Affordable Thunderbird Pickup (With Pots and Wiring)

Evan J

Evan J

Sep 27, 2023
441
774
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30
Seattle WA
#1
My Dad and I are building our first bass. I don’t want to drop a ton of money on the pickups just in case the bass doesn’t turn out.

Any suggestion as to where I could get a single passive thunderbird (or similar) pickup along with wiring?

Budget is $150 total for electronics
 
#2
Evan J said:
Any suggestion as to where I could get a single passive thunderbird (or similar) pickup along with wiring?
Click to expand...
TB's very own 'godofthunder', Scott Dasson, brought to our attention the Eric Custom range sold by Ey Guitars in Hong Kong. That was 10 years back when Ey offered just the one style, now there's plenty of choice. Killer pickups, I use them myself.

$50 to $70. Alnico or ceramic, various wire wraps.

Thunderbird Bass Pickup Vintage Style for Gibson,Chrome/Nick

Eric Custom Thundbird Bass Pickup,Bridge,for Gibson Thunderb

Eric Custom Alnico 5 Rod,Thundbird Bass Pickup,Bridge,for Gi

Eric Custom Alnico 5 Rod,Thundbird Bass Pickup,Neck,for Gibs

Thunderbird Bass for Original Epiphone,With Gibson Thunderbi

Wiring is really simple, maybe $10 in parts. 500k pot for volume, 250k pot for tone; both 'log'. 22 nF Cap. Mono jack socket.
 
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#3
kodiakblair said:
TB's very own 'godofthunder', Scott Dasson, brought to our attention the Eric Custom range sold by Ey Guitars in Hong Kong. That was 10 years back when Ey offered just the one style, now there's plenty of choice. Killer pickups, I use them myself.

$50 to $70. Alnico or ceramic, various wire wraps.

Thunderbird Bass Pickup Vintage Style for Gibson,Chrome/Nick

Eric Custom Thundbird Bass Pickup,Bridge,for Gibson Thunderb

Eric Custom Alnico 5 Rod,Thundbird Bass Pickup,Bridge,for Gi

Eric Custom Alnico 5 Rod,Thundbird Bass Pickup,Neck,for Gibs

Thunderbird Bass for Original Epiphone,With Gibson Thunderbi

Wiring is really simple, maybe $10 in parts. 500k pot for volume, 250k pot for tone; both 'log'. 22 nF Cap. Mono jack socket.
Click to expand...
Wow this is super helpful! Thanks so much for compiling these links. I’ll definitely use one of these.

I’ll post a picture of the bass when we have it assembled.
 
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#7
Evan J said:
Ok sweet. Thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...
As @Matt Liebenau points out there's convenience but it's somewhat limited.

That Stewmac kit isn't too badly priced and it'll be great for a P-bass. Here's the set up for a T-bird, note how the cap and one pot values differ from the Stewmac kit.

T-bird 1 pickup.jpg
 
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#9
kodiakblair said:
As @Matt Liebenau points out there's convenience but it's somewhat limited.

That Stewmac kit isn't too badly priced and it'll be great for a P-bass. Here's the set up for a T-bird, note how the cap and one pot values differ from the Stewmac kit.

View attachment 5274472
Click to expand...
Oh dang great catch! Thanks for pointing that out.

This is my first set of wiring I have bought. I am having trouble finding the individual pieces with the leads included online.

Where do you guys usually buy this stuff? If I could send my dad an all-in-one kit that would be a huge bonus. But individual pieces are great too.
 
#10
Evan J said:
Oh dang great catch! Thanks for pointing that out.

This is my first set of wiring I have bought. I am having trouble finding the individual pieces with the leads included online.

Where do you guys usually buy this stuff? If I could send my dad an all-in-one kit that would be a huge bonus. But individual pieces are great too.
Click to expand...

Gibson Thunderbird Bass Harness! CTS, Switchcraft, Gavitt Wire, & Orange Drop! | eBay

Starr Guitar Systems makes high quality wiring harness across the board. I've got one actually connected to the EY pickups mentioned above in one of my Epi Vintage Pro T-birds.
 
