Customer Reviews

Epiphone Thunderbird IV Electric Bass Guitar, 4-Strings, Reverse Body, Vintage Sunburst

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This guitar is a looker, beautiful quality finish and the sunburst body is gorgeous. Delivers pounding heavy bass, and good tone control. Be aware that the head stock is very heavy, and the guitar tends to nose dive to the floor is your don't support the neck, you might want to try wearing one at your local GC is possible. Also, this deal doesn't come with a case, and you'll need a special gig bag or case to house this special bass. I'd look for a deal that comes with at least a gig bag.

I acquired an Epiphone Thunderbird IV at a local guitar place. It came with a hardshell case and all for $249, which was a great price for what I got.

And what I got was a great bass, which had a good tonal range but always sounded warm and never... piercing. Sometimes, when a person is looking for a punchy bass sound they end up sounding piercing. I never had any fret buzz or problems with the hardware. This guitar looks very close to its Gibson counterpart, though they differ, mainly in the fact that the Epiphone has a bolt-on neck.

Despite having the widely considered inferior bolt-on, this bass has some great sustain. In fact, my only complaints about the insturment were that it was awkward to play while sitting down. It wasn't THAT bad, for those of you who've played a "V" sitting down, but it did take getting used to. My only "real" complaint then is, as another reviewer stated, the guitar is head-heavy and will tip down a bit if you let go of the neck momentarily. Once my neck swung down and smaked the floor! But its built tough, and there wasn't a ding or a nick.

This bass arrived 2.5 days after i actually ordered it. Super fast delivery and free !
I was disappointed by the fact that it is made in China. It looks great but feels like the assembly is a bit weak. The bass feels light like it has no body at all, and lots of buzzing notes (probably needs a tune-up by a pro).Other than that, when you pay 299.00, there really is nothing to complain about seeing that for an extra 50 bucks you can get a made in mexico fender which doesn't come close to this epi in sound breadth..

The Thunderbird IV I got was around $300 and did not come with a case.

I'm a Fender / Music Man player. Having played and toured professionally, this was just a fun purchase. Something I wouldn't be heartbroken over if it got banged up.

The wiring under the jack plate needed fixing only a few months into using it. It was not an expensive repair ($40) and I chalked it up to its budget price. Also, it would've been free under warranty if I'd bothered to find an authorized Epiphone repair shop.

The bass is neck heavy. It weighs down your fretting hand more than a normal bass. This can make it tiring to play until you build up your muscles a bit. So for beginners, keep it in mind and don't be discouraged.

It's also large. The neck is a standard length, but the headstock and body create a larger instrument. For smaller players, it may be too unwieldy. Put a strap on it and see what you look like in a mirror. You might look/feel dwarfed if you're under say... 5'5".

But! The tone is perfectly fine. It's loud. It's easy to play. It feels good and the body of the bass itself feels extremely well made.

And of course, it looks incredibly cool on stage. :) So if you're okay with the size and weight, it's a super-fun beginner bass.

Don't be afraid to find a guitar shop and try one for a few minutes. You'll see what I'm talking about.

I didn't buy mine on amazon.com, however I am going to buy it's case. I was walking in a pawn shop one day minding my own business this bass spoke to me. I picked it up and I really liked it. It's really long and uniquely weighted. It has great clean tones and with separate vol pods you can kinda push that growl I like so much.

I bought this bass as a backup to my '82 Ibanez Roadstar II. Out of the box, the intonation was perfect and it has a smooth, playable neck. It is much heavier than my Ibanez and has a larger and longer neck that will take getting used to. The neck reminds me of a J-bass neck. My first ever bass was a P-bass in 1975. This Thunderbird is just as heavy if not more so than that was. The bass has great low tone when playing through my GK MB115, and great highs as well. My major problems with it are the unbalanced feel that can probably be fixed by different strap placement, which may void the warranty. Also, the beast has very little sustain - I will need to add an EQ or compressor/enhancer to get the sustain I want - experimentation time, it seems. Maybe I should just get the sound man to stop drowning out my bass with the kick drum in the mains..... I would not recommend this bass, but my preference is Ibanez, anyway.