Thunderbird Club

[Bent77]

I feel all warm and fuzzy

AHEM!!

 

[dagrev]

I'm no expert but I think Q switches would make certain frequencies louder than others.

It basically makes a certain frequency segment louder than the rest (I believe) which you can set with a pot. It's explained really well at that link by the long post by bigredbass.

"The Q switch adds an accent at the start of the note. The tone knob sets the frequency where the accent is placed."

"If you visualize a 31-band EQ, Imagine everything from the 6khz slider to the left is at the middle, every thing past it to the right is shoved all the way down. This will help you visualize what's happening.

Then when you kick in the Q Switch, there's a 'bump' that attack-related centered around whatever the tone control is set at. A dynamic related boost, if you will. Imagine that same 31-band EQ, bump that same 6k slider UP 8db, and the slider on either side of it about half of that, and you can visualize the Q function."

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]!

Thanks Bob! That helps a little. The '55 is pretty bright and kind of lacks mids, so I wasn't sure what the Q filter was doing. It's my "worst" sounding bass and difficult to find a good string match, but I love playing it. My Regenerate with a Nordy PBSC pickup sounds way better, pre engaged or not. I guess my question is always, "What will it sound like without it and what would change?" More bass, more mids, more treble, etc. Most seem to think it's a good thing, but I can't help wonder if it would sound better without it.

 

[dagrev]

Interesting guesses.
The only reason I didn’t indicate which bass is which is because I didn’t want to taint peoples opinions on the sounds. I’ll PM you with the actual order.

I think that presentation was wise. We all can start hearing certain things when our preconceived ideas are let loose.

 

[bobyoung53]

Thanks Bob! That helps a little. The '55 is pretty bright and kind of lacks mids, so I wasn't sure what the Q filter was doing. It's my "worst" sounding bass and difficult to find a good string match, but I love playing it. My Regenerate with a Nordy PBSC pickup sounds way better, pre engaged or not. I guess my question is always, "What will it sound like without it and what would change?" More bass, more mids, more treble, etc. Most seem to think it's a good thing, but I can't help wonder if it would sound better without it.
View attachment 4595067

Is that an original 55 P bass?

 

[dagrev]

more accent...Q of a filter denotes it's "Quality Factor".....more Q sharper response of whatever frequency filter one is discussing....sharper cut offs etc.....as an example; if you recall older (70's/80's) graphic (or parametric) EQ specs they went in filter roll offs of 3, 6, or 9 dB per octave....the 9dB per octave filter would have better (more desirable, harder and more expensive to attain) "Q" than the 3dB filter....make sense?..

It helps a little and I appreciate the help in trying to explain it. Could you say if I took it out the bass would have more/less lows, mids or highs, or am I still lost in what's going on?

 

[dagrev]

Is that an original 55 P bass?

Yes. The body is a refin decades before I bought it around '81/82. It has the correct decal on it now. It's wonderful to play. Not long after of bought it I took it to Gruhn's. I laid it on the counter and George said, "Ah, the turtle bass. It's been in Europe for about 10 years." I don't recall what else he said. The replaced pickguard is a weird marbled laminate. It's been on there so long I would hate to take it off. Gives it a weird vipe for sure. The electronics have been replaced, as you can tell, and the pickup rewound by Seymour Duncan himself I was told. It just sounds either boomy or clanky and thin and seems to lack mids on the A,D and G strings. The E sounds pretty good.

 

[bobyoung53]

Yes. The body is a refin decades before I bought it around '81/82. It has the correct decal on it now. It's wonderful to play. Not long after of bought it I took it to Gruhn's. I laid it on the counter and George said, "Ah, the turtle bass. It's been in Europe for about 10 years." I don't recall what else he said. The replaced pickguard is a weird marbled laminate. It's been on there so long I would hate to take it off. Gives it a weird vipe for sure. The electronics have been replaced, as you can tell, and the pickup rewound by Seymour Duncan himself I was told. It just sounds either boomy or clanky and thin and seems to lack mids on the A,D and G strings. The E sounds pretty good.

View attachment 4595095

Have you thought of bringing it to a good luthier and having it taken out and maybe try to locate an original pickguard? If you play around with a bass long enough, set up, strings etc you can usually get just about anything to sound good. Those are cool basses.

 

[dagrev]

Have you thought of bringing it to a good luthier and having it taken out and maybe try to locate an original pickguard? If you play around with a bass long enough, set up, strings etc you can usually get just about anything to sound good. Those are cool basses.

