Thunderbird Club

[TBird1958]

Hey all! I’ve got a quick question for this vast pool of knowledge. I know it’s probably been discussed already but I’m looking for more concise info since I’ve been researching for days now.

I’ve got an Epiphone T-Bird Pro and I’m planning on gutting the electronics and upgrading everything. Only problem is, I can’t really find any pickups that’ll drop into the body without doing some woodwork.

I’ve seen the recommendations of Thunderbuckers, Lollers, and I took a quick look at Lulls (until I seen the price) but I was wondering if there’s any other options? I’m trying to find some passives that won’t cost as much as the bass, but if that’s what has got to happen then it’s gotta happen.

Posting the bird for contribution~

View attachment 3834510

You can find EY Guitars Thunderbird pickups on ebay, they're under $100.00 for a pair they are great for that kind of money. They are a drop in other than needing to have some shim underneath as they are much thinner than your stock pups.

 

[GBassNorth]

Very good point you make about providing some insight for other buyers and sellers here. I have had the least trouble with UPS shipping and tracking. The Postal Service and FedEx both can have their days changed more frequently than UPS, in my experience. UPS has pretty accurate and up to date tracking. I don't recall UPS telling me something was going to arrive on one day and it ended up not arriving. Possibly it's happened once. The post office is another matter entirely.

I guess I could tell them that there's been a slip up on my part and we forgot to declare that Plutonium 239--it's not much but I thought I should mention it to the post office now.

Not to make you feel bad, but to put things in perspective - here's a screen shot of the tracking info for some golf equipment that I purchased on May 7th from England. Pretty much tells me everything I need to know. I wish the post office tracking was this helpful...

I hope your package comes soon!

 

[Fluffy94]

I'd start by just reconnecting the pickups passively, no controls, to the output jack. Or swap the preamp for the controls you want, and wire it up. See how close that gets you. It's what I planned to do with my Pro V until I realized my left hand and the neck were in a painful duel to the death. Had it been a Pro IV, I'd still have it.

I might give that a shot. As it currently stands, I get an insane buzz from one of my pickups and when I opened it up before it looks like a mess of spaghetti. The cavity is packed full of stiff wiring and it looks like somebody had already replaced one of the pots so I wanted to clean it all up.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

You can find EY Guitars Thunderbird pickups on ebay, they're under $100.00 for a pair they are great for that kind of money. They are a drop in other than needing to have some shim underneath as they are much thinner than your stock pups.

View attachment 3834536

IIRC, the Pro pickups are a different shape...

 

[Miles_ONeal]

WRT Epi serial numbers, everything I've seen online says that for some time it's been YYMMFFnnnnn where nnnnn is a production number. But what is the production number?

1. Number of that model ever produced?
2. Number of that model produced in that factory?
3. Number of any model produced in that factory that year? I'm guessing it's not year and month, or they made a LOT of Classic Pros. Over 50K in May of 2019 seems ... unlikely.
   
4. Something else?

I've also seen people try to divine more information from the nnnnn, such as day or week info. But I can't see a pattern for anything there that always works.

Any skinny?

(The Flying V I just sold predates this. It was FYYMMnnnn or FMMYYnnnn (0404 for year and month with a single alpha factory code rather than a two digit factory code. I'm assuming it was YYMM.)

 

[fasterpussycat]

Great question, not sure there's a definitive answer we'd all agree on but I did quite a bit of research the topic a couple of years ago. See my post from 2018 above (referencing a claim that Day Tripper was the first heavy metal song - LOL). As best I can tell Iron Butterfly released the first heavy metal song with "In A Gadda Divida". Heck, they even had a metal in their name and for 1967/68 it was pretty heavy music. It beats Helter Skelter on releases by about 6 months (or over a year if you count live performances of the song prior to a recorded release as recalled by Jeff Beck).


I think Iron Butterfly was it by a hair, followed closely by Black Sabbath then Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. I just don't see the Beatles in the mix as a group but they did have Helter Skelter about 6 months after the epic Iron Butterfly release.

Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum, January 1968.

 

[TBird1958]

Hey all! I’ve got a quick question for this vast pool of knowledge. I know it’s probably been discussed already but I’m looking for more concise info since I’ve been researching for days now.

I’ve got an Epiphone T-Bird Pro and I’m planning on gutting the electronics and upgrading everything. Only problem is, I can’t really find any pickups that’ll drop into the body without doing some woodwork.

I’ve seen the recommendations of Thunderbuckers, Lollers, and I took a quick look at Lulls (until I seen the price) but I was wondering if there’s any other options? I’m trying to find some passives that won’t cost as much as the bass, but if that’s what has got to happen then it’s gotta happen.

Posting the bird for contribution~

View attachment 3834510

Happy to add you to the club if you like, just let me know

IIRC, the Pro pickups are a different shape...

Looking at his bass I 'd say the EY will no problem, if I recall Kat888 has already done this, though she no longer has the bass.

 

[fasterpussycat]

Some really odd choices in that bass. Filled in the neck heel strap pin hole and relocated it to the upper bout. And that claw along with the 3-point bridge is such a weird choice.

Think you'll find all the Grecos have the 3 point + claw. One of the reasons I've never been tempted. Better to have the strap pin where the bass is unbalanced, so you can complain about n*ck d*v*.

