Tokai Thunderbird Bass

cartmen07

New member
Tokai TB56 BS
List: $855 before discount at The Pianoman Music Shop

Before i tried this thunderbird, i had only played on its Gibson and epiphone variants. I have always been impressed with the quality and playability of Tokai Guitars and this bass was no exception. This bass can ROCK!

Construction/ fit/ finish:
The piece that i tried was none other then the classic brown sunburst. The overall finishing of the bass was pretty much flawless. One aesthetic that i really liked was the trademark thunderbird logo on the pickguard. The bass felt very heavy although that is no issue with me as it has a full alder body that is neck through (tone heaven) The black hardware was another nice touch too.


Playability/ Tone
I took a few moments to adjust to the neck dive that the thunderbird suffers from. The neck was smooth and nice to play on, although the higher registers were slightly harder to play due to the design of the bass
The action was the bass was set to comfortable levels, not too low and not too high, just nice i would say.

The bass is equipped with dual passive pickups. This bass rumbles! After messing around with the amp a little, I achieved a rich and deep tone with a well defined punch. The output of the bass is LOUD!

Last say:
A very unique sounding bass.
Tonewise, it isnt that versatile like the jazz bass but it does what its built to do best which leans more towards rock/punk/metal.
Pricewise, it would be sitting inbetween the price of an epiphone and gibson. Having had the chance to try all the variants. I would say that this Tokai isnt a Gibson Thunderbird IV. but it definately can hold its ground against the Gibson Thunderbird Studio and the epiphones. This bass is great value for money with a good price to performance ratio

Likes:
• Overall quality of the bass
• Rock sound that was heavy yet clear
• Value for money

ps. Special thanks to Kenneth from The Pianoman Music Shop who gladly assisted in setting up the amp and for letting me try the bass.
 
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