dc2009

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1336385245' post='1644664']
Really? the 12AX7 I replaced in my 3500 a few years ago must have been a figment of my imagination then? :-)
[/quote]

It's what I got told by the bass guy in Mansons - apologies for relaying professional advice, I wasn't to know it was incorrect!

[quote name='dronnba' timestamp='1335266209' post='1628207']
Beautiful bass! I would grab this one immediately, BUT, I am in Finland and I'm not planning a trip to London anytime soon.
[/quote]

I tend to travel from London to Finland quite often (Finnish gf), I wouldn't mind acting as personal courier if you were looking to buy it.

[quote name='Blink' timestamp='1336307416' post='1643725']
If we don't support the only specialist UK bass mag then it will disappear for ever and we will threads complaining that there is no specialist UK bass mag.
[/quote]

I watch a fair bit of ice hockey, and there are constantly adverts on the TV for the UK's only/best ice hockey magazine. Even from their advert it looks terrible and I have no inclination to buy it.

To be honest, I think some things are just a bit too niche to be worthy of their own magazine in the UK. If BGM can turn a profit doing what they do then that's great, they deserve it, but I'm not going to spend my money on a product I don't want and certainly don't need, just to prop up a niche industry.

I also follow the UK american football scene. Because it is so small, the would-be magazine writers instead write free to read blogs and twitter/fb pages. These have proven relatively popular, and the writers get enough income to keep it going from minor advertising revenue - to be honest, I think this is probably the level of popularity bass has in the UK, and perhaps models like it or the ibassmag are the future, not BGM.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1336144077' post='1641623']
I think with the advent of the internet everybody is a lot more informed these days, especially the kids who are growing up with all this info at their finger tips.
[/quote]

I am one of these kids so to speak (21 now), but I subscribed to BGM (it seemed like an ideal gift to ask for as a teenager) for a couple of years. After perhaps 2 maybe 3 subscriptions I packed it in. As the OP says, I just couldn't deal with the incessant reviews of basses I couldn't afford. I don't ever particularly remember a 'best bass for under £500' feature or best starter bass or anything similar like that. I also didn't have the money to rush out and buy a set of fancy strings even, just because they'd been advertised in BGM. I actually tended to enjoy their rock bias with interviews, but there is only so much I care about when they're a player of relatively dull, uninspired lines.

I soon learned that there are a wealth of free online interviews, especially on youtube which can be part interview part demonstration (free tuition from Vic Wooten!) as well as endless gear reviews online of things I can and can't afford. I tend to subscribe to magazines for a while, I've had the economist on the go for about 6 months now, but they'd really need to turnaround BGM for me to start buying it again.

IMO I think if they went halvsies with a US magazine, that was perhaps able to pull in bigger stars for interviews, but did their own reviews, that might be a way around it.

It's quite an acquired taste, flying V and those custom options are not exactly common on a bass! That said, it will be perfect for someone.

With [i]that[/i] said, you will do better if more people are interested in it, if there is no competition the buyer will probably do well out of it.

Interested in a 5 string Epiphone pro-V thunderbird?

Deary me that's a fantastic price and a lovely looking bass.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1336046463' post='1639951']
This. It's all about picking the notes not only with the right pitches but also with the most appropriate tone.
[/quote]

Agreed. I often find I prefer higher up the neck on a lower string just in terms of the tone it gives me.

Right guys here are the photos. There are a lot of reflections because the light isn't great today, but hopefully they show how sexy this bass is, and also the good condition it's in. As you can see there is a slight ding on the top of the back of the headstock, but it's actually just a very shallow scrape on the lacquer, and isn't down to the wood.

There is next to no buckle rash on the back (I'm good at taking my belt off to play) so it's pretty much on the money condition wise.

As you can see from the finish, it is trans black in that you can see the wood grain and neck-thru woods faintly in good light, on stage this thing looks near enough black to be honest.

Here's the main shot of the body, the rest are available here: [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/67679611@N03/archives/date-posted/2012/05/03/"]http://www.flickr.co...ted/2012/05/03/[/url]

[size=6][b]NO LONGER FOR SALE, TRADED THIS BASS FOR A LAKLAND TODAY! [/b][/size]



Alright guys, up for sale is my Epiphone Thunderbird Pro-V in Trans-Black.

I've had the both the regular and pro four string thunderbirds, and I traded my 4 string pro for this 5 string version around a year or so ago. I have the bass for the one band mainly, but we don't actually gig all that much and when we do the low B doesn't see much love, so I'm heading back to a 4 string TB (and a white one too).

The neck is slightly wide for a 5 string, but quite flat in profile and is a 7 piece walnut and maple affair. The bass has an upgraded bridge, pickups and electronics (2 band active eq with volume and blend), as well as neck through construction. As it is a very new model the strap button is in the heel of the neck and this counteracts the neck dive that used to plague old TBs! Literally the only thing this has in common with a regular thunderbird is the shape, in the Pro-series, every aspect of the bass is upgraded! The pickups are completely different to the stock thunderbird ones and handle the lows very well.

This bass is in good nick, there have been a couple of dings on the top of the headstock but nothing visible from the front, there's a link to photos int he post immediately below this one. The bass is definitely a headturner, most bass players at gigs tell me they've never so much as seen a 5 string thunderbird before.

Honestly I can't remember what I paid for it (have tried to look on Paypal but no joy), but I'm gonna put this up at [size=4][s][b]£300ono[/b][/s][b] [s]£275[/s][/b][/size] [size=5][b]£250 [/b][size=4]+ postage[/size][/size]. I've splashed out £50 on a deluxe gigbag for this recently that I am planning to hang onto for the TB I'll be buying after this (it fits the singlecut too), but a deal can be possibly worked out.

