Epiphone Rex Brown Thunderbird

[Chris P.]

https://www.epiphone.com/nl-NL/Electric-Bass/Rex-Brown-Thunderbird/Ebony

[Basvarken]

€1500... that's a lot of money for an Epiphone

[TBird1958]

Nice, but I don't dig that mis matched hardware on a 1200.00 bass- Lame.

[Chris P.]

It sure is. It does come with a hard case, a better bridge, a brass nut and - I guess - some case candy. And it has the nine-ply neck. I guess The difference with a normal Epiphone is not as outrageous as the Kiss bass compared to an SG Bass.

I'll wait for the surf colour Birds!

Having said that: A normal Mexican P is over 1000 euros nowadays, without a gigbag. US Music Mans aren't available in Eurpe anymore - well, you can order them at Ernie Ball's in the US - so what we can get is the Asian Sterling by Music Man Ray34 as top of the line. Also over 1000 euros, but with a gigbag. Compared to that, it isn't that strange. 

[Ken]

This is an odd bird, so to speak.  It's really just a VP.  Neck-through and passive Probucker 760s.  I agree with V about the mismatched hardware. The gold rings on nickel pickup covers is cheesy.

[uwe]

That it's not active baffles me, wasn't that the whole point of the Gibbie Rex Brown Sig? I thought that bass an interesting concept.

The non-matching hardware is probably on purpose, perhaps Rex likes it that way. Can't fathom any other reason.

[Ken]

Curious if Rex had anything to do with the Epiphone version. Probably sounds nothing like his Gibson model.

[Alanko]

Does Rex have the clout to sell that many basses for Epiphone?

The chrome pickups and gold rings really just looks like they couldn't be arsed commissioning gold pickups. It looks like a home-upgraded Vintage Pro. Reasonably cool, but you could buy a €700 bass and €200 bridge and arrive at the same outcome.

[Ken]

I bet his Gibson model is selling better than Gene's.  I wonder how Gene feels about that.

[TBird1958]

That it's not active baffles me, wasn't that the whole point of the Gibbie Rex Brown Sig? I thought that bass an interesting concept.

The non-matching hardware is probably on purpose, perhaps Rex likes it that way. Can't fathom any other reason.

Like when your hair and bush don't match....

[Alanko]

I bet his Gibson model is selling better than Gene's.  I wonder how Gene feels about that.

Emasculated. Like when all the kids picked on him at school.

[4stringer77]

There's a video on Youtube where someone takes the pickups out of the Rex Brown Gibson sig basss and the  pickups are DeColas. The silver and gold combo looks alright to me but overall the Epi is probably a better value than the Gibson version considering it's about half the price. The Epi vintage pro is still tough to beat compared to the Epi Rex Brown.

[godofthunder]

  It appears that the pickups are 1976 Bicentennial reproductions,  interesting choice considering that the Gibson siggy has active pickups. I will be reviewing this bass soon.

[Ken]

Interesting, Scott.  I look forward to your review. The Epiphone web site says ProBucker 760.

[godofthunder]

  Well now thats interesting! The article I read was qouting Rex, maybe he doesn't know the difference between a 64 and a 76? At any rate the 760s get a big thumbs up from me.