Epiphone basses are made in a number of different factories , in a number of different countries . So it's difficult to answer the question . Some Epis are much better than others .
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Are epiphone basses any good?
- Thread starter sleepyslacker
- Start date
I would have gladly paid twice the price for my Jack Casady bass. It's an excellent Epiphone bass. I've never found another bass that I've like as much regardless of price, features or manufacturer's name.
Last edited:
- Aug 3, 2007
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- Disclosures
- Current: Blackstar, DR strings, Nady. Previous endorsements with: GK, Rotosound, Ernie Ball, Cleartone, EMG, Dean, Dava Picks, Rebel Straps, Dickies
Usually, if any product is junk, it disappears from retail, or the price point drops until it becomes a reasonable value. Epiphone is fine. Some see it as an equivalent to Squier in regards to their parent companies Fender, and Gibson. They're solid instruments. There will always be debate, but the quality of these instruments is vastly coming closer to the Gibsons.
I just can't get past the bolt on neck. It's stupid because all my other basses are bolt on. However, I would pick up one of those older EB-3s they made. They had some period correct looking ones (with the switch and dual v/ts) they made awhile back.
They're nice basses, but not for everyone. I owned an Epiphone Thunderbird for a short period of time. And by short, I mean I played one gig with it and sold it. Loved the looks and the tone. I could never get a setup on it that I was comfortable with. Then, there was neck dddiiiiiIIIIIIIIVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I have an epiphone viola bass and certainly think it was a steal, tho certainly a special purpose instrument. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another epi if I had a reason to be in the market for their other basses. Also own an epi Flying V guitar (bought used for cheap) and it is a truly special instrument in the playability and tone department.
I have the Jack Casady and Viola basses and I think they are a great value. I really love the Jack Casady.
I LOVE my Alpine White Jack Casady! I waited years before I finally made the decision on which semi- or hollowbody to go with, and I'm really glad I chose the Casady. I believe it's truly one of the best values out there, at ANY price.
When Henry J bought Gibson, he was introduced the 30's era equipment that was still being utilized in the States by Gibson it didn't take much to think about upgrades to the manufacturing chain after witnessing Epiphone's facilities.
Unfortunately, Henry is from the era of executives that believe "branding" is as important as quality, and can make up for poor quality.
Worked at a Guitar shop that was both a Fender and Gibson dealer. Gibson required the owner to buy so many guitars a month, which he had no problem selling. Amazingly the dealer did not get his pick of what those pieces were, Gibson did. Owner would have been happy if they were all Les Pauls Customs, etc.
Instead the guitars that Gibson made him buy were Lime Green SG Jrs, Pink Enplorers with strange whammy bars, mostly just the most amazing assortment of guitars except the colors were horrible and the hardware looked to be out of the spare parts bin. Customer orders were not included to make up this number.
Seem to remember a second or two in EACH shipment. How to you sell quality when the company is using their distributors to sell the seconds their employees are making?
Then the branding..........auto-tune being made mandatory on all Gibsons, the rail mode of that product either with batteries or boards is like a concrete parachute.
OWn more Gibsons than fenders, prefer Fender, but nothing from Gibson after 1980 for me.
I have an Epi Classic IV Pro Thunderbird that's top-shelf. Before I pulled the trigger, I A/B'd it against Gibson birds whenever I got the chance and preferred the Classic IV every time. I didn't buy the Epiphone because I couldn't afford the Gibson. I bought it because it just played and sounded (much) better to me. The fact that it's 1/3 the price is just the frosting on the cake. Many years ago, I owned an Epi Viola that I kinda bought on impulse, being a huge Beatles fan and all (and there were only $1,800+ German Hofners at that time). It was a fine bass in terms of construction/quality, but I just didn't bond with it.
I was a big fan of Epiphone guitars too, and I've always considered them to be a step above Squires. But it's kind of an apples and oranges situation (different construction methods, materials, features, etc.). Also, Epiphone guitars range from $99 to $2,000 (if you include the Japanese Elitist series), whereas I haven't seen any Squiers that retail for more than $450.
I was a big fan of Epiphone guitars too, and I've always considered them to be a step above Squires. But it's kind of an apples and oranges situation (different construction methods, materials, features, etc.). Also, Epiphone guitars range from $99 to $2,000 (if you include the Japanese Elitist series), whereas I haven't seen any Squiers that retail for more than $450.
That's because they're not, they're just throwing a curveball and some people simply can't hit the curve.
I love my RumbleKat, I'm on my 3rd year with it.
Not to crazy about my EB-0. It's very heavy, rolls forward and sounds very unexceptional to me.
Not to crazy about my EB-0. It's very heavy, rolls forward and sounds very unexceptional to me.
I have an epi toby. Great bang for the buck. VeryVERY fast neck. Sounds great in the mix. I really love playing it. Super light. They dont seem to get much love around here, but dont kid yourself, worth the money
I use an epiphone thunderbird for everything. I can tell the durability is there and so is quality. They can take quite a bit of abuse as well. What I like is epiphone uses their own factory built by Gibson and ran by Gibson managers in China. It's China but so what the good stuff out weighs were it was made. Epiphone uses most of their parts. The output jacks they use are nice and solid with epiphone branded on it. 500k pots on every new one I've seen. My bridge was made by epiphone too. Everything fits together well and the finish is tough and looks good too! Sound wise; my thunderbird is very versatile. I've used it for rock, jazz, country, funk, and blues. The pickups are good with high output which I really like. The tuners are solid too. During a gig I tune up once and I'm good for the whole show. They could be a little smoother but once tuned they stay that way for a good amount of time. Epiphone is doing a fantastic job with the instruments it's putting out. I've tried many different modelinstruments. and they are all consistent in quality. I've played about 4 different epiphone eb-0s and the only things different between them were the actions and wood grain. That said I wouldn't have hesitated to take any those four out to gig that same day as they were. The price on them doesn't mean a single thing other then you get a killer short scale bass for an awesome price. That's just my experience and opinions on the eb-0 and epiphone basses altogether. They are just flat out great instruments
I went and played an Epi EB-0 at GC this weekend. I remember not liking them. My tastes have changed. What a nice instrument. I'm now GASing. Is sounds downright lovely with a pick. I've never been a pick player, but am now trying to add that to my skillset, and I think that this bass would really make that a delightful process.
+1 on the Epi Viola if you like violin style basses, better built than the low-end Hofners for 1/2 the price, more coherent electronics, etc.
I just got my first EB-0 this weekend. First Gibson/Epiphone product I've ever owned. I am SUPER happy with this thing. The finish, detail and sound is just unbelievable for the price. The floor model played so well that I insisted on having that one specifically, actually. Didn't want to take any chances, lol. I'm starting a new project which is going to be mostly an early to mid 90s alternative rock cover band, and I feel like this thing may be a one stop shop for the perfect tone for that.
