That's an older "strictly P" Affinity, which is obviously a different animal than the current PJ configuration. Nice looking board on that one!
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Should I trade a squire p for Epiphone eb 3
- Thread starter S-Bar
- Start date
Fender owns Squier. They are basically all under the Fender banner, but they reserve the Fender name for the high-end stuff. Once you get below a certain price point, they have the Squier name on them.
It’s nearly unanimous, but I’ll add to the pile of “heck no!”. Epiphone has really done bassists and themselves a disservice making their EB-3 a 34” scale. The neck dive is worse, and the stretch to reach this 1st position is absolutely insane.
I assume the only reason they don’t make it a 30.5” scale is because they suspect no one in their right mind would buy the Gibson SG bass if they did.
I assume the only reason they don’t make it a 30.5” scale is because they suspect no one in their right mind would buy the Gibson SG bass if they did.
I'm gonna play devils advocate bravely on here. I know I'm going to get tons of angry replies back or disagreeing statements and that's fine. Let me start by saying I do agree with the crowd that a PJ/P Bass by squier are some of the best basses you can have, if I was you I would upgrade to a newer one if you do not like your old one. Now Gibson market is making cool basses but they end up having lots of issues like neck dive, muddy pickups etc. I would say a short-scale would be better for a EB-3 but why they went with the 34, I have no idea. My point is before I say anything for the EB-3 there are Viper basses from ESP which have that SG look but are made much better IMO (Though Vipers are kind of rare but not pricey at all) and many other brands similar to ESP who make SG shape basses. So to get to my whole devils advocate point, if you feel a calling to the SG, then maybe you should do it if you are serious about bass or really need some motivation BUT--- I think you should go to a shop and tried it some more, the video demos while some are honest always make a bass better than it is. So there is my point goodluck and take your time and also, it doesn't have to be your last bass and I also think it may be better to save up for more quality higher level stuff personally. Good luck dude.
An EB-3 just needs to be played in a neck-up kind of angle.
Then the reach and the neck dive aren't such an issue.
They're cool but sure get a lot of grief around here.
You'll still need a P-bass, though. That's TalkBass rule number 1.
Then the reach and the neck dive aren't such an issue.
They're cool but sure get a lot of grief around here.
You'll still need a P-bass, though. That's TalkBass rule number 1.
I had one and I found the neck pickup more usable than the original with the mud choke that made them muddier. The bridge pickup could get a good Jaco sound. I could get a lot of different sounds from Jaco to Mark King to Stanley Clarke out of it. Sounded good to me. They sometimes sound better with flats.
Gibson back in the day made a short-lived long-scale EB-3, the EB-3L.
Having said that, it was a nightmare to play because of the neck dive. I had an EB-3 short-scale Japanese copy early in life again, loved the sound, but hated the dive. This new long scale is worse.
I'll probably get another for the third time in my life again. Looking hard at the old Epiphone Elite versions, like the original 60's Gibson EB-3 with the 4-way varitone, short scale, and all.
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If one can only have one bass a precision is a good one to have. Your’s looks serviceable.
Perhaps buy the EB-3 outright if you like it. I have an EB-O which I really enjoy but it’s short scale, single pickup.
The Precision is my personal all time favorite bass but I do enjoy my others as well.
Perhaps buy the EB-3 outright if you like it. I have an EB-O which I really enjoy but it’s short scale, single pickup.
The Precision is my personal all time favorite bass but I do enjoy my others as well.
I owned a shortscale Epiphone EB-0 that had been hotrodded with an added neck humbucker and toggle switch. I loved the thick sound of it but sold it on for ergonomic reasons. As noted, the neck dived like a U-boat, the short and stylish tiny 'bully' horns being inadequate. It was heavy too and you could hardly tell it was a shortscale with the silly gigantic headstock. So I'm sure the longscale version would be even more awkward to play. With all that being said, the EBs have a nice tone completely different in timbre from P-type instruments that I liked a lot. So I'd say if you can try it out you might like the tone so much you will put up with the bad ergonomics. It didn't work out for me but I'm pretty arthritic. I sure did like the sound though. I didn't own it long enough to look at it sideways and make the headstock break off either, as often happens with Epiphone/Gibsons (-:
That looks to be a pretty old (90s) affinity. The quality is definitely lower than an Epi EB0.
Do you know what year the EB is? Some of them, the korean (IIRC) are quite good. Look at the headstock of the EB, if it has a gibson truss rod cover, thats actually original. They used them at the start of production.
I think this will be a matter of taste for you. Personally I like both. They have a quite different sound from each other, so it's really about what you find comfortable, cool and good sounding.
Best of luck!
Do you know what year the EB is? Some of them, the korean (IIRC) are quite good. Look at the headstock of the EB, if it has a gibson truss rod cover, thats actually original. They used them at the start of production.
I think this will be a matter of taste for you. Personally I like both. They have a quite different sound from each other, so it's really about what you find comfortable, cool and good sounding.
Best of luck!
For whatever reason Epiphone went with the EB-3L, the long scale version of the otherwise short scale EB-3. I personally would try and find an old Japanese bolt on EB-3, some of the lesser badged brands like Arita and Westwood are around $200-$300 and get you a solid bass that does the EB3 thing proper for not a lot of money!
Though, I would say your trade is pretty good if you like the Epiphone, I personally do not like the long guitar feel of it, to me it the overall feel makes more sense shorter scale, but thats entirely up to you.
Though, I would say your trade is pretty good if you like the Epiphone, I personally do not like the long guitar feel of it, to me it the overall feel makes more sense shorter scale, but thats entirely up to you.
