1985 Jd Thumb Revisions And Comparisons

kimgee

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Wow! Thanks for the great article Hoggles. And thanks to all the commenters as well. Some great history and info here.
 

Hoggles

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You're welcome! just an idea; how about a Facebook page for the thumb 1985? With 2000000 members on Facebook it must be possible to get more info on our favorite bass guitar, don't you think?

I'm all for it, though I despise FB and haven't had an account for many years. Still though, for those who do....that would be awesome :)
 

Hoggles

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Wow! Thanks for the great article Hoggles. And thanks to all the commenters as well. Some great history and info here.

Thanks a bunch, Kim!! Glad you enjoyed it :)

You'll have to add one to your incredible collection some day.
 

Hoggles

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K 256 with the gold option and Duncans.

Screenshot_2017-08-25-08-15-35.png


K 259 with Barts

JD 259.jpg
 
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K 259 with Barts (unknown if pups are original)

View attachment 17520

HP has confirmed that the pups are original:



Thumb Bass NT 4 string
Serial Number K 259 85
Year 1985
Month October
Number 259
Neck Wood Wenge Wood with Bubinga lamination
Fingerboard Wenge Wood with mother of Pearl Dot Inlays
Frets Bronce Warwick Frets
Nut Just a Nut Brass Version
Neck construction Neckthrough hiddenneck construction
Body 3 pcs. solid Bubinga Wood
Surface Oil Finish / BeeWax surface
Pickups passive Bartolini JJ Pickups
Electronic active MEC 2 Band Electronic
Hardware Black Hardware mde by Schaller for Warwick
Made in West Germany, Pretzfeld / Franconia / Germany
 
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just an idea; how about a Facebook page for the thumb 1985?

Done :D
Not just the -85, but all JD Thumbs. Guess it wont be a huge group after all. (oh btw... im a little bit new to fb groups, but if some of you join, we might walk through it together :cool:

fb.me/jdthumb


Edit, maybe i should make a group. But then i need to add at least one more to it.
 
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Strangely my bass, G135 85 is already included in Hoggles' first post! SD Active pickups, and a solid MOP truss rod cover. HP Wilfer can't remember why or who it was built for.

Oddly I thought it would be the 135th warwick built in the G month of 1985 .... reading this thread maybe it's the 135th thumb bass of all time!
 

Hoggles

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Strangely my bass, G135 85 is already included in Hoggles' first post! SD Active pickups, and a solid MOP truss rod cover. HP Wilfer can't remember why or who it was built for.

Oddly I thought it would be the 135th warwick built in the G month of 1985 .... reading this thread maybe it's the 135th thumb bass of all time!

Hi Luke

Thanks a bunch for the new pics of your JD! What a beauty! When I wrote up this thread, I found your original post when you acquired 135 and I put a pic up. Hope you don't mind.

Yes yours is indeed the 135th Thumb ever made. I think they were doing roughly 30 Thumbs per month in the summer of '85. No doubt each month ramping up production by a few. As far as I know... JD's in the month of G (should be July or so) range from your 135 all the way to 163 at least.

Ours are very close. They were probably in the same room together at the factory. I have F 125.

Your Mother of Pearl truss cover and SD pups are very cool. Someone's special order, no doubt.

Great to see you on here! Thanks for the pics!
 
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Hi Luke

Thanks a bunch for the new pics of your JD! What a beauty! When I wrote up this thread, I found your original post when you acquired 135 and I put a pic up. Hope you don't mind.

Yes yours is indeed the 135th Thumb ever made. I think they were doing roughly 30 Thumbs per month in the summer of '85. No doubt each month ramping up production by a few. As far as I know... JD's in the month of G (should be July or so) range from your 135 all the way to 163 at least.

Ours are very close. They were probably in the same room together at the factory. I have F 125.

Your Mother of Pearl truss cover and SD pups are very cool. Someone's special order, no doubt.

Great to see you on here! Thanks for the pics!
Thank you for this thread - I think I came back on here to get rough ideas of how much mine was worth with the idea "maybe it's time to sell" - but reading the history made me remember some of the reason I bought it and what I enjoy about it. It puts me off going through the hassle of trying to find someone to sell it too!
The one down side to it for me is the preamp is defiantly not modern technology - on yours have you got "special undercutting" to get it to fit?
 

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Thank you for this thread - I think I came back on here to get rough ideas of how much mine was worth with the idea "maybe it's time to sell" - but reading the history made me remember some of the reason I bought it and what I enjoy about it. It puts me off going through the hassle of trying to find someone to sell it too!
The one down side to it for me is the preamp is defiantly not modern technology - on yours have you got "special undercutting" to get it to fit?

Hope you're able to keep it. These are magical Thumbs. Congrats on the baby as well!

Yes, it does seem there was a little notch carved out to fit the preamp. The board goes slightly under the cavity walls. Both your SD and mine (EMG's), should have the same pre. The early BEC pre's by Vlad. Later to become MEC.
 
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How do folk find the preamps on these? I'm not getting on with the treble on mine.
 

Hoggles

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How do folk find the preamps on these? I'm not getting on with the treble on mine.

I'm ok with the treble on mine.

Do the selector switches on those Seymour's affect treble/bass at all?
 
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Hoggles

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Have I mentioned here that John Davis (JD) is the original Mili Vanili voice? :)
No joke!

Hahaha yes you have! I mention it on the first page. :D:p
 
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