Epi Silverburst Special Run T-birds

[uwe]

Well, it has safely arrived. The fin looks wonderful and it plays well (two frets indeed need bumping/dressing). But the pups are a major disappointment - definitely not Gibson TB Plus. In fact they are lamer than the regular plastic cover Epi fare, middish affairs without either ooomph or zzzing. So off to my luthier the Silverburst Baby has gone, together with two nice TB Plus chrome humbuckers I got off ebay a while ago. Will report further after the transplant!!!

Andy, thanks again for getting the bass for me, they will indeed not be available in Germany.

[Nocturnal]

Happy to do it Uwe! I enjoyed messing around with it without having spent my own money! I agree with the pickup transplant. I would do the same thing if I bought one of the Silverbursts.

Thanks again for the truss rod wrench!

[jmcgliss]

Thanks for the assessment of the pickups.  I have to agree the tones are useful if you like mids but not what drives the love here. Major adjustments so far: filed the nut slots, lowered the bridge, adjusted pickup height, moved strap button. It plays much better now, with stronger G and D strings and a subtle essence of grind.  

Acoustically it sounds better after the setup, so it's the electronics that are skewed. At rehearsals I've been favoring the neck pickup on full with the bridge pickup almost off and tone wide open.  Tried a few songs with both pickups up - workable but not desirable - so a change of strings would help.

Does it sound like it will be easier to bump this in he direction of a grind machine, or a flatwound thumper?

[uwe]

The factory strings were (nearly) dead so I put fresh Rotos on mine, that helped a little with the zing. Real presence should come from the TB Plus implant. Leaving the stock pups, my guess is that it is easier to turn this into a thumper, perhaps with D'Addario Chromes which have more bass and presence than mids thus complementing the emphasis of the Epi pups on the mids.

[jmcgliss]

Thank you good sir for the recommendations.  I will need to change pups then since I need an edgier bass as counterpoint to a Dark Star'd P with DR Black Beauties.

[TBird1958]

You're putting chrome pups on a bass?!?!   

My world has turned upside down!
I could have sent you some black plastic ones!

[uwe]

My tastes are - like yours - varied! Just like the old saying goes, variety is the vice of life ...

[TBird1958]

"variety is the vice of life ..."


WORDS TO CONDUCT ONESELF BY

[uwe]

My luthier has had a look at the Silverburst chrome pups. They're friggin' guitar pups, six poles and all! He said they are the exact same pups Epi uses for its regular budget guitars (he worked for years in a shop with strong epi sales). Now using guitar pups on basses is nothing new and results can be good, but wouldn't you think that in 2009 Epi has the resources to develop and offer a real bass pup?!!!

Can't wait to hear it with real TB Plus.  

[Dave W]

Forget the TB Plus, have him drop a couple of 6-pole RIC toasters in there.

[TBird1958]

Forget the TB Plus, have him drop a couple of 6-pole RIC toasters in there.

He wants a bass, not a banjo Dave   

[uwe]

Lol! Whenever the Italians had got themselves into another rut, you could trust Rommel to come to the rescue!

[Dave W]

Uwe will want a banjo, mandolin and harp guitar when he sees the effect they have on women, as proven here by Eddie Peabody (designer of the RIC Banjoline). Especially the last girl with the banjo. 

[TBird1958]

Nuthin' gets me goin' more than a banjo 

Guitar players always get the girls...............If he'd picked up a bass last they'd have all gone back to the pianist.

[uwe]

Compelling evidence how strings and wimmen are just a natural combo.