Rock N Roll Relics Thunders

WHEN YOU’VE OPENED ABOUT 50 BAJILLION BASS cases in your time, you develop a certain instinct for vibe.

- Jonathan Herrera

There’s some subtle combination of hardware, aesthetics, and design that triggers a gut reaction informed by years of bass scrutiny. When the Rock N Roll Relics Thunders arrived at the BP office, Senior Contributing Editor E.E. Bradman and I immediately gave each other that “look”—the Whoa, this thing looks friggin’ sweet look. Made in San Francisco by an ex-L.A. hair-metal guitarist, the Thunders is a sort of mishmash of rock-bass design greatest hits which, in the end, seems like an instrument that’s somehow been available for decades. Instant vintage.