Thunder iii vs Epiphone Les Paul Standard?

I have the chance to buy a mint condition Westone Thunder iii Guitar (1983 MODEL). I want to play pub gigs etc. Is it good enough to gig with? Would an Epiphone Les Paul Standard be a safer buy?

michaelcharliechester wrote:I have the chance to buy a mint condition Westone Thunder iii Guitar (1983 MODEL). I want to play pub gigs etc. Is it good enough to gig with? Would an Epiphone Les Paul Standard be a safer buy?

this is a site for westone lovers.

i doubt there will be any disagreement here that the westone thunder III will absolutely blow away any epiphone guitar.

i think anyone who tries both a westone and an epiphone will agree, not just westone enthusiasts. the westone is far more versatile and wide ranging in the sounds you can get. the feel and playability is very different between the two, so that becomes a matter of personal preference. the westone is very much gig-worthy. i played a thunderIIA thru 6 years of gigs and it never let me down.

if you don't buy it, or if you do and don't like it, i know there will be a long line of people here that would gladly take it off your hands.

Which model; the series I, II or III??

http://www.westoneguitars.net/guitars/thunder/thunder-iii/

Any of these will be a better guitar than a Chinese-made Epi LP - these are thru-neck, brass finished powerful guitars - I gigged the Vantage version of this - the VA900 - for 25 years with no back-up; they are very good indeed.

And as g-saurus said, this is a Westone site; what sort of answer did you think you were going to get?!?!

Just chiming in with the rest here, as much as I like Epiphone's (and they're not bad at all, I own four!), a Thunder III is going to blow the Epi away in terms of construction and tones. They were top of the range and classed as a pro level guitar, I couldn't honestly say the same about an Epi LP?

As long as the Thunder III hasn't been buggered about with to much (has the headstock snapped off before!), you should grab it while you can. Epi Les Paul's flood the second hand market while the T III models are few and far between these days, just check eBay.

I seriously doubt you would regret owning one, as long as it's in good condition.

DAN.

If indeed it is truly mint condition IMHO you already have your answer right then and there. As stated earlier Epi's, while very good examples exist and very not so good examples exist as well, are a dime a dozen as far as availability is concerned.

Get that Thunder. If it does not meet...... nay, exceed any and all of your expectations the Epi will still be quite easily found.

And I will be quite easily found here as well quite willing to relieve you of that T III burden you will have.

The thing is I am VERY confident you may find yourself wanting to be buried with that axe, so a sale again may prove to be not impossible, but standing just to the right of impossible.

...oh, and if not me then another willing buyer is not going to be difficult to track down here, either.

Please stop back to post pics after the sale.

Apples and oranges really.

Also, LP is short scale and I think Thunder III is long scale.

If your playing in pubs, it wont be mint for long unless you treat it with kid gloves.

Just been to have a look at the guitar and it turns out its a Thunder 1-A, all knobs and switches and bits to play with. It is in absolutely fantastic condition, a family friend was given it as a birthday present as a kid and never played it. One tiny little dent/scratch on by the bottom horn but hardly noticable apart from that and the goldware showing a bit of tarnish it is in absolutely mint condition.
I had a play with it and as you all suggested it is quite something - loud! Feels lovely and lots of different tones to be had.

I have taken your advice and bought it but I have cancelled my gym membership as it weighs more than anything I ever pick up there!

I will post some pictures in a couple of days and let you know how I get on with it.

Many thanks for your input guys.

I would not buy an Epi or a Gibson for gigging unless I got an incredible deal. While they may sound good, play good or look good, the fact is...they break....a lot. Gibsons have the worst designed neck/headstocks out of the major brands. Just do a search fo electric guitars on ebay and filter by 'For parts or not working' and see the ratio of broken gibsons and epihones to any other brand. It is enlightening.

So for playing in your room where it is nice and safe it goes to personal preference. For gigging where the unknown occurs nightly...I would stay away from the one piece mahogany necks with that headstock angle - a poor design that gibson should have learned/improved upon decades ago.

michaelcharliechester wrote:Just been to have a look at the guitar and it turns out its a Thunder 1-A...

Excellent! You will love it!

I have cancelled my gym membership as it weighs more than anything I ever pick up there!

Too true!

Good to hear you chose the Westie! The Thunder 1-A has an active circuit to boost the signal, I'm sure you're finding that out now. This will help you out during gigs, if you need to boost signal for a solo or cut through the mix for some reason.

Like Iceman said, post your pics!