Modern Gibson Thunderbird Pickups Specs? (Humbucker?)

[PoorMan]

I'm working on a Thunderbird bass for a buddy and it buzzes like a hive of angry bees and I can't figure out why.

Ground is good. I rewired the entire circuit for good measure, but it still buzzes loudly.

It's behaving similarly to a single coil 60 cycle hum so I'm wondering if these are NOT humbuckers. They are potted in epoxy so I have no way to tell. Anyone know?

These pickups seem to be shrouded in mystery. Does anyone even make replacements?

[Jazz P Bass]

Can you measure the DC resistance of the PU?
That may be a clue.

[the great waldo]

Hi Poorman

A simple google came up with this
Gibson.com: Gibson Thunderbird IV Bass
I´m someimes surprised at how little effort people make to find easily available information!! Or maybe i´m just getting old and cranky.
Cheers
Andrew

[David Schwab]

Hi Poorman

A simple google came up with this
Gibson.com: Gibson Thunderbird IV Bass
I´m someimes surprised at how little effort people make to find easily available information!! Or maybe i´m just getting old and cranky.
Cheers
Andrew

That doesn't tell too much except that they are humbuckers.

I've also heard these are noisy. Maybe one coil went bad (but they would have to be wired in parallel to still work). It's also possible that the blades have become ungrounded, but that wouldn't make them hum like a single coil, just that high pitched buzzing.

Someone posted a photo of one of the new pickups here:



Doesn't look like they put too much effort in centering the pickup under the strings...

There are no direct replacements as far as I know. I'd make some if I could get covers that size! Incidentally, it's not too hard to remove a epoxied pickup from the cover, since the epoxy doesn't always stick well to ABS plastic. You wouldn't be able to fix it, but you could stick something else in there.

[PoorMan]

That doesn't tell too much except that they are humbuckers.

I've also heard these are noisy. Maybe one coil went bad (but they would have to be wired in parallel to still work). It's also possible that the blades have become ungrounded, but that wouldn't make them hum like a single coil, just that high pitched buzzing.

Someone posted a photo of one of the new pickups here:



Doesn't look like they put too much effort in centering the pickup under the strings...

There are no direct replacements as far as I know. I'd make some if I could get covers that size! Incidentally, it's not too hard to remove a epoxied pickup from the cover, since the epoxy doesn't always stick well to ABS plastic. You wouldn't be able to fix it, but you could stick something else in there.

The pickups I'm working with are slightly different. I really suspect they were wired incorrectly at the factory. I'm going to try to install a humbucker and see if it's quiet.



I suspect I'm going to end up just having to fabricate something from scratch. I haven't attempted to remove the covers, but the epoxy seems to have a pretty strong grip.

[Jazz P Bass]

Did you try to measure the DCR?

[David Schwab]

The pickups I'm working with are slightly different. I really suspect they were wired incorrectly at the factory. I'm going to try to install a humbucker and see if it's quiet.

That's the same pickup, they just covered up the magnets and put more epoxy in the cover.

[David Schwab]

Did you try to measure the DCR?

Try this thread:


http://music-electronics-forum.com/t2984/

[PoorMan]

Did you try to measure the DCR?

Yes, they both came in right about 9.85k.

[David King]

I guess you could check magnet polarity with a compass. Or you could just pry the magnets off the back and make sure they got them in right.

[jason lollar]

I make them but they arent on my website yet- nickel covers only and they are basically copies of the vintage 60's pickup. i finally have all the parts in but havent had time to get it up on the web yet. yours look like they are possibly the same size- that would need to be confirmed

[PoorMan]

I make them but they arent on my website yet- nickel covers only and they are basically copies of the vintage 60's pickup. i finally have all the parts in but havent had time to get it up on the web yet. yours look like they are possibly the same size- that would need to be confirmed

We'll consider your pickups as an option, Jason. I wind as a hobby and don't really have much time or desire to fabricate parts that aren't readily available. Plus I'm trying to focus on learning guitar building right now.

[jason lollar]

heres a slick alternate way to make a T bird bass pickup- i dont want to get back into selling parts, having the metal covers made and the plastic bobbins was insanely expensive and i just dont want to mess around with it but if you can build a bass you can make a few pickup parts for sure.
Photo shows a piece of black pickgaurd material for the top app. .0625 thick and its wrapped on the sides with black pickgaurd material .0325 thick

[dave_b]

heres a slick alternate way to make a T bird bass pickup- ....

That IS very cool. Did you bend the sides around a form with a heat gun then superglue it to the top?

[jason lollar]

the sides are one strip of plastic .032 thick - no need to heat- its that flexible and the corners have a fairly large raduis- for tight corners you could heat the plastic in boiling water so it bends tighter without distorting or turning white but you would have to bend it fast as it will loose heat quickly in that thin of a piece. The bottom plate of the pickup is undersized by .032 in all directions and serves as a form to bend around- you have to either make the bobbin top plates be the same size as the bottom plate whjen you put the two together or use another top plate shaped like the bottom plate that underlies the plastic top plate you see. I preffer not having the extra piece on top of the bobbins before you put the visible top plate on.
make sense? I make lots of custom pickups this way, gives it a more finished look- tortoise use to be my favourite material to use but its no longer availible unless its laminated. If anyone knows where to get real celluloid tortoise pattern in single ply in .0625 or .09 let me know - I dont want that photo crap!!!!