Epi Eb-0 options

Way back in the bad old '70's I had a Gibson EB-0. This thing was the ultimate mud machine. I replaced the pickup with a DiMarzio model 1, replaced the bridge with a badass, and put on a brass nut to try to get more definition out of the bass. You know what? It still sounded like mud! I understand that after I sold it, the next owner used it as a trailer hitch at a tractor pull.........

Save your money. No modification in the world will get any clarity out of those beasts (unless the mud tone is what you're after). You would be better served with a used Yamaha, MIM Fender, Ibanez, used Peavey, what have you. They will all sound better stock than any modified EB-0.

 

Um, NO.

I've seen people add a second bucker at the bridge and it did make a difference. I've played the newer EB-0's a few times at Guitar Center and they arent the same as the old Gibsons. They arent complete mud at all, its not Rickenbacker, but you CAN get treble out of em...

I bet if you buy that $250 EB0, buy a second Epi humbucker (or a pair of darkstars), route out a space at the bridge. Get a pre amp (or leave it passive) swap out the pots, drill some more holes (depending on wether you go passive or active pre). Get your self a more adjustable bridge (I'd go Badass, I love massive bridges) and string that baby up with some DR High Beams or if you like 70's tone, get some Fender Chrome Flats and you'll have yourself a bad ass bass.


(I think I just gave myself GAS )

 

Well why buy an EB-0 if you're going to add a bridge pickup? Why not just buy an EB-3?

 

+1

 

The placement is more important than the pickup itself.

 

+1
But, if you decide to get it and cahnge the pup anyway, take a look at the Dimarzio Model One (www.dimarzio.com).
"Originally designed as a direct replacement for Gibson® EB series neck pickups"

 

I have an EB-0 with one of the DiMarzio Model Ones (it's currently broken but one of these days...), and it really doesn't do a ton to un-muddy it. It does help a little, but it's not going to make it clear and bright.

 

If I remember right these were bright enough. I certainly wouldn't say they sounded muddy.
Gas up fellers!





The Epi EB-3L is a great candidate. This one sounded great but tended to be somewhat of a neck-diver. I sold it to Steve Barr who sold it to Dan Lakin who then yanked the pickups out to use on the Lakland Decade prototype. dubbed "The Cockmaster"
I believe it's sitting on a rack over at Lakland in Chicago still empty. Maybe you should give him a call. It's already routed and ready.

 

WHOA !!! That is beautiful !!!

I have a soft spot for Gibson basses, especially the EB-0 & EB-3 series.

Mike

 

Here's something I stumbled upon to help with the 'muddiness' of EB-0's:
I recently bought an Epi EB-0 with a bad pickup. I was going to replace it with an AllParts direct replacement pickup or a DiMarzio Model One, but I started messing around with it a little, and ended up making a pickup bezel out of 3/16" black Plexiglas and putting a dual-rail Strat-size guitar pickup in there, such as a GFS 'Little Killer'. I did have to Dremel away a little wood in the ends of the cavity to clear the ends of the lower bobbin of the pickup, but not so much that it would show out from under the stock pickup cover, should I ever go back to that config.
It retains all the bottom-end you'll want, mostly due to the placement of the pickup, but it's a lot clearer and cleaner sounding than the stock pickup or any of the direct replacements of similar construction. I can actually hear the roundwounds 'ring' now. Some of that increased clarity comes from having a much narrower sensing area than that 2" wide stock mudbucker, thus not partially cancelling some of the higher overtones. At first, I had actually put a standard Fender single-coil in there, but found it a mite too bright. The dual rail 'bucker turned out just right for me.
And if you happen to actually like that ol' mud, you can always roll back on the tone knob, and it's there. I can roll back the tone knob and apply some OD, and do Jack Bruce/Felix Pappalardi or early James Gang tone; the 'classic' EB-0 sound.
What this pickup does is add some top-end, yet doesn't skimp on the low-end. I typically play mine with the tone knob rolled back about halfway, so as not to pick up so much of the noise of the strings contacting the frets, and the finger sliding noise (roundwounds). This pickup does tend to grab a lot more of that noise than the stock unit. So the halfway setting on the tone knob strikes a nice balance. I suppose you could also play around with tone-cap values for this, as well.

 

Also, wiring a cap in parallel to the pickup leads (with an appropriate value) will act as a high-pass filter, eliminating some of the mud. Rickenbacker used it on the early 4001s (and reintroduced it on the 4003 wired to a switch). That'd work, and it's a cheap, easy and reversible fix.