oh boy! epi tbirds going up.

[Gaolee]

Yep, here goes another one...[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

That's an active Epi. By far not my favorite Thunderbird, but it's a good start if you plan to modify one. I have one and didn't get along with the huge frets or the sound of the pickups. It's now fretless and has Alumitone pickups. I suppose it's one of those to each his own things.

 

[Diamond_Dave]

well, I guess we knew it was too good to be true . The epiphone vintage thunderbird pro has already gone up in price ,in the first year of release by 100.00. I am glad I bought one when they were 599.00. they' re now 699.00 anyone have thoughts on this? how much do you think they will continue to climb?

It's a lot for an Asian-made bass with neck dive. And I LOVE the look, and don't really mind the countries of origin. People who have them seem to love the quality and tone. That said, many folks would rather have the flagship brand than the bargain brand (Squier or Epi), and Fender is lower on Mexican basses with a lot fewer issues.

 

[JKB1957]

Where did you see one for 200.00. This is not the Muddy sounding Classic T-bird IV. This price is for the Vintage Pro .

You see $200 Epi t-birds for sale here in the SF Bay area. But many seem to be painted a semi-gloss black, applied with a brush, or maybe it's the same one re-cycling through the local musician world out here. Either way it ain't pretty.

 

[Raw N Low]

I'm not shocked at all. When US top shelf companies can source out to outside countries and charge $1K for 'budget' instruments, this is the end result.

 

[Thorsoundcore]

Me and a bud dropped into one of the nearby mom & pop shops within the past month, and they had a vintage pro hanging right out in front for $499. Guess now it's just waiting to be pounced on for sure if it's still there for the same price..

 

[Rob Martinez]

I don't care if a bass has neck dive. I hold the neck all the time so it's a non-issue. It's not a necklace!

 

[BtaylorTheRogue]

If it means they'll do a tbird V again, then maybe okay.

 

[Nighttrain1127]

Those might be the Goth T-birds they were flat black and sounded crappy just like the regular T-bird IV.

 

[Nighttrain1127]

Just to be clear I never said Classic Pro IV was muddy . They called the Older one that you can still get for 350 new the Classic IV No Vintage Pro No Pro. And those pickups were terrible unless you like undefined mud. I had one and no matter what amp I played it through all that came out was mud.

 

[Johnny Crab]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
So glad my musical investments have grown by 16% in such a short period!
Geddy Lee Fender did a similar ramp job(twice) after JC got one in sunburst, up 28%.
To be shared with wifey for sure!

Nuttin's goin' down 'cept our pay.

Especially when you factor in the hidden tax known as inflation.

When were these "times" prices didn't go up?

Here: https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/es/10/ES1030.pdf

Speak for yourself! We just got our second pay raise in six months! Usually get them October 1st but thanks to the corporate tax cuts the large corporation I work for decided to give it to us six months early!

Congrats!
Waiting for that in petrochems especially with the huge expansion projects(billions and billions being invested) from Corpus Christi to south Louisiana.....since all of the corp. entities involved got a very nice tax cut. There is also a very competitive battle going on to find enough and qualified workers from helpers to welders to project managers to engineers. As the saying goes:
"Money talks, <deleted expletive> walks".
Already seen a lot of talent leave here b/c of $$$,$$$ offered at other companies.

 

[physics]

Woah... BRIGHT CHERRY!!! A must have... not at $2200

How about a 2015 for $2600?

 

[Fletz]

How about a 2015 for $2600?

Yikes. Are tbirds the most dramatic price diff between new and used?

 

[Matt O]

A $100 price jump for a vintage pro isn't a deal breaker for me, I'm more bummed that Epi switched to smaller tuners on the latest run.

I picked up an ebony a while ago. Probably going to grab a white one soon. Fantastic bass.

 

[megatapper]

The older bolt on Epi's go pretty cheap, but the p/u's were ghastly.

its funny,the first tbird I bought was a bolt on epi for 299.00 I was struck by how much bottom end it had. I mean this thing just rumbled and hummed I fell in love with it . I put labella flatwounds on it. it has an amazing very unique sound but I do intend to put a set of lollars in it. I know its gonna be really even more amazing than it is now. but I'm sure that my bass is an anomaly because I haven't found another bolt on that has that mojo.

 

[megatapper]

Yikes. Are tbirds the most dramatic price diff between new and used?

yeah I can attest to it . the second thunderphone I bought was the pro throughbody flawless very alive not a scratch on it georgeous wine color burst 299.00 I am still so happy I bought it .

 

[megatapper]

Still a bargain IMO if you like the TBird sound. If I were in the market for one I’d definitely consider Epi’s Vintage TBird Pro. I’ve liked the two I tried better than I have some Gibson TBirds I’ve played.

yep cant deny it the pickups are soo cool they accentuate the cool high mids without sacrificing the lows.

 

[megatapper]

I nodded my head in agreement when I read this but then got to thinking. In recent years with the quality of imports going up, I've been able to buy some pretty amazing basses for very little money (compared to the good ol days). It's been a crazy good time for bass players in terms of what you get for the price. I think we can expect things to be going up dramatically now that we're putting a tariff on imports from a number of countries that supply instruments. We may be going to be looking back on this time as the good ol days.

I don't care if a bass has neck dive. I hold the neck all the time so it's a non-issue. It's not a necklace!

I just put the new Dunlop straplock 4.5" higher than the original strap button and the neckdive is mitigated.

 

[megatapper]

If it means they'll do a tbird V again, then maybe okay.

and id buy one I cant imagine the guttural lows id get with passives on that!

 

[jd56hawk]

Are they worth it?
People here seem to think so.
I think I'll stick with the Classic Pro or the Pro IV, though.

Because I know March is when Gibson ups their prices, I bought my old Pro IV for $399 in 2014 the day before they upped the price to $499…and now they're selling for $549!

By the way, the bright Cherry Red 2018 Gibson Thunderbird's gone up from $1999 to $2199.

 

[Blaze Barlow]

Nuttin's goin' down 'cept our pay.

well..my pay never goes down..I like that mailbox money..if you know what I mean..