yeah, I own a thunderbird and I absolutely love it. Your fingers will get callous in time(I remember the days when I played till I got blisters, tapped up my fingers and then kept playing. Good times!) My fingers have not blistered since that time three years ago! If you really want to you can change the strings, I don't know what you have on your t-bird but they may be more abrasive than normal. Personally I always play rotosound strings. But if you really want to you can go down to flatwounds. I really like the ddario sets. They sound really bright compared to others. However, my personal recomendation is to just stick it out. PLus something that may help, if the strings are getting kinda old you might need to clean them. All I do, is after playing my bass I put some doctor duck's axe wax(it is a polish) on a cloth and then scrubb the strings. My strings are now three years old and they still sound new!! Have fun. PS epiphone has really cut back on the quality of their thunder bird, If yours is an epiphone it will need a tune up. Take it to an experienced person and ask then to lower the action and straighten the neck, it will help tremendously! Ok now I am done!
