The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: gearHed289 on April 14, 2023, 07:11:25 AM
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A co-worker recently acquired an Epiphone Thunderbird from a guy he jams with. Typical Epi bolt-on with tobacco sunburst finish. He gave it to me to do a little setup work yesterday. I was really surprised by how nice this bass feels. The neck is much slimmer than the ones I've picked up in the past. I've played a Goth and a regular white one, and they both had fairly chunky necks. It's also very light weight. And to top it off, it actually SOUNDS like a Thunderbird. It has personality. I briefly had an Epi Explorer with those same (physically at least?) pickups, and the sound was dullsville. Very nice gloss finish too. I have no intention of ever buying one, but I wanted to give a big thumbs up to this bass. :thumbsup:
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If you don't have the bucks to waste and are a kid, Epi is never less than value for money.
And that Epi Explorer sounded indeed dull, but came to life with real Gibson TB Plus pups - the wood (limba) on that bass was actually great and very resonant (if so soft you could dent it with your fingernail). The original pups let the poor thing down beyond recognition. With proper pups, it creamed the 80ies medium scale Gibbie Exes into the ground.
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And that Epi Explorer sounded indeed dull, but came to life with real Gibson TB Plus pups - the wood (limba) on that bass was actually great and very resonant (if so soft you could dent it with your fingernail). The original pups let the poor thing down beyond recognition. With proper pups, it creamed the 80ies medium scale Gibbie Exes into the ground.
Cool, that was the plan, but it required a little routing, which I'm fine with, but I didn't like the neck enough to deal with it. I sold it off and got an '84 Hamer Blitz that was great. A neck nearly just like my Ric, and sounded just like a P bass if you run only that pickup. And locally grown!
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Yeah, that neck was/is a handful. But I'm not particular about thin, fat, flat, round, wide or narrow necks as long as the bass sounds good. I adjust.
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I like ‘em fat , and I like ‘em thin. Now I’ve only got twenty something , but I appreciate the differences , can’t see buying the same thing over and over again. Also like ones that might sound different , but there’s something in there , that appeals to me.
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A co-worker recently acquired an Epiphone Thunderbird from a guy he jams with. Typical Epi bolt-on with tobacco sunburst finish. He gave it to me to do a little setup work yesterday. I was really surprised by how nice this bass feels. The neck is much slimmer than the ones I've picked up in the past. I've played a Goth and a regular white one, and they both had fairly chunky necks. It's also very light weight. And to top it off, it actually SOUNDS like a Thunderbird. It has personality. I briefly had an Epi Explorer with those same (physically at least?) pickups, and the sound was dullsville. Very nice gloss finish too. I have no intention of ever buying one, but I wanted to give a big thumbs up to this bass. :thumbsup:
Yeah, the necks on the bolt-on models slimmed down noticeably in recent years. I have one of the white LE models with the chrome pickups and the neck is quite beefy. It plays very nice, but my left hand gets fatigued a lot quicker than with my other Thunderbirds.
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If you don't have the bucks to waste and are a kid, Epi is never less than value for money.
And that Epi Explorer sounded indeed dull, but came to life with real Gibson TB Plus pups - the wood (limba) on that bass was actually great and very resonant (if so soft you could dent it with your fingernail). The original pups let the poor thing down beyond recognition. With proper pups, it creamed the 80ies medium scale Gibbie Exes into the ground.
FYI... EY Guitar Parts - they of the Chinabucker T-Bird pickups - now offers a drop-in replacement for the black Epi pickups with Gibson-style internals.
https://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Thunderbird-Bass-for-Original-EpiphoneWith-Gibson-Thunderbird-inner-coilsNeck-and-Bridge-Set_p_2807.html
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Gibson pups make a huge difference on all Epis, I've done it a couple of times. Of course it won't change a bolt-on maple neck Rev into the neck-thru maho-walnut real thing and you won't have the mid-neck cello effect, but you'll have a well-sounding bolt-on bass that looks like a TBird and growls a lot.
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FYI... EY Guitar Parts - they of the Chinabucker T-Bird pickups - now offers a drop-in replacement for the black Epi pickups with Gibson-style internals.
https://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Thunderbird-Bass-for-Original-EpiphoneWith-Gibson-Thunderbird-inner-coilsNeck-and-Bridge-Set_p_2807.html
Wow, good idea. Honestly surprised to see someone making something like these.
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Wow, good idea. Honestly surprised to see someone making something like these.
Agreed. I see people rushing to replace the TB+, but I am a big fan of them. I think I get a great tone through my rig.
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Amen! I'm a worshipper in the Temple of the TB+ too.
I believe a lot of people replace their soapies just for cosmetic reasons - general nostalgia and untreated childhood abuse experiences, that sort of stuff you know.
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Agreed. I see people rushing to replace the TB+, but I am a big fan of them. I think I get a great tone through my rig.
The TB+ is a great pickup - they seem to save everything I put them in. One of the few pickups that doesn't lose its oomph when the bridge pickup is solo'd. I love them in a PJ setup in place of the J.
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Amen! I'm a worshipper in the Temple of the TB+ too.
I believe a lot of people replace their soapies just for cosmetic reasons - general nostalgia and untreated childhood abuse experiences, that sort of stuff you know.
I love black hardware. But I see people complaining that the TB+ sound too dark and lack clarity. I don't find that.
