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Epiphone Club

#781
hillerup said:
Well, what can I say... Whatever the cost and profits are, Thomann and Music Store (another German online company) are a great source for aquiring premium gear at low cost - I use both all the time, but mostly Thomann. Both have identical prices (more or less), free shipping, 30 day returns and extended guarantees on their stuff - What's not to like...

Also been to the Thomann shop a couple of times, and their customer service is second to none - Ask for a guitar/bass which is not on display in the showroom, they will get it from the warehouse right away, unbox it and tune it for you so you can try it out. :)
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Nothing wrong with Thomann, excellent people to deal with and more power to them being able to sell the EB at £80 cheaper than any UK store which only means that the savings are in our pockets by buying from Germany. Anyway my real message was buy one and be proud of it because it is inferior to not much else at 5 times the cost
 
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#782
Christine said:
I couldn't guess!

I know the labour cost in Indonesia is a lot lower than the states and there must be a lot more done with CNC (even those have a huge capital cost) but you still got to buy the parts: Lumps of wood, shape, glue, carve, sand, seal/fill and paint. I imagine that's where the bulk of the cost is, the hardware will outsourced from a similar outfit at low cost but still a cost. then it need packaging and shipping to the end user, the costs are all adding up
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Not all Epi's are Indonesia manufactured. My EB-3 was a China crafted bass. Who knows what the pay scale is in a China plant, compared to Indonesia, Korea, Etc. One thing I can say, my EB-3 is as good or better than some Gibson SG Std.'s I've had in the past.
 
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#784
There's another thread running right now, many of you have probably seen it, discussion on the quality of instruments from Indonesia. Same general consensus - CNC machines can do the same thing in any country, it's all about specs/cost/how much attention to QC etc etc. A few posters unsurprisingly knocking Chinese built. I've got a Chinese made TB, an Indo TB, an Indo Squier, a Korean Steinberger Spirit, and an American made a pre-EB MM Stingray. The MM is the highest quality of the bunch but I'd put both the T-Birds at a REAL close 2nd. The others are good very playable basses too, a slight bit below the Epi and MM but really not much. There's more to it than just where they're made

I honestly think we're living in a period of damn good quality instruments at workingman's wages and it's a good time to be in the market if you are. Think I've invested enough for the time. ;)
 
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#785
Rivoli, MIJ bolt on, ~1970.
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#788
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#790
Nocturnal said:
Wouldn't surprise me much if it's ply with a veneer to make it look good on the face and back. I will try to open mine up this weekend to see what I can find.
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Possibly, but on the Epiphone web page is says the body is made of "all mahogany":

"The EB-0 style is known for its unique SG-shaped all mahogany body with a 30 ½" scale mahogany neck that is easy on bass players and guitar players who occasionally will take on bass in the studio or on stage. The bolt-on, SlimTaper™ neck has a rosewood fingerboard with classic dot inlays and a standard 1.50" nut. There are no surprises to our new EB-0. This is a faithful recreation of the historic bass that previously has been unavailable to most players."

It even says "There are no surprises to our new EB-0"... Maybe there is a surprise after all... ;)
 
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#798
Regarding our previous discussion concerning plywood vs solid wood body construction on the EB0, I finally had a chance to pop the control cavity cover on mine to investigate. Mine is made in Indonesia so I can't speak for any that would come from Korea or China. The raw exposed wood that shows where the pickup wires feed into the cavity (and is missing any of the shielding paint) is large enough to show that there are no obvious ply's, just solid red wood which I would guess is whatever version of Mahogany that Epi uses. Looking at the outside of the body you can also see where certain wood grain features telegraph around the edges of the body from front to the edge and to the back. The body is also made of 3 pieces that do not really match with grain patterns or features. If this was a plywood body with a veneer to make it look decent, I doubt they would veneer it to look like this.

Anyhow, based on my exhaustive 5 minutes of research (haha) I would say that my EB0 is indeed solid wood and not plyood.
 
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#799
Nocturnal said:
Regarding our previous discussion concerning plywood vs solid wood body construction on the EB0, I finally had a chance to pop the control cavity cover on mine to investigate. Mine is made in Indonesia so I can't speak for any that would come from Korea or China. The raw exposed wood that shows where the pickup wires feed into the cavity (and is missing any of the shielding paint) is large enough to show that there are no obvious ply's, just solid red wood which I would guess is whatever version of Mahogany that Epi uses. Looking at the outside of the body you can also see where certain wood grain features telegraph around the edges of the body from front to the edge and to the back. The body is also made of 3 pieces that do not really match with grain patterns or features. If this was a plywood body with a veneer to make it look decent, I doubt they would veneer it to look like this.

Anyhow, based on my exhaustive 5 minutes of research (haha) I would say that my EB0 is indeed solid wood and not plyood.
Click to expand...

Thanks for checking..! :)
 
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