For a period of time, the Thunderbird was the only bass guitar model available from Gibson to compete against the Fender P-bass and J-bass that was introduce earlier. As it made a name for itself following the success of its stablemates, the Les Paul and SG electric guitar. Its impact to old school rock n’ roll is due to its fresh new design, outputting better volume and big fat warm tones which is essential, becoming a trend of that era for bassist replacing the big ol’ double bass.
Its timeless Thunderbird design and relevance to music up to date is passed on by Gibson to its sub-brand Epiphone. Making it more affordable for everybody to have through Epiphone Thunderbird-IV and Thunderbird-IV Pro, Epiphone’s version of top end model of the bass.
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- Modern looking body shape crafted in mahogany
- Comfortable SlimTaper set-through neck made of 7-piece maple/walnut
- 20 medium size frets rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays
- Premium die-Cast tuners with finer 17:1 gear ratio
- Adjustable tune-o-matic bridge plus claw tail-piece
- Epiphone designed Probucker bass humbucker pick-ups installed on the neck and the bridge controlled by separate volume knobs for each humbukers pick-ups and a master tone
Body and Neck: The classic reverse or somewhat considered modern body shape of the Thunderbird is crafted in mahogany to get a range of tones out of the wood and comes with a protective scratch plate with a Thunderbird insignia. This body design is contoured to the sides, but without a belly cut that may bother some in regards to comfort playing it sitting down, while on standing up is less of an issue.
Like the Gibson models, the neck for Epiphone Thunderbird-IV is set through made of 7-piece maple/walnut with a finish matching the body. For fingerboard, it has a 20 medium size frets in rosewood. Neck profile is SlimTaper with 12” inch radius making comfortable to play.
Pick-ups: Producing the fat tones and serious low end sound of the bass is Epiphone designed ProBucker bass humbucker pick-ups installed on the neck and the bridge controlled by separate volume knobs for each humbuker pick-ups and a master tone. Adding to that, this pick-ups are also quiet in comparison to single-coils, able to provide crisp clean overall sound.
Hardware: For string placement, as well to take care of intonation are tune-o-matic bridge plus claw tail-piece and on the other end setting the pitch are Premium die-Cast tuners with finer 17:1 gear ratio which is ideally easier to tune.
Final Thoughts: We all know there are a lot bass guitars to choose from around this budget which is good to have variety options, and the Epiphone Thunderbird-IV is less mainstream or favorable unlike the Squier basses. But if you want to be different in the look and especially the sound by preferring a mahogany body and using humbuckers for pick-ups, this bass guitar offered by Epiphone is well suitable and reasonably priced.
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