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Not for a pick player, they don't.
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Not for a pick player, they don't.
I only play with my fingers (never learned to play with a pick) and still love them.
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You're left-handed AND you play with your fingers? Man, you're really piling it on! :rimshot:
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Amen! I'm a worshipper in the Temple of the TB+ too.
I believe a lot of people replace their soapies just for cosmetic reasons - general nostalgia and untreated childhood abuse experiences, that sort of stuff you know.
I'm a big fan too, even if they're a little noisy.
I think a lot of people change pickups just to change pickups. Like those Duncan Rickenbacker pups. They're replacements made by Duncan, so SURELY they must be "better", right? Not even close. :rolleyes:
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I'm a big fan too, even if they're a little noisy.
Noisy? I find my TB+ almost dead quiet when not playing.
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Some older ones can get noisy and microphonic as they deteriorate over time. Maybe the epoxy helps prevent that.
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Amen! I'm a worshipper in the Temple of the TB+ too.
I believe a lot of people replace their soapies just for cosmetic reasons - general nostalgia and untreated childhood abuse experiences, that sort of stuff you know.
I think the amp one uses has a lot to do with it too, they do sound better I think through an SS rig, certainly there's more clarity, that said, yes I have replaced the stock ones with Lulls in my '89 and they really do sound much better than the original TB Plus. They are much clearer, warmer with a lot of inherent growl that TB Plus just don't have, paired with SIT Power Steels it's a match made in heaven!
(https://i.imgur.com/VibSEfX.jpg)
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I think the amp one uses has a lot to do with it too, they do sound better I think through an SS rig, certainly there's more clarity, that said, yes I have replaced the stock ones with Lulls in my '89 and they really do sound much better than the original TB Plus. They are much clearer, warmer with a lot of inherent growl that TB Plus just don't have, paired with SIT Power Steels it's a match made in heaven!
That makes total sense that the amp (and strings) would have a big effect on that. I usually use GKs. And Power Steels!
Lulls are warmer-sounding than TB+? Interesting! Or are "warmer" and "darker" not the same thing?
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Some older ones can get noisy and microphonic as they deteriorate over time. Maybe the epoxy helps prevent that.
Interesting. The guy who did the lefty conversion of my NR saw the epoxy and figured Gibson did that so they can't be fixed if they break. Not that Gibson sells them on their own if you need to replace them, of course.
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That makes total sense that the amp (and strings) would have a big effect on that. I usually use GKs. And Power Steels!
Lulls are warmer-sounding than TB+? Interesting! Or are "warmer" and "darker" not the same thing?
TB Plus are good through a modern rig, I like them best with a set neck bass like my Studio, they gain a bit of clarity and thump. Lulls are warm and have a nice growl to them, TB Plus are perhaps a bit sterile in comparison.
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Many moons ago, someone from Tacoma or thereabouts, a terribly nice man, talked me into replacing the TB Plus on my Explorer RI bass with those Lulls. I was tempted by the chrome look - always a silly sentiment for lasting musical decisions. The bass had sounded great before, but with the Lulls ...
... it just now sounds about ok'ish, the bass has lost calm authority because of them. I find their praised growl messy to the point of on the tinny side.They have none of the warmth and oomph of the TB Plus - and if you dig in hard, they are not able to take a harsh signal as good-naturedly as a TB Plus. And I've played them over Ampeg SVT, Markbass, Ashdown and Orange.
I wouldn't be surprised if they are patterned after TB Bicentennial sidewinder pups - I never liked those either.
Your mileage may vary.
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I'll add that the TB+ take effects very well.
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Also true. For a leftie you're pretty often damn right.
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Yes. We're the smarter ones.
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So, we're talking about my favorite neck of all time, the bolt on Epi Tbird... I don't know about the newer versions, but mine is wide and on the chunky side, just how I like em.
When I pick my Epi EB0 after my Tbird, the first word coming to my mind is "broomstick", it really feels like a mandolin with chunkier frets...
The original Epi pups are indeed mud, and not in a good way, they are the equivalent of over-wound guitar pups, they are in the 14k range after all. They sound nice with (a lot of) distortion through.
I bought a pair of Gibson authority wrapped in glorious black plastic from a great man from Seattle sometime ago and I am a happy man since.
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The fruit vendor! How are you? Still in Nürnberg?
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The fruit vendor! How are you? Still in Nürnberg?
Natürlich! And since last year with german nationality, big win!
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Many moons ago, someone from Tacoma or thereabouts, a terribly nice man, talked me into replacing the TB Plus on my Explorer RI bass with those Lulls. I was tempted by the chrome look - always a silly sentiment for lasting musical decisions. The bass had sounded great before, but with the Lulls ...
... it just now sounds about ok'ish, the bass has lost calm authority because of them. I find their praised growl messy to the point of on the tinny side.They have none of the warmth and oomph of the TB Plus - and if you dig in hard, they are not able to take a harsh signal as good-naturedly as a TB Plus. And I've played them over Ampeg SVT, Markbass, Ashdown and Orange.
I wouldn't be surprised if they are patterned after TB Bicentennial sidewinder pups - I never liked those either.
Your mileage may vary.
They should roar, mine certainly do, should you wish to trade them for a pair of TB Plus, just let me know - I will arrange it!
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No issue, I still have the original TB Plus pups. There is no rush changing it back.