saxdragon Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I just bought a used Epiphone Non-Reverse Thunderbird bass off eBay. I like it fine, but the sound of it is strange. It's got a set of P-bass type pickups in the neck position and a J-bass pickup in the bridge position. I would think that would make a pretty solid-sounding setup, but it has an out-of-phase, chorusey sound no matter how i tweak the volume and tone knobs, and through different amps as well. Could the wiring have been messed up somehow? Crappy quality pickups? Suggestions appreciated. Edit/Delete Message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 The pickups in the lower and mid-range Epiphone basses are not that great, but they shouldnt sound out of phase. Its is entirely possible that someone wired it incorrectly. Or you might have a wire going bad or coming apart somewhere. You should open it up and inspect the wires for any loose connections and to also see if there has been any work done to the wiring. Non-active bass pickups are pretty straight forward. Two-lead wiring and some pots. Compare the wiring to both pickups and see if they are wired to the pots in the same manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggs Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 'The Weirdbird' (Ref: My Avatar) is a Non Reverse T/Bird & sounds FANTASTIC! I think RTH is 'on the money' with his suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrycat Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 What do you mean "sounds wrong"? Do you mean that it doesn't sound like a t-bird? Because it's really not a t-bird. It's a Fender style bass that's shaped like t-bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxdragon Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Thanks for the replies, guys. Yeah, a couple of people said I should just lower the pickups, but I don't think that's going to do it. By sounding "wrong" i mean it sounds weak, unfocused, and with unwanted frequencies that seem to be compromising the fundamentals. As I said in my original post, I would think that those Fender-style pup's married to a hefty Gibson-style body would sound powerful and solid. So I'm going to go inside and see if the wires have been reversed or something. If that fails I may spring for another set of pups. I have lot of respect and affection for Epi guitars and basses (frinstance, the reverse T-bird i owned before i bought the non-reverse sounded great!)but one of the areas where they tend to lag is in pups quality. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxdragon Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 RTH, please see my post on moddifying this bass. I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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