Very true, whatever sound you like is fine. I gotta ask- what Tbird sound are we talking? Original, Bicentennial, Reissue? The first Thunderbirds had a Honduras Mahogany body and neck, even Entwistle's Fenderbirds were mahogany, though w/ a maple neck. What is a Bach made of?
The latest batch of the BaCHbirds is entirely made of sipo.
The first run had a mahogany body sandwiched between two very thin maple veneers. with a maple neck.
I think you can get the "Artec" sound with EMGs plus some extra tones. They do cost a lot more than 5 times the Artec which can be bought in China from Eden's warehouse for less than $10. Why does a bass that costs this much come with electronics (at least pots and jack) that a lot of people say need upgrading?
That was the idea from the start. To have BaCH build a good platform to upgrade.
Back in the Dudepit days there were so many different opinions/ ideas about the Non Reverse Thunderbird tribute that BaCH was going to make.
It was impossible to please everybody. So I decided to keep the plan as simple as possible. I asked them to equip the bas with generic hardware and a one generic humbucker.
All those who signed up for the BaCHbird would upgrade their BaCHbirds as much as they desired.
But BaCH did more. Much more. They made an excellent bridge plus tailpiece, especially for this bass. And they really gave it their best to find a humbucker with the right specs (blades, AlNiCo, impedance, etc) They even worked on a nickel casing for the humbucker, but it would weigh too heavy on the total price.
So they opted for the Artec with chromed plastic casing. Which is way bettter than the generic humbucker that we would have gladly accepted at the start of the project.
The first run ended up costing 168 Euro, which is incredibly cheap for a high quality and
unique product like the BaCH.
When the first BaCHbirds arrived, everyone was blown away by the quality of the bass
and the sound of the Artec. In fact, most BaCHbirds owners kept the Artec because it sounds good as it is. A few nerds - like myself- retrofitted a nickel casing over it for cosmetic reasons.
(The Artec pickup at the start of this thread can be found on Ebay between 20 and 26 dollar. Hence the 5 x times cheaper remark)