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New Gibson EB bass
- Thread starter Primakurtz
- Start date
FWIW... my STOTD cream EB showed up a couple days ago. Seems to be a good one! Took about 3/8's of a turn on the truss rod to get the relief dialed in. Then I dropped the action on the bridge 2-3 turns for each string (I really like the Babicz bridge). Plays real nice now. As delivered, the pickups were set pretty low (about to where I have them on my other EB) and it doesn't seem to be exhibiting the chorus effect. Frets were finished better than the first EB I bought.
Other than that, pretty much a similar bass as I expected - although I'd put flats on my first one so tonally they're a bit different. Think I'll leave the rounds on the Cream.
In summary, I think it was a heck of a good buy at the MF STOTD price!
Other than that, pretty much a similar bass as I expected - although I'd put flats on my first one so tonally they're a bit different. Think I'll leave the rounds on the Cream.
In summary, I think it was a heck of a good buy at the MF STOTD price!
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Just play it. The finish is thin enough that it will wear eventually, or so I assume. I have had a 2013 for about a year, and played it regularly, but the finish is holding up very well. I don't know if I'm dismayed by that or happy, because I agree with you that it will look very good worn. The finish feels good, even on the back of the neck. My Ric is more than 15 years old and the neck still gets sticky sometimes. The EB doesn't. Both are nitro, but one gets sticky and the other doesn't. It's a mystery.
I have never done much setup on mine. I got it used, and I guess the original owner set it up. The intonation needed a little tweaking when I got it, and it could do with just a little more, but it's very close, so I don't bother. I put DR Sunbeams on it, and as they age, they sound better. Flats might be really good on it, but I think well aged rounds are going to sound good in time.
The tort looks awful, in my opinion, but that's my cranky opinion of tort in general. Mine's burst, and it will eventually have either a gold anodized or a black pickguard. The fret ends bothered me at first, but I must be used to them now. They don't feel sharp any more.
Funny to hear the critiques on the tort. I think it looks really nice with the cream. Whatever floats your boat, I guess...
It's been almost a week now since I've had mine delivered and I'm beginning to think it may have a slight twist in the neck most noticeable on the E side of the neck. Or maybe a slight hump. I'll keep watching it for another week and see what happens.
Just wondering....when i first looked the bass over closely, i thought the tort guard looked pretty blah.
It was a bit later i noticed it had a very well applied layer of shrink wrap covering it.....it actually looks pretty brilliant when you remove that......
Got my bass back from the guitar doc,he said he thinks Gibson just slapped strings on it and sent it out....
Fortunately both the truss rod and the bridge had a ton of adjustability,and he was able to dial in a nice low-intermediate action on it,saying we could definitely go lower if i want. I played it at band practice for about 3 hours,my bandmates really liked the sound,and it is a wonderfully laid out platform for me,great weight,neck,ergonomics. At some point i will have the frets dressed,when i'm ready to change the strings,but for now,i'm just going to play it! Very happy with it,it is a bit of a departure from my Ricks.
Fortunately both the truss rod and the bridge had a ton of adjustability,and he was able to dial in a nice low-intermediate action on it,saying we could definitely go lower if i want. I played it at band practice for about 3 hours,my bandmates really liked the sound,and it is a wonderfully laid out platform for me,great weight,neck,ergonomics. At some point i will have the frets dressed,when i'm ready to change the strings,but for now,i'm just going to play it! Very happy with it,it is a bit of a departure from my Ricks.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I finally dealt with the pickguard on mine. I absolutely hated the tort, and it looked even worse against the burst finish. So, it now has a black pickguard. Much better.
Played a natural finish one today at a music store. It had flats. I enjoyed it. I dont think I would ever buy one unless I found a crazy good deal on a used one, but it was quite well made. The tone was good albeit a bit indistinct. I think it has a nice meat and potatoes tone but doesnt do one thing tremendously well.
The tort guard looked fake like Squier classic Vibes; appeared to be made from a photo of real tort, versus being made of actual tort. I think this agrees with the vegan in me though.
