EKo 995 Hollowbody

[jmceachern36]

Justin. Looks to me like you might be the person to ask about old hollowbody basses. I'm on a search for one. Just played an EKO 995 violin type bass. Very cool bass! Sounds great. Anything i should beware of or problems to look for. The store selling it has it priced a little high or I'd have just bought it. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Man they are great. Just make sure the neck is relatively straight and that the pickups work. It's pretty basic. I hope you buy one!

 

[jmceachern36]

Thanks. It seemed to be it nice shape. Came with the original case too. I'm now trying to figure out what it should cost. I may have to buy it either way. It was that cool.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

I think it's a "can't lose" scenario if it's relatively cheap, e.g. under $600-$700.

 

[jmceachern36]

...and there it is. I paid on the high end but I got a free t-shirt. So that's somthing. Still cost much less than a German Hofner and much more interesting. The guys in my reggae band haven't forgiven me for selling my Hofner. There gonna love this. I do.

 

[vegas532]

There's a quirky coolness about those old Ekos. Great find!!

 

[jmjbassplayer]

I have the same one! Mine has a four way weird paddle shaped pickup selector though, where that three-way is on yours. You'll love it.

 

[jmceachern36]

Another question, if you don't mind. I've had some issues in the past, when playing a Hofner, with feedback. Have you ever had that problem playing live with a hollowbody? Any suggestions for reducing or eliminating feedback when playing live?

 

[Dan Bozek]

Another question, if you don't mind. I've had some issues in the past, when playing a Hofner, with feedback. Have you ever had that problem playing live with a hollowbody? Any suggestions for reducing or eliminating feedback when playing live?

For serious?! I've not had any trouble with my Høfner, and you're making me think that the folks who tell me I like to be too loud on stage are full of beans!! :^D

And the new bass looks AMAZING. Congrats!!

 

[jmceachern36]

For serious?! I've not had any trouble with my Høfner, and you're making me think that the folks who tell me I like to be too loud on stage are full of beans!! :^D

And the new bass looks AMAZING. Congrats!!

Thanks... Not a ton of problems. But some. I did a couple of festivals with it, however, playing through a big SVT and the thing was howling. Usually my volume is reasonable though.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Yeah, I've had my guy feedback before. You can stuff it with foam, that'll take out 20% maybe. But it's also not great for the tone. So I just play it quietly.

 

[jmceachern36]

Sounds good. Thanks for answering my questions. I appreciate it. I used it on a gig this afternoon. Sounded great! Everyone loved it. My buddy is bidding on the matching guitar on Ebay because he liked the look of mine so much.

 

[lcook]

Did you, by chance, pick this up at Mr. Music on Harvard Ave.? I played this bass a month ago and swore I was gonna buy it next time I was in Boston! Early bird catches the worm, I guess...

 

[KellanEmSoftly]

I've owned three different 995's, and love them to pieces. My first major studio experience I lived out on a '65 . I got screaming deals on all the ones I've owned, but every single one had pickups that were on their way out. wish there was an easy fix

 

[sammy78]

I want to sell my Eko 995, if someone is interested in this little jewel can contact me...

 

[laklandfan07]

Hey justin just reviving this thread. Just picked up one of these beauties and i love it! Mine currently does have a set of rounds but they arent particularly old (which is what ive read you have). Any alternative string suggestions? Chromes? Pyramids? Maybe halfs?

 

[jmjbassplayer]

I'd do Pyramids or La Bella on there. A relatively light gauge. Or, very very old rounds are always a good choice, because the 995 is innately a dark bass.

 

[odetolethargy]

Hey justin just reviving this thread. Just picked up one of these beauties and i love it! Mine currently does have a set of rounds but they arent particularly old (which is what ive read you have). Any alternative string suggestions? Chromes? Pyramids? Maybe halfs?

I'd do Pyramids or La Bella on there. A relatively light gauge. Or, very very old rounds are always a good choice, because the 995 is innately a dark bass.

+1 on the La Bella flats. I put the La Bella 'Hofner Beatle Bass' strings on my 995 and it sounds and plays awesome. However, I did have to file out a little extra width for the E and A strings on my trapeze tailpiece to fit the ball end of the strings in. It was quick and easy, just thought I'd share in case you feel like you wasted $40 on a set of new strings that don't fit halfway through restringing like I did!

 

[Pirkka]

Just wanted to join the Eko thread. I have this old Eko Barracuda hollow body, love the sound since I put Pyramids on. Mine has a little tuning problem with A string, starting from third fret notes tend to get a little high on tune. I have tried to adjust bridge but it is in the end and can't be moved anymore. Maybe I just take it to good luthier to be fixed.

 

[JimmyM]

Just wanted to join the Eko thread. I have this old Eko Barracuda hollow body, love the sound since I put Pyramids on. Mine has a little tuning problem with A string, starting from third fret notes tend to get a little high on tune. I have tried to adjust bridge but it is in the end and can't be moved anymore. Maybe I just take it to good luthier to be fixed.

Wish you had a good pic of that bridge. It looks like it's a floating bridge so it's possible it could be repositioned, but then you have to take the other strings into account. Would like to see a closeup of how it's set now.

I have a couple shorties with not very adjustable floating bridges that won't allow me to get all 4 strings properly intonated, one of the inside strings will often play along and another won't, and it's usually the A. But honestly, I've not found it to be too big an issue. I just adjust it to where the outside strings will intonate properly, and for any that don't, I will fret a note at the 5th fret and tune the string while it's being fretted. This at least gets it playing in tune with itself for the most part, and the way the strings vibrate on a shorty, the attack is often sharp and flattens as the note decays. So I've found perfect intonation to not be as necessary on a shortie as a long scale bass. YMMV, and I get that some people don't want to bother with workarounds, but in a lot of cases with these old basses, the only other option is modding them, and I would never mod a classic old bass like that.