Epiphone EB-0

THIS IS A MOST BASIC OF BASSES...MY VERY FIRST BASS, WAY BACK IN THE DAY, WAS A UNIVOX COPY OF THE HOFNER BEATLE BASS...HEY, IT WAS 1966...BUT A FEW YEARS LATER I TRIED A 1968 P-BASS AND THEN A 1965 EB-0...WISH I STILL HAD THAT ONE. THAT WAS MY FAVORITE OF BASSES. I PREFERRED THEN, AND STILL PREFER NOW, A SHORT SCALE BASS...FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS...ALL OF THEM OBVIOUS: COMFORT, FEEL, AND SOUND.
I HAVE PLAYED BASS SINCE 1966 AND HAVE ADDED OVER THE YEARS, GUITAR, HARMONICA, KEYS, MANDOLIN, TENOR BANJO, LAPSTEEL...AND SO ON....
THESE DAYS I PLAY ALL OF THOSE THINGS BUT PREFER TO FEATURE BASS. FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS I WAS WITHOUT A BASS SO I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO BUY ONE....
NOW, SHORT SCALE BASSES OF QUALITY ARE NOT EASY TO COME BY...ONE ALEMBIC BUT WHO CAN AFFORD THAT ONE...A CUSTOM BUILT LANDING...A FENDER MUSTANG (NAAAA) AND A VINTAGE GIBSON EB-0...OR THE HIGH PRICED GIBSON SG REISSSUE.....i spread myself thin...so I could not afford to spend a fortune on a bass....the Danelectros are good....but scarce....so I thought I would try the Epiphone EB-0...AGAIN....I had one back in '99 or '00 and it sucked. It is nothing like the current issue out now. For instance, the finish was just a super thick red coat of deep and thick stain. None of the woods' grain showed thru....they claimed it was mahogany even back then...but it was hard to verify....the inlay on the headstock back then was chintzy..and the usual features were poor...it was made in either Korea or Indonesia....
THIS ONE THAT I ORDERED FROM SAME DAY MUSIC...HAS PEARLOID INLAY IN TEH HEADSTOCK....A BOUND IN BLACK NECK THAT HAS NO SHARP EDGES WHATSOEVER.....THE GRAIN IN THE BODY AND THE NECK IS JUST LIKE THE GIBSONS.....THIS IS DEFINITELY SOLID MAHOGANY (3 LATERAL PIECES BUT STILL NICE GRAINED MAHOGANY....
THE FRETBOARD IS A REDDISH TO DARK BROWN ROSEWOOD...LOOKS RICH...IT PLAYS, FEELS AND SETS UP AT PRO LEVEL...
THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST VALUES OUT THERE...FOR $200 WOW...
MAYBE GIBSON FEELS GUILTY AND THIS IS A MEA CULPA FOR ALL OF THE OVERPRICED GUITARS THEY PUT OUT NOW.....GIMME A FREAKING BREAK....

BUT THIS WORKS...AND IS A NICE LOOKER TO BOOT....it suits my style of playing which is rooted in Paul McCartney, Chris Hillman, Rick Danko, Jesse Colin Young, Steve Boone....classic rock players of the golden age..

A GOOD VALUE FOR SURE...

DEEP AND MELLOW (I SET IT UP AND PUT FLATWOUNDS....THE ONLY KIND OF BASS STRING FOR ME)...THE WAY I LIKE IT.....AFTER ALL, A BASS SHOULD BE A BASS....

SUPER COMFY NECK...AND THE GUITAR IS NOT ALL TOP HEAVY....

WHO KNOWS....I SEE NO REASON TO THINK IT WILL GO ASSUNDER...

i DOUBT THERE IS ANY...ESPECIALLY AT THIS PRICE POINT....DON'T EXPECT IT AND YOU WON'T BE DISAPOINTED...

PLAYING SINCE 1966...BACK IN THE GOLDRUSH DAYS....THE SALAD DAYS...THE GOLDEN ERA...YOU GET THE IDEA...

LOST OR STOLEN? i WOULD SEEK OUT ANOTHER UNLESS I HAD THE CASH FOR A USED VINTAGE GIBSON EB-0....MAYBE I WILL WIN THE LOTTERY NEXT WEEK...OR SOME TIME DOWN THE ROAD

Indo model , looks like mahogany ,but could be adler, nice weight to this axe , but not to heavy. Bolt on neck , fat humbucker type pup , 1 vol,1 tone. Simple.

