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New Gibson EB bass

#681
Gaolee said:
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.
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I hated the tort on my lefty, now has a parchment 'guard.
FullSizeRender%202_zpskkoaw4k2.jpg
 
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#684
Update: I did run into some issues with the chorusing pickup sounds, on the low strings around the 12th fret. After trying everything else, I finally replaced the pups with a set of passive EMG Thunderbird HZs. Perfect! I have 'er strung BEAD, and she sounds fantastic. A joy to play standing up, too.
 
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#691
So glad I picked my EB 5 string up. I had an original 4 string for awhile but traded it in when I got a killer deal on a MusiMan Sting Ray Classic 5. I am remembering what I like about the EB. Such a wide arry of tones available from tapping the coils, blending the pick ups and varying the tone. The bridge pic up really adds some growl and fuzziness when I play throug ny VTBASS 500 but it isn't as dirty through my GK 700RB-II. It's an absolute monster through the GK, actually.
 
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#695
SonnyBassPlayer said:
The pickup swap was because of the infamous chorus effect this bass is known for.
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I have two of these. Very powerful magnets in those pickups. IME if you lower them, no chorus effect when playing up high. Doubt you'd ever hear it in a mix even when it's happening, but with pickups lowered it's gone and the output is still high and the tone massive.

Love these basses! Real shame Gibson discontinued them.
 
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#696
StayLow said:
I have two of these. Very powerful magnets in those pickups. IME if you lower them, no chorus effect when playing up high. Doubt you'd ever hear it in a mix even when it's happening, but with pickups lowered it's gone and the output is still high and the tone massive.

Love these basses! Real shame Gibson discontinued them.
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That was one of the first things I tried: sadly I still had a bit of chorus with pickups totally lowered, which didn't stand out in the band, but I didn't like the sound of the bass anymore, so I had to take action
 
#697
I was sorely tempted to buy one of these on clearance the other day. Aside from the SG, this is the best bass Gibson makes as far as comfort IMO. With none of the usual awful QC issues I see on most SGs. I'm no Gibson fan by any means, but this was a nice bass at a good price. They shouldn't have discontinued it, they should have advertised it more. It competes very well with a P or a J. IMO it's the only bass in its current lineup that if advertised correctly and came in a decent array of colors could actively compete in today's bass market. I mean it has 95% of the SGs comfort, with more tonal varsity. I don't understand Gibson at all.
 
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#698
image.jpeg
Finally found this old photo. This is what i thought of when i first saw the EB,especially the pickguard design. I do wish the EB was all mahogoney,like this Embassy. This was one of the best sounding basses i've owned,but i sold it for what i thought was big bucks. ($3500)
Now,they're double that.
 
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#699
SonnyBassPlayer said:
That was one of the first things I tried: sadly I still had a bit of chorus with pickups totally lowered, which didn't stand out in the band, but I didn't like the sound of the bass anymore, so I had to take action
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That's a shame. Having owned and worked on a lot of basses, I've never failed to hear that problem with pickups too high or to eliminate it via setup. I have an EB '13 and a '14 and both ended up set up virtually identically with medium action & sounding great.

Hopefully your solution results in a lifetime of good use and great music!
 
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#700
blue4 said:
I was sorely tempted to buy one of these on clearance the other day. Aside from the SG, this is the best bass Gibson makes as far as comfort IMO. With none of the usual awful QC issues I see on most SGs. I'm no Gibson fan by any means, but this was a nice bass at a good price. They shouldn't have discontinued it, they should have advertised it more. It competes very well with a P or a J. IMO it's the only bass in its current lineup that if advertised correctly and came in a decent array of colors could actively compete in today's bass market. I mean it has 95% of the SGs comfort, with more tonal varsity. I don't understand Gibson at all.
Click to expand...

Two years for a new model with poor advertising is definitely not enough to get a strong foothold in the marketplace. It almost seems like they were upset by some of the feedback, took their proverbial ball and went home in a funk. Possibly their financial woes necessitated cutting what they could.

I've found from the start that what most people disliked, which seems to be the rough style of finishing and matte finish, is very appealing to me. So too the overall esthetics, and definitely the sound.

Super comfortable when sitting down too, which I do a lot in my current practice and recording situations.
 
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