Epiphone Vintage Pro mini review

Dave W · December 08, 2017, 09:21:17 PM

Quote from: veebass on December 08, 2017, 07:25:04 PM
Interesting to see these have turned up in the States and New Zealand.
I don't think we are going to get them in Australia. The importer is in the process of going under from the sound of it. No Gibsons or Epis coming in.

Are they readily available yet in the US, I might have import one? They don't seem to have hit US eBay yet.

Not readily, not yet. As of today, Sweetwater has four black and two sunburst left in stock, Sam Ash and Zzounds/American Musical are temporarily out.

Too bad about the Australian importer. Maybe someone else will be appointed soon.

veebass · December 08, 2017, 10:59:48 PM

Quote from: Dave W on December 08, 2017, 09:21:17 PM
Not readily, not yet. As of today, Sweetwater has four black and two sunburst left in stock, Sam Ash and Zzounds/American Musical are temporarily out.

Too bad about the Australian importer. Maybe someone else will be appointed soon.

Thanks for that. I think the importer is trying to pretend it's not happening- so it might take a while to sort out.
Hmm.... I wonder if Sweetwater ship internationally and if that damn CITES BS might be a problem.

veebass · December 08, 2017, 11:00:48 PM

Quote from: godofthunder on December 04, 2017, 02:20:18 PM
My Vintage Pro arrived yesterday only to be greated with a raised eyebrow from the missus.
I am very impressed with this bass, it really sounds like a 60's Thunderbird! I'll write some more thoughts later but for now this will have to do.

Do you reckon the pickups are EY 'Chinabuckers", Scott?

godofthunder · December 11, 2017, 12:50:10 PM

No I don't think they are Chinabuckers. Epiphone I believe reversed engineered these.

Dave W · December 11, 2017, 09:36:49 PM

Quote from: godofthunder on December 11, 2017, 12:50:10 PM
No I don't think they are Chinabuckers. Epiphone I believe reversed engineered these.

As I suspected (and said earlier), they wouldn't buy another company's stock pickups for these basses.

Basvarken · December 12, 2017, 12:03:51 AM

Quote from: godofthunder on December 11, 2017, 12:50:10 PM
No I don't think they are Chinabuckers. Epiphone I believe reversed engineered these.

Where -do you think- lies the difference?

Alanko · December 12, 2017, 03:23:14 AM

Quote from: godofthunder on December 11, 2017, 12:50:10 PM
No I don't think they are Chinabuckers. Epiphone I believe reversed engineered these.

Reverse-engineered the '60s originals? Surely a big pickup plant like Artec or G&B picked up the order for these?

Chris P. · December 12, 2017, 04:34:21 AM

I know some brands which use Asina parts, like speakers in cabs/amps and pickups in basses. So like a 'Made in Britain' amp or a 'made in Germany bass' with foreign parts. Even some high end brands, but the two I know don't like to tell that. But those pickups are specially made for those brands and in no way cheap or bad or whatever. So it might be a manufacturer like Artec, but it could be to the reverse engineered specs of Epiphone.

4stringer77 · December 12, 2017, 05:26:12 AM

Didn't Dave post an article awhile back about the pro buckers being designed in Nashville?

Basvarken · December 12, 2017, 05:29:58 AM

I think the pickups in the Vintage Pro are not pro buckers

Dave W · December 12, 2017, 10:34:12 AM

I don't remember posting an article about them. It wouldn't surprise me if they were designed in Nashville. Chris is probably right: these are either made to spec or made in-house.

Epi calls these ProBucker #760. The pickups in the Pro-IV bass are now called T-PRO. That's confusing.

4stringer77 · December 12, 2017, 11:34:00 AM

The article was about guitar pickups but I figured they must have something in common with the Vintage Pro bass pickups since they are called ProBucker Bass #760.
Even if they were designed in the U.S., it doesn't mean they can't be made to spec from a Chinese manufacturer and perhaps even the same factory that made the initial run of so called China buckers since there's no way to know for certain. Anyway, here's the article.
http://www.guitarsite.com/news/music_news_from_around_the_world/epiphone-probucker-challenge/

lowend1 · December 12, 2017, 12:16:10 PM

Quote from: Dave W on December 12, 2017, 10:34:12 AM
Epi calls these ProBucker #760. The pickups in the Pro-IV bass are now called T-PRO. That's confusing.

What's confusing is that there are now three Thunderbirds with the word "Pro" in their name - because there are so many professionals who need to self-identify based on their choice of instrument. The lowly bolt-on models will now be rebranded as "Thunderbird Hoi Polloi IV".

Dave W · December 12, 2017, 02:21:39 PM

Quote from: lowend1 on December 12, 2017, 12:16:10 PM
What's confusing is that there are now three Thunderbirds with the word "Pro" in their name - because there are so many professionals who need to self-identify based on their choice of instrument. The lowly bolt-on models will now be rebranded as "Thunderbird Hoi Polloi IV".

Still not as bad as GMC's "we are Professional Grade" claim.

Sure, and the Tee Ball division of Little League is professional grade baseball.

the mojo hobo · December 12, 2017, 05:46:05 PM

Quote from: 4stringer77 on December 12, 2017, 11:34:00 AM
The article was about guitar pickups but I figured they must have something in common with the Vintage Pro bass pickups since they are called ProBucker Bass #760.
Even if they were designed in the U.S., it doesn't mean they can't be made to spec from a Chinese manufacturer and perhaps even the same factory that made the initial run of so called China buckers since there's no way to know for certain. Anyway, here's the article.
http://www.guitarsite.com/news/music_news_from_around_the_world/epiphone-probucker-challenge/

Epiphone built a new factory to make guitars, could they be making these pickups there? Could the Chinabuckers have been built in that factory to test manufacturing, and quality control, and sold them un-named to test acceptance?

Anyone want to take one out and look at the bottom?