Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage pro. What is a fair price?

mzed

I was hoping someone would be kind enough to let me know what's a fair price for my Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage pro.

I purchased this about 4 years ago, I knew from the moment I plugged it in that I should have got a short scale so it's been in storage ever since, I can't find a mark on it, it's in pristine condition.
 I would like to move it on but I have no idea what it's worth? They seem to be going for between £500-£600 new? Bear in mind this is a Through-neck model with nickel hardware and rosewood neck (not the bolt-on neck, active pickup version) 

Anyhoot, any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

https://imgur.com/6t1BgrZ

https://imgur.com/3BYN6lP

ICBM

That's very nice .

As a rule of thumb, 2/3 of new price is in the right ballpark for something still in production and in good condition - these are closer to £700 now, so I would think about £450.

If you were anywhere near southern Scotland it might have been dangerously tempting...

mzed

Thanks you @ICBM I really appreciate it! I would have sold myself a little short without your advice. 
Southern Scotland! That's just a hop, skip and a jump to ol London Town, I'm happy to hold it for you, traffic ain't so bad today.  

ICBM

mzed said:

That's just a hop, skip and a jump to ol London Town, I'm happy to hold it for you, traffic ain't so bad today.

lol

Actually I used to have an original '76 Thunderbird, but being somewhat on the short side myself, it was a bit of a stretch to play. Strangely, not as bad as a Firebird guitar, but still not what I really need now .

Good luck with the sale, I don't think you'll have too much trouble!

CE1

As a thunderbird fan and serial buyer/ seller I can say they are easier to buy than sell! But they always sell in the end, just be prepared to wait for the right buyer unless you make it stupid cheap as they aren’t uncommon on the second hand market.

mzed

ICBM said:

mzed said:

That's just a hop, skip and a jump to ol London Town, I'm happy to hold it for you, traffic ain't so bad today.

lol

Actually I used to have an original '76 Thunderbird, but being somewhat on the short side myself, it was a bit of a stretch to play. Strangely, not as bad as a Firebird guitar, but still not what I really need now .

Good luck with the sale, I don't think you'll have too much trouble!

Wow, I bet that 76 was difficult to part with! I know exactly what you mean regarding Firebirds, I LOVE a Firebird but I  find them so awkward. thanks again.

mzed

CE1 said:

As a thunderbird fan and serial buyer/ seller I can say they are easier to buy than sell! But they always sell in the end, just be prepared to wait for the right buyer unless you make it stupid cheap as they aren’t uncommon on the second hand market.

Cheers @CE1 ;
Although I've often payed over the odds for stuff, I always try to sell gear at a reasonable prices, I have no experience with the Bass Guitar market so I really do appreciate your comments. If you guys think £450 is reasonable then that's what I will initially ask, I'm in no rush to sell but it's a shame for a Thunderbird to be sitting in storage forever.
I totally understand why you have a Thunderbird addiction! 

CE1

mzed said:

CE1 said:

As a thunderbird fan and serial buyer/ seller I can say they are easier to buy than sell! But they always sell in the end, just be prepared to wait for the right buyer unless you make it stupid cheap as they aren’t uncommon on the second hand market.

Cheers @CE1 ;
Although I've often payed over the odds for stuff, I always try to sell gear at a reasonable prices, I have no experience with the Bass Guitar market so I really do appreciate your comments. If you guys think £450 is reasonable then that's what I will initially ask, I'm in no rush to sell but it's a shame for a Thunderbird to be sitting in storage forever.
I totally understand why you have a Thunderbird addiction! 

Nothing sounds like them, yours is the best of the Epiphone range. The bolt on neck type are pretty poor. Strangely my favourite is the Gibson Studio, set neck and decent pickups. Body is more rounded so a little better ergonomically and being a studio they are the cheapest Gibson’s out there. The long reach becomes normal very quickly. I think putting yours up at £450 is spot on with an eye to accept £400-430 if offered.

ICBM

CE1 said:

Nothing sounds like them, yours is the best of the Epiphone range. The bolt on neck type are pretty poor.

I don’t think they’re that bad - especially not at the price they are - but these Vintage Pro ones are in a completely different league, really not far off a Gibson.

If I remember rightly they have a scarfed headstock too, so less likely to suffer from the reason why I got my ‘76 for £100 . (Admittedly in about 1990.)

mzed

CE1 said:

mzed said:

CE1 said:

As a thunderbird fan and serial buyer/ seller I can say they are easier to buy than sell! But they always sell in the end, just be prepared to wait for the right buyer unless you make it stupid cheap as they aren’t uncommon on the second hand market.

