Thunder'Blade™ Neck Pickup - Universal Mount™
The steel blades in the Thunder'Blade provide a larger magnetized surface area which in turn creates more inductance. This higher inductance creates a bolder, warmer, and fuller sound - the sound the the Thunder'Blade is known for.
Tone/Characteristics
Bold and full with a rounder top end yet with clarity. The Thunder'Blade is great for players who want a rounder sound with definition and is a great choice for motown, jazz, and finger styles especially. The warmest of our 3 bass pickups.
Output/Power
DC Resistance is not entirely an indicator of true pickup output, although it can be helpful.
Bridge: DCR - 4.8k / Inductance - 2.79H
Neck: DCR - 4.0k / Inductance - 1.74H
Installation
The Universal Mount is a direct drop-in replacement for guitars with standard sized Filter'Trons - with and without "ears" or "clips". This pickup comes standard with two pieces of compression rubber, 2 mounting (wood) screws, and 1 Universal Mount Clip Pack - which includes everything you will need to mount the pickups to a TV Jones ring or pickguard.
The Universal Mount can be installed two different ways:
- As a direct drop-in replacement for guitars with standard sized Filter'Trons – use wood screws and compression rubber
- As a replacement for a humbucker mount pickup – attach clips before installing pickup to ring or pickguard
NOTE: The Universal Mount requires one of the following TV Jones rings (unless suspending from a pickguard)
Ring Options - Click on photo for more information
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EM1 Ring
Gibson-style
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Best for guitars with traditional humbuckers |
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Comes in
Tall and Short
Black and Cream
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EM2 Ring
Gretsch-style
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Best for Gretsch Electromatic guitars |
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Comes in
Silver - Gold - Clear
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EM3 Ring
Dogear
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Best for guitars with dogear pickups |
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Comes in
Black and Silver
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EM4 Ring
Fender-style
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Best for Fender guitars with humbuckers.
Flat top guitars
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Comes in
Black
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EM5 Ring
Gretsch-style
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Best for Gretsch guitars with dual screw adjustment |
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Comes in
Silver - Gold - Clear
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Wiring Notes
This pickup is shipped with 4-conductor wire but is ready for standard 2-conductor connection. The extra red and green wires come soldered together and taped off - to split coils, send these to ground. 4-Conductor wire is also convenient for custom switching i.e. pickups combined in series or parallel.
Special Considerations
Filter'Tron Replacement: The Universal Mount is a direct drop-in replacement for Vintage Filter'trons, HS Filter'trons, Fideli'trons, Mega'trons, Full-trons and any other standard sized 'Trons.
Blacktop Filter'Tron Replacement: You will need the Universal Mount and one Dual Screw Mount Adapter per pickup to mount into the stock rings.
Broad'Tron Replacement: You will need the Universal Mount along with a new EM2 Ring or EM5 Ring.
Gretsch-Bucker Replacement: You will need the Universal Mount along with a new EM2 Ring or EM5 Ring.
Post-2012 Electromatics: You will need the Universal Mount with one Dual Screw Mount Adapter per pickup. This is necessary to mount the pickup into your stock ring.
Streamliners: These guitars are made with "Gibson-style" rings instead of standard Gretsch rings. You will want to choose the Universal Mount with either our EM1 Ring, EM2 Ring, or EM5 Ring to replace the stock ring when installing a Universal Mount Pickup (this depends on which style you prefer). If you choose either the EM2 or EM5 Gretsch-style Rings you will also want a pack of Ring Risers (due to the neck angle).
Gretsch 5120/5122: You will need the Universal Mount along with an EM2 Ring or EM5 Ring and Ring Risers. Risers are recommended because the neck angle on these guitars tend to be high. You can find those in our Hardware section.
Gretsch 5420/5422 - early models: You will need the Universal Mount. If your guitar came stock with the large metal rings you will not be able to replace them with the smaller Gretsch rings because the footprint is too large. You will need one of our Dual Screw Mount Adapters for each pickup to attach the pickup to your stock ring.
Pre-2012 Pro Jets: These will require some specific modification in order to install No Ears Mount pickups. You can refer to our Pro Jet Resource Page which is in the Resources section.
Humbucker Replacement: To replace standard Humbuckers you will need the Universal Mount with one of our EM1 (Gibson-style), EM2 (Gretsch), EM5 (Gretsch), or EM4 (Fender-style) rings.
Check out our Guitar Modifications Section for more details on these unique guitars and more!
