broke down and got an EBO this week. I read all of the negative press those things have gotten, but after a little relief adjustment and a change in action, this thing sounds nice to me. I am liking the short scale and it is fun to play. I like the smooth deep tone of this thing. I ordered some flats on-line to put on this epi, but I kindof like this tone as it is.... guess I'll give the flat strings a try when I get them. Anybody else satisfied with such an un-liked instrument? I had thought of changing the pickup with one of the replacements that I read about, because I was expecting a really 'crap' bass. it is not all things in a bass, but I like it.
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got myself an epi EBO
- Thread starter jackson_bass
- Start date
Love mine. I went to the chrome flats. Love the feel and sound but doesnt sit up in the mix as well as what came on it. Piano player noticed it right away!
I've thought about doing this for a while just to scratch a longtime Jack Bruce itch. The few I've come across in stores have been hit or miss, mostly due to poor setup issues as opposed to the intrinsically bad quality many Epi bashers seem to always assume. The EBO is a classic, and while not the vintage Gibsons of yore, a good Epi with decent setup should get you 90% of the way there without a huge outlay of cash.
What kind of flatwounds are you trying?
What kind of flatwounds are you trying?
I own one I once long ago had a Gibson EBO and I missed it I dont see many for sale so I tried a Epiphone because I respect the product,well I went through #1 Epi ad #2 Epi and they were not great a few years later I see a Epi EBO at the pawn shop so I bought it on a whim and it must be a wednesday built guitar it blew away the other 2 Epi's,when I was a young Rocker the Gibson SG was one of the guitars to have and I like the body style
I've played a few, never owned one. If they didn't have problems with neck dive, I'd recommend them more - they have a lot of low end and muscle to them, and if given a proper setup, which with the "duds" could be pretty intensive and involve fret filing etc..., they can turn out to be really nice basses.
Has anyone moved the strap location on one of these. would it make the dive a little better if I relocated the strap to the back of the upper bout? Anybody try it?
I had and Epi EBO, and it was nice little bass, little the operative word, as my hands are large and the short scale wasn't a good fit ... it was a very early model, with the nice woodgrain coming through the cherry finish, not the painted red version ... the only issue other than it didn't fit my hand well was that the bridge tended to 'lift' out of the body when I was trying to adjust for my set-up that I wanted ... they definitely had their place tone wise, but I found it didn't sit in the mix the way I liked either ... I dont remember neck dive on mine, but then mostly used it sitting noodling at home .. isn't the strap button already to the back of the neck/body on them, I guess I dont remember ... actually, I think I remeber seeing someone advertising an 'extender' of sorts for basses like these to move the strap further up towards the headstock ... no idea where I saw it, but you may be able to search something like 'neck dive or strap extender' or something ?? .. good luck
I'd suggest moving the strap peg to the neck, but you might either drill through the neck to the fingerboard, or into the truss rod, either way you'd waste your bass. I think right under the neck is the best you'd get in terms of reducing neck dive, although you could certainly try it.
Just put a set of chrome flats on this EBO. I liked the tone before, but now, ,. .. WOW! I Love this fat rumbling tone now.
I had a epi eb3 I just sold. I dug it, but needed cash to get a T-40 I was jonesing to have... ah, the endless pursuit...
To reduce neck dive you could replace the stock tuners with Hipshot Ultalites or similar. Just make sure they are made to fit a 1/2" hole.
I picked one up today... it's just something that I felt I had to have in my arsenal and I've been intrigued by them for quite awhile. It's definitely not like the 60's Gibson EB-Os I've played... the Epi's neck, mudbucker and bridge are higher off of the body's top and makes the whole bass feel a little strange but I still like it so far. It's going to need fret work which I'll probably be able to do over the Holidays but all in all I think it's a keeper.
Those chrome flat wound strings that I put on mine sure made a difference in the sound.
I also strung mine up with a set of D'Chromes... one of my favorite flats. I took the mudbucker apart to test it and although the windings appear to be typical my Gauss meter shows the magnets to be fairly weak. That really doesn't surprise me since the pickup sounds rather anemic and lackluster. I'm going to experiment with a few ceramics I have and maybe even try a few neos just to record the differences and hopefully the pickup will eventually meet my expectations.