The tort guard looked fake like Squier classic Vibes; appeared to be made from a photo of real tort, versus being made of actual tort. I think this agrees with the vegan in me though.
Finally handed it out to my tech after the jack imput went dead after starting scratching. Hoping the chorus/boomy effect is fixable, I love the tone and I'd be scared to change pickups.
Anyone who did, what replacenent did you get? Niticeable changes in tone?
Anyone who did, what replacenent did you get? Niticeable changes in tone?
Thought I might as well join in the discussion now that I’ve had my EB 2013 for 6 weeks and doing one gig and hours of practice playing at home.
I love playing this bass; the neck is super comfortable in my hands and the bass is so light (I don’t like heavy basses).
When I got it the action was seriously high, I had to adjust the truss rod quite a bit but now the action is perfect.
I’ve put on a set of Rotosound SS on and they feel really nice with no over the top brightness or clang.
Like others have experienced I had the chorusy effect when plying the E and A strings in the upper register. I fixed it by lowering the neck pickup.
I think it’s a keeper because of the tonal flexibility of coil tapping and light weight body. I’ve always been a P bass man and never really got along with Jazz basses, this bass has my Jazz bass tones covered with the extra flexibility to get some fat humbucker tones when I need.
I love playing this bass; the neck is super comfortable in my hands and the bass is so light (I don’t like heavy basses).
When I got it the action was seriously high, I had to adjust the truss rod quite a bit but now the action is perfect.
I’ve put on a set of Rotosound SS on and they feel really nice with no over the top brightness or clang.
Like others have experienced I had the chorusy effect when plying the E and A strings in the upper register. I fixed it by lowering the neck pickup.
I think it’s a keeper because of the tonal flexibility of coil tapping and light weight body. I’ve always been a P bass man and never really got along with Jazz basses, this bass has my Jazz bass tones covered with the extra flexibility to get some fat humbucker tones when I need.
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Had one of these for a few months, had the EB-13 model, so not the anniversary edition. Had so many problems with the bass out of the box. Coming from Gibson USA I expected better. Tuners were loose, bass was poorly setup, and most importantly the magnets in these pickups pulled the crap out of the strings. I lowered the pickups all the way into the body and still experienced issues with it. I'd read a couple of places to remove the stock strings, put in new ones etc to prevent it, but ultimately that didn't work. I played out with it twice, neck played fine after adjustments, and honestly a really lightweight bass with the ash body. I thought tonally it wasn't quite a J-Bass, close, but it didn't quite do it for me. Sold it to a guy locally for about what I paid for it. Maybe the anniversary editions are better setup and issues with the pickup have been fixed, but the model I bought was a dud.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Picked up an EB13 5 string sunburst a couple of weeks ago and am really digging the sound and flexibility of this bass. No set up issues at all, was able to get a nice low action without adjusting the truss. Lots of tone options and so far no noticeable chorus effect. The only oddity is that the tone pot almost acts like a volume pot in addition to shaping the tone. I mean the bass gets crazy loud if you turn the tone pot past about 60%. I normally have it at 50% or under so it really doesn't seem to come into play too much for me but it does seem odd.
Is this normal for this tone circuit?
BTW - here's a pic of the bass (rear right)...
Is this normal for this tone circuit?
BTW - here's a pic of the bass (rear right)...
Interesting.
I'll have to try it when I get home tonight but it sounds like I could max out the on board volume pots and turn down my amp a bit to compensate, then my on board tone knob will function as just a tone pot. Still sounds odd, can't say I've ever seen a tone circuit work this way.
Then again, every other passive bass I've had suffers from 60Hz hum when put in single coil mode but not this one, its dead quiet.
I played a Sunburst EB13 for a few hours on Saturday and loved it! My friend is selling it for $800.00 and it's pretty much in brand new condition. Made me want to sell something to get it but I dont want to sell anything. It sounded great and very solid feel to it with nice electronics and active dual humbucker pick ups made in USA.
I would highly recommend buying one.
I would highly recommend buying one.