Pics up below,
Cheers,
Dan

[quote name='fiatcoupe432' timestamp='1335304464' post='1629173']
Ehy dan have you sold my (your)warwick 5 se?
Please tell me this is not true and I'm just dreaming?!
[/quote]

Nope you're just dreaming, definitely not sold it, I was playing it earlier today in fact

I'm fairly sure it's wrong to have sexual feelings towards inanimate objects, but that doesn't stop me having them - that is just stunning.

What are you after as a price range bass and number of strings?

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1335971641' post='1638840']
Shipping is free from WDC and they're cheaper than Andertons. Or there's Musikhaus Hermann, which comes in just over £300, but there'll be shipping charges probably and they may not do UK shipping at all.

"Die Fat Lady unter den Bässen ist ganz sicher der Thunderbird"

[url="http://www.musikhaus-hermann.de/xtv/de/GITARREN-BAeSSE/BASS-GITARREN/Epiphone/Epiphone-Thunderbird-Classic-IV-USA-Pickups-white"]http://www.musikhaus...A-Pickups-white[/url]
[/quote]

I could go and get it from WDC myself to be honest, would probably want to too!

Thanks for the link, and for those of you who are curious, I think this would be going on the bass: [url="http://www.wdmusic.com/gibson_thunderbird_pickguard_gt_4725.html"]http://www.wdmusic.c...rd_gt_4725.html[/url]
I know it says it doesn't fit Epiphone, I'd get one made that does

I've heard these raved about but never had chance to try one myself, what's the comparison to something like say a Tanglewater CJ 5 for example, which I was a big fan of for a similar price?

Sorry for the old thread bump. Now planning on selling my 5 string Epi pro to get one of these but really can't find them, except here: http://www.wembleydrumcentre.com/Catalogue/Guitar-Centre/Bass-Guitars/Epiphone/Epiphone-Thunderbird-Classic-IV-USA-Pickups-Alpine-White-EBTCAWBH1 which seems steep at best. Any ideas?

Have a scout out of the pawn shops and perhaps show them a photo of it too. Something this uncommon would get noticed quickly by one of us on BC. They probably don't know what it's worth so will try and pawn in it.

I typically hate the look of ricks, but I gotta say, this colour looks f**kin fantastic on them, beautiful bass. Best of luck with the sale.

All I'd say is these things aren't the most comfortable basses to play, standing up or sitting down. You're not necessarily doing yourself any favours in terms of making learning to play easy by starting out with a BC Rich! I mean, I play a 5 string thunderbird live for one of my bands, but try to avoid playing with it at most other times because I don't get on with the neck too well.

My standard recommendation would be a second hand Warwick. Warwicks have been very popular in metal for years, and guys like Ensiferum, Wintersun etc their bass players use them a lot.

That said, I think there's a lot to be said for a Traben bass. They're unusual, and can look really metal in a cool way IMO, but will a damn sight more comfortable and easy to play than a BC Rich - they use things like uniquely shaped pickguards and fretboard inlays on more traditionally shaped bodies, so you get more playability but still with awesome looks: [url="http://www.trabenbass.com/basses.php"]http://www.trabenbass.com/basses.php[/url]

PM'd

Still a bargain guys and gals!

Holy cow a five string MM is a sexy bass, have a bump on me!

Well isn't she a looker. Have a bump on me for a lovely bass.

As with almost everyone I started out on a series of 4ers, and since I've made the jump to a 5er I've not really looked back. Exactly a year ago when I got into a new band, I was after a thunderbird (it suited the image etc, I'd always fancied one), so I picked up a 4er nice and cheaply. Whilst I enjoyed it and I actually started to play the old 4ers a bit more that I had knocking about, unused for years, the jump between using the 4er for that band and the 5er for the other, and 5ers most days of the week at home, I shipped it in for the 5 string thunderbird, just so the adjustment between basses wasn't so difficult.

The thing is, when you're trying to master a new song or practice a specific technique over a week or few, doing so at home, then picking up a completely different bass at practice really didn't suit me. Not only did I suck for the first half an hour-hour of practice, but it would scupper me in terms of staying on the ball with my practice. I've never been as giffted as some bassists so maybe other people don't struggle so much as I did.

As a result, I've just about packed in the 4ers. I've still got my first old rubbish Crafter (which I wouldn't sell anyway), my Dean which I'm trying to shift, but beyond that I have a fleet of 4 lovely 5 string basses, all different in their own right (and string spacings). They're different enough to keep me going to each one in different moods or needs, but similar enough that I don't shoot myself in the foot.

I think your idea sounds like a valid one. If I had one key piece of advice, don't make your custom Sandberg so personal that you'd never be able to sell it if you did want to switch back to a 4 after 12 years or however long as some people on here have pointed out, unless of course you are financially lucky enough for that not to be an issue!

Still for sale and fancy some easy spending money for my summer hol! Great bass this.

For most of us, basses are not our living and therefore are a luxury item - the vast majority of us never 'need' a new bass, which is why people don't like paying over the odds for one, obviously the more you watch the market the better an idea you probably have of what is over the odds and what is a bargain. In terms of second hand sales, basses seem to be fashionable at some times and unfashionable at others, at least in terms of popularity.

In addition, I do understand makers like warwick driving their prices up, in the hope that their RockBass and Pro models will get a better hold on the cheap market, but they are still pitching those instruments at too high a price for people who are feeling the pinch to some extent. I feel Fender is the same with their prices rising too, and having had a spate of some very solid Chinese and Korean basses recently, I really would not be inclined to buy a new 'respected brand name' bass with the current market situation.