This is great low sounding bass, I play threw 50 watt Ampeg ,and it sounds great. Nice deep sound for walking line ,and tune up the tone and treble ,and you get a nice sound to slap with.headstock is a little heavy ,but I had a Thunderbird Epi that did the same thing.

Bought new at GC and it needs no setup, finish is nice ,and wood grain looks beautiful!pickup is in great local ,and frets were not sharp

You can play live with this axe , and it wil survive a good thrashing , sweet , the beer spills , and a couple of drops. I'm gonna put on locking straps but thats it. backup?? bass players don't need back up!!
This is all you need.

Couldn't tell you.

this is a simple bass, and i have had few ,(Playing since 83) some of my past basses were Fender 72 telecaster, japanese 75 Jazz reissue , Mex jazz. Music Man String Ray,
you can hold a bass line , do what you need to do for rock ,counrty ,blues ,metal ,pop, alt , what ever. This is not your wanna be alembic multi pup jam band fusion ,or 5 string goth black nu-metal job( a grand and up? you kidding me??). This is a machine for those who are mechanics in the art of rock . This is a tool ,like a hammer .Use it wisely my friends.

its hard to rate this bass on features because it hasnt really got any - but then its not really meant to have any is it? ive given it a 6 because the ones it has aren't awesome but they're as you'd expect for this money.

I bought this bass in 2007 from an ebay shop - just out of curiosity really - i wanted to try a short scale out for a while and i'd seen (and pretty much fallen in love with) one of the gibson 'sg' basses but didnt want to pay big money for something i wasnt gonna play.

this one came with a sticker on the neck that said 'made in China', so....

pretty basic configuration - big old epiphone stock (passive) mudbucker at the neck position with one volume and one tone control.
one comment i'll make about the pickup is that it doesnt seem to pickup the E string very well - nothing you can't compensate for whilst playing, but still quite a noticable difference.

the general design of the bass isnt exactly ergonomic - although the neck dive hasnt really been noticable or problematic, the distance of the strings from the body of the bass (due to the height of the really old school 3 point bridge and position of the neck - nothing to do with action) makes playing finger style a bit of a challenge - i put a gary willis style 'ramp' onto the body to counter this and havent looked back.

the only real criticisms i have of this bass are:
- entirely superficial point: the edges of the scratch plate are pretty badly machined - the edges aren't consistent or square. boo.

- after owning the bass for about 2 years now the machine heads/tuners (stock epiphone) have gone a bit slack and tend to slip a little - gonna replace them i think (they arent exactly the prettiest feature of the bass either)

however, for the money i paid, i am very pleased

i have to say i was pleasantly surprised with how this bass sounds - i was expecting a really boomy muddy tone but (with the right EQ settings) its pretty clear all round - i do think you have to rely on your EQ to get the sound you want out of this bass because its not gonna do you any favours in that department - leave the EQ flat and it sounds like you're listening to it with a pillow over your ears.
That said - i play it through an Ashdown Mag300 combo (2X10) which hasnt exactly got the brightest sound or the best EQ ever and it sounds pretty acceptable.

i play this bass mainly for jazz/blues work and in cabaret/wedding/function bands - its tone is spot on for this kind of work (a couple of keyboard players have mentioned how much they like the sound) as its not too in your face - ideal for just holding down the bottom end.

The criticism here is that there is a buzz from the pickup/circuitary (not much but noticable) that may be a grounding fault (it hasnt really bothered me enough to investigate - just make sure the volume is turned down in between numbers)

when i get the chance i'm going to put a single coil pickup in at the bridge position to hopefully expand the tonal capabilities of this bass - then i might use it for recording but for now its a bit too dirty sounding for anything but live work.

out of the box the action was a bit high for my taste - but since setting it up (almost 2 years ago) its a lovely bass to play - the short scale means easy playing which suits me when im doing gigs that involve sight reading (less to worry about if i dont have to concentrate on left hand position)

i have no worries about the wiring or electrical parts in this bass because frankly there are none to speak of lol (this isnt a bad thing in my opinion)

the fit and finish are good for a bass in this price range - the neck fits nicely into the body (no gaps) and the hardware is all pretty well made - except for the issues with tuners which ive already mentioned i have no complaints that i wouldnt have with a ??500 bass.

i've used this bass a lot in live situations (probably done over 100 gigs with it) and ive never had any problems with it - it never even occured to me that i'd need a backup.

i wouldnt throw it at a wall, but its always seemed pretty durable and dependable.

never needed it.