It's the original pickup, and possibly someone rewinding it again would help. I can do a little soldering but need a new iron. I have been hesitate to untangle all of this. I could find it sounds worse! But I've not really given any thought to trying to find an original. I'm assuming Seymour knew what he was doing. But I sure love playing it. Feels like an old friend. I love that body shape as well. If I didn't love playing it I would sell it!

 

[bobyoung53]

It's the original pickup, and possibly someone rewinding it again would help. I can do a little soldering but need a new iron. I have been hesitate to untangle all of this. I could find it sounds worse! But I've not really given any thought to trying to find an original. I'm assuming Seymour knew what he was doing. But I sure love playing it. Feels like an old friend. I love that body shape as well. If I didn't love playing it I would sell it!

I would bring it to a professional, that bass is worth a lot of dough and most of those things sound great, I would start by getting rid of that filter.

 

[GBassNorth]

Thanks Bob! That helps a little. The '55 is pretty bright and kind of lacks mids, so I wasn't sure what the Q filter was doing. It's my "worst" sounding bass and difficult to find a good string match, but I love playing it. My Regenerate with a Nordy PBSC pickup sounds way better, pre engaged or not. I guess my question is always, "What will it sound like without it and what would change?" More bass, more mids, more treble, etc. Most seem to think it's a good thing, but I can't help wonder if it would sound better without it.
View attachment 4595067

I can’t tell from the pic, but is that a tone cap? If so, is the cap value .001uf? If so, that would normally be an incredibly bright cap, might as well not even have one.

 

[dagrev]

I would bring it to a professional, that bass is worth a lotta dough and most of those things sound great, I would start by getting rid of that filter.

Currently trying different strings. TI Jazz Rounds sound pretty good. I put some Roto 66s on it and they don't seem to be "it." I used them years ago on it (and the '64 Thunderbird) and all was well. But I have very different amps now, and my pickiness has no doubt increased with age!

 

[bobyoung53]

Currently trying different strings. TI Jazz Rounds sound pretty good. I put some Roto 66s on it and they don't seem to be "it." I used them years ago on it (and the '64 Thunderbird) and all was well. But I have very different amps now, and my pickiness has no doubt increased with age!

I use Rotos on practically everything. I would seriously have a pro look at it, I wouldn't start soldering on a 10 to 15K bass. That probably came with the old style Fender flats which aren't made anymore as far as I know (changed the formula) La Bella DTB might sound good on it, but those things normally sound great, I'd have that Q filter taken out, it may have been a cool thing 20-30 years ago but not now, that bass shouldn't need anything to make it sound good.

 

[PillO]

Given the decent savings one would think you could spring for some decent shoes.....

Fuzzy Bunny Slippers are ALWAYS cool!

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

It helps a little and I appreciate the help in trying to explain it. Could you say if I took it out the bass would have more/less lows, mids or highs, or am I still lost in what's going on?

would have to know more about that Bill Lawrence setup…PM?

 

[dagrev]

Fuzzy Bunny Slippers are ALWAYS cool!

Somehow I not surprised you said that.

 

[JIO]

Have you thought of bringing it to a good luthier and having it taken out and maybe try to locate an original pickguard? If you play around with a bass long enough, set up, strings etc you can usually get just about anything to sound good. Those are cool basses.

Slim chance of finding an original bake-lite pg from the early '50s, and even if you did it would go for an obscene amount. But, new bake-lite pg blanks can be had so it could be as close as possible to original.

 

[dagrev]

Slim chance of finding an original bake-lite pg from the early '50s, and even if you did it would go for an obscene amount. But, new bake-lite pg blanks can be had so it could be as close as possible to original.

Then I'd have to decide on black or white(!), and don't think I'd be fond of either with that faded to yellow finish. And, I kind of like the funky look. I've had it 40 yrs and that looks normal to me.

 

[JIO]

Then I'd have to decide on black or white(!), and don't think I'd be fond of either with that faded to yellow finish. And, I kind of like the funky look. I've had it 40 yrs and that looks normal to me.

Doesn't look bad.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

It took me a while to figure them out, I was used to the Fender/Marshall type of tone controls and that's what it was, I didn't have the patience to really understand how they worked.

Whereas the FMV controls always hurt my brain. They made no sense to me.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Inspired by @GBassNorth to get back to modding the IV. Looking into pickups, and of course the cheap Epi has the weirdest pickups/holes. The Philadelphia Luthier Tools pickup covers look like they should fit perfectly for a VP, are a bit too small for a CP, and are definitely too small lengthwise for the standard IV. I may just be able to pull it off with mounting rings though I expect I'll need to provide new pilings for the p/u mounting screws.
I'm guessing any of the usually recommended pickups here would fit into the Philadelphia Luthier covers (3 5/8" x 1 1/2")?