Lefty Thunderbird Copies

[chris_e]

Hello everyone!

I'm new and glad to have found this forum while looking for a lefthanded Thunderbird. I know neither Gibson nor Epiphone produces them (God knows why?) - but I have found a version of the japanese company Tokai (see http://tinyurl.com/5ue8lc)... It's called Tokai TB48. Do you know these? How do they sound and are they crafted well? And much more important - can i buy them somewhere in Europe?

I want a TB so badly, I guess some of you feel the same and it's a shame they're not available for Leftys. So I'd even take a copy if it's well made and offers at least a bit of authentic TB feeling

Thanks for your help!
Chris

[pjmuck]

I own an lefty Epiphone T-Bird that I got back when they were making them for 5 minutes. I like it, it's got a deep low-mid tone drive especially with a pick, even though the Gibson purists dismiss them as sounding nothing like the real deal. They have bolt on necks vs. neck thru on the real Gibsons, which I personally feel gives the bass better attack to cut through the mix than the real T-Birds.

Tokai and Greco make T-Bird knockoffs, but only for the asian market. The Tokai looks nicer than my Epiphone because they're neck thru and I believe they may even be mahogany (my Epi's maple painted to look like mahogany, I believe). The knobs also look better, and the bridge, though not accurate to a real T-Bird, probably works better (most agree the real T-Bird bridges suck).

You might be able to order a Tokai from Japan and have it shipped. Contact Ken at http://www.guitarshogun.com and see if he can get you one. I just ordered a lefty Jaguar bass through him that's due to arrive any minute, and his price was very reasonable.

Good luck.

[Matt R.]

I own an lefty Epiphone T-Bird that I got back when they were making them for 5 minutes. I like it, it's got a deep low-mid tone drive especially with a pick, even though the Gibson purists dismiss them as sounding nothing like the real deal. They have bolt on necks vs. neck thru on the real Gibsons, which I personally feel gives the bass better attack to cut through the mix than the real T-Birds.

Tokai and Greco make T-Bird knockoffs, but only for the asian market. The Tokai looks nicer than my Epiphone because they're neck thru and I believe they may even be mahogany (my Epi's maple painted to look like mahogany, I believe). The knobs also look better, and the bridge, though not accurate to a real T-Bird, probably works better (most agree the real T-Bird bridges suck).

You might be able to order a Tokai from Japan and have it shipped. Contact Ken at http://www.guitarshogun.com and see if he can get you one. I just ordered a lefty Jaguar bass through him that's due to arrive any minute, and his price was very reasonable.

Good luck.

What did you pay for the Jag with shipping?

[pjmuck]

What did you pay for the Jag with shipping?

Matt et. al: It came to a little over a grand including shipping.

[chris_e]

Thanks a lot for your answer. I'll try and contact the given adress... And will have a look on Ebay. Maybe I'm lucky and get a lefty TB there...

[Pro Stock John]

Do the Epiphone ones ever come up for sale? I'd love one of those.