ThunderTwins!

[ctmullins]

I pulled the Aguilar OBP-1 out of the RayBird, since I originally installed it to boost the low end of the Novak pickup, but with the T-40 pickup it's overkill. So we're back to passive for now.

But this isn't really working out for me:

The J just isn't powerful enough on its own to compete with the T-40 pickup. And besides, it looks kinda dumb.

What to do?

How about this - let's buy a neck Quarter Pounder to go with the bridge QP. Then let's yank them out of their covers, jam 'em together, and stick 'em at the bridge.

Then let's wire 'em up in series and hide them under a chrome T-bird pickup shell.

In series they are humbucking, and powerful enough to almost match the output of the T-40, even though the T-40 is still much farther from the strings.

That's better! Wired up V/V, with the push/pull coil split on the T-40. Now, what to do with that third hole...??

 

[wraub]

Smiley face sticker? Plastic plug? Dowel? Producer switch? Inactive pot? Actual pot? (...Pot?) Light? Random nut and bolt? Bottle cap?...

I'll see myself out.

 

[ctmullins]

Heh heh. Yep, all good suggestions.

Part of me wants to grab a Schottky diode and add a fuzz knob. That's the part of me that likes Rubber Soul.

But part of me has a sneaking suspicion that this will ultimately wind up being a three-pickup bass...

 

[Nocturnal]

I like what you did with the Jazz pups. If you added a third pickup, what would it be?

 

[ctmullins]

Good question. Whatever it is, it'll have to be chrome.

 

[Skarsoul]

The third hole could use an ejection seat switch. . . The combo of pickups now puts the THUNDER in this bird

 

[Hopkins]

How about a tone control with a no load pot?

 

[moonshinegtrs]

Now that you have had the t40 p/u for awhile, what do think of it?

 

[ctmullins]

The third hole could use an ejection seat switch. . . The combo of pickups now puts the THUNDER in this bird

Heh heh.

How about a tone control with a no load pot?

I'm putting my first Stellartone into my walnut Tele build. If I like it, I may drop one in here.

Now that you have had the t40 p/u for awhile, what do think of it?

In a word, Wow! The fact that it rendered the OBP-1 redundant says a lot - it brings gobs of low end, and a cool grindy top end too. The coil split is icing on the cake. It's a keeper!

 

[ctmullins]

I like what you did with the Jazz pups. If you added a third pickup, what would it be?

Actually, I've been wanting to try one of [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

But I'm a little concerned that it might be significantly lower in output than the other two...

 

[ctmullins]

The PentaBird hasn't been getting much play time. Reason is my crappy wiring job. Not sure what the problem is, but it would work fine at first, then output would slowly drop until the only thing left was the passive bypass (neck pickup wired straight to the jack). I got through a few gigs that way, but I needed a permanent solution. So last night I ripped the entire thing out and dropped in an Audere Classic four-band.

Now, I know that the Audere is not always the first choice for an aggressive rock instrument. But I chose it for several reasons:

- it comes fully wired up (I hate soldering)
- those tiny Bourns pots seemed like a great solution for the cramped electronics cavity
- it's relatively cheap (in the US) when compared against other contenders
- did I mention four bands?

The Audere has a reputation for being "transparent". I always read that and subconsciously associated that adjective with "bland". But when I stopped and really thought about it, I realized that "transparent" might be just the thing for the loud, aggressive Big Splits! And although I've only spent about twenty minutes playing it through my crappy practice amp, it does indeed seem to let the character of the pickups shine through. With the four bands of EQ plus the buffered pickup blend, there are a ridiculous number of tones available. The only downside is no passive mode, but with a battery box and spare 9Vs, I can have fresh batteries in under a minute if necessary.

So I'll take it to the next few rehearsals and gigs and report back.

Now, what to do about the 12 pound weight..... :/

 

[ctmullins]

Pulled the Big Splits out and traded them even-steven for a pair of Lace BassBar 4.0 pickups. Love the TB Classifieds!

The Big Splits are very cool, but ultimately too polite for this bass. The Laces are beefy and thick by comparison. Wasn't too hard to wire them to the Audere either. And so blingy!

Also slotted a new nut, to fix some string spacing issues. And a new set of Blue Steels to round out the upgrade!

 

[wraub]

 

[josiah goldfish]

I can't see any pics

 

[vdub75]

those lace 's look mean! do they Sound modern?

 

[Hopkins]

Pulled the Big Splits out and traded them even-steven for a pair of Lace BassBar 4.0 pickups. Love the TB Classifieds!

The Big Splits are very cool, but ultimately too polite for this bass. The Laces are beefy and thick by comparison. Wasn't too hard to wire them to the Audere either. And so blingy!

Also slotted a new nut, to fix some string spacing issues. And a new set of Blue Steels to round out the upgrade!

What knobs did you use for the volume control, those look great.

 

[ctmullins]

those lace 's look mean! do they Sound modern?

Dunno. What does modern sound like? I can tell you that they're high output and sound great through my practice amp. Haven't run them through my gig rig yet.

What knobs did you use for the volume control, those look great.

These are the Best Bass Gear metal beveled knobs. They are pretty, aren't they? I think they're actually manufactured by Gotoh. They're a bit heavy, but feel nice under the fingers.

 

[Hopkins]

Dunno. What does modern sound like? I can tell you that they're high output and sound great through my practice amp. Haven't run them through my gig rig yet.



These are the Best Bass Gear metal beveled knobs. They are pretty, aren't they? I think they're actually manufactured by Gotoh. They're a bit heavy, but feel nice under the fingers.

Cool, thanks

 

[ctmullins]

Updated Octobird!

That "extended heel" wasn't really working for me, so I carved it back to something resembling normal. Also had to stain it, and I re-did the clear coat on the whole thing while I was at it.

I also decided that the Schaller tuners were too heavy, so I replaced them with Sperzels, for a total weight savings of around 200 grams, or almost a half a pound. I did the same trick as before, installing smaller guitar buttons on the octave tuners. Looks nice, I like them!

Re-strung it eEaAdDgG for now. Might try some lighter-gauge bBeEaAdD strings down the road.

 

[ctmullins]

Raybird overhaul: The scars left from the various pickups were making her look kinda janky. So I planed off the top and re-capped her, with inspiration from @Shedua511 and his awesome Grove build.

The DarkStar is a Hammon from the TB Classifieds, routed through a John East BTB-01, my favorite two-band pre! The combination just roars!