anyone ever modded an epiphone eb-0?

[mellowgerman]

I feel like these little basses have good potential(being all mahogany and a cool shortscale). so i'm thinking about grabbing one up and maybe dropping a better pickup in it and maybe swapping some other stuff. what do you guys think? have any pictures of ones you've modded?

 

[BadB]

No, I haven't modified my son's EB-0. I am seriously considering putting a Dark Star pickup in it. Hard to justify it since the pickup cost more than the bass. As it is, it's a little hard to listen to and not grit my teeth.

 

[mellowgerman]

haha i know what you mean. i actually have an extra 70s guild starfire humbucker around that i would love to drop in one and take it for a spin.(though it wouldnt compare to a darkstar)

 

[Fred Hammon]

This same subject came up awhile ago.
I don't post here often but this particular combination has become the "project de jour"....so I'll answerer it again in the same way:

Fred:
I installed the Dark Star in a new EBO Epiphone. It sounded just dandy. Good deep tone....and that is with the existing volume and tone pots of this rather inexpensive instrument.
I would like a couple more to try out in some other instruments I have.
You certainly did a fine job of putting out a super pickup. Great work!
Originally I got this bass, to carry over to England and Germany during personal visits believing that if I lost it or it was crushed I would feel no pain - as it were..........however a dilemma has developed now that it sounds so good!

Best regards.

Jack Casady

(This is not Jack's bass but it should be about the same)

 

[mellowgerman]

thanks for that, fred. very groovy. Jack Casady is my hero!!!!!

 

[iamthebassman]

Modded? Yeah, sorta.

 

[GM60466]

Try a can of Ronson and a match

G

 

[poomwah]

I'd like to hear more about this subject. My wife has recently started playing bass, and she's playing on my original ibanez, and she's having a little bit of a problem with reach, so I'm thinking a short scale would be better for her. I THINK she's getting me an eb3 for valentines day, so it would be kinda neat for her to have an eb0, his and hers kinda thing :]

 

[Pilgrim]

I have an EB-0 and I fail to see any problem with its sound. It is a bit distinctive, but it's not muddy, it seems well-balanced to me, and the guys in my band like the sound. If it didn't have its own voice, why would I want to buy it? If it sounded like everything else, I'd already have basses with "that sound".

As far as I'm concerned, all the EB-0 needs is a setup and it's ready to play. It's just a tad neck-heavy even in short scale, but a nice wide suede strap fixed that.

The EB-0 is a very decent bass for not a lot of money. I don't think it needs a pickup change at all.

 

[poomwah]

I have an EB-0 and I fail to see any problem with its sound. It is a bit distinctive, but it's not muddy, it seems well-balanced to me, and the guys in my band like the sound. If it didn't have its own voice, why would I want to buy it? If it sounded like everything else, I'd already have basses with "that sound".

As far as I'm concerned, all the EB-0 needs is a setup and it's ready to play. It's just a tad neck-heavy even in short scale, but a nice wide suede strap fixed that.

The EB-0 is a very decent bass for not a lot of money. I don't think it needs a pickup change at all.

so maybe I should just get her one and go from there? worry about it then whether it needs to be modded or not?

 

[sublime0bass]

you could always do a Dimarzio Model 1 if you wanted to mod cheaply

bridge pickup routing could work but is tricky if you don't know what you are doing

 

[Pilgrim]

so maybe I should just get her one and go from there? worry about it then whether it needs to be modded or not?

EXACTLY. I have never figured out why so many people buy a perfectly serviceable bass and decide even before they get used to it that they should change pickups, rout holes, switch tuners, etc. etc. It makes no sense to me to assume that the bass has major failings before you get used to it.

Get to know the bass FIRST. If it has shortcomings, they will become evident as you live with it.

Those EB-0 instruments are decent basses. Since they have a single pickup, they're not going to offer as many sound options as a Jazz-style short scale from SX with two pickups, but they have a distinctive look and they are NOT the mudbucker sound of the 60's.

I play mine for surf and classic rock, and it sounds fine. I've even left the factory roundwounds on it (and I'm a flatwound guy) to keep the sound a bit brighter. I'm OK with what I'm hearing. I may eventually go to flatwound strings, but that's my preference anyway.

 

[Brendan]

I really enjoy mine. It's got a different sound, but I really like it. The pickup is fine as far as I'm concerned; the mods I plan are installing a thumbrest near the bridge, and I might be modding it to accept regular scale strings, but that aside, I'm happy with mine.

I mean, I bought it, didn't I?

 

[Fred Hammon]

thanks for that, fred. very groovy. Jack Casady is my hero!!!!!

How about Phil Lesh?
His Eb-O is sporting a pair of the original Hagstrom Bi-Sonic pickups with what Rick Turner called "super bionic shielding" (aluminum foil) covering the tops. They had really bad stage wiring in those days and the pickups weren't rw/rp I guess.
I believe the electronics were active, the bass having being modified around '69 by the folks who later formed Alembic before they started making instruments.

 

[mellowgerman]

How about Phil Lesh?
His Eb-O is sporting a pair of the original Hagstrom Bi-Sonic pickups with what Rick Turner called "super bionic shielding" (aluminum foil) covering the tops. They had really bad stage wiring in those days and the pickups weren't rw/rp I guess.
I believe the electronics were active, the bass having being modified around '69 by the folks who later formed Alembic before they started making instruments.

that's really interesting i dig the design on the body too!

 

[Pilgrim]

When I bought my EB-0 I was wondering if it would sound muddy, and I had identified the Dimarzio Model 1 as the appropriate replacement. But the sound is not muddy to my ear, so I don't have to worry about it.

One thing I have noticed is that the pickup may not be very well shielded. I have occasionally noticed a bit of background buzz when propping my thumb on the side of the pickup cover...and it goes away when I remove my thumb from contact with the metal cover. However, it hasn't been loud enough to cause any problems when practicing or playing.

 

[ejaggers]

Okay, so I'm really late to this party, but I modelled my EB0 using Gibson SG specs.
also put a paisley PG on it because I don't like the black that's on all EB0's.
It came out really nice and sound amazing:

@mellowgerman,
The reason I was here today is because I was looking for your post where you modded the blue bass with the Gretsch bridge.
I'd like to know what the toggle switch does. Can you post the link?

057912

 

[Copperhead]

Yes. they are a great mod platform. There is an old EB-SG club thread that has lots of cool examples.

 

[jazzyitalian]

I just bought an EB-0. I'm going to mod it to be like the gibson SG bass (with the second Pick up) the only thing being a second tone pot that I'll add to it. I'm also replacing the current pots with some nicer CTS brand pots.

Also the deal with the buzzing in the pickup has to do with the metal pickup contacting the metal cover. Here's how you get rid of the buzz. 1) Pull up the foam padding. Then put down a couple of strips of thin photo frame foam strips in the pickup cavety. Those will have two sided stick. 2) place the foam back onto the photo frame foam. 3) cut two thin strips of electrical tape (about 1/4 inch wide). Place the 2 thin strips on either side of the holes on the inside of the chrome pick up cover. They should run the length of the inside of the metal cover. 4) place the pickup back in the cavety, and screw the cover back onto the bass.

What you'll get is a bit more pressure around the pickup to keep it from vibrating and the tape will serve as a muzzle keeping the metal pick up and the metal plate from touching which is how the buzzing happened to begin with.

 

[Wesola78]

I bought an Epi EB0 about a year ago. So far, I bought and installed a Hipshot bridge to replace the original one. I like this bass.