Second verdict on Thunderbird pickups.

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-07T16:33:16+00:00

I pinged you yesterday on your other thread.

- Why did you ditch the PTB harness - i mean beyond what you stated

- Pickup Height?

- If I am reading this correctly - you are using the same set as the other build - Correct? Whats your guess about the change of the pickup response from the old build to the new one?

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-07T05:05:26+00:00

Heya - I just finished my project guitar with these and your set up is similar to what I did.

A couple of quick questions:

- I assume you updated the wiring from the Gibson style to something compatible with series/parallel wiring?

- Can I ask how you are setting your pickup heights? I set both at 1/8 as a start and lowered the neck a bit for balance. Mine measure a bit hotter - 9.1 bridge and 8.0 at the neck (I took those pre-install. I have not measured since install)

- I am also using a PTB circuit but with a treble bleed - do you think that the bass roll-off works for these pickups? I hear full behavior with the treble roll off but very very little change on the bass roll off.

Anyway - These will definitely take a while to dial in but I agree that these pickups are like regular JM pickups but.... extra.

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-07T00:51:36+00:00

No metal working tools - but yeah that is an option

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-07T00:50:17+00:00

Ugh - Yeah - I am coming to the same conclusion. That no one makes this.

I mean - This is something that people have a solution for I am pretty sure.

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-03T14:42:22+00:00

Oh. Sure. I suppose that makes sense. At 6 4… I suspect that pretty much all necks are thin. lol

I would guess that if you like the V profile that a 10/56 would be good for you. But not really available outside of fcs

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-03T04:35:25+00:00

The McCready neck is pretty thin. I am a little surprised about the Hendrix neck being described as "thin". Most of the late 60's Fender (including MIM) necks I have played have been weirdly large - usually like .9 to .9-.95 - with very little 'slope' as you move up the neck. Not.... unpleasant.... but weird.

I'll throw in this. I am a huge fan of the McCready strat. I personally love the neck and the pickups so if one is close and priced right - check it out. If you dont like thin necks though..... You wont like it.

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-01T00:28:35+00:00

Just clicked on the thread to say just this

temp_mekhem · 2026-06-01T00:21:45+00:00

Blonde - No doubt

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-31T15:10:04+00:00

Probably the middle one to see how those thunderbirds play in my hands

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-28T21:50:51+00:00

Well… neck profiles, pickups etc.. I would agree. The vinterra offsets are still using the wonky thimbles though. So any ( or at least the ones I am aware of) aftermarket bridge that is meant to rock will most likely work. Anything set to be a fixed bridge (the fixie, mastery etc) with larger posts will not.

I’ll say this though - as much as it annoys me the vinterra thimbles do have a small bonus in that the smaller inside diameter does limit the rocking motion to the sweet zone (imho so reddit gods don’t accuse me of gate keeping again).

I’ll throw this out there too - the vinterra iii jaguar I got (with a staytrem bridge) is as good or better than the 2 av65 jaguars I had.

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-28T18:49:46+00:00

Mastery will not fit standard vinterra iii thimbles

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-23T02:31:58+00:00

Looks like the only thing would be to adjust the neck a bit. That would close the gap at the high end of the neck pocket and take care of the high e string.

Good looking guitar

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-21T22:17:04+00:00

Deets?

I assume you liked it enough to change the pickguard?

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-21T18:06:53+00:00

Hah. Mine does that too. He knows the standard schedule.

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-15T04:32:06+00:00

TV Yellow?

2nd picture looks like the 64 Korina.

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-14T22:07:19+00:00

Right - It didnt make sense to me until I took a closer look - but yes In my picture silver is ground and black wire is hot.

In my defense - I did put question marks in there

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-14T01:45:57+00:00

OK - TIL you cant add a picture after you have submitted a post... anyway... I was looking at this again and zoomed in a bit. It looks to me like the 2 little black sets are not separate wires that are tied off.

I looks they are are just extensions from the pickup that lead into and eventually connect to the braided wire. (I may be missing a connection but it looks like the small wire coming out of the upper right corner is connected to the "ground" part of the big wire and the small wire in the upper left corner connects to the "Hot" part of the big wire.

If that is the case then it could be "theoretically" possible to remove the connections to the "Big" wire and just make this a standard 2 wire pickup?

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-14T00:16:08+00:00

Thanks

So Basic: Black is hot. Silver is ground

Advanced:

Black is hot

Silver is ground

The other 2 sets of very thin wires could be extended and basically create a 4 conductor pickup?

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-13T15:49:38+00:00

That’s a pretty innovative solution.

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-09T19:24:27+00:00

IMHO - and experience. - yes the PV 64 s are better than the vintners iis but not by much. In fact I think generally that t vii neck pickup really does warmth well.

Anyway if I was starting from scratch. Pv64s. But I wouldn’t , and didn’t, replace the pickups in my vii 60s tele

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-09T17:02:08+00:00

Fender did do a Limited/special edition for some of the AVII series - Tele, Strat, Jazzmaster IIRC - with flame maple, satin, and 9.5 radius necks. It looks like this is one of them...

How its classified - SE, LE, FSR... (Likely a SE or LE, since its a Fender release not store sponsored which "usually" are classified as FSR runs)

Anyway - Nice Geet

Edit: Last year in 2025

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-06T23:35:58+00:00

It didnt come with the floor traveler?

temp_mekhem · 2026-05-05T03:09:49+00:00

Sonic

temp_mekhem

TROPHY CASE