Probably quite an important to mention this here:

DO NOT BUY THIS IF YOU WANT TO PLAY A LOT OF SLAP - not a wise choice at all lol

Ive been playing bass for about 12 years now - i also own a Fender P-bass, Ibanez ATK400, Warwick Corvette and a Gibson les paul bass.

though i would favour one of my other basses for a recording session, i sometimes wish i'd bought my EB0 before buying the others because in many ways i prefer playing it to them (odd thing to say, i know, and i know a lot of people will be cursing me right now) because here is a bass that im not afraid to swing about and have fun with whilst im playing and i can leave it propped against my amp in between sets without having to contantly worry that somethings gonna happen to nearly ??1000 worth of equipment.

as i said in the other categories - i've fitted a (home made) ramp to assist fingerstyle playing and i'll probably have another pickup fitted and replace the tuners - but this is all at a lower cost than any of my other basses - and in my opinion very worth while.

if this bass were lost or stolen i would get another one (and it would probably be EXACTLY the same - cos they all role off a production line anyway)

the only reason i wouldnt recommend this to a beginner is due to the scale length - its probably more beneficial to learn of a full scale instrument
however - if anyone is wondering about trying a short scale instrument i would definately recommend this one.

hope this has been helpful :)

cherry eb0
Paid 80 euros

Sounds huge but no review before said that it's scale make the E string sound out of tune and with no sustain !!
This eb0 and all the other I think are made with a 2 pieces MAPLE neck (forget about flamed or birdeyes) loosely bolt on a POPLAR PLYWOOD body .
The neck is not so bad and it's narrow as a Jazz bass . The headstock is like a paddle .
The body looks like a EB0 body when you're really far but when seen closer , every details of the original EB0 is missing : minimum work on the body.
All this is soaked with a dark red paint and soaked again with polyester varnish.
EPIPHONE says that's a all mahogany bass.

Set-up at the factory??? I don't think that a guy is paid for this job in China !
Finish??? A glossy Polyester varnish that suck most of your (missing)sustain off ! And make the bass feel like a plastic toy.
The pickguard was made by an old chinese people I think because it makes me think about the parkinson desease.

I took the bass and scraped all the finish off...I don't think chinese peolpe working at the varnish departement will live old due to the pollluating nature of this varnish. I only did one bass and they build thousands.
I looked at about a ton of original EB0 pictures (thanks gibsonbasses.com)and I cut the headstock and build an other body made of ....MAHOGANY !
I routed the neck heel and the body so it's now a set neck construction.

NOTHING THERE IS MAHOGANY !!!

Overall : cheap price = cheap quality

This is an SG style bass made in 2006 in Indonesia. The Body is a three piece mahogany and the bolt on neck seems to be maple. One passive mudbucker style pickup at the neck position and one volume with a single tone control. The finish is clear cherry red and flawless. The tuners are the clover leaf style with the big open gears. The bridge is a cheaper version of the Gibson 3 point. The hardware is all chrome plated.

Out of the box the sound is decent but as stated in other reviews the tone doesn't change too much from 0-10. The problem is not the pots or the pickup but the way it is wired. Pull the schematics from the Gibson EB-0 and copy them this fixes the tone variation problem for under $5 with radio shack capacitors. The operation has always been quiet for me in every situation. I use Peavey bass amps and use the bass as a backup for live shows. This bass is great for classic rock, country, or for playing blues standards. Not so great for hard rock or modern blues but will work in a pinch.

No flaws just poor design on the wiring fix it up and you're good to go! Set up? Of course you need to set it up! If you don't know how buy a Dan Erlewine book and learn it my friend you will always use this knowledge.

