Epiphone EB-1 Bass

1999 Made in Korea. I picked this one up used but still in the box for under $200 with the case. It was missing the upright stand but no problem as I have no desire to play it upright. As delivered the bass was of fair to good quality but i have had some fo the issues others have had with the bridge thread inserts coming out. So far all of have been cheap and easy fixes. It is a beautiful bass!

Sound is standard Gibson bass. You either love it or hate it. I love it and play mostly Cream, Beatles and other classic rock. I immediately replaced the oem strings with D'Addario stainless light gauge half rounds and loved them. I have also tried SIT rock nickle heavy gauge strings but found that the pickup became microphonic, even when lowered, although my strings sit a little closer to the pickup than most. More on that later. I plan on trying a genuine Gibson EB0 pickup in the future.

This is where Epiphone needs some work. Even though I bought mine second hand, it had not been played much if any and I am sure it was as delivered to the original owner. The bridge has to be adjusted waaay high, even to set the action low. The neck was shimmed .060 inch under the heel causing this problem. The neck relief was too much and the neck was not aligned with the bridge, causing the G string to be too close to the edge of the fretboard. Also, I couldn't get the A string action as low as the other 3 strings. it was about .030 inch higher than the others at best. The good news is that all of this can be fixed with proper set-up and a little filing.
I removed the neck shim and adjusted it in the pocket so that it was aligned with the bridge. I adjusted the truss rod for .015 inch relief at the 8th fret. I set the action for all 4 strings at .125 inch. I had to file the A string saddle to get it as low as the rest. There is no fret buzz! I have since replaced the oem 3 point bridge with a Supertone bridge that has independently adjustable action, intonation, and spacing. This also improved sustain by 50%. i highly recommend this for any Gibson/Epi with the 3 point bridge. By the way, I used Superglue gel on the thread inserts.

I have not played this bass in a club since I am not in a band just now, but I do play it about 10-12 hours a week with no problems. I have not had to readjust the neck once it was properly set up.

I've never needed it.

Other than the lack of a good set up, I have no real problems with this bass. it has a little neck dive, but nothing that can't be overcome. It is a real looker and I get a lot of good feedback form fellow musicians on it.

Korean-made, fretless, 32" upright, carved solid body... WHAT?

Yup, this bass is an enigma. It's made in Korea, so the quality is not what I am used to (2 Gibsons, 1 Peavy, 1 Steinberger), but it has a niche for upright electric players. Nothing else comes close unless you want to drop a few grand on a Zeta or a Yamaha.
Want technical details? Read the other reviews.

It works well in music that originally had real acoustic basses, like old-time country, bluegrass, big band and rockabilly. I have played it through small combo amps like the Fender BXR 25 and the Hartke Kickback 12, and larger stage amps like the classic Fender Bassman 50. All sound OK. Go with a direct box if you can, that way the sound guy can help tailor your sound. With proper technique, you can get close to emulating the real thing.
Of course, in trying to emulate an acoustic, you don't want to be running it through a tray full of pedals. There is enough variety in the tone control to find the tone you want for the hall you are playing in.

Played well right out of the box. The biggest adjustment was learning the optimal length of the end pin / telescoping stand. For me, it is having the third fret marker at eye level.

I have used this for live playing for four years now. I stopped carrying a backup after the second year (yeah, I know, bad idea. See the entry in Overall Rating).

As stated, the quality was not top-notch. The four pressed-in threaded inserts (3 for the bridge, one for the end-pin or lower guitar strap) all came loose, and the screw-in telescoping end-pin had to be glued together to prevent the threaded top piece from coming loose.

To fix the problem with the loose inserts, pull the inserts, glue in a thin strip of wood to narrow the diameter of the hole (soak the wood in hot water first, and it bends nicely). Then press the inserts back in place. Once this was done, it has lasted without further need for any adjustments.

not observed.

I have been playing regularly for 27 years. I currently have four basses and three amps. This is the bass I play the most, by far, through each of the amps. It's just fun to play! I rarely play the other basses unless required by the music.
If you can find one on the used market, DO NOT BUY IT! Instead, let me know so I can get it for a backup. Seriously, now that it is out of production, it's hard to find them. If you get one, fix the inserts and the endpin / stand. These are minor issues, though, because the enjoyment from playing an electric in the upright position far surpasses the problems.

I would like to come to the defense of this inexpensive, light weight ,solid body, medium scale, fretless viola bass. I was looking for an inexpensive bass that I could use to simulate an upright, when I stumbled across the EB-1. I had no idea that companies were already producing high quality expensive electric uprights. I thought the feel of the neck and the tone of the wood(mahogany I believe), along with the viola shape would capture the right effect. I switched to flat wound strings and covered the pickup and pickup cover with electrical tape. This both muted the pickup and added a chambered type of hollowness. The stick that came with it to use like an upright was a joke. So I made a nice tripod by mounting a guitar stand onto a speaker stand. I also removed the pickguard, and yes the painted F hole is a little corny.

The sidewinder pickup was very hot and distorted easily. But after muting it with tape, and switching to flat wounds, I get a nice upright like thump. It also has a very low sub bass type tone I can't get on any of my other basses.

The first one I bought had a completely flat neck, wonderfully low action but it buzzed. I went back only to find that the truss rod was stripped and couldn't be adjusted. Fortunetly they had one more with just a little neck relief and no buzz. I have since adjusted the 3 point bridge which doesn't have a lot of flexability. I also lowered the pickup so it was not so hot.

It is a very simple and solid bass and should hold up well and last a long time. I did have to glue the bottom strap button back in though.

I have not dealt with Epiphone customer service, but as I mentioned the store where I got it was very helpfull. As stated in a previous review it has a limited lifetime warranty.

Overall it's a unique bass. It can't replace the solid rock sound of a fender. But it has some nice qualities not found in any other basses that I've seen in my 25 years of playing.

redish/brown finish, mohogany body with painted f-holes and a rosewood fingerboard. One sidewider humbucker pickup close to the neck, 32" scale. It also came with an endpin for upright playing. also has one tone and one volume controll. its a good looking and good sounding bass. it is bass on gibson's prginal violin bass and looks different enough from the hofner violin to make a difference.

the sound is excellent for what i play(stripped down hard rock) might not be your thing if you are playing goth or punk but it certain has a unique sound.

it was set up pretty nicely from the factory. only complaint were the strings(i hear alot of this about epiphone products) but after the strings were replaced everythign worked out fine. the pickups were just fine the action was perfect. only thing i noticed was a small nick by the tail end but nothing to get your panties in a bunch over

this thing is built like a rock. its playibility and dependibility are really amazing. I have a backup up bass but i have to worry about bringing it...never had a problem yet

never dealt with epiphone

if someone stole it i would kill them and hack their basses up into little peices...then i would buy a new one if this one was distroyed in the bloodbath. i have had other basses but this one is my baby...i never plsy the others.