"New" Bass Day! 90's Epiphone Non-Reverse Thunderbird

[Mason Nagy]

Hey dudes.

Today is that day. NEW BASS DAY! I scoped this out on my local Craigslist and saw it was being sold at a Pawn Shop for a mere $90. The only issues is the tone pot and the bridge pickup may have some loose wiring and it was missing the nut for the output jack. Luckily I had an extra and was able to take care of that easy. I tried to research this as much as I could before picking it up. It seems that these basses are pretty scarce? Also, I haven't come across too many in this finish. It is like a light gray finish. I thought at that price point I would be wrong not to buy it. It will definitely get used for sure, especially once it is up to 100%.

My first thoughts is that the bass has a rounder bassball bat P bass kind of neck, which I actually really like. The bass overall isn't that heavy but it is neck dive city. I don't really mind that so much either. I might replace the knobs and eventually would like to upgrade the pickups.

Anybody have any recommendations for a good P/J setup? I am thinking of going with Bare Knuckle or maybe Lindy Fralins but I am open to suggestions.

 

[ctmullins]

Very cool. It's always jarring to my eyes to see a Gibson-type bass with Fender-type pickups, but the advantage is so many aftermarket pickups to choose from. My suggestions are Wilde (P46/J45), Lace (Aluma or Man-O-War), or Delano (PMVC/JMVC). But then I like an aggressive full-range pickup...

 

[Mason Nagy]

Very cool. It's always jarring to my eyes to see a Gibson-type bass with Fender-type pickups, but the advantage is so many aftermarket pickups to choose from. My suggestions are Wilde (P46/J45), Lace (Aluma or Man-O-War), or Delano (PMVC/JMVC). But then I like an aggressive full-range pickup...

That is exactly what I am after. This bass is all beef. I just strung it up with EXL 160BT strings with a 120 gauge E. I will check those out! I hear lots of good things about Delano.

 

[jime]

That is exactly what I am after. This bass is all beef. I just strung it up with EXL 160BT strings with a 120 gauge E. I will check those out! I hear lots of good things about Delano.

Mason,

I know this is an old thread, but what pick ups did you end up getting? I have the same bass and want to replace the pickups. I can’t find specs online for dimensions and was curious what kind you got and if they worked.

Peace!
Jim

 

[Mason Nagy]

Mason,

I know this is an old thread, but what pick ups did you end up getting? I have the same bass and want to replace the pickups. I can’t find specs online for dimensions and was curious what kind you got and if they worked.

Peace!
Jim

Hey, Jim! I actually ended up going with the Blk Tri (Black Triangle) Destroyer Bass Pickups. Blk Tri is a small company ran solely by Mike Moses who hand winds pickups one at a time out of Columbus, OH. I replaced both the Split P and Jazz Pickup in the bridge. I recently returned from a two month long tour and I now have conflicting opinions. One this I will say is that I A/B tested the Thunderbird against a MIA Fender Precision Select with stock Fender pickups and I noticed a bit less low end on the Thunderbird compared to the Fender. They still have a lot of bite and are well responsive but they are just a little bit lacking in low end definition. My only complaint so far with them. Best of luck.

 

[Non-reverseEpi]

Mason,

I know this is an old thread, but what pick ups did you end up getting? I have the same bass and want to replace the pickups. I can’t find specs online for dimensions and was curious what kind you got and if they worked.

Peace!
Jim

What pickups did you end up getting?

 

[KohanMike]

This is the second old thread I replied to now. I tell you why I like the bass, a couple of years ago I bought two bass ukes, non-reverse T-Bird style and did some modifying, including the decals. Planning on replacing the wood bridges with all metal fully adjustable ones.

 

[Nateam137]

Keeping this old thread alive, does anyone have an Epiphone Non-Reverse Thunderbird that they’re looking to sell?

 

[jime]

Yes, I’m selling my 1st bass “Thelma”

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