I'll say something contentious now
and you may then crucify me: I think an Orville sounds pretty much like any set neck Gibson bass with those pups would sound, but it does not sound - or feel and respond - like a true neck-thru TBird. There, it's out, I said it. Same applies to all Epis, Grecos, Ibanezes and what have you. They look the part, approximate general sounds, but they lack the neck thru tone and feel which to me characterizes a true TBird (or Firebird) tone much in the same way a Ric 4001/4003 is characterized by its neck-thru construction. It is beyond me how anybody who has ever played a real TBird - and it may be an off-the-rack modern one - unplugged can find the same feel on one of those set neck cripples.
Accept no substitute - buy American.
