EB-0 reviews?

[Lord Summerisle]

I find myself jonesing for a short-scale SG bass à la Jack Bruce.

 

But, being quite broke right now, and not seeing much out there in the used market, the obvious contender is an Epiphone EB-0.

 

I'd be interested in reading honest appraisals of these (let's face it, fairly inexpensive) basses. Everything at the mainstream review sites seems to be either, "It's the greatest thing ever, better than a Gibson re-issue SG bass for only $199!" OR "Dude, it totally sucks!" A realistic appraisal from a musician experienced with these basses would be informative.

 

I might have some money down the line to upgrade hardware etc, if this would be advantageous. I don't have the skills to route the body to install a bridge pick-up (or, rather, I have no confidence in my wood-working skills to achieve this in a way that will leave me happy with the aesthetic results).

 

The bass will be used mainly for home recordings, and occasionally for small gigs through a Peavey MAX 112.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

[kokoshmusun]

I'm not too experienced as a bassist. I got my EB-0 a few weeks ago. The luthier wasn't at the shop so I took it home and thought I could adjust the action myself. But one of the bridge sockets came out. So I took it back, they fixed it and got a decent action. It's still not super low and the strings buzz, but it's okay so I haven't bothered further. It's a peculiar bass, and the bridge (with 3 sockets) is a weird design. The volume and p/up knobs are not too sensitive, they work mostly at the extreme settings and inbetween they don't affect the volume/tone much. One of the strap pins is on the back of the body, I found that uncomfortable. All else seems fine for the price. The finish is nice. Tuners are p/up are not bad. I have fun playing it, and I'm planning on taking it on the stage.

 

I mostly got the EB-0 because, coming from guitar, I really wanted to try a short scale bass and there weren't many other options for that. For the price, I think it's a good instrument. It's definitely worth checking out.

[Beate]

You might look for the Epiphone "Ltd. Ed. 1960's EB-3 Bass". This is a short scale model with 31" scale - yes slightly more than the 30.5" of the EB-0. The instrument is available as a special edition in limited number only, and it is WAY better than the EB-0 in almost any respect except the mudbucker which is the same low quality thing as used in the other EBs by Epiphone.

 

Body mahogany (AFAIK 3 piece), set neck, also mahogany (although advertising states maple). Much more precisely manufactured, much better playability and much better tone. It is the white bass on my avatar. The black one is a modified EB-0.

 

Beate