You could use this bass to gig with however as with all Epiphones do not buy this one site unseen they love to switch up with the materials. I have seen these basses made with a veneered plywood body (yuk!) and sold as the same model with cheaper tuners etc. The one I have will last it's well made but not as good as my 2 elitist eb-3's but for $200 if you make sure it's the mahogany body you will have a good short scale bass for the bucks. Buy some straplocks all guitars come with inadequate strap buttons. Truss rod needs to be adjusted every time the humidity changes just like evey other guitar.

Epiphone and Gibson have the worst customer support on the planet bar none! If you have a genuine problem they will do nothing! I have had many past experiences with them trust me on this. If you have a question they will answer you but a problem with a product is your problem you will be on your own!

I'm an older guy who started playing at age 9 38 years ago. Been gigging on the weekends from about age 16. I have over 30 bass guitars and several 6 string guitars. I own 9 amps all Peaveys and mostly old ones. I have been using short scale basses for about 3 years now because they are balanced better and easy on the back and hands. This is a good but not great solid little short scale bass with a really cool vintage look. If it were stolen I would go get another (why not only $200). If you play an SG, EB-0, or Eb-3 as your main axe this one is a great back up.

Made in Indonesia, I think in 2005.

20 frets, 4 strings, solid body SG style body.

1 tone and 1 volume control, tone control doesn't make much difference at high bass levels (on your amp or pedal eq) but if you dial in a bright tone with your amp/pedal, the tone control makes more of a difference when used. If you don't have an amp(with eq) or a processor/pedal, don't count on the tone control, you'll probably be stuck with a single tone. The volume control makes the sound kind of muffled when turned down so best to use your amp's volume control and keep this one at ten.

1 chrome humbucker at the neck, passive. Sounds ok, not as muddy or as deep sounding as I expected (for a humbucker at the neck, but still warm, clear and good)

Check the site for material details.

Mine is shiny dark cherry with the wood showing through and a black pick guard, classic SG color.

Bridge is three point Gibson style, no individual saddle height adjustments (but it has individual intonation adjustment screws for each saddle). It's ok, doesn't require much work to adjust.

Tuners are open with big ears. Seemed like it couldn't hold tuning but once the strings settle, it's as good as any.

Short scale (30"), narrow and slim comfortable neck. (1.5" at nut)

The sound is clear and warm, but you can't get any different tones without using a processor/pedal.

I use it with a Digitech BP50, sounds fine and I can get all kinds of tones with it.

It isn't very noisy.

Sound isn't very rich (characteristic wise, mostly because of the short scale) but you can still get very satisfactory warm and deep sounds, along with bright sounds if you use a processor.

I haven't tried it in a gig yet, but will soon.

It came with a very low action and buzzed like hell on all strings and frets. The neck was straight. I gave the neck some relief and raised the bridge, now plays very good. The action isn't as low as I thought I could get it without buzzing, but still pretty good compared to big full scale basses. d and g strings were kind of quiet so I raised the pickup on the treble side a little, now it's all good. There were no flaws except that there is a piece of rough black paint or something around one of the tuning post bases but since the headstock is black, I didn't even notice it for a few days, so no problem.

With a good set-up and quality strings, plays just fine.

I'll use it in studio and gigs soon, looks sturdy. Bumped on the corner of the table twice and no marks yet. Strap buttons are solid but a little short. Get a thick good strap that doesn't slide off your shoulder as it neck dives if you hang it too low.

1 year warranty from the music shop I bought it, have no idea about any other support or warranty.

I have been playing for 4-5 years, I had a couple of other cheap basses. This is my first short scale, and I love the shape, looks, size and ease of playability and would definitely replace it if it was stolen or lost. Though if I had a lot more money, I'd go for the Gibson SG reissue bass, same thing with extra pickup and more quality.

Get a good set-up, strap, strings and preferably a small processor to give you tonal variety (Digitech BP50 is around 100$ or less) and once the strings and the neck settle, it's one of the most comfortable basses you can find with a good sound.

A nice example

This particular bass sounds great through a good Amp- Marshall in this case.If ou buy a small practice amp do not expect a great sound(pretty obvious-but i wonder how many buy a bass with a tiny cheap amp and then wonder why the sound is awful).Going to be giged soon so more idea on sound etc

No problems found and it played well out of the box

Cannot see any problems yet

Not required

2 months.

Would get another one-but likely an up grade

Not that struck on the tuners but it does keep well in tune.

