dannybuoy

Lull and Maruszczyk both make Fender style instruments with T-Bird style pickups. Then there's the Sandberg Forty Eight. Also the Dingwall D-Bird looks interesting!

Yup, those sound like the same pups as the Rockbass version, I saw a thread where someone measured them. To make matters worse, the volume pots were far too low in value also, like 25K instead of 250K/500K, which I think would reduce output, particularly the top end. They sound great with a preamp to boost/EQ them but the dry passive tone is way too low output. I fitted a stacked 500K volume pot and a Darkglass Tone Capsule to mine and it's much improved but still not that loud. Ok, so red and green belong to one coil, and black/white to the other half. If a wire from each half was joined together AND joined to a shield wire and pot, that sounds like a parallel wiring config and I would expect white and green were also soldered together to one of the lugs of the pot? If so, then that would give you an overall resistance of 1.675K, which is ridiculously low for a pickup! This diagram is for a slightly different bass but might work for you if you wanted switching per pickup: http://forum.bass-arena.com/threads/new-corvette-double-buck-rockbass.12813/ Otherwise, to treat the pickup like a basic 2-wire job, keep red/black/braid together as the ground and white/green as the signal, then you can just use a switch to go series/parallel between the 2 pickups if you like.

Looks like the EBS FuzzMo is being discontinued and they are being blown out at ridiculous prices around £40 (they were over £120 new): [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBS-Fuzzmo-Fuzz-Effect-Pedal-For-Bass-/172421144811"]http://www.ebay.co.u...s-/172421144811[/url] There's a thread on here with many happy buyers jumping on them recently - seems like a decent pedal that never took off due to lack of hype/marketing I guess. Once all stock has gone you'd easily be able to sell it for £50 or more used, so you have nothing to lose! EHX Bass Big Muffs pop up used for cheap also. If it's more overdrive/distortion you might seek rather than fuzz, good budget options apart from the TC MojoMojo are the Joyo Orange Juice and Golden Face: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFM_rZVd-kE[/media] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq9CDL4Jdyo

[quote name='CameronJ' timestamp='1498913687' post='3327950'] I'm not quite sure why Yamaha seem to be so reluctant to put maple board on their basses. They're really missing a trick there. [/quote] Ahem. https://www.gak.co.uk/en/yamaha-bb-434m-bass-black/909043 https://www.gak.co.uk/en/yamaha-bb-434m-bass-tobacco-brown-sunburst/909044

If you're talking about the pop from true bypass switching, then no, I don't think so.

Sounds like either a dodgy cable, or a poorly shielded cable or bass that only picks up noise when there is a lot of interference nearby. I had noise issues recently, but only when my dimmer switch was turned on (to provide some interference) combined with using certain patch cables (to pick up said interference like an antenna).

[quote name='ped' timestamp='1499101441' post='3329184'] Ok I think it's one of the banners which calls up a code for an external tracker. Its 100% safe but presumably triggering a virus warning in some systems. I'll stop it and see if we can change the code. [/quote] [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1499103342' post='3329202'] That screenshot looks to me like a fake virus warning - I've seen similar where you're invited to call 'Microsoft' (and then probably be invited to hand over some payment by credit card). In other words it's a scam pop-up. [/quote] 100%. This is not a false positive from a legit antivirus product, just a fake pop-up that's plagued the site on and off for ages now.

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1499098496' post='3329153'] I think my own preference is that I know how to get a couple of specific sounds out of a VVT - namely that combination of neck on full and bridge around 80%, where you get a strong, bright midrange - and I just don't know how to get it on a VBT. Probably just down to a lack of experience with blend controls, I must admit... [/quote] Just put the blend in the middle and nudge it slightly forward until it sounds right. Then you have the option of muting your bass by rolling the volume off without having to readjust the balance! I think there must be a slight difference though - in VBT you effectively have 3 pots in total (counting 2 housed in the blend pot) compared to 2. With everything fully open would the loading on the pickups be any different?

