First of all let me confess I'm a fan of Gibson basses. My main workhorse is a 2006? (Coral Pink edition) SG bass I bought NOS last year.
TL;DR my criteria:
I tried a Thunderbird the other day, and immediately fell in love with its tone and, most importantly (though counterintuitive), ergonomics. It didn't neck dive. Hands down the most comfortable bass for sitdown playing I've ever lay my hands on. The fact that John Entwistle played a few of them didn't hurt either. I swore I'd buy it as soon as I saved up enough!
As I'm getting close to the money though I began thinking if I could get some more with the money. As I learn more from John Entwistle's playing I began to feel the limitation of only 20 frets. Admittedly though I mainly can only do a few strummin' on that high position, there's no way I can approach His melodics! But a few more frets to spare would be a good thing in my book.
Preferably I'd have alnico Thunderbuckers in there too. They seem to have a brighter, "angry piano" type of tone compared to the ceramic TB-Pluses. Granted, the Aguilar-Orange combo I played through wasn't the brightest amp in the world, but a J-bass cuts through fine (and no I ain't buying that; not enough midrange complexity or nearly as comfortable for me). My SG Bass has that angry piano bite as well, but at that cost why don't I go the whole hog.
I've gathered a few choices below:
As I'm getting close to the money though I began thinking if I could get some more with the money. As I learn more from John Entwistle's playing I began to feel the limitation of only 20 frets. Admittedly though I mainly can only do a few strummin' on that high position, there's no way I can approach His melodics! But a few more frets to spare would be a good thing in my book.
Preferably I'd have alnico Thunderbuckers in there too. They seem to have a brighter, "angry piano" type of tone compared to the ceramic TB-Pluses. Granted, the Aguilar-Orange combo I played through wasn't the brightest amp in the world, but a J-bass cuts through fine (and no I ain't buying that; not enough midrange complexity or nearly as comfortable for me). My SG Bass has that angry piano bite as well, but at that cost why don't I go the whole hog.
I've gathered a few choices below:
- Epiphone Vintage Pro, probably the best plugged-in tone in a stock modern bass, but I prefer the Gibson wood, the sheer resonance of my SG can be felt as well as heard!;
- That Gibby, with a pair of Thunderbuckers, I can probably sell the original pups at a good price in my place;
- A vintage Gibby, probably cost prohibitive;
- A Cataldo, or Lull, not sure how the Fenderbird neck will feel;
- Sandberg, with the same concern, and not quite Thunderbucker(-compatible).
- Lightweight, classic Thunderbird body shape with preferably the centre ridge;
- Absolute paper thin neck profile like the Gibby (THIS IS A MUST);
- Alnico Thunderbuckers (or similar midrange-rich sound, or compatible routing that I can retrofit later);
- Preferably 24-fret with a small cutoff at the treble horn for easy reach.
