Epiphone Thunderbird IV

made around 02/03 in korea. 21 frets 4 strings.
fine for a standard bass.

gives a cool deep bassey sound but thats it, no diversity. playing it through a laney. better in studio.

the bass was fine when recieved and hasn't needed ne work.

i don't find playin the bass easy to play live as it's so heavy to carry round stage so i normally favour a p-bass or jazz bass on stage. stayed together for a couple of years without ne problems.

Not one of the best basses i've played, i fell in love with it when i first played it. but then i found the problems. i prefere a 24 fret bass without the weight and bulkyness of the tbird

I've currently been drooling over my brand-new, Alpine White Ltd. Ed. Epiphone Thunderbird IV (whew!), and I can safely say it is one of the coolest basses I've ever seen. It's apparently part of Epi's Guitar Of The Month thing they're doing this year. It's a 2005 model (duh) and it's made in Korea just like the older models. 20 frets, twin Tbird pickups, two volume pots, one tone. The body is alder, and the neck is rosewood on maple. Finish is a gorgeous sparkling white with matching neck and headstock (if you haven't seen the pics, look them up!). Thin neck compared to my Squier P (har) but I can work with it.

Sound is great for metal or hard rock, but I'm a punk player and I'm trying to tweak the sound as best I can to suit my band. I play through two SWR LA10's with a preamped Pignose for gain. The sound is growly yet articulate; it's all about how you set up the controls.
Overall, the only real gripe I had was the screwball bridge; it basically exploded when I changed the strings and I had a hell of a time getting it back together. The pickups are also a little odd, they don't adjust very well, so I put some extra foam underneath the mid one and it's fine. Also, the rumors about the neckdive are true; it heads straight for the floor if at any point you let go of the neck. Highly aggravating.

It shipped with the action all screwed, but this is expected and easily fixed. I fixed the pickups as described, but the rest of the bass was virtually flawless. the paint beneath the end of the fretboard was actually still wet!

This thing would hold up great in a gig. I've yet to try this (I got it three days ago, and spent two of those three dissecting and examining it), but i plan to soon. The strap buttons are horribly placed, so I'm gonna move one to the back of the neck. The neck, surprisingly, was perfectly straight, and I would definately gig without a backup. I trust this thing with my life.

Never needed it.

I've been playing for almost four years, and I consider myself a pretty competent player. My only other axe is a Squier P that sounds like a pissed off cat in a tin can. This suits me perfectly. I dont care much for effects, so all I've got is my Pignose for distortion.

I've waited WAY too long for this thing to ship for me not to buy it again. I love it's magnificent looks, but the sound is a bit too...well...good for me. I like the garbagey plunk of my cheapo P more. If all else fails, I'll find a way to stick a P pickup in it :)
If anything, I wish it sounded more like my P. This is just me, though. If you dig metal, or anything heavy, then this is the bass for you.

Same as all the other reviews, nothing more to add. Not a huge amount of features, but, you can use each pick-up independently, or both together.

This is the main bit. Huge sound. Bought it cos I played a gig with a band who`se bassist was using one of these. Our bassist (Im was guitarist at the time)was using a Musicman, ?1200, their bassist was using the Thunderbird,?250, n all I could think was "wish our bassist sounded like that" Well, switched to bass, bought the Thunderbird. Did a gig a week ago, with a band whose bassist was using an ESP bass. People kept asking me "why was your bass so much louder n bigger sounding when you were using the same amp?" The answer, my dears, is The Thunderbird! Its not named that without reason.

Set up ok, had to adjust the intonation a bit. No flaws at all, great look and finish. Action higher than I`m used to, but, with a noticeably thinner neck than I`m used to (previously a Precision-man) this doesn`t cause any problems.

Played two gigs with it. Hardly ever have to tune it. Never ever play without strap-locks, so comments on the strap buttons aren`t really applicable. Have had to change to drinking my on-stage beer with my right hand, as the bass nosedives if u let go of the neck. I`ve only got this bass so have to gig without backup. Main thing for me is the tuning bit. Hate it when u see people fannying around tuning between each song - buy a T-bird for f**k sake

Never had to contact them

Been playing for 25 years. Use it with a Hartke HA4000, Kartke 2 x 10 XL cab, and a Hughe & Kettner 1 x 15. I Play in a rock band and this is the bass for me. Would get another in a shot if mine were damaged/stolen. Only bad thing is finding a case (?90 as oppose to ?40 for an ordinary one)

Bought in 2000. Always one of my favorite instrument shapes. Saw it, played for 2 minutes and rushed home to get my Ovation acoustic bass to trade in. I kinda screwed up on my amp selection (Fender 25 watt, sounds crappy at high volume, the only kind of volume that matters) but I love playing this bass. I play only to amuse myself, no bands, and have never owned another bass so I have to give it a high rating. Had to wait awhile for the case to arrive, but no worry, I got a free stand from the shop for my patience (thank you Ian, Lakeshore music, now Long and McQuade, Burlington Ontario Canada) Tried painting the pickgurad black to match the hardware but never got it to look nice and glossy to match the finish, so I just took it off entirely. Looks cool. Same with the trussrod cover, I left it off one day and the whole bass looks simpler and better. simple things amuse simple minds. :) And moving the neck end strap holder to one of the neck joint screws is more than necessary. I don't play as well when the headstock is aiming at the floor.

