Thunderbird IV

In my search for a bass guitar I have turned my attention to the Thunderbird IV. The original Gibson model is a bass guitar with unique pickups designed for a punchy, fat sound and the bass in general seems to be designed for Rock. The downside is that it is somewhat unwieldy and hard to play fancy things on, but Rock bass is easier than, say, funk bass. Unfortunately it's about $2500. Alas there is hope, for Epiphone builds a model of slightly lower quality for only $300 and the biggest factor in the price difference is just visual. For now I have my eyes set on the Epiphone Thunderbird IV.