Epiphone EB-0

The Epi EB-0 is a Chinese-made reissue of the classic Gibson EB-0 of the 1960s. It is generally true to the original's design, with an SG body shape, 30.5" scale, and a single humbucking pickup positioned close to the neck, plus volume and tone controls. I had one for a little while but ended up trading it in to upgrade to a Gibson SG bass, mostly because the EB-0's single pickup, and its placement close to the neck, makes the instrument's sound rather heavy and dull even with both knobs on 10. Mine also showed some minor signs of sloppy factory work: there were some small areas on the fretboard where black filler had been used to cover up damage to the wood alongside a few of the frets. On the plus side, the tuners worked well and the instrument's tone was a pretty convincing replica of the classic EB-0.

The Epi EB-0 still uses the traditional Gibson three-point bridge first introduced in 1973. It's not a very good design; the distance from the ball-end to the saddle is quite short, so on strings with ball-end silk, you will usually need to trim the silk, else the silk will rest on the saddle. Also, the bridge is not fully in contact with the body, but is mostly suspended above it. The good news is that the superior HipShot three-point SuperTone bridge corrects all these problems and is compatible with the Epi EB-0; the bad news is that the replacement bridge costs half as much as the bass itself.

The American-made Gibson SG bass is better built than the Epiphone and has a bridge pickup with its own volume control, and therefore has a wider range of tones available. On the other hand, the Gibson costs five or six times the price of the Epiphone. If you're on a tight budget and you want some of that classic Gibson EB-series tone, the Epiphone will do the job. Considering its very low price, it is excellent value for money as long as you can accept its limitations.

Great all around bass. The sidewinder mud-bucker gives you that vintage EB tone, especially running through a tube amp. I dropped p/j pickups in mine and you can get almost ANY tone out of it. Also, the devilish looks guarantee that rock n' roll vibe.

While shopping for a short scale bass I stumbled upon this and it met my needs perfectly. This bass coupled with a compact SS amp makes for a light weight and compact duo to attend blues Jams in a crowded bar.