Cheers @CE1 ;
Although I've often payed over the odds for stuff, I always try to sell gear at a reasonable prices, I have no experience with the Bass Guitar market so I really do appreciate your comments. If you guys think £450 is reasonable then that's what I will initially ask, I'm in no rush to sell but it's a shame for a Thunderbird to be sitting in storage forever.
I totally understand why you have a Thunderbird addiction! 

Nothing sounds like them, yours is the best of the Epiphone range. The bolt on neck type are pretty poor. Strangely my favourite is the Gibson Studio, set neck and decent pickups. Body is more rounded so a little better ergonomically and being a studio they are the cheapest Gibson’s out there. The long reach becomes normal very quickly. I think putting yours up at £450 is spot on with an eye to accept £400-430 if offered.

I love everything about the Thunderbirds (and firebirds) they are stunning instruments, but I simply can't get accustomed to how outstretched the necks feel, my go-to (guitar) is a Jag, even my Jazzmasters feel like a stretch, lol. I got the opportunity to play a Mustang JMJ recently and I instantly knew that a short scale suits me better (and I would actually play it). 
Once again, thank you for your advice, I'm now confident that I've priced it right and I'd be more than happy to accept something a smidge over the £400 mark. 

mzed

ICBM said:

CE1 said:

Nothing sounds like them, yours is the best of the Epiphone range. The bolt on neck type are pretty poor.

I don’t think they’re that bad - especially not at the price they are - but these Vintage Pro ones are in a completely different league, really not far off a Gibson.

If I remember rightly they have a scarfed headstock too, so less likely to suffer from the reason why I got my ‘76 for £100 . (Admittedly in about 1990.)

WHAT! You got a 76 for £100! it must have felt like winning the lottery, even in 1990 (with or without a compromised headstock, no matter) 

ICBM

mzed said:

WHAT! You got a 76 for £100! it must have felt like winning the lottery, even in 1990 (with or without a compromised headstock, no matter) 

It was more than compromised - it was not only completely off, someone had already tried to fix it by laminating a piece of plywood over the broken bits and made it worse . (I think it was actually a piece of an old Framus neck, remarkably.) I agree to pay the owner what he thought the pickups, bridge and tuners were worth since he really thought it was that far gone.

I rebuilt the neck from about the E tuner to the 3rd fret by properly double-scarf-jointing in a new piece of mahogany - amazingly, not only was the fingerboard unbroken but the truss rod, although bent, was possible to straighten and worked fine afterwards without needing to extract it from the neck.

I sold it a few years later for about £900 I think - it was just a bit too ungainly for me. I do occasionally miss it though, and your pics *almost* made me think I want another one .

mzed

OMG! Nightmare! What a sight that must have been.
Must have been a miracle that the Truss rod remained functional, you must be a damn good craftsman to have got the Scarf-joint just right. I love "theFretboard" for these great stories. 

prowla

ICBM said:

mzed said:

That's just a hop, skip and a jump to ol London Town, I'm happy to hold it for you, traffic ain't so bad today.

lol

Actually I used to have an original '76 Thunderbird, but being somewhat on the short side myself, it was a bit of a stretch to play. Strangely, not as bad as a Firebird guitar, but still not what I really need now .

Good luck with the sale, I don't think you'll have too much trouble!

Similarly, T-birds aren't for me.

Funkfingers

prowla said:

T-birds aren't for me.

Me neither. I cannot get on with their narrow string spacing.

A John Entwistle style Fender-bird is a different matter.

stimpsonslostson

ICBM said:

That's very nice .

As a rule of thumb, 2/3 of new price is in the right ballpark for something still in production and in good condition - these are closer to £700 now, so I would think about £450.

If you were anywhere near southern Scotland it might have been dangerously tempting...

@ICBM there's one on Facebook marketplace in central Edinburgh. Comes with hard case too. 
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/451237386982337/?ref=facebook_story_share

ICBM

stimpsonslostson said:

@ICBM there's one on Facebook marketplace in central Edinburgh. Comes with hard case too. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/451237386982337/?ref=facebook_story_share

Thanks, but that's a 5-string... not for me!

YellowLedBetterMan

I sold mine for about £350 a few years ago with an off-brand hard case included in the sale. I imagine it'd be about a hundred or so quid more now given how much the prices have gone up in the last 2 and a half years

mzed

Thank you all for your help/advice. I ended up acepting an offer of £400 for the Thunderbird. The dude was such a nice bloke and damn good on 4 strings, he was over the moon and I'm happy it ended up with someone who will put it to good use.