Hopefully a quick one - can anyone identify this bass please?

[Minininjarob]

Lead singer from Millington plays this very tasty looking Thunderbird style bass but my googling has failed me. 
Video and poor quality screenshot below. 
Thanks!!
 

 

 

[fretmeister]

Deffo a Gibson Thunderbird.

 

The colour might not be available at the moment though.

[fretmeister]

Here:

 

Seems to be a 2007.

 

https://guitarchimp.com/products/2007-gibson-thunderbird-iv-bass-white

[Minininjarob]

6 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Deffo a Gibson Thunderbird.

 

The colour might not be available at the moment though.

Yeah I couldn’t find the colour and I’m not familiar with TBs so I was hoping it would be a cheaper version. Thanks for the reply. 

[PaulThePlug]

Epiphone...

Cheaper bolt on necks or look for a Epi Pro with thru neck.

 

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said:

Epiphone...

Cheaper bolt on necks or look for a Epi Pro with thru neck.

 

I was very drawn to that particular colour and the headstock tbh

[basshead56]

It's a Gibson. very late 90's to around 2009/10.

The white colour option from that period was a yellowy white. I had a 2003 one in that colour  Brown leather case with pink interior. all original.

Didnt have it long, sold and bought a 70's Precision

[neepheid]

18 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

I was very drawn to that particular colour and the headstock tbh

 

Epiphone aren't issuing white Thunderbirds at the moment, so you'll have to trawl the second hand market. You have two choices (worth bothering with)

 

Vintage Pro - an attempt to evoke the T-bird of the 60s with chrome pickup covers, two piece bridge etc.

 

Classic Pro - if you must get close to the one pictured it has to be this one - Gibson TB+ pickups with black covers, three point bridge - which you then swap out for a Hipshot, after which you'll pretty much have the one from the video, save for the name on the truss rod cover.

 

Don't waste your time with a bolt on Epiphone "Thunderbird" - that's simply a generic bolt on bass whose body happens to be Thunderbird shaped.  Being neck thru is one of the fundamental things that makes a Thunderbird a Thunderbird.

 

Good luck!

[three]

There’s an Epiphone pro version in white on eBay at the moment for £450 – in Telford. Looks decent - item number is: 196752560838

Edited March 28 by three

[Paul S]

24 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Classic Pro - if you must get close to the one pictured it has to be this one - Gibson TB+ pickups with black covers, three point bridge - which you then swap out for a Hipshot, after which you'll pretty much have the one from the video, save for the name on the truss rod cover.

 

Don't waste your time with a bolt on Epiphone "Thunderbird" - that's simply a generic bolt on bass whose body happens to be Thunderbird shaped.  Being neck thru is one of the fundamental things that makes a Thunderbird a Thunderbird.

 

 

This, oh so very much this.  At one point I tried to compensate for my ever thickening waist and jowls by playing a Gibson Thunderbird.  Then I saw sense and sold it.  But I missed it - by which time I decided I couldn't give a toss what anyone thought.  I bought a white Epiphone Classic Pro, as detailed above, and the Epiphone was the better of the two basses.  The tone and neck were par but the fit and finish of the Ephiphone were better, plus it was lighter. 

 

Something to bear in mind - the Classic Pro and 60s Vintage Pro have bigger headstocks and not all the Epiphone T-Bird cases fit those models.  I think it is the coffin shaped one that does.

[Jonesy]

The Epiphone Classic and Vintage Pro Tbirds are great basses. I had a hankering for a Tbird and heard great things about the Classic Pro's when they first came out, watched a few vids on YouTube and, GAS being GAS, had to have one. I headed to a shop to try one out and fell in love immediately, neck profile was lovely, it looked the business and sounded HUGE. Just out of curiosity, I picked up the Gibson model out at the time and the Epiphone was miles ahead - fit , finish, sound, feel were all better on the Epi. The only thing that felt better on the full fat Gibson was the tuners, but you don't play those and the Epi ones weren't bad at all (just the Gibson ones felt smoother, but the Epi ones always held tune).

 

I sold it a few years ago and it's the only bass I miss.

 

 

[AlexDelores]

Very much like the band 👌 Cheers for that, they got me in through this mornings run 🙌
 

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

The colour of those Thunderbirds was more ivory than white.