Nice bottom end/midrange sound, my amp isn't the greatest at high volume, but I've played on other bigger amps and it sounds awesome, especially since upgrading from light strings to medium (Ernie Ball slinkys) and finger plucking now more than using a pick. I only play on the neck pickup, the bridge sounds a little thin to me, and I don't care for the sound of both together. Volume on 10, tone on 10, rock and f***in' roll

The action and setup always seemed good to me from the beginning, never having played another bass regularly I can't compare it. I've learned how to set the action, intonation and adjust the trussrod, and it's helped, especially when changing from light to medium string guage. I do think the A string saddle on mine was in fact a D string saddle. The A string sat REALLY high when I first switched, but a litte scraping and sanding fixed that. Past the warranty, not gonna complain.

Never dropped it, never abused it, and never will. It's been babied I will admit, but I'd bet good money on it's long-term durability over my car any day! Only complaints: part of the nut broke off just over the E string the first time I changed strings (heavier guage) Got it fixed, no problemo. and the tone control went all crackly one day from out of nowhere. Cleaned it with spray tuner cleaner and again, no problemo.

Couldn't say. Never had to contact them.

I've been playing rock guitar and bass for about 10 years. Also own an Epiphone ES335 (the Dot) guitar which has been as great to play as my T-bird. Love these things, don't shy away from "cheap" instruments as they can be as good to a player as the "real" thing. I'd sooner buy another Epiphone than a Gibson. high price doesn't always mean higher quality.

Beutiful pickups, Nice body, Perfect neck. The finish is great dark and devilish with the inlay on the 12th fret and the pickguard with its celtic symbol.. I have no complaints in this department

Once again this beast amazed me.. I was looking for a nice deep dark sound. And this gave out the perfect sound. I love the TB Plus Humbuckers. there's plenty of control over the pickups so once again no complaints here.

Well I'll tell you. When buying this bass i expected to have to fix the strap bolt. The rumors are true, this bass is neck heavy! It was no big deal. All i had to do was move the front bolt to the back of the bass above the "epiphone" emblem near the neck, and it was balanced out nicely.

The hardware seems fine. As for the mahogany body, its built strong. by the looks of it, it should be lasting me a long time. everything is put together nicely and as I would trust it going to a gig without a backup. I'll always still carry one.

didn't have to talk to them

This Bass is incredible, It blows away my and many other expensive basses. If it was lost or stolen I'd deffinatly buy this bass again no doubt about it. The TB plus Humbuckers are amazing pickups and do wonders for such a great value. Those looking for a good replica of the Gibson model buy this. It has the same great playability and sound capability as the real thing. If you ask me I'd save that $1,500 and spend a fraction of it on this wonder of a bass!

Bought it used so not sure how old it is. Made in Korea. You know the spec's, it's a T-Bird. Bolt on neck as opposed to a neck-thru on the Gibson & Epiphone Elite. Two Humbuckers, volume control for each, plus one tone control.

What can I say, it sounds good! It has that deep rock bass tone that I love. I run it through a GK Rb 700 into an Ampeg 4x10HLF. The GK allows me a wide verity of tones and the T-Bird never lets me down. Rich Full tone, unbelievable sustain.

The guys I bought it from had just had it set-up so no problems there. The pots are a little crackly, but I just haven't gotten around to cleaning them yet. My only complaint is, like everyone else, the placement of the strap buttons. Can you say Neck Heavy! I actually moved the front one to the back, just above the neck plate. It is so much better now, but I hated to drill into the instrument plus leave a hole where the button used to be.

This bass toured with it's previous owner, as a back up, so I would say it is well built. Everything still looks and sounds great, with the exception of the crackling pots. I would use it without a back up, with no worries at all.

Couldn't say.

I have been playing for over 20 years and have had many basses. I had been wanting the Gibson, but just couldn't come up with the cash. As that the Epiphone saved me over $1000 I thought it was worth a shot. I am not dissapointed at all, this is a great bass. If I lost or stolen I would definitely buy another one.

Made in 2004, basicaly a set-neck offshore made version of the classic Gibson tunderbird (for those of you who dont know, epiphone is a sister company of gibson, and makes less-expensive (but generaly very nice) clones of "real" gibsons, plus thier own models. Two humbuckers, basic controls (I like passive, simple basses). Nice flawless sunburst finish. If you are one of those "I must have 456,907 different tones" active electronics people dont buy this bass.

