my first NBD: Epiphone EB-3

[IPA]

Finally UPS comes!

So far so good.

Things I like:

-The finish, much better looking in person than I thought

-The pickups, with a little tweaking they will be great. Quirky growl from the bridge and fantastic thump on the neck. Middle has some good options with the separate tone knobs. This is great for straight ahead rock stuff where I just want to bang away at some roots. Has a very diff sound from my P and J which is good

-The neck, size is nice


Things I need to work on:

-Neck dive, was to be expected so not really a disappointment. Need a fat fat strap with some grippage on it.

-The setup is not great. Action much too high, pickups too low. Kind of a surprise as I've played over "set up in the USA" Epis that played like butter. Inspector #31, I'm looking in your direction

-I really don't care for new strings, especially rounds, way too plucky and tight feeling. Luckily I planned ahead and ordered a set of flats which are about to go on, along with a bridge lowering and some intonation/neck tweaking.

Overall I really like it. Different enough from the others to make me happy.

 

[J. Crawford]

Pretty cool man! All of your problems are just brand new stock bass problems, no biggie.

 

[IPA]

Pretty cool man! All of your problems are just brand new stock bass problems, no biggie.

Yup yup, I like adjusting height on Gibson style bridges anyway... just two screws and you're done

 

[Rumblefisher]

just two screws and you're done

That's what she said.


It had to be said.

 

[IPA]

That's what she said.


It had to be said.

Hah!

Well I just put the flats on (D'Add Cromes, regular light 45-100) and it's an instant improvement! I was hoping to get some good reggae/dub sounds out of this fat neck pickup and here they are.

 

[SurferJoe46]

That's the same Acoustic B-450 combo amp I run - a real sock-flapper.

Add the 115 for some more growl.

Ain't it great?

I was kinda surprised to at the weight of the head on my Epi too. I only THOUGHT the Fenders were bad!

 

[rfclef]

One of my MS students has that bass... it is pretty nice... nice choice...

 

[Rumblefisher]

One of my MS students has that bass... it is pretty nice... nice choice...

nice name.

 

[splitcoilsenior]

That's the same Acoustic B-450 combo amp I run - a real sock-flapper.

Add the 115 for some more growl.

Ain't it great?

I was kinda surprised to at the weight of the head on my Epi too. I only THOUGHT the Fenders were bad!

I've never heard the expression "a real sock-flapper"

 

[SurferJoe46]

I've never heard the expression "a real sock-flapper"

Stand in front of it an hit a great big open E.

Bend over and pick up your socks.

 

[IPA]

That's the same Acoustic B-450 combo amp I run - a real sock-flapper.

Add the 115 for some more growl.

Ain't it great?

I was kinda surprised to at the weight of the head on my Epi too. I only THOUGHT the Fenders were bad!

I'm kicking myself all week--someone had the Acoustic 115 cab on craigslist for 100 bucks! I shoulda jumped on it but I was caught up at work all day.

 

[rfclef]

nice name.

lol... ditto.

 

[mellowgerman]

cool basses. i played an EB-3 for a while a few years back in high school. killer bass when strung with flats!

 

[TheRockinRoadie]

I used an EB-3 for a few years when i first started out, my first new bass day was also an EB3!

I dont play it much now because i have my Fenders, but i took it out of the case a few weeks ago and i've been playing it on and off! Might do it up agaian

 

[BrianKrashpad]

Congrats!

Have fun.

 

[AgIdoc]

my electric guitar is an epi g-400 red SG style just like that. it is an awesome, awesome instrument. it both plays & sounds better than my brother's $1000 fender highway one.

when i 1st started looking at new basses 2 yrs ago (after having the same bass for 25 years) thats what i was gonna get, but i read some bad reviews here & ended up getting a squier VM jazz instead. i then traded that for a deluxe active 5-er.

anyway, i digress. i almost bought that bass, & i absolutely love the way it looks.

 

[The Lurker]

Nice.... what kinda keyboard is that?

 

[SurferJoe46]

I'm kicking myself all week--someone had the Acoustic 115 cab on craigslist for 100 bucks! I shoulda jumped on it but I was caught up at work all day.

I got a B-410 for cheap when a buddy got it for himself and it had the same troubles with the speaker spade connectors. It rattled and speakers popped and went ON/OFF and he was just disgusted with it.

I had just redesigned/repaired my B-450 210 combo for the same problem and I got his B-410 and repaired it in about 20 minutes the same way.

All they need is a pigtail on the speakers and that way you get a 100% connection and the speakers run fine.

I posted that repair on the AMPs side here in the archives with pictures and such.

PS: I wonder if those tuners would fit on my much cheaper Les Paul Special?

 

[Goldmember]

That's what she said.


It had to be said.

Ah. Dish is vedy good!

 

[godofthunder59]

Congrats! I like these basses a lot especially for the $. Not a Fender sound by any stretch and that's a good thing, they have their own voice. I have 60's and 70's EB3s and I like the Epi version quite a bit. I have owned the long and short scale versions, I usually put a 60's or 70's Mudbucker in the neck position.