NBD: Epiphone Embassy Pro

[E S Anderson]

Congrats on your new bass. May it serve you well.

I was initially attracted to these, but the only one I tried was absolutely unplayable, a real Friday afternoon special. Glad yours set up decently after all.

Play it in good health and enjoy!

You know, the truss rod on the first one I ordered couldn't even be adjusted by the tech at Sam Ash. The neck was jacked beyond belief. Which is odd considering that these comes with a super adjustable 2 way truss... Anyway, they replaced it with one that played beautifully. It's a great bass, super vintage in feel. I dig the sounds I get from it. Well worth that almost nothing I paid for it! Not my main bass, but gives me sounds in recording I can't get from my Mustang, my P or my 4001.

 

[Old_Noob]

Semi zombie thread, but were these discontinued?

 

[Barton Lee]

I believe they were discontinued. As noted earlier in this thread, there was an issue with the placement of the bridge on some of them (toward the end of the production run?) which makes it difficult to impossible to set up with correct intonation. If you see photos of an Embassy Pro for sale and the bridge saddles are set all the way back, it's almost certainly one of those. I was aware of this when I purchased my antique ivory Embassy, and the E string saddle was indeed at maximum but there's room for adjustment on the other three strings and the bass was set up nicely at the store and perfectly in tune. And still is 18 months later, no issues.

I immediately changed the stock strings for a set of DR Sunbeams and installed a drop-D tuner. Other than that, the pickups sound terrific as advertised and deliver a Thunderbird-like tone in a more manageable bass. I like the blend control and set it slightly favoring the neck pickup, and the fit and finish exceed the modest price. As much as I like the bass though, I'm thinking of putting it up in the classifieds soon.

 

[redstrand]

Mine thankfully wasn't one with a bridge issue. I put labella lo tension flats on it and granted I rewired it, I get thunderbird thunder without ergonomic issues

 

[Rob Martinez]

I have one in the cherry finish, GREAT bass. Glad I got one when they first came out, a steal at $399 and as someone pointed out, amazing factory PUs. I got one of the Vintage Pro T Birds as well.

 

[Thumper]

Zzounds has new Embassies, so they are still in production.

 

[woodyng2]

A few years ago, I bought a cream color one from Sweetwater,and it arrived in perfect working order.
Trussrod and bridge had plenty of available adjustment. Still Amazed at the fit and finish for any price.
I replaced the ss strings with ghs pressurewounds. A great sounding bass for rock/pop. I'm a big fan of 2-pickup basses and tend to keep all controls open and equal. It has found less favor lately in my collection,
so I currently have it up for sale/consignment at a store in Grants Pass,Oregon.
I just checked the zzounds site,and they actually have it at the same $399 price,in 3 snazzy new colors.
I love this color.... looks like maybe the cream color and burgandy natural are discontinued.
Invalid Link Removed

 

[kevinpmajka]

Those colors are interesting. I sold mine 2 months ago to a pro player here who didn't have this flavor. He does theatre and other shows and he's pleased with it. He has pro gear and is surprised by this one.

Now, I'm converting a precision bass to a single pickup thunderbird pickup now. I love the precision shape.

These are awesome, not sure about those new colors. I thought the cherry was really traditional in a cool way. Iverness green or seafoam would have been cool (and gibson colors).....

If you want to see the zzounds colors Invalid Link Removed.

 

[bobyoung53]

Those colors are interesting. I sold mine 2 months ago to a pro player here who didn't have this flavor. He does theatre and other shows and he's pleased with it. He has pro gear and is surprised by this one.

Now, I'm converting a precision bass to a single pickup thunderbird pickup now. I love the precision shape.

These are awesome, not sure about those new colors. I thought the cherry was really traditional in a cool way. Iverness green or seafoam would have been cool (and gibson colors).....

If you want to see the zzounds colors Invalid Link Removed.

That burgundy is a really nice color.

 

[kevinpmajka]

Pelham Blue should have been chosen over the green.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

Pelham Blue should have been chosen over the green.

Yep...only thing is real Pelham blue turns that cool greenish/blue over time depending on how much light its exposed to i guess..the clear coat on top of Pelham blue is the key.

 

[BassDaddy77]

Did Epiphone fix the bridge placement issue with these new Embassy basses? The new colors look decent IMO, but that bridge problem was a deal breaker for me.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

The ones on the zzzounds website look very much like they have the bridge in the wrong position, unless they've changed the shape of the body. If the bodies are exactly the same as the old ones the bridge looks like it's too close to the neck. At least as far as I can tell from the pics. They seem to have the tailpiece about 1cm too close to the neck, same as the old faulty ones. The ones with the bridge in the correct position have the tailpiece VERY close to the edge of the body.

It's a also a bit suspect that the saddles are set in a flat line. The previous faulty ones had E-A set all the way back and D-G just a tiny bit forward, like they had at least tried to set the intonation but went out of room for adjustment. This time it looks like they've simply not bothered at all and just left all the saddles in the mid position. There's no way any of the Embassy Pros on the zzzounds website are even remotely close to being intonated.

I would definitely test before buying any of these! Unless you're prepared to move the bridge+tailpiece or pay someone to do it of course.

But then again, pics can be deceiving and I've only seen the pics from zzzound so I could be wrong.

 

[Old_Noob]

I sent an inquiry to zzounds and recieved a response that sounds like it came from legal...basically..our poopie is what the manufacturer sent us and please read your warranty

 

[BassDaddy77]

Why on earth would Epiphone re-release these without correcting the bridge problem? Seriously? I'm no business guru, but that is just bone-headed. Such a nice bass, yet rendered virtually useless because of a simple build oversight.

 

[woodyng2]

Just looking at the ones pictured on zzounds,and mine,I can't really see any difference in the bridge positions.

 

[BassDaddy77]

Just looking at the ones pictured on zzounds,and mine,I can't really see any difference in the bridge positions. View attachment 4082893

That's what I'm seeing as well. I bought one in cherry about a year and a half ago and ended up sending it back because I couldn't get the intonation close enough to be decently in tune. Shame, as it was a GREAT sounding bass. I REALLY want to give these another try (I especially like the green and burgundy colors), but I definitely don't want the same experience as I had with the first one.

 

[woodyng2]

That's what I'm seeing as well. I bought one in cherry about a year and a half ago and ended up sending it back because I couldn't get the intonation close enough to be decently in tune. Shame, as it was a GREAT sounding bass. I REALLY want to give these another try (I especially like the green and burgundy colors), but I definitely don't want the same experience as I had with the first one.

I guess i just got lucky with mine. No issues at all.

 

[Rob Martinez]

I guess i just got lucky with mine. No issues at all.

Yeah, me too. Mine is fine. Luck of the draw, I suppose. Here is mine.

 

[redstrand]

Mine either