Sounds mutch like a Gibson Tunderbird, low booming but not muddy. It has I think a bit more growl, maybe due to set-neck vs neck through on the gibson. I play metal and meat-and-potatoes hard rock. Suits me fine. I am a Rickenbacker man, so I dont play it as my main bass. Have used it on stage and studio as a secondary bass, and sounds great. Good for most styles I would say

Here is the funny part, I wanted a "real" Gibson thunderbird, cost: about $1,600 US. I have heard of some quality conrol problems with the Gibson, YES its true, the two I looked at had ragged fret edges, sub-par finishes and where a real disapointment and crummy for the high price. The Epihone was 100% better than the Gibson verson, cleanly constructed with a nice finish. Yes, its a set-neck and it does not say Gibson on the headstock but I'm willing to forget that due to the fact I have esentialy the same bass for about $1000 less, hell, thats almost a new Rickenbacker!

In terms of set-up was fine, I always tweek things and so far does everything I want it to in the adjustment department.

Will last as long as you need. Like is Gibson big brother is neck heavy but I got used to that. I have played it onstage enough to say I would not gig without a back-up, but I'm cautious. For all intents and purposes, quality is fine

no dealings, cant comment

Playing for 8 years. Own 2 Rickenbacker 4003s, Fender US P-bass, and this one plus ampeg 8x10 with SVT head. I would replace it if stolen for sure. Again, if you can afford a real Gibson T-bird, and find one that does not have finish issues, great. But if want basicaly the same bass, made basicaly by Gibson and save a grand, I would recomend this honey.

This Bass features two humbuckers rickenbacker sound deep and powerfull, alder body maple neck rosewood fretboard quite a nice feel almost like the gibson version only diffrence is the bolt on neck. vintage sunburst finish which looks fantastic looks ten times better than the pictures on the epiphone website Gotoh tuners passive pickups. two volume and one tone it was made in korea in 2004 this bass is awesome.

the musical style of this bass is bassically anything rock i wouldnt recommend it for jazz or funk this bass is for metal heads. the deep sound is Reminiscent to that of a rickenbacker powerful deep sound overpowers any other bass ive played on that is under five hundred pounds a dark and full sound i always have both humbuckers on for full out rock sound fantastic epiphone have done it again.

i Received my bass set up from Guitar Tek the action was perfect pickups were fine where they were no flaws on my bass everything was perfect.

this bass is perfect there is only on major flaw the heavy neck the physics of this bass are unbalanced causing the neck to dive if you let go of the neck so your always holding the neck with your freting hand which can become tiring the bass also cannot fit into any case ive tried you can only purchase the hard case which costs around one hundred pounds which is quite dissapointing.

i havent ever dealt with the company.

I have been playing for around two years. if this bass was lost or stolen i would want another one. this bass is fantastic i wouldnt recommend it to beginners though they may have trouble adapting to the basses size and weight all in all this is a fantastic sounding bass and one of the coolest loking ones availble and the price is great.

Vintage sunburst finish, 2 pick-ups, passive electronics bolt on neck (don't you already know?) I think the strings sucks, i will change them very soon

This bass is VERY heavy, and as you already know, also neck-heavy, i resolved this, using a large strap, that just stick on my shoulder

The Sound of this bass is powerfull, it has a very deep and punchy tone, compared to my Ibanex Gsr200

There were a lot of strings buzzing against the frets... I raised the action and now it's very better, I anyway think, that the buzzing may be due to shitty strings...

the bridge pick-up is very high! it's normal?

As I read from another review, just know that:
"THIS THING CAN STOP A TANK"

never dealt with it, the warranty is 2 years.

This Bass is great! and the price is very little... BUY IT! but first, you should try it, i think this is a LOVE-HATE bass... i love it!
I'm playing as autodidact by 3 years now, i own also a Ibanez gsr200
If it were stolen or lost... Id' CRY A LOT... i haven't got money to buy another one!

A fantastic looking bass with a rock attitude. Standard pickups, althogh I cant tell the difrence between thunderbird iv and vs but hey, its the best ive ever owned. Its the standard Epiphoe thunderbird vs and a slightly darker sunburst than most, it has a certain amount of uniquity to it.

I use this bass with distortion and through a 60 year old 100 watt amp with cabinet, and even though turining up the volume doesnt necessarily mean a loss in sound, this could be a result of having a clarion cab older than me!

The action on this bass caters for pick orientated mutes as well as slapping, It has no balance although I knew I was in for that when i sacriiced balance for fret availability (ie easy to get to the high frets)

a case fr ths bass was hard to find and expensive, but apart from that it has tremendous sturdyness, and ive never seen any other 16year old bands's bassists with one!

N/A

A fantastic bass in all respects, great for slides, and is a very indie rock bass.