Yeah, a bunch of us fans of T-Birds who are fans of the design but would generally like to have a more "modern" update of it started drooling when the Press Releases came out around Winter NAMM. Although it took longer than expected to get them out to market, I'm *very* tempted at a 4-string in Transparent Black. Then again, Epiphone has also just released a "Special Run" Thunderbird IV in Silverburst with all-chrome hardware, pickup covers, and a Mahogany body (as opposed to the standard Alder Epibirds use).
As much as I'd love to, I'm nowhere close to be able to afford a $4K+ [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] with it's custom-made pickups that are "[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]" (hyper-detailed T-Bass sound clips with pickups together and soloed, tone rolled off, and played fingerstyle as well as pickstyle located [Invalid or Expired Link Removed])... and worth
every penny, I've been told. I'm
extremely torn between:
A very cool "vintage" as well as "metallic" 'burst that I've always loved, along with chrome tuners, pickup covers, bridge, and other parts, a Mahogany body that brings it much closer to "Real T-Bird" status compared to the standard models with Alder bodies with
no upcharge compared to the other Epi Thunderbirds, and bolt-on construction that I'm generally a bigger fan of...
...and a much more "modern" interpretation of the Thunderbird design with "hotter" pickups and active electronics along with modern hardware such as tuners and a Hipshot A/BadTushII-esque modern bridge design far more adjustable than the old 3-point bridge combined with the 7-piece neck-through design that's a fair amount of the "classic" T-Bird tone. It doesn't have that classic look and likely the sound that the Silverburst SR will have but I imagine it'll have the tone that's more likely to fit
my palette, given my history current and past: all my current basses have active electronics, I've only owned 2 passive basses in my 20 years of playing, and those were sold... not just because they were passive, but I believe not having that tone-shaping abilities of an active bass did effect my playing, enjoyability, and usage of those basses.
Hrm... :scowl:
