Thunderbird Club

#306,742
Nocturnal said:
I have a couple that might fit into 7enderBird-ish territory:
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Apologies, I forgot to say Happy BIrthday the other day!
 
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#306,743
dagrev said:
Someone is going to get a good present.
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The guy bought it for himself. He told me he used to own a vintage Hagstrom 8-string but likes mine more. Hope he plays it in good health. I usually sell one of my (built to sell) basses around this time of year. (holidays) I warned the buyer (on Reverb) that this is the most sketch time of year to ship and we may want to wait until the holiday smoke clears... but he wanted it ASAP.

Funny how we were just talking about "how to correctly ship a bass" - because it took me about 3hrs to construct a box as I described earlier on this thread. I started with a big bass box (for a HSC/bass) and trimmed it down to work with just the bass. (no case or gig-bag) Double-layer flipped bias cardboard, foam sheeting, bubble-wrap (big & small bubbles), crumpled thick packing paper and dense foam bumpers strategically placed. Only going to NM so shipping cost hopefully won't be too bad.
 
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#306,745
Miles_ONeal said:
I know we've discussed this before, but we all know how annoying searching this forum can be (especially with a group with this many posts). So, for anyone who's up for it, how would you rank the Thunderbird pickups you've used, and how would you describe each pickup's sound? Do that how you like, whether simple (lots of bass, no real high end) or wine-snob (Piney woods winter background noise low end, coppery-tasting low mids, fruity-smelling upper mids with a hint of Dagobah shimmer above the 17th fret). OK, maybe reign it in a bit from that. Keep it useful.
BUT... to help find things in the future, please include #tbird_pickups in your reply (not just quoted text - your reply!)
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Base Epi: loaded with La Bella black tapes. Very low end oriented. Hard to get treble.

CP with EBCF: use the tone knob and get pretty much anything you want.

VP with SIT flats: a touch light in the low end, but tone and EQ can address that.

Willbird (SDs) with SIT flats: chocolate goodness. Not as much high end as the CP with EBCF, but more low end and smooth across all strings.

Custom Shop with SIT steels: LP pickups that bring the thunder.

Gibson 2015 with SIT steels: probably the most versatile sounding. Coil taps and tone knob give you anything and everything.

SD and Decola pickups are clear winners in my book.
 
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#306,749
Stealth57 said:
Base Epi: loaded with La Bella black tapes. Very low end oriented. Hard to get treble.

CP with EBCF: use the tone knob and get pretty much anything you want.

VP with SIT flats: a touch light in the low end, but tone and EQ can address that.

Willbird (SDs) with SIT flats: chocolate goodness. Not as much high end as the CP with EBCF, but more low end and smooth across all strings.

Custom Shop with SIT steels: LP pickups that bring the thunder.

Gibson 2015 with SIT steels: probably the most versatile sounding. Coil taps and tone knob give you anything and everything.

SD and Decola pickups are clear winners in my book.
Click to expand...
Which SDs were those?
 
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#306,751
Miles_ONeal said:
I know we've discussed this before, but we all know how annoying searching this forum can be (especially with a group with this many posts). So, for anyone who's up for it, how would you rank the Thunderbird pickups you've used, and how would you describe each pickup's sound? Do that how you like, whether simple (lots of bass, no real high end) or wine-snob (Piney woods winter background noise low end, coppery-tasting low mids, fruity-smelling upper mids with a hint of Dagobah shimmer above the 17th fret). OK, maybe reign it in a bit from that. Keep it useful.
BUT... to help find things in the future, please include #tbird_pickups in your reply (not just quoted text - your reply!)
Click to expand...
#tbird_pickups

1a) Original 64? Gibson p/u: I went in a bit skeptical, but they delivered. Full range, if you push them they get grindy. Something magical.
1b) 88-90 Greco p/u: Similar characteristics to #1 but can get even more grindy.
2) Thunderbuckers (TB66N and TB66S) in a VP: Similar characteristics to #1 but a bit more upper mids and highs. The 66S is the hottest on this list.
3-5) Basses I played at GTGs but can't recall which. Exact number unsure as well. Slacker.
--- The above were all fairly close.
6) Probucker 760s in a VP: Very full range, but lacking a bit of low end. More mids and highs than most pickups. #AngryPiano pickups.
7) EY Epi IV replacements: Very full range, a bit more lows than the 760s but not quite as nice in the upper registers.
8) TB+ p/u in a CP: Fairly dark. Lots of low and lo mids with decent upper mids and highs.
9) TB+ p/u in an Epi IV: Same name, different form factor from CP pickups. Slightly darker, so may not be the same despite the name. Or that could be pot/cap values and/or pickup positions, etc.

None of these are bad pickups. Some are just great. All of this is my opinion, with 1a, 3-5 (hah!), 6, and 9 being from memory. 1b, 2, 7, and 8 were compared to prepare this list.
 
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