Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

Aceman

I am your doctor of love!
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Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

I had a bass player audition with one of those last year. IMO it is a great sounding rock bass.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

Ace, was there a pic in that first post? I'm not seeing it, or even a placeholder.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

Real Thunderbird pickups were great. All of Gibson's current bass pickups are awful. Very muddy.


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Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

Always go for something Duncan makes a replacement for. Always. Those things? I dunno if Duncan has those, but if not, I'd definitely pass.

I was debating some years ago (2 maybe) as to what SD P and J bass pickups to go for to replace the stock house-brand pickups in my Jackson basses. The bass tones I like came from traditional Fender pickups. Steve Harris, Ian Hill, Geezer, etc. Guess what? Haven't bought SD bass pickups to replace them.
Of course, I also haven't bought Fender pickups either, or any bass pickups, but that's just me being lazy and cheap :lol:

Though I do like my Duncan Designed bar-style bass pickups. For import passives, they pack a punch, especially compared to the Jacksons. I can only imagine how great the USA Duncan equivalents would be. If I weren't cheap and lazy. :P
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

Any current Gibson/Epi bass pickups I have tried are a muddy mess. I guess some people like that sound. I didn't.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

http://www.thunderbuckerranch.com/
These are supposed to sound "just like the real thing" ('60's TB) but for the $$$$$ they cost, they better...
From what I read, most recent Gibson basses al have "TB+" pups, which like the poster above, says are kinda muddy. I've been a Thunderbird nerd for years, but I've never actually owned one, cause the cheapest ines are still 3x more than I've ever paid for a guitar...
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

+1 on muddy mess re: recent Gibson bass pu's.

I don't know about vintage style replacements, but if you're after modern EMG makes their P, J, CS, DC, & TW in Thunderbird-sizes now.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

I've always thought that Gibson basses sounded muddy. Always. Never saw the attraction to that sound with the possible exception of reggae.

BUT, something weird happened. I bought a new cheapie Epi EBO for a specific purpose. It came with rounds that I was going to change to flats. Got it home, started messing with it, and damned if it didn't have that 'piano bass' sound that I had looked so hard for when I was younger. Let me tell you, nobody was more surprised than me.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

They stare at me while I am naked, and call their friends.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

I've always thought that Gibson basses sounded muddy. Always. Never saw the attraction to that sound with the possible exception of reggae.

BUT, something weird happened. I bought a new cheapie Epi EBO for a specific purpose. It came with rounds that I was going to change to flats. Got it home, started messing with it, and damned if it didn't have that 'piano bass' sound that I had looked so hard for when I was younger. Let me tell you, nobody was more surprised than me.

I had an Epiphone EB-0 ; loved the look, couldn't stand the tone. It was also pretty fragile.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

What kind of strings, and round,flat, or in-between?

Round. I couldn't imagine how dull it would be with flats. Although I've played many short scale basses (or 'wound up' with them somehow; the EB-0 , a Fender Mustang bass, and an Ibanez... Something that I wound up inheriting from the previous bass player and used to the point where I couldn't stand it) and I always tend to have the 'dull/not enough presence' complaint. It's that dull thud, which is probably better with less heavy music or a smaller ensemble of musicians. Serious tweaking to make myself heard. And I don't consider myself to like a super-bright bass either, I usually roll back tone controls when I play bass. But not with the EB-0 .

I've played Epiphone Thunderbirds; dark, but useable.
 
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Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

I had a 2000 Gibson Blackbird (the Nikki Sixx T-bird) with the TB+ pickups. It sounded great, but it was wired both pickups to a killswitch->output, no volume or tone pots
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

My Epiphone TBird isn't muddy, but I use bright roundwounds on it and flats on my Viola bass. It is also not muddy. My Rogue Hofner clone is muddy, but plays well. Seriously, these basses are much thicker and darker than a Pbass or Jazz bass. It's a matter of taste.
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

I had a 2000 Gibson Blackbird (the Nikki Sixx T-bird) with the TB+ pickups. It sounded great, but it was wired both pickups to a killswitch->output, no volume or tone pots

cool bass but i always thought that was dumb. but if youre nikki sixx then controls and tone shaping considerations just get in the way of rawking! or some such nonsense
 
Re: Hey guys - comment on the pickups in this:

The Gibson pickups aren't very good. Unless you like dark sounding pickups. Gibson doesn't seem to know how to make good bass pickups anymore. All their currents designs are pretty awful.

I've replaced quite a few of these for people.

Several pickup makers make replacements.

Here's a set I made.
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