Which Epi to get??? LP Sp. T-Bird. Ripper?????

[rodl2005]

Hi all, My 1st post here-so G'day from Down under Australia-I mean that-literally!

 

I'm wanting one of these Either the T-Bird, the Ripper, or the LP special( tho I really like the other two best, coz of body shape!! But, I recently heard some good things re the Les Paul Special-w/ the set neck, mahogany body.... & the $$$$ But as I said - I DO like the Ripper best, thenm the T-Bird as far as looks go.

 

So anyone give me any reports re any o' these??

 

Cheers,

Rod

[Freuds_cat]

G'day back at ya mate from Adelaide.

 

Open ended question really. Just depends what sort of music you play, what kind of sound you're after, what neck feel, body etc etc.

 

For what its worth here is my take on it.

 

Les Paul: Mahogany will give you that darker more solid (and a gentle fuzz) tone than say a bright Fender type of sound. A pair of Alnico pups also gives you that Fatness that Humbuckers are renowned for. And it has a fitted neck which arguably makes it more like a Gibson I guess. Pro's and cons here but for my money mostly Pros. Sits nicely on the your neck, very little neck dive.

 

 

Thunderbird IV:

The Epi T-bird has an Alder Body (a wood more associated with Fender than Gibson). It also has a bolt on neck, (Maple) also like a Fender. IMHO These basses are really great feeling and sounding instruments but dont for a minute think that you are buying a Gibson Thunderbird. Its just not. They look like a Gibson but they sound more Fenderish than a Gibson. Even though they have a set of (Epi) Thunderbird plus pickups. (The original Gibson T-bird plus pups are probably the best sounding pups Gibson ever made IMHO). Kind of like an extra fat sounding P bass. Neck dive on them is there but not as bad as some of the older basses I've tried of this type.

 

Other option here is the Nikki Sixx Blackbird. This has a Maple bolt on neck which yes is a Fender thing to do but the body is Mahogany and the Pups are quite fat sounding. I personally prefer the tobacco burst look of the TB-IV but the sound of the Blackbird.

 

 

The Ripper

This is the least impressive for me. Single coil Fender P/J style pups. This is a bug bear with me. What is so Gibson about putting Fender style pups on a Gibophone bass? Just wrong, might just as well go buy a Fender. Maple Bolt on neck (Fender again). Maple body makes it firstly heavy and secondly BRIGHT sounding. Another case of making a bass body look Gibson-esque but really they've taken all the small but important details that give Gibophones their uniqueness and Fenderised them.

 

Ask 10 people and you will get 10 different opinions but 2 big reasons to me for having Gibophone basses in my arsenal are Mahogany and Humbuckers followed closely by fitted necks.

 

Sorry to say that for me the Les Paul wins hands down.

 

Best advice I can offer is to go and play them and make up your own mind because what I like and what you like are almost certainly different.

 

Good luck and let us know how you go with it.

 

Cheers

 

FC