Bass of the Week: Brooks Telebird
Rob van den Broek put together two classic bass designs to create the Brooks Telebird. The builder, who is a Gibson aficionado, combined the body of a Thunderbird with the neck and pickup Fender Telecaster bass. The pickup is a special 51 P split coil built by Jess Loureiro.
“The split coil P bass sound (series wiring) is really powerful and well balanced. A bit dark, like you’d expect from a humbucker,” van den Broek writes. “I love the fact that the pickup offers the option for parallel wiring too, in order to have the option of a single coil sound. In parallel, it sounds very clear. Makes me want to roll off the Tone pot a little bit. I’m not sure if it really sounds like the 51 single coil P pickup. But still nice to have the extra option.”
The Telebird is built with a two-piece swamp ash body and an Allparts maple 51 P bolt-on neck. Other features include a wide travel Thunderbird bridge and tail stop, a matte black single-ply pickguard, and Gotoh lightweight tuners.
Brooks Telebird Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 34″ |
| Construction: | Bolt-on |
| Body: | Two piece Swamp Ash |
| Neck: | Allparts Maple 51 P |
| Finish: | Vintage blonde |
| Pickup: | Jess Loureiro 51 P split coil |
| Nut: | Tusq nut |
| Bridge: | Wide travel Thunderbird bridge plus tailstop, Nickel |
| Pickguard: | Matte black single ply |
| Tuners: | Gotoh GB528 lightweight tuners, Nickel |
| Pots: | Allparts push/pull Volume pot, CTS Tone pot |
| Knbos: | Silver reflector cap knobs |
| Other: | Telecaster jack cup. Nickel |
| Strings: | GHS Brite Flats 49-108 |
