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Thunderbird sound from something other than a T-Bird

#41
I use the squier rascal for that. I sold my t-bird and I tried an embassy but it needed lots of work done and the neck had to be adjusted nearly every week. Looked and sounded good though. I could have had a bad example.

 
#43
Erik Stokley said:
About 10 years ago Gibson made two versions of something similar to what you're looking for, the Gibson EB and the Gibson EB4, theyre still floating around on reverb View attachment 7281470View attachment 7281471
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Had one of these, the EB (bottom). Great basses, but the neck wasnt to my liking. A little fat and chunky. Had LOTS of features for sound tho. Push/pull pot which I don't remember if it was coil tap or hum/single coil change but smt like that.
 
#44
Erik Stokley said:
About 10 years ago Gibson made two versions of something similar to what you're looking for, the Gibson EB and the Gibson EB4, theyre still floating around on reverb View attachment 7281470View attachment 7281471
Click to expand...

I would be very interested in what others have to say, but I own a Thunderbird and an 2014 EB4. I find that the pickups in the EB4 are vastly different than the Tbird, I like both of them very much, but they are not the same.
 
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#45
Check out this Mike Lull JT4-24 on their website:

shop.mikelull.com

JT4-24 Custom

Swamp Ash Body (chambered) 5A Quilted Maple Top Maple Neck Birdseye Maple Fretboard Tobacco Sunburst Finish Modern Pickup Spacing Mike Lull Thunderbird Pickups 34” Scale 1.545” Nut Width (Bone) 24-Frets 12” Fretboard Radius Hipshot A-Style Bridge and Tuners 20mm String Spacing Chrome Hardware...
shop.mikelull.com shop.mikelull.com

7AAA36C5-0D7E-42BD-878D-D102EDAC0BA8_1349x1799.webp
 
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#46
crucislancer said:
Check out this Mike Lull JT4-24 on their website:

shop.mikelull.com

JT4-24 Custom

Swamp Ash Body (chambered) 5A Quilted Maple Top Maple Neck Birdseye Maple Fretboard Tobacco Sunburst Finish Modern Pickup Spacing Mike Lull Thunderbird Pickups 34” Scale 1.545” Nut Width (Bone) 24-Frets 12” Fretboard Radius Hipshot A-Style Bridge and Tuners 20mm String Spacing Chrome Hardware...
shop.mikelull.com shop.mikelull.com

View attachment 7281640
Click to expand...
I thought I had a good guess of what this would cost (~5k), but I didn't anticipate just had wrong I would be! Beautiful bass though!
 
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#47
The OP liked what I assume are the stock pickups in a 'a bolt-on Epiphone T-bird bought some time in the early 2000s.' Which are the black plastic covered, darker sounding pickups. They're not bad, and probably could be easily found secondhand, and easily installed on something else (I think they're a standard EMG size).

Then everybody posts non-Epiphone i.e. Gibson etc. 'real' Tbird pickups, usually chrome covered and bigger than the Epiphones. I think only two other people pointed this out, that one of these things is not like the other.

I've made 3 Fenderbirds from 3 Epiphones, I kept the stock pickups in the one made from a Goth body because they sounded OK enough. FWIW the one Fbird I kept has Thunderbucker Ranch pickups installed NUFF SAID
 
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#50
cornfarmer said:
The OP liked what I assume are the stock pickups in a 'a bolt-on Epiphone T-bird bought some time in the early 2000s.' Which are the black plastic covered, darker sounding pickups. They're not bad, and probably could be easily found secondhand, and easily installed on something else (I think they're a standard EMG size).

Then everybody posts non-Epiphone i.e. Gibson etc. 'real' Tbird pickups, usually chrome covered and bigger than the Epiphones. I think only two other people pointed this out, that one of these things is not like the other.

I've made 3 Fenderbirds from 3 Epiphones, I kept the stock pickups in the one made from a Goth body because they sounded OK enough. FWIW the one Fbird I kept has Thunderbucker Ranch pickups installed NUFF SAID
Click to expand...
Yeah the guy likes the sound of base model Epi pickups and people tell him to buy a Lull😆
 
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#51
klattman said:
I use the squier rascal for that. I sold my t-bird and I tried an embassy but it needed lots of work done and the neck had to be adjusted nearly every week. Looked and sounded good though. I could have had a bad example.

