Thunderbird Club

[11th Street Kid]

For low end heaviness:
Classic Pro w/ Cobalt flats: NV: 10 BV: 0 T: 0-3 occasionally turning BV up to 2-3

Your sonic palette is similar to mine. I tend to run neck pickup at 8, bridge at 3 (although right now it’s at 6) and tone at 3. I like a fat, round low end punch, less high end twang (hence my tone knob preference) and cleaner sounding with a light seasoning of grit!!!

 

[dagrev]

As a slight aside here, how do you (and others) run your Thunderbirds tone wise? Pickup volume blends/tone setting/preferred string choice, and so on.

I know we aren’t going to be comparing apples with apples here and you will adjust depending on situation but what’s YOUR Thunderbird sound when you sit and play on your own and want to hear what you want to hear?

Oh my! I could go on for sometime as far as an explanation goes!

I'm shooting for a big, fat, sick punchy sound with some pleasing highs that will surround the band in a live setting. I'm going for a big sound but not a scooped sound, if that makes any sense. To do this, most of the time I use both pickups and generally the tone is rolled all the way off, muting nothing on the high end. At times on some of the Thunderbirds I will roll the bridge pickup off, generally all the way when I do this. More when I'm playing with fingers. When I use a pic, which is about 20% of the time, I almost always use both pickups fully on. On the '64 embassy, I am more likely to roll the bridge pickup off some or all the way than any of my Thunderbirds.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Thanks much! The 2nd one was one I was looking at, but the first one you listed is interesting. I'm not sure what difference tone wise it would make but it sure looks interesting.

I talked with RS Guitar Works here in Ky before and they will make up whatever I want very reasonably as well. And they also make a Thunderbird pickup bass (but with the old Pbass body), so they know what that wiring should look like.

With those modern Gibson pickups I'm not sure if you change the wiring harness if that would be a good match or not. That part is over my head. I'm not sure what sticking a vintage tight wiring harness in with modern pick ups would do or change tone-wise.

pretty Thunderbird related topic so....
careful with marketing hype and placebo effect in using the wrong part for the job. The minimum voltage rating Sprague/Cornell Dubilier "Orange Drop" caps is about 100Volts. Way overkill when passive bass signals are in the order of .2Volts, further, in conventional T-Bird wiring, the output signal of the bass never passes through this capacitor where a higher quality polyester or polypropylene dielectric could potentially make a difference (never in reality due to the low passive bass signal level), instead it's used to attenuate higher frequencies by shunting them to ground. As mentioned (in another post), these caps are meant for active high voltage circuits such as those in VT amps where they truly shine, some are rated to 1.5kVolt, hence their higher cost..

Wiring (mine) of my BaCH with ThunderBucker 66 N/Bs where I used a 47nFd ceramic disk rated at 50Volt just because it sounded right...

Wiring of my '13 with '76 Sidewinders...I left the stock little (in physical size) blue ceramic which I confirmed is a 22nFd....one of my best sounding basses..

Stock wiring of my '68 with a 27nFd ceramic disc rated at 50Volts....no lack of warmth here...

 

[PillO]

Unpopular Opinion (Fender Jazz)

Brought to you by the PillO schadenfreude department.

 

[PillO]

The minimum voltage rating Sprague/Cornell Dubilier "Orange Drop" caps is about 100Volts. Way overkill when passive bass signals are in the order of .2Volts,

But that's just extra headroom, right?

 

[bylar13]

As a slight aside here, how do you (and others) run your Thunderbirds tone wise? Pickup volume blends/tone setting/preferred string choice, and so on.

I know we aren’t going to be comparing apples with apples here and you will adjust depending on situation but what’s YOUR Thunderbird sound when you sit and play on your own and want to hear what you want to hear?

Neck pick-up:10
Bridge pick-up:8
Tone: 10

 

[BklynKen]

As a slight aside here, how do you (and others) run your Thunderbirds tone wise? Pickup volume blends/tone setting/preferred string choice, and so on.

I know we aren’t going to be comparing apples with apples here and you will adjust depending on situation but what’s YOUR Thunderbird sound when you sit and play on your own and want to hear what you want to hear?

Neck: 11
Bridge: 8 or 9
Tone: 11

 

[Nocturnal]

As a slight aside here, how do you (and others) run your Thunderbirds tone wise? Pickup volume blends/tone setting/preferred string choice, and so on.

I know we aren’t going to be comparing apples with apples here and you will adjust depending on situation but what’s YOUR Thunderbird sound when you sit and play on your own and want to hear what you want to hear?

A couple settings I play with:

Neck - 10
Bridge - 7-8
Tone - 10

Neck - 8
Bridge - 10
Tone - 10

A couple basses do not even have Tone knobs.

My BlackBird has been modified to Vol -Vol - Kill switch. The neck is usually on 8 and bridge on 10 for that one. Really just depends.

 

[11th Street Kid]

Neck: 11
Bridge: 8 or 9
Tone: 11

View attachment 3852530

Have you got Dobly pickups?

 

[GonePlaid]

It depends on the music and the bird. But generally...
For low end heaviness:
Classic Pro w/ Cobalt flats: NV: 10 BV: 0 T: 0-3 occasionally turning BV up to 2-3
For brighter through Angry Piano:
Vintage Pro w/ RS66LPs: NV: 7-10 BV: 0-3 T: 2-5 (rarely higher, but up to 10)

Most of the time, it's all neck pickup and tone rolled off. If I'm running the phaser, I'm more likely to have the tone control up some.

I never run both volume controls at 10 because the volume drops. I really should experiment with that tonally, though. I can always kick in a boost if I like the tone. Hmmm...