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1496779147' post='3313839'] The pedal casing feels sturdy, dials turn nicely and don't feel too cheap, and the switch clicks a little but not through the signal chain. It's a solid build. [/quote] I had the Nux version for a while. It sounded great but the knobs definitely felt cheap and wobbly so perhaps they aren't built to the same standards!

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1498905291' post='3327875'] T'bird GAS going on quite badly at the moment, thankfully, I can't afford one. The through neck Epiphones & the Gibson models all have the Jazz like 38mm wide nut, which is too small for my hands, so that means looking at the bolt neck Epiphones or a set neck Tokai which both seem to have 42mm wide nuts. Unfortunately, the Tokai's seem pretty thin on the ground just now (possibly a very good thing though! ). [/quote] The Epi Classic Pro is pretty deep front to back though, I have small hands and find it difficult to play compared to my USA Fender P for example which has a 42mm nut!

Valve sticking out of the top is not a problem as long as it's well protected (check out the EBS Valvedrive).

It's easy to work out which wire is which with a multimeter. The pickup is two coils joined together, so there will be one pair (probably red and black) that show a high resistance of for example 10K. Then there will be two more pairs (black and either white or green, plus red and either white or green) that measure half that, e.g. 5K. The measurement between white and green should then be zero since they are where the two coils join and there's no resistance between the two. One you've verified which wire is which, you can hook each up to an individual switch to give series/parallel/single coil per pickup. Or, you can semi-permanently join the wires from each pickup in serial or parallel combination and use a switch to determine if the overall pairing is wired serial or parallel. Here's a wiring diagram with some options: http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=202360 (Note that colours might not match your wiring there) Btw I would be interested to hear what resistance you measure from those pickups. I have the Rockbass version and the MEC humbuckers have a very low output and need a preamp to boost them up!

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1498826770' post='3327381'] First dibs if it doesn't settle in? [/quote] Not sure if I'm going to keep it yet but I will hang onto it for a few weeks to give it a chance! Immediate first impressions playing my Yamaha BB 1025X into Orange Terror Bass + Ampeg SVT210AV, were pretty disappointing. Warwick Streamer with humbuckers into a headphone amp however was a different story, sounded very nice indeed, I guess this is more like how the pedal was intended to be used, with Jon playing similar basses and going into a PA. I found the exact same thing with the B3K/B7K too. Hopefully will have some time for a bit of A/B testing over the weekend!

Mine should be arriving today. It has some serious competition to contend with as I'm very happy with my current arsenal of drives, so looking forward to seeing how it stacks up!

Was just about to buy one, then a used one popped up so I got in quick!

Never actually played one, but I think it is the first bass overdrive I remember seeing being played on a stage and it sounded great. That was probably the start of the slippery slope of pedal buying for me!

I think the fact that Gibson stopped producing Thunderbirds shortly after releasing the Classic Pro says a lot! After not playing mine for a while I've kind of fell for it again - played with a pick through a drive pedal (Pike Vulcan or Aguilar Agro are a great pairing), it sounds incredible. I can see myself moving over to the vintage version in black though when they come out!

Don't sell your gear if you still enjoy playing. I haven't been in a band for a few years now but still buy gear! Playing bass doesn't have to be a join-a-band-or-quit deal, you can have hours of fun simply learning songs, jamming to backing tracks, and learning more theory. The better the player you become (and the more Jamerson grooves you master), the more confident you will become also!

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1498615296' post='3325905'] My Epi bird was not even close to my 1991 Gibson Thunderbird. Blue [/quote] You are probably talking about the old bolt-on Epis rather than the newer Classic Pro which has the same woods, same neck-through construction and the same pickups as the Gibson?

Amp sim / overdrive will piddle all over the Zoom, assuming you like the VT sound of course. The Ampeg sims in the Zooms don't really come close. All the other FX are probably on par with each other.