{"id":185,"date":"2023-10-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?post_type=bass&p=185"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:46:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:46:40","slug":"bass-of-the-week-island-instruments-thunderstang","status":"publish","type":"bass","link":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?bass=bass-of-the-week-island-instruments-thunderstang","title":{"rendered":"Bass of the Week: Island Instruments Thunderstang"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Island<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always something exciting about seeing elements from different bass styles coming together. This week we\u2019re checking out a bit of a Frankenstein with the Thunderstang by Island Instruments. Builder Nic Delisle gave us the full scoop on the incredible instrument. <\/p>\n

The Mustang-style body is made from alder and sports a matte finish with a 1-ply black matte pickguard. The \u201cThunder\u201d portion of the bass comes from its Lollar Thunderbird pickups surrounding a Fralin reverse P pickup. Another central aspect of the bass is its milled aluminum neck made by Robot Graves. Delisle tells us it has a unique razor-thin profile that is shockingly comfortable. <\/p>\n

\u201cI started to experiment with aluminum necks late last year,\u201d the luthier tells us. \u201cI had been curious for years, and it seemed there was a growing buzz around them. I started with \u2018Thunderjazz\u2019. The idea behind that was to build a jazz bass on steroids \u2013 The TBird pickups added a ton of power, and the rigidity of the neck gave notes this crazy \u2018springiness\u2019 and \u2018immediacy,\u2019 with insanely rich harmonics and overtones, and infinite sustain \u2013 the thing was a total powerhouse. I wanted to follow up by seeing how that applied to short-scale basses (which have also seen a recent skyrocketing in popularity), and I built a few on the Mustang platform with different pickup variations \u2013 Mudbuckers and goldfoils up against the end of the neck mated w\/ Guild BiSonic pickups or jazz pickups in the bridge position. I was once again blown away. It seemed I had solved all of the shortcomings of the short scale. Note definition, clarity, articulation, it was all there, and a short-scale bass had no business having the amount of sustain these things have. Thunderstang itself was the brainchild of a customer. He had originally placed an order for Thunderjazz, but after chatting for a while, we landed here. That\u2019s something I really love about being a customer builder and working with individuals on a one-to-one basis. This bass is something that\u2019s unique and really slaps and I would\u2019ve never thought of that pickup combination on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Thunderstang is completed with a Hipshot Kickass bridge and Hipshot Ultralight tuners.<\/p>\n

Island Instruments Thunderstang Bass Photos:<\/h2>\n
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There\u2019s always something exciting about seeing elements from different bass styles coming together. This week we\u2019re checking out a bit of a Frankenstein with the Thunderstang by Island Instruments. Builder Nic Delisle gave us the\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1063,"template":"","meta":[],"builder":[],"class_list":["post-185","bass","type-bass","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass\/185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/bass"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"builder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbuilder&post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}