 

This was mine.  I bought it in from Japan.

 

 

 

[prowla]

It says Gibson on the headstock.

[Minininjarob]

23 hours ago, AlexDelores said:

Very much like the band 👌 Cheers for that, they got me in through this mornings run 🙌
 

 

 

Just found them myself! Yeah really good and that tune is so catchy. 

[Minininjarob]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

The colour of those Thunderbirds was more ivory than white.

 

This was mine.  I bought it in from Japan.

 

 

 

Damn that’s cool. 
why can’t I just after cheap stuff???

[neepheid]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

The colour of those Thunderbirds was more ivory than white.

 

This was mine.  I bought it in from Japan.

 

 

 

 

Well well, look who showed up to a Thunderbird conversation - the fly in the ointment, Mr. Particular has arrived

 

[NancyJohnson]

2 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

Damn that’s cool. 
why can’t I just after cheap stuff???

 

There used to be a time when shipping stuff in from Japan was worth the time and effort.  Great exchange rates etc.  I can say with some certainty that fully landed in the UK (so bass+shipping) was under £700; somehow or another I didn't pay any import duty on it. 

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

3 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

Well well, look who showed up to a Thunderbird conversation - the fly in the ointment, Mr. Particular has arrived

 

 

I prefer sand in the Vaseline.  🙄

 

[neepheid]

2 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

I prefer sand in the Vaseline.  🙄

 

 

Hey, I don't kink shame, you do you

 

[neepheid]

They're like buses!

 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/665266202652180/

 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 28/03/2025 at 08:22, neepheid said:

 

Being neck thru is one of the fundamental things that makes a Thunderbird a Thunderbird.

 

I'm going to be contrary and disagree with you there. My Gibson NR and Orville are both set neck and they don't suffer at all. 

In fact, my old Cataldo Fenderbird was a bolt-on and that sounded every inch the Thunderbird.

I do agree that the entry-level Epiphone bolt-ons aren't much cop, but the neck to body join is the least of its worries.

[neepheid]

5 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I'm going to be contrary and disagree with you there. My Gibson NR and Orville are both set neck and they don't suffer at all. 

In fact, my old Cataldo Fenderbird was a bolt-on and that sounded every inch the Thunderbird.

I do agree that the entry-level Epiphone bolt-ons aren't much cop, but the neck to body join is the least of its worries.

 

You are correct to point out that the main thing in my crosshairs when I wrote that was the bolt on Epiphone and perhaps I should have been clearer that I was specifically saying "don't buy one of those if you're trying to achieve what that particular T-bird is"

 

I've owned a set neck Tokai (TB48?) before and it was a fine bass.

 

Edited 23 hours ago by neepheid

[FugaziBomb]

9 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

I'm going to be contrary and disagree with you there. My Gibson NR and Orville are both set neck and they don't suffer at all. 

In fact, my old Cataldo Fenderbird was a bolt-on and that sounded every inch the Thunderbird.

I do agree that the entry-level Epiphone bolt-ons aren't much cop, but the neck to body join is the least of its worries.

I can concur.  I've got a Gibson EB:

 

 

It's got pretty much the same pickups in the same places, but with a set neck and it basically nails the T Bird sound when you A/B them. 

 

These are great basses, by the way. I'm not sure if you can find them in the UK, though 

[neepheid]

5 hours ago, FugaziBomb said:

I can concur.  I've got a Gibson EB:

 

 

It's got pretty much the same pickups in the same places, but with a set neck and it basically nails the T Bird sound when you A/B them. 

 

These are great basses, by the way. I'm not sure if you can find them in the UK, though 

 

Yes, but this thread is about the OP trying to get a Thunderbird they saw in a video, so the EB (2014) is not really relevant in this context, no matter how much it sounds like a Thunderbird. That's why I didn't bring it up, nor did I mention the Epiphone Embassy (either the OG 60s one or the modern reimagined one) or the Gibson IV, despite having owned an example of all of them except the 60s Embassy.

 

And yes, as a discontinued model, you can find it from time to time on the used market here in the UK, having previously been able to buy them new (I owned mine from new).