 

[BklynKen]

Think you'll find all the Grecos have the 3 point + claw. One of the reasons I've never been tempted. Better to have the strap pin where the bass is unbalanced, so you can complain about n*ck d*v*.

Yeah, it's just so bizarre.

 

[WillyW]

I can finally finish my projects...

 

[dagrev]

Not to make you feel bad, but to put things in perspective - here's a screen shot of the tracking info for some golf equipment that I purchased on May 7th from England. Pretty much tells me everything I need to know. I wish the post office tracking was this helpful...

View attachment 3834468

I hope your package comes soon!

Feel bad? How could timely and detailed shipping possibly make me feel bad? Oh, yeah......when mine is everything but! There is that.

After all England is much closer to California than LA is to KY. Makes perfect sense.

 

[dagrev]

WRT Epi serial numbers, everything I've seen online says that for some time it's been YYMMFFnnnnn where nnnnn is a production number. But what is the production number?

1. Number of that model ever produced?
2. Number of that model produced in that factory?
3. Number of any model produced in that factory that year? I'm guessing it's not year and month, or they made a LOT of Classic Pros. Over 50K in May of 2019 seems ... unlikely.
   
4. Something else?

I've also seen people try to divine more information from the nnnnn, such as day or week info. But I can't see a pattern for anything there that always works.

Any skinny?

(The Flying V I just sold predates this. It was FYYMMnnnn or FMMYYnnnn (0404 for year and month with a single alpha factory code rather than a two digit factory code. I'm assuming it was YYMM.)

Seems like I recall different interpretations of numbers as well. Possibly different groups of years the numbers meant different things.

 

[dagrev]

Well I'm glad things are pretty normal at the Post Orifice...

From the PO May 18
"The Postal Service has so far experienced only minor operational impacts in the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We do continue to have a temporary suspension of the guarantee on Priority Mail Express International destined for China and Hong Kong, which has been effective since Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, due to widespread airline cancellations and restrictions into this area. In addition, customers may see delays in mail and packages destined to China as well as from China, as well as to and from European countries subject to restricted passenger airline travel. The Postal Service is undertaking all reasonable measures to minimize the impact to our customers."

I'm sure glad my bass isn't coming from China....... Dodged a bullet there.

 

[FlyingPigSound]

Well I'm glad things are pretty normal at the Post Orifice...

From the PO May 18
"The Postal Service has so far experienced only minor operational impacts in the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We do continue to have a temporary suspension of the guarantee on Priority Mail Express International destined for China and Hong Kong, which has been effective since Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, due to widespread airline cancellations and restrictions into this area. In addition, customers may see delays in mail and packages destined to China as well as from China, as well as to and from European countries subject to restricted passenger airline travel. The Postal Service is undertaking all reasonable measures to minimize the impact to our customers."

I'm sure glad my bass isn't coming from China....... Dodged a bullet there.

UPS isn’t doing much better...
The tobacco burst Epi VP I ordered from a Reverb seller in Wisconsin over a week ago went to Van Nuys, California on its way to me in Chicagoland. Might finally arrive Thursday?

 

[PillO]

Good to know if I don't like the bridge on my Epi VP, RI, NR, TB II/IV when I get it.

Pssst. You forgot to specify colour...

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

UPS isn’t doing much better...
The tobacco burst Epi VP I ordered from a Reverb seller in Wisconsin over a week ago went to Van Nuys, California on its way to me in Chicagoland. Might finally arrive Thursday?

You guys sure picked one he11 of a time to buy Birds...

 

[dagrev]

UPS isn’t doing much better...
The tobacco burst Epi VP I ordered from a Reverb seller in Wisconsin over a week ago went to Van Nuys, California on its way to me in Chicagoland. Might finally arrive Thursday?

UPS and FedEx have certain delivery paths that some items normally take that can seem odd. For example, the main air hub for UPS is here in Louisville. This may have changed, but every piece of air shipments passed through Louisville to wherever it was going. So a package would fly to from CA to KY, then back to CA because it was/is the main sorting air hub. I believe UPS has developed air paths that might be a little more regional in some cases now. FedEx has a ground hub not far from here and things will go past Louisville to the hub, then back in this direction. It all arrives on the expected time, but the path looks odd. They both have a plan. Not so the PO.

 

[fasterpussycat]

Thanos snaps his fingers, and every THUNDERBIRD bass or bass with THUNDERBIRD pickups turns to dust. He snaps again, and every bass but one - which you will get - turns into spiders, which all scurry away like basilisks are upon them.

What do you hope that bass is?

Please don’t ask why Thanos hates bass players. That story is personally embarassing.

Ebony JC Sig.

 

[MCF]

It’s not a Bird, but I’m of the opinion it never hurts to have one of these in the family. This looks to be a very nice specimen. No affiliation; just thought I’d pass the info along.
For Sale - 2017 Fender P Bass

 

[fasterpussycat]

Still waiting to hear from Epi. Even if they are willing to send me bolt and nut or the whole new bridge, it will not solve intonation problem. It will definitely improve visual aspect of what I have now though.
For the time being I just use the one I have with saddle all the way back. It sits tight so this should work for now. Or I can flip a saddle and move it slightly forward. If it holds tune I will keep it like this for now.
I am starting saving for the new one. Just have to choose something from all the options available.

I tried to get parts out of Epi recently and they told me 'no'.