TV Jones ThunderMag and ThunderBlade

[Ricky Caboverde]

My ThunderBlade pickups also has an incorrect sticker! They are certainly blades

Thanks for confirming what @deepestend suspected!

 

[wellshuxley]

The ThunderMag sounds great live. A little less zingy and airy than the ThunderBlade, but that is more the sound that I'm looking for in the bridge position.

Interesting, I’m surprised to hear the ‘Mag described as less zingy and airy than the ‘Blade. I would’ve expected the opposite based on this description of the ‘Tron, which Tv Jones describes as sitting in between the other two in terms of treble response on their website:

In between the Thunder'Mag (slightly brighter) and Thunder'Blade (slightly warmer) when it comes to top-end eq.

 

[2saddleslab]

All I know is that all the non-blade TV Jones pickups I've tried were useless with Fender string spacing. The E+G were outside the pole pieces and significantly weaker than A+D. Does the blade versions fix this?

(Lovely sounding pickups with the right string spacing though!)

YES! The bridge pickup pole piece spacing is a bit wider than the neck position pickup. All a moot point w/ the blades.

 

[Ricky Caboverde]

Been using TV Jones pickups for almost 20 years, starting w/ ThunderTrons on my Dean Stylist.
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In 2013/14 these two previous builds from the 90's were updated w/ TV Jones ThunderBlades [neck].
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Initially I used a ThunderBlade on my custom Cabronita.
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Then gave the ThunderMag a try. It had great tone but the output was decreased compared to the ThunderBlade.
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I ultimately decided on the Supertron [guitar] bridge pickup used by the Fender Custom Shop, and according to Tom Jones himself, is exactly the same as the ThunderBlade, except for the housing.
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@Ricky Caboverde, love everything about that custom slab!!

Thanks @2saddleslab

BTW, did you build the two T-basses? That black one is nice!!! As uncomfortable it is on my right arm, I’m a sucker for binding.

 

[2saddleslab]

Interesting, I’m surprised to hear the ‘Mag described as less zingy and airy than the ‘Blade. I would’ve expected the opposite based on this description of the ‘Tron, which Tv Jones describes as sitting in between the other two in terms of treble response on their website:

When I spoke to Tom he said the ThunderMag has the lowest output, the ThunderBlades had the highest output, the Thundertron output was in the middle.

 

[wellshuxley]

When I spoke to Tom he said the ThunderMag has the lowest output, the ThunderBlades and the highest output, the Thundertron output was in the middle.

Cool, the output differences could account for different treble response in a 2-pickup config. Thanks for the info, that’s super interesting!

 

[2saddleslab]

Thanks @2saddleslab

BTW, did you build the two T-basses? That black one is nice!!! As uncomfortable it is on my right arm, I’m a sucker for binding.

Thanks! Yes, both basses were 1990's Warmoth builds [except the semi hollow body which was built by a friend]. I'm a sucker for binding as well.

Here are a couple threads showing the evolution of each:
Meet Keef, Relic Haters Might Wanna Look Away

Makeover Complete, Frankenstein's Facelift...

 

[deepestend]

Have not. It's got clarity, but it's certainly a dark pickup.

Matches the description on their site, so I didn't think anything of it.

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Not sure what’s going on for your setup, but I have not found these pickups to be dark at all.

 

[deepestend]

When I spoke to Tom he said the ThunderMag has the lowest output, the ThunderBlades had the highest output, the Thundertron output was in the middle.

the mag def has lower output than the blade.

 

[scuzzy]

Not sure what’s going on for your setup, but I have not found these pickups to be dark at all.

it could be that it's short scale, and perhaps the standard dunlop nickels are a darker string. the TV Jones describes it as their darkest (warmest) bass pickup, so I don't really find it that surprising.

 

[deepestend]

When I spoke to Tom he said the ThunderMag has the lowest output, the ThunderBlades had the highest output, the Thundertron output was in the middle.

Has anyone compared the pickups in real life? Would love to check out the thundertrons. While the output may be different, seems like the tone is going to be different as well due to different magnet positions etc.

 

[deepestend]

After thinking about it for a while and playing, I realized that the mag/blade combo is a little problematic as the output is so different. It’s hard to get an even blend even with adjustments. All interesting as the resistance of the mag is much higher than the blade but the blade output is much higher in practice—another lesson learned on that front. Put the blade back in the bridge and ultimately like the blade/blade setup after comparing it to the other. Tone was great with both, just more of an output thing.

 

[deepestend]

Also finding that the Audere pre makes it very easy to dial in these pickups.

 

[Ricky Caboverde]

After thinking about it for a while and playing, I realized that the mag/blade combo is a little problematic as the output is so different. It’s hard to get an even blend even with adjustments. All interesting as the resistance of the mag is much higher than the blade but the blade output is much higher in practice—another lesson learned on that front. Put the blade back in the bridge and ultimately like the blade/blade setup after comparing it to the other. Tone was great with both, just more of an output thing.

Before scrapping the idea, why not try it the other way around—Mag in the neck?

 

[deepestend]

Before scrapping the idea, why not try it the other way around—Mag in the neck?

that’s a good idea! Away for the weekend but will try it when I get back.

 

[deepestend]

Before scrapping the idea, why not try it the other way around—Mag in the neck?

Tried this out last night. Sounded good, but I ultimately missed the higher output of the thunderblade in the neck. The thundermag had a slightly better voicing, more defined, but was far less powerful. I am using an audere preamp with a high/low mids and did find that adding some upper mids went a long way towards taming the thunderblade to where it sounded like the best of both worlds between the thundermag and thunderblade.

It was all an interesting experiment because on their own, I didn't love the thunderblades. However, when I took them in and out and compared them to some other pickups I had for the bass and the thundermag, I really started liking them. Lesson learned (again) is that sometimes you don't know how good something is until you compare it to something else.

 

[deepestend]

Still loving the thunderblades.

 

[El Tookay]

Big, big love for ThunderBlade pickups. Crazy amount of output, and bottom end that surpasses G&L slotpole pickups in OMG mode. Took my ‘68 Gretsch out for a gig, and the rest of the band was close to involuntary bowel function…I did try a Thunder’Mag in it, but a bit too twangy. Wanted to re-capture the sound of the ( long gone) original ThunderTron, and holy crap, that’s some serious delivery…

 

[berlihe]

I've got a Fender Cabronita bass with a ThunderBlade bridge pickup. I really like the sound, but I can't help but wonder sometimes if I should have gone with the neck pickup. Has anyone compared them, and is there an appreciable difference in sound?

 

[2saddleslab]

I've got a Fender Cabronita bass with a ThunderBlade bridge pickup. I really like the sound, but I can't help but wonder sometimes if I should have gone with the neck pickup. Has anyone compared them, and is there an appreciable difference in sound?

I've had both in my Cabronita. The bridge version, w/ curved blades, allows for even output across the strings. The goal for most, I would presume. But since all my other basses have flat pickups which emphasize the E & G strings, my longtime preference, I switched to the neck version to keep the continuity.