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Thunderbird Pickups

#21
John Deacon said:
So what pickups are in the Dillon? And which videos are you using it?

I was actually looking at your videos too earlier, haha.
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ya it isnt every day you see a tbird flipped over and jammed on. Dillion claims in numerous emails that they stole Gibsons specs and cloned them 100% then shipped them from Canada to their Korean factory which BTW, also made BRICE basses, which were identical to the Dillion in every way, except the electronics. "can" I believe that? possibly. does it sounds better/worse than a Gibson? no...just very different AND very similar.

there are many out here who have made their own custom tBirds as well, and used various pickups in them, and if any of their designs fit the standard EPI hole, then perhaps they can answer some of your tone questions. :help: as an alternative to the OEM.
 
#23
Did you put a 9 volt in your thunderbird?
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No, as I went down the SSB-4 route, but there is room.

At the end of the day friend, your choice is your choice and everyone in this forum must respect that. However, the EMG 35HZ pickups will not get you the thunderbird sound.

  • Ceramic and Steel pickups (35hz) have a mellower sound than just ceramic
  • Gibson Thunderbird pickups are all ceramic

I have played HZ's and really didn't like them at all, the SSB-4 set I do though. However that is just my opinion; I can be 'wrong'. The way I see it the only real options for T-Bird replacement are:

  • Basslines SSB-4
  • EMG 35DC
  • Bartolini (not sure the model)

I will be really interested to know how the Bartolini pickups sound as I have played DC's and SSB-4's, but not barts.
 
#25
amimbari said:
the top one is my 03Dillion DFBB, not a Gibson/EPI. as you could see from the pic, it is routed for similar sized pups ( EMG ). True pianobass sound as many people call it, and I have MANY videos playing various stuff on it as well as my EPI-Bird on my youtube page.

one thing that really impresses me is compared to my other Tbirds, the pickup spacing is further apart for a lot more tonal difference when blending between the 2.
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I noticed the spacing is different in THIS THREAD:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=439421&highlight=sixx

There is some dimention info there too. Gibson/Epiphone Blackbird vs. Thunderbird IV. Deep Sixx pick ups. I'm still wondering since there are other differences.
 
#26
MotorTed said:
I noticed the spacing is different in THIS THREAD:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=439421&highlight=sixx

There is some dimention info there too. Gibson/Epiphone Blackbird vs. Thunderbird IV. Deep Sixx pick ups. I'm still wondering since there are other differences.
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the best way to show someone what I mean about the different spacing is with a picture ( sorry for the shameless posting of a picture I have in other places ) as you can see, the Dillion has the neck pickup further up away from the bridge pickup than the EPI on the left, and consequently it has more "bass" tone than the others when using that pickup only. The Jackson is a metal maniac's dream, but has the poorest sound for "recording" clean bassy stuff. :smug:

P1010060.jpg
 
#34
John Deacon said:
I just wished i knew what the basslines sounded like, and the EMGs. I dont know how to put in the batteries for the active ones so if i did EMGs i would have to do the passive ones.
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Straight up I'm not being a Jerk here but if you are capable of replacing the pickups then you are capable of wiring in a battery. I just sold my T-Bird but if I'd kept it I would have changed the pickups and added a pre-amp. Active EMG's should give you the bite you desire. If you don't like the result carefully remove the pups and send them to the bay and try again with another style. Clips on-line are only going to give you an idea of what the poster wanted you to hear. Your ears decide good or bad, and FULL testing is the only way to determine that.

H
 
#36
HEADLE said:
Straight up I'm not being a Jerk here but if you are capable of replacing the pickups then you are capable of wiring in a battery. I just sold my T-Bird but if I'd kept it I would have changed the pickups and added a pre-amp. Active EMG's should give you the bite you desire. If you don't like the result carefully remove the pups and send them to the bay and try again with another style. Clips on-line are only going to give you an idea of what the poster wanted you to hear. Your ears decide good or bad, and FULL testing is the only way to determine that.

H
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+1 to this post, and the perfect way to figure out what the OP wants to have cause listening to others play in videos or clips is NOT the USER, it is someone else who may be 300 times better in fingering/picking technique...which adds a lot to the sound.

and that gives me a bright idea as well, I have an old j2000 Jackson preamp in one of my other basses that I will swap over to the Tbird, and see what happens...like you perfectly pointed out, if I hate it, I'll just put it back the way it was.
 
#38
John Deacon said:
Im not personally replacing the pickups, so I don't know how to do the wiring. I get it done at Guitar Center. And I can't wait for the vid!
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john, you are missing the point here...

how will his/mine/anyone's video help you to do a side by side comparison?

you would need 2 videos, done by the same person same song, same amp settings etc..., one Epibird with TBplus and one with EMG to make it a true comparison, and I don't think KYRAL210 is going to have that for you.

( IF I am wrong KYRAL210 and you have 2 Epibirds, one with TB plus and one with EMG I am sorry )
 
#39
Hi.

John Deacon said:
Im not personally replacing the pickups, so I don't know how to do the wiring. I get it done at Guitar Center. And I can't wait for the vid!
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An unwise choice IMHO, but to each his own. For me Epis and such are perfect for tinkering as there's hardly any point in outsourcing the work. My guess would be over $100 bill for the pick-up change. Am I in the ballpark?

What's with the hurry? The stock ones aren't really that bad and the difference won't be like a night and a day unless they change the pick-up locations as well.

Just my 0.02€
Sam
 
#40
T-Bird said:
Hi.



An unwise choice IMHO, but to each his own. For me Epis and such are perfect for tinkering as there's hardly any point in outsourcing the work. My guess would be over $100 bill for the pick-up change. Am I in the ballpark?

What's with the hurry? The stock ones aren't really that bad and the difference won't be like a night and a day unless they change the pick-up locations as well.

Just my 0.02€
Sam
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Actually no, way off. Its like 30 bucks, and i will notice the difference so thats all that counts i guess. With the whole video thing, I can at least just get a jist of what it sounds like even if its not at the exact same settings that I have.
 

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