Epi to gibson NOT THE COMMON THREAD!

[prbrianpr]

I just bought a Epi thunderbird pro 5 and just wanted to looks lke a gibson one just because I want. So I bought thunderbird gibson looks like knobs, a gibson truss cover and gibson pickups rings. I now it not will look like a real normal gibson thunderbird, but it can looks like some type of Gibson thunderbird. What other things I can do in aestetics to look more gibson? I was looking pups covers but I dont know the size of gibson pups vs epi pro V pups. (4 strings vs 5 strings) or just buy a metal cover for 5 strings? I know, we are talking os the looks of the bass, not sound.

[Baird6869]

Why try to hide that it is an Epi in the first place?

Sounds like you are spending a lot of $$$ trying to turn your Epi into a Gibson bass that can be bought used for $800-900. Not sure this makes sense.

I would buy a Gibson or just enjoy the Epi.

[TBird1958]

No one is going to mistake an Epi Pro 5 for a Gibson.
They are just too different, you can hang all kinds of stuff on it that cost a lot money - but it'll still be an Epi.
Personally I don't see why you'd want to change it, the Epi is a very good bass - are you ashamed of it?

[Astreaux]

Originally Posted by TBird1958

No one is going to mistake an Epi Pro 5 for a Gibson.
They are just too different, you can hang all kinds of stuff on it that cost a lot money - but it'll still be an Epi.
Personally I don't see why you'd want to change it, the Epi is a very good bass - are you ashamed of it?

This ^^^ +1

[prbrianpr]

I only wants to it looks like it is a gibson thunderbird, I know that they are different, starting with 4 vs 5 strings. In other words, I only want to erase the epi name from in and put a Gibson one. It dont going to cost a lot of money, the electronics and pups are the same. It will be a epi anyway with gibson name on it. Why? because for me it looks so cool the gibson knobs, pups rings, etc... But the gibson thunderbirds that comes with all stuff cost a lot of money, $6,000 for example.

[Baird6869]

Originally Posted by prbrianpr

But the gibson thunderbirds that comes with all stuff cost a lot of money, $6,000 for example.

Used Gibson Studio 5ers are $1000-1200. What $6000 TBird are you talking about?

Sorry, unless you are talking early '60s TBirds, they ain't $6k!

[Gougedeye]

Hey man, I bought this T-Bird for $800. They are out there, just got to be patient. You can find them for $1200-1500.

[Arial Bender]

Spend more time playing and less time trying to make it something it's not.

[Wolfpack]

I don't understand your issue.
Is it brand image & your worried what others will think of you ?
I wouldn't, good players can make almost any rig sound great.
Improve your technique if needed & don't worry about image.

I've been playing for 35 years & learned that you can be surprised by "lesser" brands.
Example: I just bought a new Epi Classic Pro in white, it comes with Gibson pups.
It's a really nice bass for the price, & I have no shame in displaying the Epi badge.
The only change I've made on occasion is swapping the white pickguard to red &/or black for some contrast.

[TBird1958]

Aside from the why of this......
Metal pickup covers and rings for those pickups are expensive and require that you strip the outer plastic shell from them before you pot them. You'll have unsolder/resolder the pickups, also the metal covers will definately change the tone of your bass.

[hdracer]

WOW !
This is a nice break from the usual Fender decal on a Squier thread.

It is still just as lame.

I own two Epi's and one Gibson. One of my Epi's is a older one and it came with a truss rod cover that has Gibson on it.
Epi's are good basses. I like the fact that they are not direct copy's of Gibson's. Even though they look somewhat alike they are totally different. My Epi's will not even fit in my Gibson case.

You have a good bass as it is.
The Epiphone name is not one that you should be ashamed of. They have a long history of building good string instruments and still do.
Play it proud and save your money.

[Johnny Crab]

Played 64 T-birds for over a decade(1974~1985). Sold a 76 because it was too anemic-sounding. Bought a 2006 Gibson in 2006 and sold it within 2 years because my other T-Birds(non-Gibson) sounded better.
I kept an Epi Pro V, Epi standard(wife says it is the best looking one), and Brice T-Bird clone and sold the Gibson(white).

You could always get someone to refinish it with a nitro finish and be sure to leave sags and runs in it to make it look more Gibson.

[C.Linton]

I did something similar to my Squier VM Jazz, changed the knobs ,added covers and a thumb rest, and if I could, I would add a chrome bullet truss rod nut, all to make it look more like an actual 70's Fender Jazz. The one thing I WILL NOT do is change the logo on the headstock to Fender. I'm not trying to fool anyone, I just like the aesthetics of 70's Fenders, and I'm trying to reproduce that to a small degree on my (proudly owned) Squier.
I can understand making a few aesthetic changes to make it look more like the instrument that inspired it, but I'll never understand the desire to try to fool people into thinking it's not what it really is.

[prbrianpr]

Well like the last post said, ok maybe I just go a little crazy about gibson because the looks, but ok I will leave the epiphone name but want the vintage gibson look. so wht things I shoul change to have the nice vintage look?

[PazzoBasso]

Don't forget to get a Gibson case...

[prbrianpr]

Originally Posted by Gougedeye

Hey man, I bought this T-Bird for $800. They are out there, just got to be patient. You can find them for $1200-1500.

wow!!! awesome bass!

[Gougedeye]

It is cool, thank you! and beat up, as well. Play the heck out of it. That will beat it up for you.

[Immigrant]

Gas leak.

Make sure your pilot lights are on and burners are off. If your smoke detector doesn't detect CO2, get one that does and make sure it has a 10 year battery included.

You will then realize that there is nothing wrong with it looking like an Epiphone and you'll rock it.

[prbrianpr]

Yeah ok everybdy convinced me to leave it epi and dont try to change the brand to gibson if it is not a gibson. Talking about the vintage look and pups, anybody knows the Tbird pro V pups dimensions? I have a hard time to find it and Im looking a metal covers for it. Im a diyer, I study enginnering so I know about electronics.

[stiles72]

Trying to pass off an Epi Pro 5 as a bona fide Gibson will be difficult - if not impossible to pull off. The finish, headstock shape, and neck through design vary quite a bit from the Gibson 5 String Thunderbird.

However, if you just want your bass to have more of a "vintage vibe" to it in the style or cosmetics of the older Gibson birds, IMO there is nothing wrong with that. Several of us have pimped our Epi's to pull that off. Here's a conversion I did on a MIK Epiphone Limited IV. My reasons for doing the conversion was because I got the bass basically for free, and the Pelham Blue finish is a knock out in person. The Epi Custom shop did a very nice job on the finish, and even though I thought I wouldn't like an Epi IV, after the mods, it's in my regular rotation of basses that I gig with.

Here's a grocery list of parts / upgrades:

Gibson TRC
Bone nut
Hipshot Ultralite tuners
Schaller Straplocks in off center positions
Chrome Epi three point bridge
Chrome jack nut
Gibson knobs
Vintage Kalamazoo era Gibson Finger rest
Chrome pickguard screws
Repro handrest and bridge cover
Mike Lull T4 pickup and ring in bridge position

Before & After: