Epiphone thunderbird pickups?

Johnbob · April 21, 2010, 12:10:24 AM

What do you guys think of Epiphone thunderbird pickups?

TBird1958 · April 21, 2010, 12:33:17 AM

This may get me slagged a bit by those here that like them....... but I've owned 2, the first one lasted a couple years and then was rather quickly traded in at BassNW towards a '76 with no regrets. It's pups were dark and thumpy with little to no top, ok for some but I like "clank" they just don't clank....
The second one rather quickly became an inexpensive Fenderbird of sorts - (did I mention the neck doesn't thrill me either?) and lost it's pups to a set of SD singlr coils mounted in '76 chrome covers. Okay, I guess I'm not all that fond of Epi pickups.....I'll shut up now

exiledarchangel · April 21, 2010, 02:15:34 AM

Epi Tbird pups are horribly overwound to be useful in most cases, they have alot of mids and little to no highs.
They are the equivalent of an overwound guitar pickup, that is an one trick pony.

Freuds_Cat · April 21, 2010, 02:25:31 AM

I've got 'em in my Explorer which from a sound perspective must be pointed out is definitely NOT Mahogany or Korina.(pretty sure its Poplar). Big and resonant.

I like the sound they give me in this bass.
I've posted a demo on youtube if you are interested in how it sounds in a mix. To my ears and in this bass they have a pretty rich, fat sound. Not sure how relevant this is if you are wanting to put these pups in a Mahogany bass. Although I believe that a lot of the Epi T-Birds have Alder bodies?

exiledarchangel · April 21, 2010, 02:50:21 AM

The placement of the pickups on the Explorer is different, they are more towards to the neck compared to the Thunderbird, I think that makes a difference.

uwe · April 21, 2010, 03:47:49 AM

The Epi pups are made to create a maximum of sound from a not so great rig - budget bass for budget players - and boost mids at the expense of clarity and real sublows. It's not a pretty sound, but it is not limp and gets heard. On an Explorer - as our Greek winged one pointed out correctly - the positioning of the pups creates a bassier tone than on an Epi TBird (which has an alder body and maple neck though there are also some Epi TBirds like the Goth one that are supposedly maho).

I have replaced the Epi pups both on my silverburst TB and my Explorer (currently at the luthier for a real 'pimp my cheapo" refurbishment with new gold Hipshot hardware, gold TB Plus pups, exotic wood top etc, watch this space ...) and the difference was stark - much more presence and ooomph with still strong mids, but they don't overcrowd everything anymore. That said, the Explorer sounded good before that already (the TB sounded horrible, but it didn't have the regular Epi soapbars, but chrome Epi guitar pups in humbucker size).

But both my Epi Nikki Sixx (whose DeepSixx pups are boosted even more regarding the mids) and my "Snowwhite" Epi TB Ltd Ed have retained their original pups - it's a sound of its own after all (kind of Grabberish) and it certainly raises an eyebrow at rehearsals though I find it a bit indistinctive after a couple of songs.

PS: I would guess that the very light, very soft and pleasantly responsive wood on my Explorer is poplar too, certainly not Korina.

Dave W · April 21, 2010, 12:04:41 PM

I've only played them in stores, my impression is much the same. Not much fundamental, mostly mildly distorted mids.

Freuds_Cat · April 21, 2010, 10:23:42 PM

I agree with both Dave and Uwe. As I mention on the youtube page, Its not a bass for all seasons. More a go to bass for a specific sound. Which I tghink it does well.

Again though, I'm not sure how relevant this is to what those pups sound like in an Alder Maple T-bird.

uwe · April 22, 2010, 04:09:20 AM

Neck pup only = you can approximate a TBird sound
Bridge pup only = raunchy mids and little else
Both together = things get a bit P-bassish minus the clarity

In fact, the sounds are pretty variable, but regarding treble and especially presence they are all a little muffled. I've tried to combat that with especially bright sounding strings such as DiMarzio Pro-Steels, but to no avail, the pups just can't transmit any type of presence, though the Pro-Steels helped with the treble on my Nikk Sixx who has pehaps a bit more high mids than a regular Epi Bird would have. No matter what you do, you won't be Geddy Lee or Chris Squire though. But it's not a structural issue, my silverburst Epi TB with Gibson chrome TB Plus pups has the same amount of "shiny, but never glaring" presence a real Bird would have, it just doesn't have the neck thru sustain (nor could it, being bolt-on).

But I remember a test in a German muso mag where they compared Epi Explorer to Epi TB side by side and they in principle surmised: "For a dark vintage Gibson sound, the Explorer is your bass, all others who want to be surprised how versatile a bass with a TBird look can sound are better served with the Epi Thunderbird."

Versatile without presence that is!

uwe · April 22, 2010, 07:05:57 AM

Quote from: Freuds_Cat on April 21, 2010, 02:25:31 AM
I've got 'em in my Explorer which from a sound perspective must be pointed out is definitely NOT Mahogany or Korina.(pretty sure its Poplar). Big and resonant.

I like the sound they give me in this bass.
I've posted a demo on youtube if you are interested in how it sounds in a mix. To my ears and in this bass they have a pretty rich, fat sound. Not sure how relevant this is if you are wanting to put these pups in a Mahogany bass. Although I believe that a lot of the Epi T-Birds have Alder bodies?

That is really nice melodic bass playing by the way!

Freuds_Cat · April 22, 2010, 08:18:34 AM

Sloppy but thanks

I do find the large neck takes me a bit of practice before I start getting to my notes on time. I threw that all together (guitard included

) pretty spontaneously in about 20 mins.

uwe · April 22, 2010, 08:40:03 AM

Ever since Maggie Mae, I have a soft spot for sloppy bass lines. I have made a conscious effort to become sloppier over time and not as teutonic-accurate as I used to be!

Stopping the habit of goose-stepping during bass playing helped.

Dave W · April 22, 2010, 08:56:56 AM

Quote from: uwe on April 22, 2010, 08:40:03 AM
Ever since Maggie Mae, I have a soft spot for sloppy bass lines. I have made a conscious effort to become sloppier over time and not as teutonic-accurate as I used to be!

Stopping the habit of goose-stepping during bass playing helped.

Goose-stepping, metronomes, whatever works.

TBird1958 · April 22, 2010, 09:16:29 AM

Quote from: uwe on April 22, 2010, 08:40:03 AM
Ever since Maggie Mae, I have a soft spot for sloppy bass lines. I have made a conscious effort to become sloppier over time and not as teutonic-accurate as I used to be!

Stopping the habit of goose-stepping during bass playing helped.

What?! No video of this..................

godofthunder · April 22, 2010, 05:30:54 PM

Quote from: Freuds_Cat on April 21, 2010, 02:25:31 AM
I've got 'em in my Explorer which from a sound perspective must be pointed out is definitely NOT Mahogany or Korina.(pretty sure its Poplar). Big and resonant.

I like the sound they give me in this bass.
I've posted a demo on youtube if you are interested in how it sounds in a mix. To my ears and in this bass they have a pretty rich, fat sound. Not sure how relevant this is if you are wanting to put these pups in a Mahogany bass. Although I believe that a lot of the Epi T-Birds have Alder bodies?

Great playing and a super sounding bass !