Epiphone Thunderbird

[snipelfritz]

Would I be a tool if I bought one? I kind of have always wanted to.

Obviously I'd put some sort of strap lock on it.

[Iommic Pope]

Thunderbirds are fucking rad man.
Do it.
What's the build quality like on these new Epi's?

[snipelfritz]

been hounding one at the local Music-Go-Round, unsure what year...but it's modified with a switch to drop-tune the bottom string...unless that was stock at some point.

[Iommic Pope]

Those are pretty simple.
No big deal if you don't want it.

[repoman]

delete

thought this was firebirds not thunderbirds!

[CyaNitrate]

There were also two different versions made, the standard with a bolt on neck, and one with a neck thru body, which was called an Elite or something. I've always liked Thunderbirds. Love how they look, and electronics can be upgraded.

[Kacey Y]

I had one of the newer Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV Pro basses and it was fantastic. I only sold it for financial reasons, it was unique enough in my collection of instruments that it was worth keeping. Neck-thru construction, comes with the standard Gibson hardware and pickups. A really great instrument through and through, I would highly recommend them to anyone who wants a Thunderbird on a budget.

[popvulture]

I like Thunderbirds and Firebirds. The former's one of the raddest looking basses ever, IMO. Only question would be the Epi quality—check it out and if it works, it works.

[Iommic Pope]

^yeah.
If it's neck through that'd be a big selling point for me.

[WayToHip]

I have a Korean made thunderbird with a bolt on neck, sounds like a darker jazz bass. Straplocks and a good strap are needed for it, the neck wants to meet the floor all the time.

I also don't want another solid body bass unless it has five strings and active electronics because the thunderbird nails what I want to sound like.

[Ghost Hip]

Not sure what year my Epi Thunderbird was but I really enjoyed it. I got it used from McSpunckle in like 2008 I think? Never had any issues with it. I mostly kept both pickups on because using only one of the pickups always felt like something was missing. I sold it to buy a 50s style P bass a year ago, just because I prefer a rounder radius neck. Overall though I enjoyed using my Thunderbird for recordings and home use.

[GuitarSlim101]

I just took an Epi Thunderbird with the bolt-on neck in on consignment. It feels and plays great, and I would say darker jazz bass is an appropriate description. This one has an almost excessively thumpy attack, but I would wager that's because of the strings.

[rot gut]

i got an epiphone non reverse thunderbird and love it!

[fcknoise]

Man, I've been looking at these epis for a bass vi project past few days. It's doing dirty things to my mind. Can't even afford it right now but still

[DarkAxel]

I recently played two Epi Thunderbirds, the lower tier

even with bolt-on neck and non-gibson pickups I really liked them, comfort and sound-wise. The second one needed setup, the first one was impeccable right out of the box. Admittedly, I guess the bolt-on and non-legit pickups made it sound a bit further from a classic T-bird, to me it sounded a bit like a really... "brown", low-middy Pbass with just a bit of a scoop in higher mids.

I just hear that sound as "brown". I don't experience synesthesia, but certain basses sound brown to me