Offset with less than 6 strings?

[Lost In Autumn]

mine:

[Liquitone]

My Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro IV which I've stripped for a pelham blue nitro refinish. Look how awkwardly large the thing is next to my Jaguar Bass...

[sal paradise]

^^^ My god, that’s huge

Larry, is yours that big too?

[JSett]

Holy cow, that thing is enormous

[Liquitone]

I just measured the headstock and it's 29cm or 11.4 inches from the nut to the tip (pun intended). The Fender headstock is 23cm or 9 inches.
I really have to stretch to reach for the G tuner when on stage.

[Nevets]

For some insane reason I got TWO JBs in the last 12 months.
2008 SX:

That SX is just gorgeous. It's like the one that lady in that band plays!

[LVC]

My Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro IV which I've stripped for a pelham blue nitro refinish.

This particular model has caught my attention recently.
What are your impressions of it? How does it sound? How does it play?
(Apart from the size issues... Wink wink nudge nudge say no more )

[Larry Mal]

^^^ My god, that’s huge

Larry, is yours that big too?

I think mine is the same size, but maybe not... that one has the vintage style bridge/tailpiece, so it might have the vintage style headstock, which is larger than the modern ones. They cut the size of the headstock down on the modern ones to reduce neck dive.

I have to tell you, though, that while Thunderbirds and Firebirds look big, they aren't, they're actually really light. My Firebird weighs less than my Telecasters do, and I'll bet that Thunderbird weighs less than the non-offset bass I posted above because I don't play by the rules.

People always talk about how they have to stretch their arms out longer on Firebirds and T-birds, so I guess it must be a factor, but I have never noticed it.

[JSett]

I have to tell you, though, that while Thunderbirds and Firebirds look big, they aren't, they're actually really light. My Firebird weighs less than my Telecasters do, and I'll bet that Thunderbird weighs less than the non-offset bass I posted above because I don't play by the rules.

Touché

That weight thing does surprise me...I always envisioned they weighed a ton and were huge. I'm a NATO-Standard 5'10" and assumed one of these would dwarf me.

[Larry Mal]

Touché

That weight thing does surprise me...I always envisioned they weighed a ton and were huge. I'm a NATO-Standard 5'10" and assumed one of these would dwarf me.

You know, I took a look at Sweetwater, where they list the actual weights of various instruments. One Thunderbird weighs 9 lbs 10 oz, this one weighs 9 lbs 12 oz.

This American Original Jazz bass is 9 lbs, this Precision bass is 9 lbs 12 oz , but there were a few more that were only 8lbs and some ounces.

So I guess you could say that Thunderbirds are on the heavy range of average. It feels pretty normal to me. I'm 6' and it just seems like a normal instrument.

But I took to the Firebird immediately, though.

[JSett]

Under 10lbs is fine by me for a bass (my old T40 was nearly 14lbs )

Maybe I'll try one next time I'm at a store that has one. They do look cool as hell

[marqueemoon]

Jeff Martin (Idaho) and one of his John Carruthers custom 4 strings:

[MattK]

That SX is just gorgeous. It's like the one that lady in that band plays!

You’re onto me, guilty as charged. Can’t play like her tho.

[Liquitone]

My Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage Pro IV which I've stripped for a pelham blue nitro refinish.

This particular model has caught my attention recently.
What are your impressions of it? How does it sound? How does it play?
(Apart from the size issues... Wink wink nudge nudge say no more )

It was everything I was hoping for and more. I also have a Thunderbird Pro-IV and it's a difference of night and day. The Pro-IV was extremely heavy in weight and also heavy and sluggish to play. The Vintage Pro is lighter than my Jaguar Bass and it's very easy to play. The neck shape feels very similar to my Jag bass but a little narrower towards the nut.

The fretboard on mine is blackwood tek, which is pine which through a chemical and compression process takes on the properties of ebony. Online I see rosewood and indian laurel in the specs, but I don't know if that's a mistake or if they have changed it in later runs.

The pickups are fantastic. They have the harmonic depth and dynamic touch sensitivity I usually associate with Fender single coils, probably because it has alnico bar magnets as 'polepieces' but if you dig in you can really make them growl and they also have a lot of punch.
The one time I used it live I got multiple comments on how great my bass sounded, which has never happened when playing my Jag bass.
The bridge, tailpiece and pickups are nickel, not chrome and look like proper high end hardware.

Only negatives are the tuners, which feel cheap and loose, and the finish which is very thick and plasticy and sloppily done on mine where the white meets the black.
To counter the way it sort of extends towards the left I hang it lower on the strap and play it more diagonally rather than horizontal.

[LVC]

Thanks a lot! That sounds really tempting.