I get the same w/both at 10. I simplify by not using the bridge pup at all. Mine is a TBird II with some useless thing by the bridge.

 

[BklynKen]

Have you got Dobly pickups?

Yes! The wiring harness for it is 18' long.

 

[Engle]

You would want to scrub it regardless - all those grubby hands on it. God knows where those hands have been before music class...

Oh yeah! I’m not that fussy about wiping down my basses in regular use, but new or returned to me gear gets wiped down with 99.9% isopropyl at a minimum.

 

[Gaolee]

Finish the song.

I played an outdoor wedding a few years ago. The drummer was stung a number of times, but she never missed a beat. We didn't find out how bad it was until later on, when we were loading out and she wasn't very happy about the world.

 

[Gaolee]

I wonder if it would float. Or if the headstock would pull it under.

If it was a Thunderbird, you know the headstock would be headed to the bottom, pronto. Good thing it would also pop off, so no problems.

 

[Gaolee]

You've probably heard the saying "a poor craftsman blames his tools". Well, soldering is a big exception to that saying. Having a nice high and variable power soldering station (vs a $15 soldering gun from Kmart) will make all the difference in the world especially when soldering to the back of a pot body where there's a significant heat sink. Not a huge deal on the pot lugs, but on the pot body, yep.

I would also echo others comments, the bridge volume pot has some pretty messy solder work on it. Might have been some after market work on that pot. I wonder if that work over heated the pot internals and messed up the resistance values a bit. Just thinking out loud, but I wonder if it would be worth while taking the bass to a Luthier and having them check the values of each component to see if everything is in spec.

Or possibly just dropping a new wiring harness in the bass (might actually be the cheapest route)...
(Gibson) Thunderbird Bass Wiring Harness, Treble Bleed, No Load Tone, 50’s or Modern Wiring | String Switch Noise | Reverb

That's just weird looking. Why would there be a cap at every pot?

 

[Gaolee]

I'm ready to buy some nickel Hipshot Ultralites 3/8 clover tuners for my walnut bird. Anyone know if I can use the "full size" clovers instead of the "mini" clovers? I like me some big chunky tuners.

If it's a post 1988 Thunderbird reissue, the big clovers will overlap. If that's ok with you, then it can be done just fine. I prefer the mini-clovers just in case.

 

[dagrev]

pretty Thunderbird related topic so....
careful with marketing hype and placebo effect in using the wrong part for the job. The minimum voltage rating Sprague/Cornell Dubilier "Orange Drop" caps is about 100Volts. Way overkill when passive bass signals are in the order of .2Volts, further, in conventional T-Bird wiring, the output signal of the bass never passes through this capacitor where a higher quality polyester or polypropylene dielectric could potentially make a difference (never in reality due to the low passive bass signal level), instead it's used to attenuate higher frequencies by shunting them to ground. As mentioned (in another post), these caps are meant for active high voltage circuits such as those in VT amps where they truly shine, some are rated to 1.5kVolt, hence their higher cost..

Wiring (mine) of my BaCH with ThunderBucker 66 N/Bs where I used a 47nFd ceramic disk rated at 50Volt just because it sounded right...
View attachment 3852443

Wiring of my '13 with '76 Sidewinders...I left the stock little (in physical size) blue ceramic which I confirmed is a 22nFd....one of my best sounding basses..
View attachment 3852446

Stock wiring of my '68 with a 27nFd ceramic disc rated at 50Volts....no lack of warmth here...
View attachment 3852451

Thanks! I appreciate the education!

Cavity from my '64 Thunderbird. Now sure how much is original or been worked on. But is sounds so good I don't care.

Best tone circuit I have (at least sound-wise) is from my '59 Pbass. The tone pot cuts the highs but doesn't bump mids or seems to (percieved or not), or create a muffled sound. It literally just cuts off some highs and seems to leave everything else alone. Nice and full with no highs is all that's left.

 

[MCF]

Unpopular Opinion (Fender Jazz)

Brought to you by the PillO schadenfreude department.

You didn’t actually read through that thing did you? Still on pain meds?

 

[BklynKen]

Thanks! I appreciate the education!

Cavity from my '64 Thunderbird. Now sure how much is original or been worked on. But is sounds so good I don't care.
View attachment 3852737

Best tone circuit I have (at least sound-wise) is from my '59 Pbass. The tone pot cuts the highs but doesn't bump mids or seems to (percieved or not), or create a muffled sound. It literally just cuts off some highs and seems to leave everything else alone. Nice and full with no highs is all that's left.

View attachment 3852721

Any of that asbestos?

 

[MCF]

pretty Thunderbird related topic so....
careful with marketing hype and placebo effect in using the wrong part for the job. The minimum voltage rating Sprague/Cornell Dubilier "Orange Drop" caps is about 100Volts. Way overkill when passive bass signals are in the order of .2Volts, further, in conventional T-Bird wiring, the output signal of the bass never passes through this capacitor where a higher quality polyester or polypropylene dielectric could potentially make a difference (never in reality due to the low passive bass signal level), instead it's used to attenuate higher frequencies by shunting them to ground. As mentioned (in another post), these caps are meant for active high voltage circuits such as those in VT amps where they truly shine, some are rated to 1.5kVolt, hence their higher cost..

Wiring (mine) of my BaCH with ThunderBucker 66 N/Bs where I used a 47nFd ceramic disk rated at 50Volt just because it sounded right...
View attachment 3852443

Wiring of my '13 with '76 Sidewinders...I left the stock little (in physical size) blue ceramic which I confirmed is a 22nFd....one of my best sounding basses..
View attachment 3852446

Stock wiring of my '68 with a 27nFd ceramic disc rated at 50Volts....no lack of warmth here...
View attachment 3852451

That’s some nice soldering.