Epiphone EBM

[RobinTheHood]

NAME:

Epiphone EBM-5

 

Other Versions

EBM-4

EBM-4 Custom Ash

EBM-4 Fretless

EBM-5 Custom Ash

EBM-5 Fretless

 

Price:

$450 with Epiphone gigbag & leather Epiphone strap (1992)

Purchased from

Professional Guitars, Ferndale, Mi.

Features

Body - 3=piece Alder

Neck - 24-fret Maple with scarf joint

Fingerboard - Rosewood

Pickups - Epiphone Active P/J

Electronics - Active pre-amp with boost

Nut - Plastic

Scale - 34"

Tuners - Epiphone die-cast

Control Knobs - Amber bells

Bridge - 5-saddle fully adjustable

Nut width - 44mm

Truss Rod - Dual action 2-way

Colors - Cherry. Ebony, Baby Blue, White, Vintage Sunburst, Custom Ash

 

Sound Quality

Just above entry-level sound quality. The P/J pickups have a lot of snap, but lack mids and have a hard time cutting through the mix. Dialing in a sound takes a lot of work and relies heavily on the amplification.

 

Fit and Finish.

Overall very nice looking and durable. Thick poly finish and gold hardware. Nice alder wood grain shows through on the cherry & VSB models. Capable of extremely playable, low action. The die-cast tuners are very sturdy and hold tune better than any bass I've owned. They literally go out of tune only twice a year - once in the spring and once in the fall...with the exception on the low B and/or very old strings. The output jack is typical of any mid-range instrument and becomes loose easily. The Epiphone preamp is prone to connection problems and the potentiometers crackle incessantly unless you keep them clean religiously. This is common with all EBM models. I own two EBMs and an Expert-6 (EBM 6-string variant) and they all do this. Unfortunatley, the potentiometers are directly soldered to the preamp circuit board, which makes changing them out somewhat difficult.

 

Impressions

Overall, its a good bass. I've played one as a main instrument for almost 20 years. Aside from the few problems above, it has been very durable and trustworthy. My cherry EBM has served me well over the past two decades and only recently have I hung it up for good...mainly due to the fact that it needs new bridge saddles and potentiometers. The bridge saddle are extremely proprietary and correctly spaced replacements are unavailable. The potentiometers, again, are soldered to the preamp cicuit board. I ended up buying an immaculate 1992 EBM with a scarf-joint warp and swapped the necks.

 

The necks on the 5-string EBMs are fantastic players. They have a narrower string spacing than a typical 5-string, making it a very playable bass for someone with "guitar-sized" hands like me. Not so good for slap bass, but great for rock and blues. The headstock is Thunderbird-esque and looks great with the 5-in a row, reverse configuration. The EBM and 1990's Reverse Thunderbird necks are indentical. Aside from the active electronics and body shape, the EBM and Reverse T-bird are the same bass from the tone wood to the hardware to the necks.

 

Visually, the EBM is a head turner. I've always gotten lots of compliments on the cherry EBM and continue (moreso) to be complimented with the vintage-looking VSB. Of course, I changed out the hideous amber knobs for vintage Rickenbacker-style control knobs, which only adds to the cool look of this bass. With a set of Bartolini or EMG pickups to replace the stocks, this bass would be unstoppable.

 

History

1991-1999

The EBM is the bass version of the 1990's Epiphone EM Rebel guitars and a cousin to the Mark Series guitars by Gibson who , unfortunately, never produced a Mark Series bass.

 

Over the span of its production, the EBM saw very few changes. Most notably the headstock configuration. Early models had a reverse headstock with 5-in a row tuners. Throughout the decade, the EBM's headstock saw changes that included a non-reverse headstock, 3x2 (or 3x1) tuner configuration and truss rod cover changes. Early TRCs were pearloid Thunderbird shaped with a screen printed Epiphone "E". Later TRCs were black, rounded triangular, smaller covers with an engraved "EBM" in white. Some EBMs also had gold pickups while other had black.

 

In 2008, Epiphone reissued the EM-1 as a starter guitar and the EM-2 in the Prophesy Series. Epiphone did not reissue the EBM bass.

 

 

EBM Custom Ash

[eggs]

Great review & a nice looking bass Robin

[RaSTuS]

Well laid out review Rob, hope you find it a keeper (LOL), HOGD mate.

[RobinTheHood]

Thanks guys. I love my EBMs.

 

Stu, the pic is an EBM Custom Ash. I have a cherry and a VSB. I couldnt find any good pics of the cherry & VSB models. My Expert-6 is ash though. Its a beauty!

 

 

Rob, oh yeah, its a keeper. I've had the cherry EBM for twenty years. I bought the VSB last year with a scarf joint warp. The body and electronics on the cherry are trashed, so I bought the VSB to put the cherry's neck on it and to have some spare parts. I played a gig with it last night, actually.