicated by a 0 reading or O/L, I can't remember.
Here is the underside of one of my TB+s from my 08 Gibson, just for reference.
This shows one shows how the pickup is wired into the basses circuit. This how the cavity ended up after I wired in the Chinabuckers into my 08 Gibson TBird. The hot (signal) is soldered to the wiper (middle) lug of the appropriate volume pot and the braided outside is soldered to the pot casing to ground the pickup.
My El Chepo volt meter and the setting I have it on.
I am assuming it may not measure liw enough?? It has fresh batteries.
Face of pup
Amd the back with the wiring trimes.
I am getting zero movement on the needle.
