Question for new NR Thunderbird owner(s)

[Dave W]

How would I determine this?  Anyhow, I'll give it 48 hours!  I'm not planning on rehearsing in that time.
P

The usual description of out of phase tone is "thin and nasal". You need a multimeter to test it, your tech guy will probably do it if he suspects that's the problem.

[dadagoboi]

The usual description of out of phase tone is "thin and nasal". You need a multimeter to test it, your tech guy will probably do it if he suspects that's the problem.

You can also solo the pickups.

[planetgaffnet]

With the pickups (in their present wiring configuration), mud and mud.  Maybe I'm being too hard here.

I just feel embarrassed that I didn't realise there was an issue.   
P

[planetgaffnet]

Well I'm back...

Dropped the NR off at my tech this morning and picked it up about an hour ago.  (I took along my '04 for comparison purposes as well.)

First off, nothing awry with the wiring, untidy, but OK.  While I was there, he desoldered the pickups and ran these individually straight into an amp and there was a dramatic difference (tone!).  He measured the pots and these metered at a spit over 300K (they should have been 500K minimum), so it's no wonder the treble/presence was being sucked out of the bass.  He's replaced all three pots and put a new cap in on the tone and problem is pretty much sorted.  In closing, he also said it might be worth adjusting pickup heights next time I'm rehearsing.

I got home and ran the bass through my set up and the results were staggering; tonally it now shares a similar character to my '04, but hotter (which I can live with I guess!).

So there you are, hopefully problem solved!  Woop!

Thanks for your input!
P

[Dave W]

Well I'm back...

Dropped the NR off at my tech this morning and picked it up about an hour ago.  (I took along my '04 for comparison purposes as well.)

First off, nothing awry with the wiring, untidy, but OK.  While I was there, he desoldered the pickups and ran these individually straight into an amp and there was a dramatic difference (tone!).  He measured the pots and these metered at a spit over 300K (they should have been 500K minimum), so it's no wonder the treble/presence was being sucked out of the bass.  He's replaced all three pots and put a new cap in on the tone and problem is pretty much sorted.  In closing, he also said it might be worth adjusting pickup heights next time I'm rehearsing.

I got home and ran the bass through my set up and the results were staggering; tonally it now shares a similar character to my '04, but hotter (which I can live with I guess!).

So there you are, hopefully problem solved!  Woop!

Thanks for your input!
P

I'm happy for you that the problem is solved, but FYI Gibson has used 300K linear taper pots on many models since the 1970s. I don't know if this is one of them. It's possible that 500K audio taper pots were specified for this model and 300K linear were substituted by mistake. If so, that would explain it. If not, maybe there was another problem either with the pots or the soldering that caused the tone problem.

[uwe]

That consoles me. The TB Plus soapies have in fact become hotter over time. The last raise in hotness which took place some years ago came at a little too high price - for my taste - of clarity. You can't really "degrowl" them anymore.

[gearHed289]

Just curious as to when this last rise in hotness came to be? I have a '94 Les Paul with the black plastic TB+ and it's smokin! And I can get a nice, percussive Stanley Clarke tone out of it depending on how I play, so there is plenty of clarity. I think the ebony 'board contributes to that.

[uwe]

There was an output hike in 2006 at the expense of clarity touted at the time as "new design TB Plus pick-ups". If you go back all the way to the inception of the TB Plus pups 1986/87 the output of those is laughable to what you hear today, on my pre-regular production Custom Shop Bird even puny (and approaching Fender tone).