Bassbuckers. Again

[vates]

I know what you mean about loving the feel of the DC bass and wanting to upgrade the tone. I sold mine to a friend after buying a custom built bass based on the same dimensions. Hope you find some pickups that give you the tone your after and check back in when you have a chance to let us know how it worked out.
Cheers.

Thank you! Hopefully I'll manage to work something out. Thank you all for your inputs!

[chromium]

I think someone here has some Dimarzio guitar buckers in his Hamer, and is happy with it, stating it sounds very P bass alike, can't rememeber who

There was some discussion of them (Bill Lawrence EB50s) here...
http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=9699.0

My favorites are still the DP-221s, and I'm really liking the Model G that I recently auditioned in this bass (along with an old X2N guitar pickup in the bridge):




I have a bunch of EMG-HBs that I might let go of if you are looking for that sound.  Those seem to have more of a flat frequency response, not unlike the soapbars in my Alembic Distillate.  The Dimarzios are definitely more "coloring" compared to those EMGs.

[Dave W]

drbassman will have sound clips of the TV Jones up soon.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I like the TB Plus sound, but one thing they are not: nuanced. They are a bit of a wallop/handful of sound, not as extreme as a mudbucker but a bit in that "more is more"-school of thought. I like that sound, but it's raunchy and hardly detailed, but then I'm a pick player and that always gives that click to sonically latch onto. If I played with fingers, I don't think that a TBird with TB Plus pups would be my weapon of choice.

Have you thought about using the new soapbar pups they used on the now deleted EB and the 2015 TB?

But seriously: If you a looking for more texture, frequencies that are not all over each other etc, the difference to the - again: liked by me! - raunch of the TB Plus is night and day. I doubt if the EB Alnico V Bass pups are available as parts, but I'm sure some idiots have already torn them out of 2015 TBirds and are offering them on ebay. It will make your TBird sound a bit more like a P Bass (and for once I don't mean to say that as an insult.

The EB pickups won't fit Les Paul routes; they're wider than the whole area covered by the pickup and mounting ring, but they would be an EXCELLENT tonal choice. If the the TB+ was Gibson embracing 80's high gain, the EB is a welcome nod to their past. I sincerely hope they find some way to keep making them or sell them as aftermarket replacements.

[vates]

Agreed. Guys at Gibson need to know this users' opinion. However, I still can't figure out how their communication with customers works (does it?).

[drbassman]

Here's the scoop on TV Jones pickups.  They will fit into a LP route.  The TV Jones pup rings are required.   While the outside dimensions of the ring are the same as a LP ring and the holes line up, the TV pup is slightly narrower than a LP pup.  So they will work and they are really great pups for the money.  They also have several different styles depending on your tastes.

I've used the ThunderTron and the ThunderBlade.  Both are great pups.  Read my comments in the thread "Doc Bass Ready to Roll".  I discuss the ThunderBlades in two recent bass builds.

[Dave W]

Agreed. Guys at Gibson need to know this users' opinion. However, I still can't figure out how their communication with customers works (does it?).

http://www.gibson.com/Gibson/Talk-2-Us.aspx to contact them, but why bother? What would it accomplish? You chose to buy the bass. The pickup isn't defective, you just decided you don't like it as well as you thought you would. Gibson wouldn't care, and they especially wouldn't care when it's a discontinued pickup in a discontinued limited run bass.

Ever hang around a Gibson-oriented guitar forum? Thousands of players decide to look for something they think will sound better, that's why there's such a big aftermarket for guitar pickups. Gibson doesn't care, they just hope you buy one of theirs if you do.

Gibson cares about selling instruments. If they don't sell to begin with, they care (e.g. the 2015 sales disaster and the changes for 2016). Once it sells, they only care about fixing defects under warranty,

[uwe]

Duh, I forgot that you were looking for guitar size humbuckers! Of course the EB Alnicos then demand too much routing work.

I also now understand where your issues with the sound of these TB Plus come from: In comparison to the guitar size humbuckers the soapbar TB Plus sound rounder/more docile. The guitar size TB Plusses turn even a hollow body like an EB 650 into a snarling monster and they are the reason why I always said that the Les Paul Standards of the nineties and noughties were the most assertive rock basses Gibson made EVER. I just gigged with two of them (my active 8-string and the later passive 4-string) yesterday, they take no prisoners and my zebra wood TB (which has a middish honk of its own due to the zebra wood wings) sounded gentle compared to the two. I do like that sound in a rock setting, but I guess for some people it can easily be a bit much. When the Mon(k)ey/DC basses were reviewed in German Gitarre & Bass that was exactly their bone of contention: That the pups were too raunchy and too little hifi to reach the desired market of modern bassists. They granted that "Gibson was not following trends" with the pup choice, but they wondered whether the overt rock sound of these basses would not limit their large scale appeal. I guess they were right!

[vates]

Here's the scoop on TV Jones pickups.  They will fit into a LP route.  The TV Jones pup rings are required.   While the outside dimensions of the ring are the same as a LP ring and the holes line up, the TV pup is slightly narrower than a LP pup.  So they will work and they are really great pups for the money.  They also have several different styles depending on your tastes.

I've used the ThunderTron and the ThunderBlade.  Both are great pups.  Read my comments in the thread "Doc Bass Ready to Roll".  I discuss the ThunderBlades in two recent bass builds.

Thank you!

[Dave W]

From the TV Jones site, it looks like what they call the English Mount fits a humbucker cavity.

[BTL]

Just as an FYI, Lindy Fralin still custom-builds a number of bass-centric pickups under nickel covers with no holes...just give him a call:

[uwe]

An edgy design, no less!

[vates]

Just as an FYI, Lindy Fralin still custom-builds a number of bass-centric pickups under nickel covers with no holes...just give him a call:

Wow. Thanks!

[BTL]

No problem!

Yes, definitely an edgy design.



Here's how it went out the door: