Bass of the Week: Island Instruments Thunderstang

There’s always something exciting about seeing elements from different bass styles coming together. This week we’re 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.

The Mustang-style body is made from alder and sports a matte finish with a 1-ply black matte pickguard. The “Thunder” 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.

“I started to experiment with aluminum necks late last year,” the luthier tells us. “I had been curious for years, and it seemed there was a growing buzz around them. I started with ‘Thunderjazz’. The idea behind that was to build a jazz bass on steroids – The TBird pickups added a ton of power, and the rigidity of the neck gave notes this crazy ‘springiness’ and ‘immediacy,’ with insanely rich harmonics and overtones, and infinite sustain – 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 – 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’s something I really love about being a customer builder and working with individuals on a one-to-one basis. This bass is something that’s unique and really slaps and I would’ve never thought of that pickup combination on my own.”

The Thunderstang is completed with a Hipshot Kickass bridge and Hipshot Ultralight tuners.

Island Instruments Thunderstang Bass Photos:

Island Instruments Thunderstang Bass Specs: