A Thunderbird dilemma

[Ken]

   

 I have both, I don't think they're the same pick up at all Ken. China Bucker aren't bad by any means, but they 're a little thin sounding and not as hot as the 760's in the VP. Neither are as good as a Lull Thunderbird pickup, much more going on there.

Cool.  I remember there being a lot of comparisons when the VP first came out.

[Dave W]

I haven't heard either, but they're not the same pickups. When these (and the guitar version) came out, the 2018 Epi catalog made a point of stating that these were based on the original 60s pickups, Gibson part #PU-760. Epi may not make these in-house, but they don't use generic pickups available to anyone.

[kat888]

Konichiwa

This is from an email received from the owner of EY Guitar Parts (retailer of the 'Chinabuckers').

'The pickups are from the same factory, who offer them to Gibson, and they are all same with Gibson ones, and just no logo on them'.

Make of that what you will. It was well before the introduction of the Epi VP/760s.

[Basvarken]

I would be surprised if they weren't the same as ones the Epiphone uses.
It just doesn't make sense that a Chinese company all of a sudden makes large quantities of this pickup without a large order of a big company (such as Epiphone) as an initial motivation.
It's not that the market gave a signal that there would be a huge demand for a sixties repro thunderbird humbucker without a vehicle such as the Epi VP.


I haven't heard the Epiphone Vintage Pro bass in real life yet. But all of the videos that I've seen and heard sound very much alike the sound of the EY Guitars pickup.
To me they don't sound thin at all. Maybe what Mark heard was down to the location of the pickups or the bass that they were installed in. Or they were not wired correctly.

I have used quite a few of these EY pickups in several basses that I customized or built. I've always been impressed by their sound.

Here's a few examples:

BaCH TH-2



Brooks EB-TB



Brooks Grabbird

[Ken]

Konichiwa

This is from an email received from the owner of EY Guitar Parts (retailer of the 'Chinabuckers').

'The pickups are from the same factory, who offer them to Gibson, and they are all same with Gibson ones, and just no logo on them'.

Make of that what you will. It was well before the introduction of the Epi VP/760s.

Well look what the Kat dragged in.

[kat888]

I would be surprised if they weren't the same as ones the Epiphone uses.
It just doesn't make sense that a Chinese company all of a sudden makes large quantities of this pickup without a large order of a big company (such as Epiphone) as an initial motivation.
It's not that the market gave a signal that there would be a huge demand for a sixties repro thunderbird humbucker without a vehicle such as the Epi VP.

And if the mass produced chrome and nickel cased repro humbuckers are not going into Epi basses ... where are they going?

I had a pair of 9k Chinabuckers in an Epi PRO-IV, which were certainly a step up from the original electronics. They went with the bass when it was sold. They sounded pretty decent, but lacked much of the 'throat' of a Thunderbucker. I raise the (single) pup 'danger close' to the strings.

[ajkula66]

I ended up pulling a trigger on a VP Bird, used...will post an update once it flies in here.

[ajkula66]

I ended up pulling a trigger on a VP Bird, used...will post an update once it flies in here.

Well, it's not happening. All Guitar Center stores in PA are closed as of today and the bass will go back to its original location. Hopefully they'll be open when ti gets back and my order will get refunded at that point...