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#11
#14
Evan J said:
Where do you guys usually buy this stuff?
Click to expand...
I can't speak for @Matt Liebenau but I buy in bulk from RS Components.

I also rarely bother with CTS. They opened their Taiwan factory in either 67 or 68, Alpha set up and opened their Taiwan factory in 69. Bourns are another with a Taiwan potentiometer factory :thumbsup:

Since you're getting the pickup from Ey Guitars, get your pots from there too.

500k Vol pot.
Alpha Potentiometer,A500K,Full Size ,15mm Length solid shaft

250k Tone pot.
Alpha Potentiometer,A250K,Full Size ,15mm Length solid shaft

0.22 nF cap
PK2* Red 223K,0.022UF,630V,capacitor, Quality-EK-19106

Jack socket.
New,Mono 1/4 Jack socket for Les Paul Strat Tele Plate,Quali

Total $9.94
 
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#15
kodiakblair said:
I can't speak for @Matt Liebenau but I buy in bulk from RS Components.

I also rarely bother with CTS. They opened their Taiwan factory in either 67 or 68, Alpha set up and opened their Taiwan factory in 69. Bourns are another with a Taiwan potentiometer factory :thumbsup:

Since you're getting the pickup from Ey Guitars, get your pots from there too.

500k Vol pot.
Alpha Potentiometer,A500K,Full Size ,15mm Length solid shaft

250k Tone pot.
Alpha Potentiometer,A250K,Full Size ,15mm Length solid shaft

0.22 nF cap
PK2* Red 223K,0.022UF,630V,capacitor, Quality-EK-19106

Jack socket.
New,Mono 1/4 Jack socket for Les Paul Strat Tele Plate,Quali

Total $9.94
Click to expand...
Oh brilliant! I’ll go with this. Thanks all!
 
#19
kodiakblair said:
I can't speak for @Matt Liebenau but I buy in bulk from RS Components.

I also rarely bother with CTS. They opened their Taiwan factory in either 67 or 68, Alpha set up and opened their Taiwan factory in 69. Bourns are another with a Taiwan potentiometer factory :thumbsup:

Since you're getting the pickup from Ey Guitars, get your pots from there too.

500k Vol pot.
Alpha Potentiometer,A500K,Full Size ,15mm Length solid shaft

250k Tone pot.
Alpha Potentiometer,A250K,Full Size ,15mm Length solid shaft

0.22 nF cap
PK2* Red 223K,0.022UF,630V,capacitor, Quality-EK-19106

Jack socket.
New,Mono 1/4 Jack socket for Les Paul Strat Tele Plate,Quali

Total $9.94
Click to expand...


Right now I just build for myself so I usually stop at tubesandmore.com first and see if I can afford enough for the discount. Other than that, any of the electronics websites or if I’m ordering hardware from someplace that has electronics I’ll add what I need there.
 
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#20
Evan J said:
My Dad and I are building our first bass. I don’t want to drop a ton of money on the pickups just in case the bass doesn’t turn out.

Any suggestion as to where I could get a single passive thunderbird (or similar) pickup along with wiring?

Budget is $150 total for electronics
Click to expand...
I went through a similar journey, and I’m loving my results. However, you might need a slightly larger budget as Thunderbird pickups are a niche.

THE BEST: Gemini pickups in the UK hand wind a range of pickups that just sound great. They are above your budget but I recommend them with all my heart: Thunderbird Bass Pickups

THE CHEAPEST: To save money, you can buy these from China, but I don’t know about quality:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExsEYil

POTS: Pots aren’t included, so you’ll need to eBay them. This is a cheap Chinese pre wired harness that will do the job:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EjH64WH

THE ALTERNATIVE: Depending on how you are routing the pickup slots, you could use any pickups. Warman in the UK make cheap but great sounding pickups. I genuinely put them on par with Seymour Duncan: Bass Pickups – Warman Guitars
 
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