SOLD (and collected in under 24hrs) Epiphone Thunderbird Pro-IV - Neck-through, Active, better PUs and a TB, what more could you want?

[dc2009]

Hi all,

Up for sale is my Epiphone Thunderbird pro-IV in trans-black. I bought this via fleabay only a few months ago, but I have found a 5er variant of the same bass, and I am keen to get it, just because I've been a 5er player for years, and tend to prefer them, so this is going simply to raise funds for that.

The thing sounds fantastic through my rig, and served me well at the one gig I've had since I bought her. You should be aware that the pickups on the Epiphone pro's are designed specifically for the pro series, and give a lot more oomph and decent mid-range than the standard thunderbird ones. The bass features a volume, pickup blend and active 2 band EQ (treble and bass), which is very responsive, for a surprisingly wide range of tonal control for such a reasonably priced bass!

The Pro series are a neck through, 7-piece Walnut/Maple affair, with the body having mahogany wings. Tonally, I think this brings it up there with my bolt-on warwick (which would set you back 6 times the new price of one of these), and was comfortable choosing this over my Warwick at my last gig, so much so I left the 'wick at home.

The thing plays fantastically as well, for fingerstyle, pickstyle, and slap and tap too (I have tried them all on it extensively). As for the neck dive for which thunderbirds often get complained about for, I would say that of course the thing is neck heavy, just look at the shape. But I would not say it impacts playability whatsoever. Playing stood up, and especially sitting down, it is comfortable to rest your forearm on top of the left wing, which balances it just fine, and even without an arm to stop it, having a decent strap and wearing a t-shirt stopped it neck diving for me just fine! You could also move the neck button to the back of neck heel position as they conventionally do on the Gibson models, I would do this myself if I was planning on keeping the bass any longer.

The bass is in fairly good condition, I was a little miffed at a few dings that were not made obvious on the ebay listing but decided to keep it. The only major dings are on the edges or back, and not in sight from a front on view. Being on the sides i.e. where the paint is solid rather than transparent, I have gone over them in black nail varnish, which you can't notice unless you scrutinise it from 6 inches away. The other thing was that the previous owner tried to drill another neck strap button hole. I have filled this via the matchstick and superglue method (how they would do it in a professional guitar workshop) and the thing is now rock solid. I have painted over it in nail polish again, and it is covered when a strap is on the proper strap button anyway, so it is essentially invisible! To look at this bass from the front, you would think it is in showroom quality, and this bass looks fantastic played on stage.

GAK has these listed new at £359, and I doubt you'll find them significantly cheaper than that on the net, and certainly not in an actual store. Given it has got a few dings, I'm asking for £225 including courier service to your door, or £210 picked up from a lovely part of central London (SW6), which would mean it comes with a cup of tea too! This is a good price so it's fairly non-negotiable, but if you want to make offers you can, what's the worst that could happen?

Bear in mind I am in no way selling this because I don't like the Epi Thunderbird Pro, I think it is one of the best basses I have ever played, I am just selling it to financially justify buying the 5 string version.

Pics will be up most likely tomorrow night, maybe tonight if I get bored of revision.
Thanks for reading, and don't hesitate to PM me with any questions.
Dan

Edited June 3, 2011 by dc2009

[ahpook]

stop it.

please.

[dc2009]

[quote name='ahpook' post='1254465' date='Jun 2 2011, 07:30 PM']stop it.

please.[/quote]

I'm sorry?

[ahpook]

[quote name='dc2009' post='1254481' date='Jun 2 2011, 07:49 PM']I'm sorry?[/quote]

you just made my t-bird GAS very bad !

[dc2009]

[quote name='ahpook' post='1254492' date='Jun 2 2011, 07:56 PM']you just made my t-bird GAS very bad ![/quote]

Ahaha, as TBs go, they're as good as Epiphone make them!
Why not buy this one, she's a great worker, really really nice?

Given you're in London you can also come over and test her out if it helps the decision ;-).

There are a few photos here, taken from my one gig with her:
[url="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150311368848975.411319.83079253974"]http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1...319.83079253974[/url]
You might need to like the band to see them, not sure, but that won't hurt

I'll upload proper photos later, light isn't great in those.

EDIT: And note it is that red hunk of sh!t I'm smashing in the last photo, not the TB.

Edited June 2, 2011 by dc2009

[ahpook]

[quote name='dc2009' post='1254499' date='Jun 2 2011, 08:02 PM']Given you're in London you can also come over and test her out if it helps the decision ;-).[/quote]

pm'd

[dc2009]

Mark (ahpook) has been and bought it, thanks to anyone/everyone else for looking. Hope he's happy with the bass, was a hella nice guy to deal with too!

[Shawman]

what a salesman!