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Epiphone Newport shortscale

#21
For the price, and the fact that it's a shorty, I may have to give the Newport a go. Despite not being impressed with how the Embassy sounded, if the Newport's pup array sounds decent it might be worth investing time in fretwork (if needed).

It's nice to have a short scale around sometimes, and let's face it....there'll always be a place in some of our hearts for the classic EB-3 sound. A tweaked-up version might scratch an itch we didn't even know we had.
 
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#23
Sharko said:
Embassy is a remake of the ET285, body is the same they just extended the upper horn by about an inch to correct the neck dive. Not sure why they assigned the embassy name which had previously been used for an 80’s bass that bears no similarity.
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The Newport was the first to have this body shape. It was the Epi version of the EB0. When the Thunderbird came along they introduced the Embassy, which was a long scale bass with Tbird electroncs and hardware on the Newport body.

The ET285 was a later MIJ creation.
 
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#25
brianrost said:
So where did all those Gibson and Epiphone 6 string basses go, anyway?
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Collectors, snapped necks, relatives inheriting them and not knowing what they got, etc.

BTW, the new Embassy's with 2 TB pickups are extremely nice BUT have an Achilles heel. I'd used the Cherry one here for many gigs, no problems. Pulled it out to practice with it 2 nights ago and noticed hairline cracks at the nut area(much like 1960's T-Birds). No impact on sound, neck is stable there, etc BUT it won't be used for a gig until it gets a real repair OR destrung and glue inject into the wood in that area. Since I handle my gear moving, best guess is it got knocked over by someone while in the case at a gig and I wasn't told. Looking at adding memory foam in that area of Embassy cases here to prevent that from happening again(lessen impact to the neck if a case gets knocked over).

Maker of the 60's T-Bird bridge fixer tested one out:
 
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#26
bradd said:
The Newport was the first to have this body shape. It was the Epi version of the EB0. When the Thunderbird came along they introduced the Embassy, which was a long scale bass with Tbird electroncs and hardware on the Newport body.

The ET285 was a later MIJ creation.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip, found pics of the original embassy. Had only seen the later ET285 until now
 
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#30
Just unboxed mine and it has none of the issues I have seen with some of the others. No oddly tilting pickups, no soft E-string, no desert-y fingerboard...it's honestly one of the best set-up instruments I've ever received (and it is SUB-zero here in deep and dark Minnesota). If I had paid twice the price, it'd be just as nice! I'll try and snap some shots tomorrow...really great bass!!
 
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#31
There’s definitely some QC issues out of the box with mine but I was heavily disappointed that it did not come with my favorite pack of menthols!!! :mad:

44C03BDD-11D0-4530-9EC9-392F8437BB95.png
 
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#33
Well, after reading this and other threads, I sprung for one, too. "Cali Coral", just for kicks-n-giggles. I looked at them and my wife said, "Don't get the blue one! You already have blue basses! Get that orange-y one! So I did. After watching @LowEndLobster do the initial unboxing and reading about his proposed mods, I had to have one. I love modding and absolutely love short scales. Looking very much forward to taking delivery!
 
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#37
iiipopes said:
An EB-0 by any other name still has a mudbucker. That is not a good nor bad observation. It's just the way it is. If I was in the market for such a bass, I would simply get the least expensive one and change out to a real mudbucker, not the Epiphone clone.
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The stock Epi one is quite nice if you wire the coils in parallel, and install some thin padding to keep it from rattling around in its rout.
 
#39
I remember playing an Epiphone Embassy in a basement jam in Germany in 1977. Wish I'd tracked that down and bought it off whoever the owner was. But boy, those those teenage German Pink Floyd, Nice, Genesis and Yes fans were good musicians. Had no feel for American blues and R&B-based rock and roll but had a European classical music background and sensibility in their rock music.
 
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#40
My bud has a 60's Embassy with 2 pickups so i guess it is a Deluxe model....it looks almost unplayed save for a bit of light checking...i never played it but we planned on giving it a run before my bud had health issues....i honestly cannot remember the color though!
 

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