Here's my latest video reviewing the Epiphone Embassy Pro!
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Thoughts on the Modern Epiphone Embassy?
- Thread starter Roger W
- Start date
Here's my latest video reviewing the Epiphone Embassy Pro!
I watched that an hour ago. Thanks for your review! My JC is one of the newer ones made in China. No issues except for the bridge, which is a design, not implementation, quibble.
[I already own this bass, same colour] Well done! That is exactly the way I would try out a bass in the store (minus the drum machine). The only differences between this and the Gibson T-Bird are the pickups. The 760 pups in the Embassy are good; they don't have the same oomph and depth as the ceramic pups in the Gibson Thunderbird but I like them. To be fair, I haven't played an EPI 'Bird.
It’d be cool if you could show how the pickups respond to right hand dynamics.
If it were a Newport reissue then probably it would have been 30" scale.
So, frustrated that the neck pickup height wouldn’t adjust, I took it out, and discovered that there is a foam pad under the bass side and in the middle, but not on the treble side. However, neither side would raise, lower only, so the foam was at max height and still not close enough to the strings. As a result, it’s considerably more polite sounding than my VP Tbird.
I borrowed some pickup springs from a Squier Strat pickguard I had laying around, and those did the trick.
The Tbird is still punchier in the lows and low mids and the Tbird highs are subdued, but I also have brand new Fender 7150s on the Embassy. No idea what’s on the Tbird, but they’re kinda dead, the way I like rounds. I guess I have no choice but to play the crap out of the Embassy to break in the strings before I take it to rehearsal.
I borrowed some pickup springs from a Squier Strat pickguard I had laying around, and those did the trick.
The Tbird is still punchier in the lows and low mids and the Tbird highs are subdued, but I also have brand new Fender 7150s on the Embassy. No idea what’s on the Tbird, but they’re kinda dead, the way I like rounds. I guess I have no choice but to play the crap out of the Embassy to break in the strings before I take it to rehearsal.
Embassy's neck pickup is closer to the neck compared to the VP T-Bird which uses the 60's specs. The original 60's Embassy had pickups at those locations, the reissue has them modelled on modern T-bird (1987->).
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I find the Embassy pickups to be a bit more polite than the ones Gibson is using in the current NR Thunderbird. Of course, I have the Embassy strung up with TI Jazz flats and the 'Bird still has the stock rounds, so that's obviously a contributing factor as well. Honestly, the modern Embassy reissue bass is pretty fantastic - even if I had paid the increased $499 price tag. It's light, looks killer, has a great neck, balances pretty well, and has a bunch of useful tones, IMO. Epiphone has a winner with this one, assuming all the problematic bridge positioning issues have been sorted out.
Mine is still on backorder since March. in W green
I looks like other colors are now available , but I'm holding out....
I looks like other colors are now available , but I'm holding out....
I know why they extended that upper horn, but the end result looks terrible. And I long for the batwing headstock, balance be d@mned.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
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- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Listening to the Lobster review - it sounds really good for that price-point. (looks good too) T-bird style buckers are dark-sounding pu's if they sound authentic to '60s originals. Brighter RW strings, amp tone setting raising treble will get it a bit more "bright" - but w/those pu's - it will always sound darker.
D
The Embassy is more or less a T-bird with vintage-style T-bird pickups in modern T-bird pickup positions. If you're used to Fender-voiced basses a T-bird humbucker will always sound a bit dark/muddy by comparison. The Embassy is a very cool bass for the money but perhaps not the best choice for all genres/songs. This type of tone works best if the bass is given a bit of space in the mix IMO. It can be perceived as a bit muddy in a dense mix. At least the "vintage" ProBucker pickups in the Embassy are considerably less dark/muddy than the "modern" pickups in Gibson USA T-birds.
The most common ways to brighten the tone are:
-Strings. This will obviously depend on what kind of strings you are currently using. Brighter strings will generally just add brightness though, not get rid of mud. Many bright strings will add a lot of "zing" but it's basically just string noise, which may or may not be what you're looking for. You could perhaps try Roto 66s. These are my favourites for T-birds/Embassy as their unique mid voicing adds a bit of mid bite as well as "zing". The downside is that Roto 66s don't stay bright for very long. Personally I like the tone of broken in Rotos but if you want their characteristic "out-of-the-box" brightness you'll have to replace them at least every 2-3 weeks if you play regularly.
-Pots. If the pots are 250k you can replace them with 500k for added brightness. I'm pretty sure the pots in the Embassy are already 500k though, but I'm not 100% sure. Personally I've never liked the results I've gotten when brightening a bass this way. It really just adds a spiky high frequency boost. Basically just string noise (doesn't get rid of mud) but some players like that kind of tone.
-Tone cap. If the stock tone cap is .047 uF you can brighten the tone with a .022 uF cap. This won't have any effect unless you are rolling off the tone though. If you only use the tone control wide open the tone cap won't have any effect at all. Personally I've never liked .022 uF caps on bass guitar as I feel they give a far too limited range on the tone control but some players like them.
-Pickups. T-bird pickups ARE a bit dark (some would say muddy) but the ProBuckers in the Embassy basses are VERY good pickups. In my opinion they are some of the best T-bird pickups out there and I personally like them a LOT more than the even darker pickups Gibson use in their USA T-birds. It doesn't really make sense to replace them IMO. If you don't like the tone of these pickups, you don't like "the T-bird tone" and you would probably be better off with a different type of bass. Of course you can find lots of completely differently voiced (not T-bird) pickups and install them in the Embassy but the pickups + the required work (which would probably require routing and/or filling in holes and re-finishing) would probably cost more than buying a new bass with a more suitable voicing for your needs. Moving the neck pickup closer to a "mid" position would also add a bit more definition/bite but unless you can do the routing/re-filling/re-finishing yourself it will be expensive.
-Dirt pedals. This can give the tone a bit of mid boost, definition and "cut" but will depend on what kind of style of music you're playing of course. And finding the right dirt pedal isn't always easy...
The Embassy is a VERY good sounding bass IF you like T-birds. The T-birds tone isn't for everyone though. In my opinion they're not the most versatile basses. If you want a better "allrounder" that will sit better in a dense mix you might want to consider a more Fender(ish) bass. Or something else entirely...
These Tbird pickups are pretty dark, which is great if that’s what you need, but it’s entirely possible it’s also not what you need. I wouldn’t characterize them as muddy however. “Dark” means the low harmonics are strong, which is what gives this bass its feral pig snarl. Check your EQ to start with; if you’re boosting bass, that’ll be a problem with these pickups. Try a slight cut of the lows on your preamp, keep mids and highs flat. These problems are usually an EQ problem moreso than a gear problem.
I own the Vintage Tbird with the same pickups and owned an Embassy for a couple of years. The Embassy neck pickup is set lower than the bridge pickup, and doesn’t have springs or anything under it to raise it higher, which I think was an attempt to make it brighter. Have you already tried blending out the neck pickup altogether?
Strings can for sure make a difference. You don’t need to change pots or caps or any of that. They’ll make more highs available, but won’t do anything with the lows. Start with your preamp EQ before changing anything.
I will for sure play with EQ. I just go straight into audio interface to record. My strings are new Bootzillas. The interface has a pre amp. I don’t do anything in mix. I’m pretty basic. My previous bass is a squire pbass. I’ll cut bass in EQ and let you know how it goes. Thanks for tips.
I will cut bass in EQ and see what i get. Sounds like the tone cap wont be any help. Thanks for all the info sure saves a lot of pain from experimenting with mods. I will let you know how it goes.
