Question about the Thumb 5

Jeremiah

Jeremiah

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I just aquired a Thumb 5 Bolt on. I also have a Corvett 5 Standard. Both have the same pickups and electronics in them. I notice that the Corvette has WAY more bottom. I switched around with both of them at a couple of gigs this past weekend and the Thumb left me feeling thin. Turning up the bass in the pre amp didn't satisfy me. I was expecting more from the Thumb.

I am wondering this: Could the pickups or electronics be messed up in the Thumb? Or is it because the pickups sit so far back? OR is it because the Corvette is Bubinga and the Thumb is Ovankol? What are other's Experience with the Thumb 5. So many questions so little experience and knowledge about the Thumb 5.

I would love to make the Thumb my main axe. I love the way I can move around on the instrument. The sound is just letting me down.

Any thoughts?
 
remember, they are two different beasts. The may share the same pickups and electronics, but holy hell, the amount of wood used in each bass is way different AND the pickups are placed differently. They wont sound the same. Dont be scared if they sound drastically different, its gonna happen.

My Thumb 5 always had great low end punch, but Ive always found the COrvette to be better at it.
 
boston asphalt2 said:
...My Thumb 5 always had great low end punch, but Ive always found the COrvette to be better at it.
Click to expand...

was this the bubinga Vette or the Hot Rod?

My Thumbs (both 4 and 5 have higher low ends than my Fortress One, my RB Vette, my Vettes $$s and also than another Bubinga passive vette I used to have.

maybe a pickup height issue or a preamp adjustment needs to happen?
 
it's because of the pickup positions...

the position of the neck pup of the corvette is what causes that thick low end.

The thumb has a different voicing that is centered more in the low mids and is suited more for cuttting through a mix IMO
 
I think the thumb is more of a 'mix' bass. It might not sound fantastic to you when played by itself, but it's fantastic in band situations.
 
Tv IV Dogs said:
I think the thumb is more of a 'mix' bass. It might not sound fantastic to you when played by itself, but it's fantastic in band situations.
Click to expand...

Fully agree. Cut-through champ!!!
 
While I've not played a Thumb I'd say say, based on the pickup location, that it should sound close to a Vette played purely on the bridge pup, just with more nads.
 
yeah the thumb isnt a bass with a huge punchy lowend. maybe the thumb just isnt the sound you are looking for
 
The thumb is quite a unique sound as far as basses go.

You can get more deep bottom end by Eq'ing it in between 30 & 80hz on your amp, but it isn't naturally there, and the MEC preamp bass frequency is centered at 100HZ, so rolling that up isn't gonna get you that deep low end either...

On the other hand when I used my Thumb 5 with my old Fender 300 Pro tube head there was so much bottom end I had to actually roll it off - made me feel nauseus to the stomach after standing in front of that stack after awhile!
 
Thanks for the input guys. I found that the preamp had an issue. Whomever had it before messed it up when trying to work on it. I had to soldier in a wire to repair it. Now the bottom end is there. I guess the EXTREME differance was a bit suprising. I'm gonna see if Dana B Goods can get me a replacement board for the preamp.

Now I got to play it with the band again to see how it works.

Thanks,
 
Told you there had to be something about that preamp. You found your lows?

now is that more or less lows that the Vette?
 
The Vette Has more lows. Just a different sound. The Thumb has more of a bright tone (maybe because the stirings are brand new as well).

I suspected that something in the electronics may be messed up. The Pickups are scraped up a lot from the strings and the body was filthy, so that lead me to thinking anything could be wrong with this because of the abuse it took. Also since it was traded in for about $600 to GC there must be something really wrong. So, I checked the electronic with the Corvette and found they were the same model numbers (85110) on the preamp. So, I swapped all of the electronics. Then the Thumb sounded bigger and the Vette had a really weird sound. HMMMM. So I swapped the Pickups back. While soldering the power wires on the pickups on the preamp that came with the Thumb I noticed that the circuit board was a little messed up. The piece of tin that you solder the pickup power wires to was messed up. It also carries part of the circuitry to some other components. I followed the printed circuits and found a solder point that I could use to complete the circuit and used a small wire to fix the connection. Volia the sound if fixed!!! I would like to get a replacement printed circuit board for this, but that depends on availability and cost.
Now I just have to work on the slight twist in the neck, although I think the way it is helps playability.
So that saga continues…………..
I love this shhhhh it.
 
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