Orville Thunderbird Bass

This is an Orville Thunderbird bass.  Orville guitars were versions of Gibson instruments licensed by Gibson and built in Japan mostly for the Japanese market, and are much higher quality instruments than Epiphones or other knockoffs. This is much closer to the prized mid-70s "Bicentennial" Gibson T-birds than any later Gibson, Epiphone or 'lawsuit' model.

The serial number on the back of the headstock (J706052) indicates it was produced in June 1997 at the Terada factory.

This is a player's bass, not a collecter's item. The action is comfortably low and the neck is slim and very fast, with excellent fretwork. Except for strap locks, the instrument is all-original, and everything works properly.  The finish looks like a close approximation of vintage nitrocellulose, though it's probably something else. The bass has some chips and dings around the edges but just enough to give it some charm-- Tbirds are mystically attractive magnets for mic stands, cymbals and thrashing singers.  The pickups are pretty close to the sound of a vintage Gibson-- high output and the low end is enormous. 

Parenthetically, given the low end on Tbirds, I'm surprised they never became popular as reggae basses (though Garry Lowe from Big Sugar did use one....).

A non-original Epiphone thunderbird-molded hardcase is included.