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Thunderbird Club

#185,665
DesolationBlvd said:
A question, before I call off the plans to install the Bartolini Classic Bass pickups in my Thunderbird: Will I at least be able to get close to the Thunderbird tone with these pickups in series and only using the treble cut part of a 2-band active EQ?

If so, then I'll take the Thunderbird to my luthier once he's done with another guitar of mine to be reborn as an active bass. If not, then I'll instead take my Rickenbacker overdue for a refret to him, and put a parts bass together for the Bartolini electronics to live in.
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Sounds like you’re trying to do almost exactly what I did a couple of years ago. I think I posted the results in the thread, I’ll look for a link.

found it and will repost it for you.
 
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#185,666
dagrev said:
:banghead: Well poop. I feel really bad and am so sorry. I know you were really interested in trying those. I'm pretty sure that was the only set I have. I'll look again to make sure. I would never have sent them had I thought that would happen. I only tried them
on two maybe three basses at the most that I can think of and thought they would surely have another go or two left. I've had about three sets over the years trying to get them to work for me and the tuner ends are just flimsy. More so than any string I have ever used.
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no worries Dude….who needs 4 strings anyway…
32E833DE-C41A-4F36-8510-C2F25E8A0758.png
 
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#185,669
GBassNorth said:
FrankenGoth Pickup and Control update...

The work has been done, a decision has been made and the transplant is a success!


After trying the stock Goth pups with several different pot and cap values, and doing the same with after market Bartolini pups the Goth pups were set aside in favor of the Bart's. The Goth pups were very mid range focused and lacking both the top end and bottom end of the Bart's.

Then after trying coil switching options (neck coil/Humbucker/bridge coil tap for each pup in parallel mode ) vs a single switch (that selects the neck pup neck coil in humbucking series with the bridge pup bridge coil or both pups in full Humbucker series mode) the hands down favorite was the more simplified and much more powerful single coil tap series wired switch. Two switches with three positions each and not a lot of tonal difference from position to position plus the weaker sounding parallel wiring conspired to sink the twin coil tap option. The single more powerful two position switch combined with the volume controls provides nearly as many options with much bolder series wired sound.

Finally, the passive coil tap wiring option was tested against an active option using a Spector Tonepump preamp, which failed to work properly (in hindsight I think I had the stereo output jack wired wrong) and an Aguilar OBP-2 two band preamp. The 18db bass boost of the Aggie preamp utterly destroyed the bottom end of the passive option and just completely hammered the front end of my 150watt Musicman HD150/Bergantino HT322 rig for gobs of thick gooey distortion with onboard dials maxed out and yet sounded like a concert grand piano at less insane settings. So the Aggie stays in this Bird as does the single coil tap switch. There's a time and a place for single coils (like when doing chord or harmonics work or with some effect pedals) and I now have the option to continue playing my Bird but switching from a single neck coil or a single bridge coil or both single coils in humbucking series all in one position of the switch or flipping the switch to the other position and running a full neck Humbucker or full bridge Humbucker or both humbuckers all wired in series for earth shattering effect if needed. I strongly recommend this $10 option to anyone with a Bird that has four conductor coil split capable PUPs regardless of which mode (passive or active) you have.

So here's the finished control pics...
From three knob passive (vol, vol, tone) with front mounted output jack, to four knob active (vol, vol, bass with 18db cut or boost sweep, treb with 18db cut or boost sweep) with two position coil tap switch (just the neck coil of neck pup and the bridge coil of the bridge pup combined in humbucking series, or both full humbuckers in series) and a side mounted output jack with a rear mounted battery box.
View attachment 2804437
View attachment 2804436

Now that I have the engine finely tuned and running smooth I'll start to focus on the aesthetic features of the bass. Trim rings, a unique pickguard and truss cover and maybe even some contour routing and accent painting along with darkening that darn rosewood fretboard. I don't want to lose the TBird look or vibe but I do want it to be unique and personal. I'm half way to where I want to be and learning a lot along the way.
Click to expand...


@DesolationBlvd
Here’s some of the write up I did on my FrankenGoth. It started life as a stock Goth bass that I wasn’t very fond of and underwent transformation surgery to become a very interesting addition to my Tbird family. No it does not sound exactly like a Tbird, but I didn’t want it to, I have plenty of those. I wanted it to cover sonic territory my Tbirds can’t reach, it does that in spades.

Overall, I’d say these mods resulted in a crystal clear (with preamp centered) piano like tone bordering on a baritone guitar sound. Boosting the bass can take it to earth shaking levels (it’ll bury a Greco without even trying). The coil split was a must do, it drastically increased the flexibility of this bass. All in all, well worth the money.
 
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#185,671
GBassNorth said:
Overall, I’d say these mods resulted in a crystal clear (with preamp centered) piano like tone bordering on a baritone guitar sound. Boosting the bass can take it to earth shaking levels (it’ll bury a Greco without even trying). The coil split was a must do, it drastically increased the flexibility of this bass. All in all, well worth the money.
Click to expand...
Perfect for me to drown in chorus, then. Since you got the Classics, I think I'll try the Originals if I find myself wanting something closer to the more middy and rounded stock tone.
 
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#185,672
Got this yesterday evening…
D6ACA376-3D01-4E35-BA90-B05A618F0614.jpeg

Was supposed to be a potential mod platform or possible recipient of the FrankenGoth guts, but I think she’s going back to GC. Ten and a half pounds is just too much weight for my liking. She does play good (in BEAD tuning) now that I’ve set her up properly and removed the cardstock and pipe cleaner spacers that the previous owner used to level the E (B) string saddle on the bridge.:rollno:
 
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#185,674
dagrev said:
I hope you can get it such that you feel it choose you. If not.... Life it too short for basses that just don't fit.
The only strings that I recall having black silks are old (10-15 yrs ago) Fenders 7250s and GHS Pressurewounds. Off the top of my head I can't think of any others, but clearly there are.
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I think you’re correct about the 7250s. They came on one of my used basses and I changed them immediately because they were dead. I probably threw them away. I’ll have to look.
 
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#185,676
GBassNorth said:
Got this yesterday evening…
View attachment 4401530
Was supposed to be a potential mod platform or possible recipient of the FrankenGoth guts, but I think she’s going back to GC. Ten and a half pounds is just too much weight for my liking. She does play good (in BEAD tuning) now that I’ve set her up properly and removed the cardstock and pipe cleaner spacers that the previous owner used to level the E (B) string saddle on the bridge.:rollno:
Click to expand...
Too bad. But heavy basses are no fun at all.
 
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#185,679
dagrev said:
:banghead: Well poop. I feel really bad and am so sorry. I know you were really interested in trying those. I'm pretty sure that was the only set I have. I'll look again to make sure. I would never have sent them had I thought that would happen. I only tried them on two maybe three basses at the most that I can think of and thought they would surely have another go or two left. I've had about three sets over the years trying to get them to work for me and the tuner ends are just flimsy. More so than any string I have ever used.
Click to expand...
And very stiff. And a pain to wrap around the small Thunderbird tuners.
GBassNorth said:
Got this yesterday evening…
View attachment 4401530
Was supposed to be a potential mod platform or possible recipient of the FrankenGoth guts, but I think she’s going back to GC. Ten and a half pounds is just too much weight for my liking. She does play good (in BEAD tuning) now that I’ve set her up properly and removed the cardstock and pipe cleaner spacers that the previous owner used to level the E (B) string saddle on the bridge.:rollno:
Click to expand...
What the?
 
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