Click to expand...

I gotta say, the Rascal angle is the one I've been most interested to hear about. I'm not like to use a T-bird tone so much I need to get something expensive, so the Rascal might scratch the itch. I know the ergonomics are controversial but short-scale is cool and as a Bass VI player--the Rascal basically has that same body minus the trem assembly--I think I could deal with its quirks.
 
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#52
cornfarmer said:
The OP liked what I assume are the stock pickups in a 'a bolt-on Epiphone T-bird bought some time in the early 2000s.' Which are the black plastic covered, darker sounding pickups. They're not bad, and probably could be easily found secondhand, and easily installed on something else (I think they're a standard EMG size).

Then everybody posts non-Epiphone i.e. Gibson etc. 'real' Tbird pickups, usually chrome covered and bigger than the Epiphones. I think only two other people pointed this out, that one of these things is not like the other.

I've made 3 Fenderbirds from 3 Epiphones, I kept the stock pickups in the one made from a Goth body because they sounded OK enough. FWIW the one Fbird I kept has Thunderbucker Ranch pickups installed NUFF SAID
Click to expand...
It's all good! I appreciate the diversity of views. I'm not going to lie, at various points I've had my eye on one of these new T-birds but never get around to going for it. I do enough at the top of the neck that the limited access is an issue. That bolt-on Epi was pretty cool, I paid for it with one of those post 9/11 stimulus check, so thanks GWB. I'm almost always a pick player but the Epi sound better with fingers to my ear. Again, looked cool but that did not translate to playing comfort and easy transport.
 
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#53
burpgun said:
If you want a Thunderbird sound but don’t want a Thunderbird, what sort of bass would you look at? I’ve been going back over some recordings I made a long time ago and have been really impressed by the thick tone I’d gotten off a bolt-on Epiphone T-bird bought some time in the early 2000s. I sold it a long time ago and while I loved the look of that bass the ergonomics were not great.

I had a Gibson SG bass 10 years ago that claimed to have T-bird pickups in covers that were appropriate to that bass, and it sounded horrible. I’m not sure the sound I’m looking for can be found in anything other than a true Thunderbird. I’m curious whether humbucker fitted Fender offerings might be close, like in a Telecaster bass or one of those Squier Rascals. How about a Schecter Ultra? I’d love to hear opinions.
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I’d give a real Thunderbird a shot again. A base model Epi is not really a fair comparison to a real Gibson with a skinny neck. There are thousands out there under eight pounds. Lots of pickup choices. Interesting that you like the base Epi pickups. I actually quite like them too, matched with stainless rounds.

If you have the money, Mike Lull makes other shapes with phenomenal humbuckers.

Take a look at Fano basses as well.
 
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#56
mdogs said:
I would be very interested in what others have to say, but I own a Thunderbird and an 2014 EB4. I find that the pickups in the EB4 are vastly different than the Tbird, I like both of them very much, but they are not the same.
Click to expand...
Which Thunderbird do you own? If it’s a Gibson nineties or later Reverse, the pickups are probably the TBird Plus ceramic pickups. The EB pickups are “DiCola” tapped Alnico V pickups when played in full humbucker mode have a more vintage tone.
 
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#57
MCF said:
Which Thunderbird do you own? If it’s a Gibson nineties or later Reverse, the pickups are probably the TBird Plus ceramic pickups. The EB pickups are “DiCola” tapped Alnico V pickups when played in full humbucker mode have a more vintage tone.
Click to expand...
I should have stated that I have one of the 64 Epi Tbirds, I think it sounds very nice with a vintage lean. My EB4 is much more in your face, the pickups are very hot.
 
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#60
bassclef112 said:
Allrighty then. Only made for 2(?) years, another attempt by Gibson to make inroads into the Precision players club. An '87 Gibson IV. All mahogany w/set neck, ebony fb, all Schaller hw and first year for the new TB+ pickups. For all intents, it's a P shaped TBird. It plays and sounds great, very well made.
Too bad it didn't fly...
View attachment 7316198
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That’s a very nice looking bass!
 

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