A silly idea?

[Alanko]

I've found somebody selling some circa 2008 Gibson Thunderbird pickups. I'm not entirely happy with the plugged-in tone of my MIM Jazz bass. I like the girth and grind of a Thunderbird, and I love the feel and unplugged tone of my MIM Jazz bass.

A simple question really, is it worth getting my Jazz routed for T-bird pickups? I'm not after that chromed out look or anything retro like that, simply a bit more meat and muscle to my Jazz bass, while retaining the feel of it.

[Highlander]

Three letters and one luthier will give you the answer...

JAE; Peter Cook.

QED

[Aussie Mark]

Mike Lull doesn't think it's a silly idea at all



http://www.mikelull.com/site/instruments/basses/bass-JT4_JT5.html

[slinkp]

Go for it.  You'd be in good company.

That's more or less the idea behind Carlo's Cataldo RR bass...


And he's done some mods like this one in the archives of the outpost ...


... where you can also find any number of fenderish basses by Brad Lowe equipped with T-bird pickups. Lots of P's, not sure if Brad's done any J's; here's the first I came across...


And Mike Watt still has this on his page of basses:

[lowend1]

I'm happy with my effort.

[Alanko]

My only concern is that the bridge pickup route will be too long on the Jazz bass. I've found a source of black T-bird pickup rings online, so the bridge pickup might gain a ring.

Cool to see all the examples here, but mostly seem to use those chrome pickups and rings.

[slinkp]

I still say go for it. Chrome is the thing that gets everybody excited about the vintage look and sound, but people are probably tired by now of me ranting about how great the black TB+ pickups in my LPB1 sound.
Uwe is vocal about his love for them too.

[Dave W]

Chrome covers and rings would only be a big deal if a Jazz Bass came with them to begin with. Even if it did, go with what works for you.

[Chris P.]

Pino Palladino has a Tbird equiped Fiesta Red P too, which was discussed earlier. That one is (officially not) made by the Fender CS.

[Alanko]

Pino's bass grew a mudbucker at some point, somewhere in London. 

The pickups are purchased, so I just need to wait it out. And hope that the local repair guy will do the routing!

[slinkp]

Post sound clips when you get it done!

[bassilisk]

I bet the Jazz with those pickups totally rocks. I had a 2000 TBird and I liked everything about it, but I was in the thralls of GAS
and had too many distractions with items on the menu I still wanted to try.

I thought those pickups sounded great. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

[Alanko]

No pressure, eh! My guess is that the Jazz pickup routes will be a wee tiny bit too wide. Maybe ~2mm or so, or a 'baw hair' in Scots. I think I might be able to get away without using the rings.

[BTL]

One of these rings will cover a Jazz bridge rout, no problem:

[gearHed289]

I still say go for it. Chrome is the thing that gets everybody excited about the vintage look and sound, but people are probably tired by now of me ranting about how great the black TB+ pickups in my LPB1 sound.
Uwe is vocal about his love for them too.

You can add me to that list. Loud, aggressive, great tone, and consistent across all strings. Good pups! I looked into this idea myself at some point and I'm pretty sure the ring will cover the J route. I still like the rings I added to my black plastic TB+. I've thought about going chrome, but I think it might be a bit much.