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Reverend Thundergun Review

#21
I picked up a Mercalli 5 in Guitar Center a few weeks back. Played it and was amazed by it. I chalked it up to GAS and left. A month later I couldn't stop thinking about that bass. Went down and played it again...just as good as I remember. So I took it home. Never played a Reverend bass or knew anything about them. But they are really nice.
 
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#23
ppiluk said:
Thank you for the excellent review! I have been GASing for a Reverend Bass for a very long time but don't seem the have the money in hand when I find a used one. I might have to bite the bullet and purchase a new one.
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I was in the same boat when I bought my G&L L2000...no way could I afford a $1,500 bass, so I bought it on one of those buy now, pay later plans.
Might not be the solution for you, but now that I only have two more payments to go, I feel that it was well worth it.
As for my Thundergun, I found a new one, had another bass that I used as a trade in, and fortunately found a dealer who gave me much more than I thought possible for it.
For me, reverb is the place to go because Affirm helped me once and will do it again.
I hardly ever check ebay anymore.
 
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#24
jd56hawk said:
I was in the same boat when I bought my G&L L2000...no way could I afford a $1,500 bass, so I bought it on one of those buy now, pay later plans.
Might not be the solution for you, but now that I only have two more payments to go, I feel that it was well worth it.
As for my Thundergun, I found a new one, had another bass that I used as a trade in, and fortunately found a dealer who gave me much more than I thought possible for it.
For me, reverb is the place to go because Affirm helped me once and will do it again.
I hardly ever check ebay anymore.
Click to expand...
Yep...I am thinking about doing this...
 
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#25
ppiluk said:
Yep...I am thinking about doing this...
Click to expand...
I almost went crazy and bought this last week.
DDE21_B2_A-788_C-45_D6-_A44_F-3_C9_C8_BCBBD2_B.jpg
 
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#28
Just joined the Thundergun family earlier today--thank you, Reverb, for helping me part with even more of my paycheck. I should hopefully have it by the weekend. I already have the Reverend Wattplower, which I absolutely love. Mike Watt has always been one of my idols, and I bought the Wattplower solely based on it being his signature model--best blind buy I've ever made! Agreed, Reverend build quality and components are all top-notch. I've been looking for a 34" scale bass recently, and kept coming back to the Thundergun, and a mint used one in wine came up at a ridiculously good price, and I didn't even try to hesitate. The only issue, it doesn't include a case. Anyone have an idea if it fits in a SKB P/J case? I have a spare, so it would be great if the TG fits. Thanks, y'all!
 
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#29
Felt like resurrecting a thread for funsies...

I bought a used Thungergun almost two years ago from dude who runs Abominable Electronics. I got a good deal on it, but I had to have the nut repaired (thing is stuck real tight, so fixed it with some compound... it's fine). He was playing lots of doom on it with really fat gauge strings and routed out the E slot on the nut. Fun times. Anyway, this bass replaced my Blacktop Precision Bass as my main gigging bass. I thought the P was very sufficiently growly and was pleasantly surprised that the Thundergun is even gnarlier.

I play in a loud, fuzzed out rock band and play with a pick (:D). I keep my pickups blended fairly even, with a very slight twist towards the neck pup, and also keep my tone at about 90% high. I'm using half rounds and I get lots of boom in the low end and real fantastic "clangy" mid-highs. You can really go hard on this bass if you want. It will take the abuse, yet it's probably suitable for any style of music (but yeah... rock/metal especially).

This thing is mean and nasty, and also beautiful and well-constructed. Also, they're only about $800-900 new. If you can manage to get one for around $600 like I did, you would be in luck.
 
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#30
stelles75 said:
Felt like resurrecting a thread for funsies...

I bought a used Thungergun almost two years ago from dude who runs Abominable Electronics. I got a good deal on it, but I had to have the nut repaired (thing is stuck real tight, so fixed it with some compound... it's fine). He was playing lots of doom on it with really fat gauge strings and routed out the E slot on the nut. Fun times. Anyway, this bass replaced my Blacktop Precision Bass as my main gigging bass. I thought the P was very sufficiently growly and was pleasantly surprised that the Thundergun is even gnarlier.

I play in a loud, fuzzed out rock band and play with a pick :)D). I keep my pickups blended fairly even, with a very slight twist towards the neck pup, and also keep my tone at about 90% high. I'm using half rounds and I get lots of boom in the low end and real fantastic "clangy" mid-highs. You can really go hard on this bass if you want. It will take the abuse, yet it's probably suitable for any style of music (but yeah... rock/metal especially).

This thing is mean and nasty, and also beautiful and well-constructed. Also, they're only about $800-900 new. If you can manage to get one for around $600 like I did, you would be in luck.
Click to expand...
I have to agree. Still one of the best kept bass secrets.
I have new 35-year-old flatwounds on mine and it's a tone beast.
 
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#32
Well, that went full circle. It's rare we get a follow up years later on a players "Best bass ever!".
I think there's a lesson or idea that captured the full circle process.
Thanks for the bass story.
 
#35
Smartsoul72 said:
If you don’t mind me asking, why did you get rid of the Thundergun?
Click to expand...

I eventually added a Mercalli, and for quite a while I gigged with the Thundergun and the Mercalli. Fantastic basses, but I never quite got used to the body shape.

More recently I've switched entirely to short scale basses, and sold off all my long scales. And most of my basses now are hollow body. So picking up a Dub King was a no brainer. Same great sound as the T-gun and Mercalli I had.

Interestingly, I've found the pan knob to be more useful on the Dub King than it was on my Thundergun (and also on a Mercalli I owned). It makes me wonder if both my previous Reverends had defective pan knobs, or if Reverend has improved how the pan knob functions.

Also, I play fretless a lot, and I wonder why Reverend has never (as far as I know) offered a fretless option on their basses.
 
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#36
I did the same thing—old man shoulder issues=moving to short scales, so I’m down to the Wattplower and the Linhbacker, and I love em both. Reverend build quality is stellar, and they both sound huge. Only mods I’ve done were lightly deglossing the LB neck—I like the feel of a satin finish; and restrung with Hi Beams. I love that bright zing.
 
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#38
Danny O Danny said:
Interestingly, I've found the pan knob to be more useful on the Dub King than it was on my Thundergun
Click to expand...

I'm going to retract this statement. Having worked with the Dub King for a couple of weeks now, my initial impression about the pan knob was wrong. It's just as lame as it was with my old Thundergun and Mercalli. Sounds fantastic when full on neck pickup or full on bridge pickup, but anything in-between loses volume and sounds weak. It makes me wonder why Reverend persists with this design. At some point I'm going to replace the pan knob with a plain old 3-way toggle switch. Other than that though, the bass is fantastic.
 

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