edstraker123 Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 I'm currently selling an Epiphone Thunderbird on Ebay and have just been messaged by somebody saying he doesn't think it is an Epiphone. The guitar has a Gibson truss rod cover, an Epiphone neckplate and a serial number that checks out as a 2012 model. Pictures attached as below : I bought the bass used from an LGS of which I'm a good customer so don't believe they would have tried to mislead me. Any experts out there have any thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) Looks like an Epiphone to me. I bought a Gibson TRC for my one as well. I think that if you were going to pass a copy off as the real thing then you'd be trying to find a Gibson copy rather than an Epiphone simply due to them being worth more Edited October 23, 2019 by Delberthot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) Yes, that is one of the bolt on epiphone thunderbirds, what did they think it was? Edited October 23, 2019 by Woodinblack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Epiphone to me. What did they say was wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Thats a bit of a strange one. It`s defo an Epiphone, Gibson don`t do bolt on versions as far as I know. Nowt wrong with the Epi, it`s a decent bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edstraker123 Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Woodinblack said: Yes, that is one of the bolt on epiphone thunderbirds, what did they think it was? Many thanks for all of your responses. The Ebayer sent the following in his message : I am interested in this but not sure that it is an Epiphone as the ones I have seen have a metal backplate stamped and numbered, if it is a Japanese copy such as Tokai for instance which I think it may be.... It bothered me as I didn't want it to end up as an item not as described claim having already had a none paying bidder and someone from Italy bidding on a collection only bass this week. I explicitly said in the listing it was an Epiphone not a Gibson so as to avoid that confusion. Buying is so much better than selling ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 3 minutes ago, edstraker123 said: Many thanks for all of your responses. The Ebayer sent the following in his message : I am interested in this but not sure that it is an Epiphone as the ones I have seen have a metal backplate stamped and numbered, if it is a Japanese copy such as Tokai for instance which I think it may be.... It bothered me as I didn't want it to end up as an item not as described claim having already had a none paying bidder and someone from Italy bidding on a collection only bass this week. I explicitly said in the listing it was an Epiphone not a Gibson so as to avoid that confusion. Buying is so much better than selling ! Epiphone make several Thunderbirds, from the bolt on one like you have to the classics and vintages. The bolt on one is the budget version. I don't think the tokai thunderbirds are still made but second hand they go for about the same money as the neck through thunderbirds, which is quite a bit more than the bolt on epiphone. So he is suggesting you have taken a tokai thunderbird and reduced its value by pretending it is an epiphone? That doesn't seem like a thing that anyone would do! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edstraker123 Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 Yes the bass is listed at a budget price so there was no attempt to make it seem like anything other than the bass it is. The potential buyer wanted to come and see it before purchase( which is now stupidly against ebay's rules - I'm not going to bypass them as it might compromise me getting the £1final value deal which I get quite often and which can be a massive saving on fees on the dear items ) so could just have been for clarification having seen the TRC as something unusual or maybe it was a prelude to attempting to leverage the price down. It's a cracking bass for the money - I'm now wondering should I just keep it.- I had another buyer asking me if the truss rod had been damaged due to the TRC change - I must confess I always now ask about the truss rod and ask sellers to confirm that its working having been ripped off on here, so didn't really mind checking and confirming it was o.k. Maybe I'm just cynical but I've got quite a lot of stuff on ebay at the moment and the questions do seem more related to price negotiation tactics than genuine requests for information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 55 minutes ago, edstraker123 said: Yes the bass is listed at a budget price so there was no attempt to make it seem like anything other than the bass it is. maybe it was a prelude to attempting to leverage the price down. It's a cracking bass for the money - I'm now wondering should I just keep it.- I tend to have less interest in haggling these days, probably because I don't need the money. I have an epiphone Thunderbird for sale (the neck through), and no interest in that. I could reduce the price but then every time I think of that I play it and think that I really don't care if it sells or not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 You could always try listing it here - threads like this are why we needed a specialised marketplace for bass guitars. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Wouldn't a Tokai or other Japanese copy of good repute be worth more than an Epiphone? So he or she would have been best to keep his suspicions to himself and get a Tokai for the price of an Epiphone then laugh like a supervillain every time he or she plays it?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Looks right to me. The neck plate is right for that kind of year, the neck carve at the joint has the right curved bits and the right flat bits in the right places. Only thing wrong is the trussrod cover - which you've been clear about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 2 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Looks right to me. The neck plate is right for that kind of year, the neck carve at the joint has the right curved bits and the right flat bits in the right places. Only thing wrong is the trussrod cover - which you've been clear about. Just re-read the guy's query. No - he is wrong. The stamped serial number Ibanez plates were fitted to early models. Yours, you reckon, is 2012? That's hardly an early model. If you look on Amazon at the present offerings you will see back shots of the models with exactly the same plate yours has on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Looks like an Epiphone to me. Tokai's have a Fender-style bridge IIRC, and they don't have the headstock droop that the bolt-on epis have these days. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Tokais also have a glued in neck, not a bolt on. And a different bridge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Looks good to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edstraker123 Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 10 hours ago, ped said: You could always try listing it here - threads like this are why we needed a specialised marketplace for bass guitars. I completely agree and I have got some other higher end basses listed for sale on here, but nothing is moving even having experimented with dropping prices into the realms of stupidity. The successful deals on here have been an absolute joy and I have met some fantastic people, but the 3 deals which have gone wrong the worst for me(in any marketplace) have also been on here, so I am a bit more open minded now about where I list or buy from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 On 23/10/2019 at 18:49, edstraker123 said: The serial number does indeed date it to December 2012 and made in the China factory although part of me thinks that it could have belonged to a roadie in the past going by the first part of the serial number 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edstraker123 Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 Should I up the price on that basis ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pst62 Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 54 minutes ago, edstraker123 said: Should I up the price on that basis ? What was your original price? I bought one from the first batch of Korean Unsung factory imports into this country back in 1997. I sold it for £140 in 2010. The two things I notice different about yours is The neck plate is different to the one mine had and the pickups are the opposite way up to what mine were, but like others have said, it's definitely an Epiphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 This is getting a bit close to the bone now - we don’t allow ‘what’s it worth’ posts because some will use them to advertise something for sale without actually placing an ad - I don’t want this to be used as an example of such by anyone who does that in the future (I’m not implying that anyone is doing that on purpose here though) so I’m going to lock it now that it appears your question has been mostly answered, hope that’s ok and thanks for understanding. ped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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