I play a white Ibanez AFB200. It's huge...it's been called Moby Dick, The Great White Whale, White Elephant and White Rhino.
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I play a white Ibanez AFB200. It's huge...it's been called Moby Dick, The Great White Whale, White Elephant and White Rhino.
If ye spot the All White Epiphone, yell, for thoust shall be compensated with a berry and a shot of rum.
My initial observations on the Embassy.
If you were hoping that the new Pro Bucker Vintage 750 pickups would kick ass..you would be right!
Great tone.The blend knob is very effective in balancing the two pickups.Worth the price of the Bass right there.
Finish is awesome..no issues that I can find.She weighs in at 7 pounds 13 oz..very balanced as well.
I put a set of Dunlop strap locks on it and a Hipshot drop D tuner....
Here's something that amazed me..the intonation was dead on with my Peterson tuner..right out of the box.And that's something that I'm very picky about.
The fret board almost seems to be a synthetic material..I could /may be wrong.It has a wood grain but it would not suck up any Lemon oil treatment. Not a bad thing at all..maybe it's been pre treated.
Here's another thing that I was pleasantly surprised at...No fret grab..you can run your hand up and down the neck without encountering any sharp spots.On new Basses I usually have to spend some time correcting that..Not this time!
Now the very minor nitpick stuff which have all been corrected.
The bridge on the G side is bottomed out.The action was set up for the everyman I guess.I added an eighth of a turn to the trussrod and I have it just about where I want it to be...still some room on the E side of the bridge..but not much.If I need to go lower I can certainly deepen the cut on the saddle.
The red lines on the knobs as someone else said did not line up with the arrows..big deal..pop em' and line em' up.
I had a strange dull vibration on the E string right off the bat...I think it has a problem with the core of the string.I replaced it and the piano tone was restored
Minor adjustment on pickup height.
The nut on the E string was very tight effecting the tuning somewhat..I worked the slot with an.109 nut file to free it up..works great with the Hipshot now.
So there you have it...This is a great Bass for what it's priced at..Got back problems? this might be what you are looking for.
Sweetwater was very helpful..following up several times during the long delayed release date.
I can't wait to see what the reviews are on the Vintage Thunderbird are going to be like...
Cheers!
If you were hoping that the new Pro Bucker Vintage 750 pickups would kick ass..you would be right!
Great tone.The blend knob is very effective in balancing the two pickups.Worth the price of the Bass right there.
Finish is awesome..no issues that I can find.She weighs in at 7 pounds 13 oz..very balanced as well.
I put a set of Dunlop strap locks on it and a Hipshot drop D tuner....
Here's something that amazed me..the intonation was dead on with my Peterson tuner..right out of the box.And that's something that I'm very picky about.
The fret board almost seems to be a synthetic material..I could /may be wrong.It has a wood grain but it would not suck up any Lemon oil treatment. Not a bad thing at all..maybe it's been pre treated.
Here's another thing that I was pleasantly surprised at...No fret grab..you can run your hand up and down the neck without encountering any sharp spots.On new Basses I usually have to spend some time correcting that..Not this time!
Now the very minor nitpick stuff which have all been corrected.
The bridge on the G side is bottomed out.The action was set up for the everyman I guess.I added an eighth of a turn to the trussrod and I have it just about where I want it to be...still some room on the E side of the bridge..but not much.If I need to go lower I can certainly deepen the cut on the saddle.
The red lines on the knobs as someone else said did not line up with the arrows..big deal..pop em' and line em' up.
I had a strange dull vibration on the E string right off the bat...I think it has a problem with the core of the string.I replaced it and the piano tone was restored
Minor adjustment on pickup height.
The nut on the E string was very tight effecting the tuning somewhat..I worked the slot with an.109 nut file to free it up..works great with the Hipshot now.
So there you have it...This is a great Bass for what it's priced at..Got back problems? this might be what you are looking for.
Sweetwater was very helpful..following up several times during the long delayed release date.
I can't wait to see what the reviews are on the Vintage Thunderbird are going to be like...
Cheers!
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I've heard mention that the fingerboard material is "blackwood tec, a heavily processed and treated type of pine made in China". So long as it looks good and is durable I don't really care. I am waiting for the Tbirds though since that's the way I swing.
I think the new T-bird will be a pleasant surprise based on the sound,fit and finish of the Embassy.
Thanks for the clarification of the blackwood tec fretboard...the fingerboard has a grayish look to it.It feels just fine though.
The fret news is what i was hoping for. also good to know the pickups sound great!
Just dug my new Embassy out of the box. Very nice overall! All the pots were loose and flopping around. That was the only real thing with it. Great tone Pickups kill! fit and finish is superb Needed slight rod adjust along with pickups and bridge. Worth every dime in my opinion. Cant wait for the Bird now
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UPDATES:
The black EpiEmb has paid for itself via the number of shows played.
I did have to back off 1/2 turn on the initial truss rod tightening done here as the neck shifted enough to start buzzes on the E and A strings frets 1 - 5. Neck shift caused by: lighter gauge string set, initial truss rod tightened too far although it was still "loose feeling" when turning, case may be pushing down at the nut while the case support behind the neck near the heel pushes up. Lesson learned for these NEW Epi's and coming T-Birds.
WARNING NOTES: If you REALLY REALLY like these, seeing them at a place that has Flex-Pay makes it very easy to get one of each color. The weight, balance, and sound may inspire one to SELL heavier basses that just are not as good as this one.
The black EpiEmb has paid for itself via the number of shows played.
Working on it. We are extremely busy until the end of the year!
I did have to back off 1/2 turn on the initial truss rod tightening done here as the neck shifted enough to start buzzes on the E and A strings frets 1 - 5. Neck shift caused by: lighter gauge string set, initial truss rod tightened too far although it was still "loose feeling" when turning, case may be pushing down at the nut while the case support behind the neck near the heel pushes up. Lesson learned for these NEW Epi's and coming T-Birds.
WARNING NOTES: If you REALLY REALLY like these, seeing them at a place that has Flex-Pay makes it very easy to get one of each color. The weight, balance, and sound may inspire one to SELL heavier basses that just are not as good as this one.
It’s all good,Johnny. Sounds like you’ve had ample opportunities to enjoy that new bass.
As for the case issue,presuming you bought the $105 (on Sweetwater) Epiphone case made for the bass? I was wondering about the quality of that as well. (I’ve got a couple of really nice gig bags i’d probably use....)
Yes indeed! The Embassy is a pretty cool bass. But it's that TBird that really got my attention. The early '60s TBird's pickups had a great sound.
Apparently they're doing something right. Their prices are steadily creeping up and very few buyers seem to be complaining.
@woodyng2 yes, got the Epi EMB case. Great case IMO and they put the handle in the right place so the front or rear is not dragging when you carry it.