2006: Made in China (eeecchh)
Short scale.
Solid ass chunk-o-wood, all shiney and red.
The tone control sucks as others have mentioned. A replacement of the pots will be in order.
Pick up is pretty decent, would like to eventually swap that out as well.
Traditional "it'll poke an eye out kid" SG body style. Just to f'n rock and roll to dismiss.
"vintage" looking bridge, could be a little nicer, but I was able to intonate it all right.
The tuners....well, I'm not a big fan of the big 'ol mickey mouse ear style tuners, they get all messed up when you put it in a gig bag, and frankly, on this bass, kinda ugly. Get swapped out when I can.

Sound killer. Deep and throaty, but able to cut a bit on the higher registers.
Perfect for the stoner rock I play. I play it through two amps at the same time. A peavy delta bass head thru a hartke 1-15 & a Marshall guitar head thru a generic 2-10 bass cab. Both rigs run into a AB box to my bass.
Mean bad ass tone. Watch out, very scarey.
Great for the studio, records nice and warm sounding, almost like an upright, this came as a pleasant surprise.
For different tones on this bass, you better have a amp that is capable of changing tone cuz the bass has basically one.
Great for the stage, its looks sooo cool, your gonna get the chicks for sure.

Bass was set up like a piece-o-crap. I took an afternoon and swapped out the strings, adjusted the truss rod, and did its intonation. I did'nt expect much, it came from guitar center and was like $200.00 bucks. After the adjustments, it plays like butter.

So far seems pretty solid, guess time will tell. As far a gigging without a backup, I have a backup anyways, so what do I know...

Have not needed...

So far its seems like a killer bass. I'd love the Gibson version, but I'm kinda poor. I'll just upgrade the hardware as time goes on and keep on rocking this thing til my fingers bleed.

Yes, I would replace it if it were lost or stolen, I dig it!

Epiphone EBO standard issue
Made in China
Has all one needs. 1 Pickup 1 each volume, tone knob.
Bought it new and ordered replacement strings at the same time. I assumed the stock strings would be cheap poor quality, I was not disapointed.

I LOVE IT despite what others feel are flaws.
This is my 3rd. I have had an Epiphone and a(customized) Gibson in the 70's.
If you get one that has a "buzz" or "rattle" find a good bass tech, usually this is easy to correct via "adjustments"
Excluding my Gibson AFTER customization, sounds pretty much the same.
Full, rich, warm, thick etc. The tone knob on this particular one is worthless, very little range. Sound!?! 2 words, signal processing.
I use a variety, and get what I want in the studio and on stage.

Action was fair, buzz easily corrected.
Pickup fine as shipped.
Pick guard definately a "B" quality item. Luckly I don't play electric pick guard.
Finish,... way better than I expected. I got red.

If this one is like my previous I'm set for life. (I'm 51)The others
were durable and reliable and both logged many miles. I expect a finish to wear over time, nonissue. I no longer perform standing so I don't worry about strap buttons.I have in the past dropped both previous O's (several times), they survived, but a strap lock would be a great accessory. Truss rod adjustment once on 1.
This is my primary instrument.

Never had to use it.
I believe warranty is "lifetime".

I've played for 41 years. I've owned and played numerious other bass gits (Ricky, Fender et.al.)
This remains my favorite. I have always prefered the short scale and the action than can be set as low as I need on the O's.
If I lose this one to theft or heaven forbid I pawn it and forget due date as has happened in the past, I would replace immediately with same model.

Double cutaway, 2005, single 'bucker (passive), mahogony with rosewood board. Cherry finish has patches of "orange peel". Otherwise cosmetically OK and decent hardware.

Full,meaty voice is prevalent due to hefty neck p/up. So, suited to laid-back rock and blues. PLays great thru a single 15" celestion speaker. Would recommend effects amp if more tonal versatility is required.

Factory set up was playable but inadequate. Action too high with buzzy E string. A bridge screw was loose and contributed to playing "noise". Third fret poorly seated. Professional set-up cured all. When sorted, nice fast action favors agile, detailed playing.

Now that it is sorted I will gig it. I believe that it will stand the test of time.

This was a net deal so no support expected or asked.

Playing for far too long. Les Paul, Tele, Precision, Rioji Matsuoka. At this price level dont buy via the net as I stupidly did. Go pick out a good one from the store.