NBD — Gibson Non Reverse Thunderbird

[bigthumb]

Well mine arrived this afternoon and it sure is a pretty thing. I was hoping that the setup would have been better as the action was pretty high. I've lowered the bridge loads as the neck had only a slight amount of relief so no adjustment needed there. However, the bridge pickup sits very low and there seems that it won't raise anymore. The two screws undo but the pup seems to be already at its highest point. I've had a look at a number of pictures on line of other basses and the pups all sit much higher. This leaves a big gap between the strings and pup which doesn't seem right to me. My Orville TB's pups sit much higher and feel a lot more solid (fixed in) whereas these seem loose and move around. 

I'm really hoping that there's some way of getting the pup to sit higher than what's shown in the pic below. 

[TbirdnTalman]

Could you get some foam under the pickups? Like your Orville - did up my TB up the same way over Gibson black pickups with chrome 😀. And at Jean-Luc, there are some dentist bass players…..

[bigthumb]

1 minute ago, TbirdnTalman said:

Could you get some foam under the pickups? Like your Orville - did up my TB up the same way over Gibson black pickups with chrome 😀. And at Jean-Luc, there are some dentist bass players…..

 

I'm not sure. I've never removed the pups from a TB but it might be worth a try. I wonder if anybody else has had this issue with them? 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

5 minutes ago, TbirdnTalman said:

And at Jean-Luc, there are some dentist bass players…..

I'm sure there are, but don't tell me, tell Gibson.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

34 minutes ago, bigthumb said:

Well mine arrived this afternoon and it sure is a pretty thing. I was hoping that the setup would have been better as the action was pretty high. I've lowered the bridge loads as the neck had only a slight amount of relief so no adjustment needed there. However, the bridge pickup sits very low and there seems that it won't raise anymore. The two screws undo but the pup seems to be already at its highest point. I've had a look at a number of pictures on line of other basses and the pups all sit much higher. This leaves a big gap between the strings and pup which doesn't seem right to me. My Orville TB's pups sit much higher and feel a lot more solid (fixed in) whereas these seem loose and move around. 

I'm really hoping that there's some way of getting the pup to sit higher than what's shown in the pic below. 

Mine's a lot higher than that — I managed to raise my bridge pickup so the string just misses it when playing the highest string on each string. The neck pickup had to be quite a bit lower than the bridge one to match the volumes. I haven't dismantled that part of my bass (yet) so I don't know whether springs or foam are involved to know what's causing yours to not want to raise up.

[TbirdnTalman]

As far as I can remember I think mine had springs but I was remounting my Jazz PUs the same weekend so I may be getting them confused. Either way might help so best wishes!

[bigthumb]

No springs, only 4 sh!tty bits of foam!! 🙄

 

I had a look in my box of bits for any springs but alas no. 

[TbirdnTalman]

Oh dear  - at least you know the issue now!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

That foam doesn't look up to the job — I'd be surprised if that is all that's holding up the bridge pickup on mine.

 

When I built a bitzer fretless precision about 15 years ago, I cut up a fabric topped neoprene mousemat (50p from ikea at the time) and stuck several layers stacked up to make a firm cushion. It worked like a champ and is still holding up.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[TbirdnTalman]

Pickup Height Sponge

Axesrus

 

https://www.axesrus.co.uk/PUPHeightSponge-p/pupsponge.htm

[bigthumb]

Success! 

I found a very suitable piece of foam to do the job and it's worked almost perfectly. There's still a bit of movement but nothing like before and the height is now adjustable. 

I will have to do the same with the neck pup but that can wait for now. Gave the fingerboard a good oiling too as it seemed as dry as a bone. 

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

5 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Original Thunderbird pickups and modern reproduction versions have bars rather than individual poles like an upscaled version of the firebird pickup.

 

Lest we forget, the original Thunderbird pickups weren't designed as being bass-specific; they were just leftover from lap-steel production instruments and just paired up.

[TbirdnTalman]

12 hours ago, bigthumb said:

Success! 

I found a very suitable piece of foam to do the job and it's worked almost perfectly. There's still a bit of movement but nothing like before and the height is now adjustable. 

I will have to do the same with the neck pup but that can wait for now. Gave the fingerboard a good oiling too as it seemed as dry as a bone. 

 

 

Excellent 👍🏻