piperamirez Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 A few months ago I ordered an Epiphone Thunderbird-IV from Import Music Chile, my local Gibson retailer, which as far as I know is a trusted unofficial reseller here in Chile. The bass arrived a week ago due to understock issues; it was in perfect shape and well protected (so far so good!). Then, as I inspected it I began to notice several suspicious details. Here's a list of the details I have found so far and some pictures (I can upload more and better quality if needed). 1. The neck plate is chromed as displayed in the picture (as far as I know epis have a somewhat black-stained chromed plate with the serial number). 2. The strap button is placed in the neck plate, not in the body. 3. Some joints have little paint cracks, like low quality manufacturing process. 4. The white pickguard is a little shifted from where it should be, based on other t-birds pics I have seen. Suspicious neck plate: Some labels, one of them reads "hand crafted in china" Serial number printed in the back of the headstock Is this a genuine Epiphone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperamirez Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Additional photos I took yesterday... Front side Back side Natural finish (no flash) Chromed neck plate with strap button Headstock labels Headstock printed serial number Epiphone logo Neck joint raised over the body continues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperamirez Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 continuation... Upper neck joint cracks Lower neck joint cracks Small crack on neck wood The bird Off-center pickguard (shifted to the right in the picture) Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrycat Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 In my opinion, it looks like a legitimate Thunderbird that's of "2nd" quality and is probably used. You said you got it from an unofficial reseller, so that's the risk you take. It still looks like it's in pretty good condition. Everything except the neck-plate is right, and that looks to me like a modification. It's a popular modification to move the strap button to the back of the instrument. The neck plate that's on there is from an Epi Special. The screw was probably too big to go through the old neck plate so it got replaced. That's my theory anyway. Enjoy your bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperamirez Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Thank you, that was very helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Is there a screw hole where the strap button should have originally been? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperamirez Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 Is there a screw hole where the strap button should have originally been? Nope, I think it would be visible here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Nope, I think it would be visible here Well, that doesnt bode well. I dont really know how to spot fake T-Birds, but you would think there should be a screw hole there. Maybe HCat will have some insight on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperamirez Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 OK now I'm pretty sure that my bass is one of these: http://www.musicalgrellmann.com.br/loja/produto-54103-11661-contra_baixo_epiphone_thunderbird_iv_4_cordas__vintage_sunburst The red string ends are noticeably unleveled as shown in both basses in the picture, they look exactly alike! I really hope those are leigit epis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Is it just me, those "Show" buttons that link to the images does absolutely nothing when clicked, not from Firefox 3.6.17 anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggs Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Is it just me, those "Show" buttons that link to the images does absolutely nothing when clicked, not from Firefox 3.6.17 anyway. All work OK for me Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Is it just me, those "Show" buttons that link to the images does absolutely nothing when clicked, not from Firefox 3.6.17 anyway. Its some sort of built-in Javascript collapsable DIV. If you have scripts turned off in your browser it wont work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrycat Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Well, that doesnt bode well. You would think there should be a screw hole there. Maybe HCat will have some insight on this. I don't know then. Maybe the old hole got filled in and painted over? Everything else looks legit to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 All work OK for me Rob Its some sort of built-in Javascript collapsable DIV. If you have scripts turned off in your browser it wont work. Thanks guys, I've got Javascript enabled but it's screwed down, I don't like scripts trying to change my viewing experience without my say so, I'll just go with out, cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob R Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I just saw one very similar to this one at Guitar Center. It was the white on with the chrome hardware. I had the same neck plate, but in chrome. Plus the strap pin was in the same place and no extra hole where the old pin was. The salesman sad it came in last week, so I guess this is how the new T-Birds are being done now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrycat Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I just saw one very similar to this one at Guitar Center. It was the white on with the chrome hardware. I had the same neck plate, but in chrome. Plus the strap pin was in the same place and no extra hole where the old pin was. The salesman sad it came in last week, so I guess this is how the new T-Birds are being done now. Well there you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piperamirez Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 I just saw one very similar to this one at Guitar Center. It was the white on with the chrome hardware. I had the same neck plate, but in chrome. Plus the strap pin was in the same place and no extra hole where the old pin was. The salesman sad it came in last week, so I guess this is how the new T-Birds are being done now. Good to hear that, thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob R Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Good to hear that, thank you so much! No problem, I'm just glad yours is real. I was really impressed with the white one, and I really thought about buying it, but I found something else I have been wanting for a very long time I hope yours plays as good as the white one, if it does you have a kick a** bass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggs Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 ...but I found something else I have been wanting for a very long time Which would be??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob R Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Which would be??? It's not a Epiphone, but I've wanted something like this for a long time. I do have a new to me Epiphone, but I won't see it until Aug. 10th. I'll post some/a lot of pics when I get it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.