Thunderbird Club

[Klondike]

Well in keeping with the car association, I think I found the powder blue I'm looking for:

Mustang Brittany Blue

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Although Indian Fire Metallic and Lime Gold are also pretty sweet:

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What can I say, there's something I really love about pale metallics.

I think any of those colors would be a weener!

 

[kat888]

Back to pickups for a minute ....

Do you cut pickup leads to length? Coil excess in the pickup cavities? Or coil excess in the control cavity?

 

[Count Bassie]

Back to pickups for a minute ....

Do you cut pickup leads to length? Coil excess in the pickup cavities? Or coil excess in the control cavity?

A little extra is ok, just keep it neat in there. Tight solder joints, tidy wraps. Should be easy to see what's what at a glance.

 

[GBassNorth]

I like to put about a 3" coil under the pup so you can lift it out and easily do work on the pups or cavity if needed. I also leave a couple of inches in the control cavity for the same reason. The bridge grounding strap usually gets a few inches to spare in the control cavity as well.

 

[Count Bassie]

Adding to the rash of inquiries about pups, etc here...
So far the Deep Sixx pups in my Blackbird seem a tad woofy, not so very tight and nimble. This is after a few more gigs, and comparisons with my previously regular dub-gigger. That may be due on part to the old (maybe a good 10 years now) LaBella 760-FL flats on it. But, I am considering mod options:
1) DiMarzio Model one at the bridge position, as I kinda like a little woof at the sweet-spot, and more snap from the bridge. Probably because I'm used to a P/J setup...
2) Pair of TB+, w/ black covers. This is the "What the hell, let's full-on 'Bird already!"

Open to thoughts... of course I'm going to change strings first- that may put the issue to rest without further mucking about...

 

[kat888]

Yeah the bloke who wired the pups I've been having problems with left the entire length on and coiled it all in the control cavity which makes a mess. Going to connect the replacements and once confirmed good, will trim and then possibly even heatshrink all the hot connections.

 

[TBird1958]

Is it just cost that has stopped the chrome hardware? It still seems that most people would rather have it than the black

I doubt it's a cost issue, more likely laziness on Gibson's part. Many of the basses they've reissued over the 3-4 years had chrome hardware, i.e. the G-3.

 

[Korladis]

I am toying with the idea of swapping out the pre-amp in my Thunderbird. I have the thought of putting in an Aguilar OBP-2. Any thoughts, experience, advice, cautions, admonitions?

Wire it up with passive electronics.

 

[kat888]

If I wasn't changing out the pups on my 'Bird at 0800hrs on a Saturday morning, what else would I be doing?

The two replacement pups are in phase and it makes a hell of a difference. Some minor height adjustments are needed, otherwise this particular saga is over.

 

[Korladis]

If I wasn't changing out the pups on my 'Bird at 0800hrs on a Saturday morning, what else would I be doing?

The two replacement pups are in phase and it makes a hell of a difference. Some minor height adjustments are needed, otherwise this particular saga is over.

Had to order the rings and spacers myself, since Thunderbuckers are way less tall than the stock pickups.

 

[godofthunder59]

New addition to the flock! I like my Artic White one so much I bought a Tobacco Sunburst from Sweetwater. Really nice grain on this one, it's nice you can pick from a number of basses at SW. It will get the chrome treatment of course.

 

[godofthunder59]

The back

 

[Korladis]

You know what would be a cool T-bird finish that I've seen on some Les Pauls?
Oxblood.

 

[Nocturnal]

Adding to the rash of inquiries about pups, etc here...
So far the Deep Sixx pups in my Blackbird seem a tad woofy, not so very tight and nimble. This is after a few more gigs, and comparisons with my previously regular dub-gigger. That may be due on part to the old (maybe a good 10 years now) LaBella 760-FL flats on it. But, I am considering mod options:
1) DiMarzio Model one at the bridge position, as I kinda like a little woof at the sweet-spot, and more snap from the bridge. Probably because I'm used to a P/J setup...
2) Pair of TB+, w/ black covers. This is the "What the hell, let's full-on 'Bird already!"

Open to thoughts... of course I'm going to change strings first- that may put the issue to rest without further mucking about...

Changing strings is the easiest/fastest/cheapest mod you can start with.

 

[TBird1958]

View attachment 951313 New addition to the flock! I like my Artic White one so much I bought a Tobacco Sunburst from Sweetwater. Really nice grain on this one, it's nice you can pick from a number of basses at SW. It will get the chrome treatment of course.

Congratulations Scott!

 

[Korladis]

Changing strings is the easiest/fastest/cheapest mod you can start with.

Indeed.

Honestly, people on talkbass seem to love flats, but I've never been able to get into them. Maybe I just don't have an ear for the tonal subtleties, but to me they just sounded like the dead rounds I'd just taken off when I tried them.

 

[godofthunder59]

All my birds have Roto Sounds. My Hofner, Kliras and fretless Precisions get flats.

 

[Korladis]

All my birds have Roto Sounds. My Hofner, Kliras and fretless Precisions get flats.

I use D'Addario XLs on all my basses except my acoustic fretless, which has the stock bronze strings on it.

 

[DerekW]

So what does the "lifetime warranty " cover?

 

[Count Bassie]

Indeed.

Honestly, people on talkbass seem to love flats, but I've never been able to get into them. Maybe I just don't have an ear for the tonal subtleties, but to me they just sounded like the dead rounds I'd just taken off when I tried them.

Can't explain it but to say that I THINK I get a simpler, easier-to-pronounce note with bass emphasis with flats. It also may be the way one hits a string. I tend to be fairly percussive when I hit a string, and I like to play up toward the neck as opposed to playing by the bridge.

I just came up from the basement, throwing around on the Bird, and on my preamp I had the bass knob pulled down quite a bit, down around the 7-8 o:clock position, mids up a bit, treble around 1 o'clock... mid sweep around 1.5K I think... whatever... but the sound opened right up when I pulled the bass down and the mids up... and that's when I appreciate what flats do. I still get a nice touch up top- in fact it's almost kind of brittle sounding in the top end of the note. Then down low it's fat and plain. The whole thing comes off as a little "woody" sounding, and very concise. Super tight for funky passages, still breaks up nice when you drive it hard.
It ain't dead if you can put life into it.