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I don't think I remember seeing that badge logo before on a Newport. When did they make 'em like that?
Hadn't really been played since then, frets almost perfect. What really amazed me was that the neck was bound with the binding filed to cover each individual fret end, just like you'd see on the most expensive Gibson. Amazing for what was basically a student guitar, although it originally had a vibrola.
Wrong bridge for a '67, no matter if it's an early or late one.
wonder what about the tele made him avoid it as live guitar
Is it just me or did he remove a lot of material from the body unnecessarily?
I never said it doesn't sound different. Yes, the older pups have more overdriven midrange and top end (sacrificing ooomph, everything comes at a price), which is nice, BUT IT'S NOT EVERYTHING FOR CHRISSAKES!!!
IMHO, both a 60ies and a Bicentennial T-Bird give you issues competing with a double bass drum and two guitars hammering out power chords in a heavy rock or heavy metal setting. That is where a "modern day" (= more than 30 years old) TB Plus has real advantages, that sound with its higher, yet direct bass output doesn't waver. It's just more solid on the back end. And given how deep frequencies have taken a more prominent role in music in the last 30 years - blame disco, rap, keyboard bass, 5 string basses, the advent of CD and its ability to transport bass signals truthfully which were once simply out of reach for vinyl -, that is a characteristic which should not be underestimated.
I understand that perhaps for many finger players a TB Plus bass is not immediately audible enough (that treble and high mid "halo" it lacks compared to the 60ies signal), but that is not an issue I experience as a pick player. In contrast, my five 60ies TBirds/Embassy (let's not even talk about the Bicentennials and their sidewinders) all lack ultimate ooomph (never mind the beautiful mid range and sizzling-blurry top end & how they are fun to play). That doesn't matter that much if you send your signal through a huge rig and play very loud live (or in the studio where you can doctor your sound to an optimum), but it does if you have to go for a more subdued volume live and still want to be heard and felt. I defy anyone playing a 60ies Bird to then come up with a more substantial bass signal than from an off the rack TB Plus - at equal volume. More beautiful by itself, yes, better audible together with a miked bass drum, nope!
I knew it all along. I know a TB Plus when I hear it - it was obvious to my ears.
You guys have the TB Plus relegated so much to some undesirable category in your minds, you don't even recognize it anymore if it sounds better than you thought. 90% of people's dislike to that pup is the mere fact that it (most often) comes as a plastic soap bar, not in a metal cover. Chrome is only skin-deep, free your ears!
I'm no expert on the standard TB-Plus but I think it's 2-conductor and epoxy potted which would keep you from modifying it. Somebody else will know for sure.
