Epiphone EB-35 SG Bass

Year: I bought the EB-3 5 String in December 2000, it was manufactured in October 2000. Made in Korea and set-up in the US.

Frets & Strings: It's a 22 fret, 34" scale, 5 string bass. Epiphone made two 5-string models a limited edition Les Paul and an SG/EB-0 type.

Body: Solid mahogany body.

Controls: Two volume and one tone knob plus a 5 position chickenhead tone selector.

Pickup Configuration: There are two OBL dual-rail passive humbuckers (soup bar style).

Body and neck materials: Set maple neck, rosewood fretboard, mother of pearl trapezoid inlay fret markers.

Finish: Natural cherry red finish.

Body style: SG shape (double cut away).

Bridge style: Tailpiece and bridge with intonators.

Tuners: Can't remember off-hand, don't think they're Gotoh.

Neck/Scale: It's a Gibson neck -- rounded, thick and sturdy -- which is alot different from my Ibanez Sound Gear's thin and fast one.

Accessories: Allen Wrench and a cheap cable.

Music style: I play straight-ahead rock.

Amps and effect: Peavey Microbass practice amp, and a Trace Elliot Series 6 AH100 pre-amp, Kustom K200 A amp, SVT410HE and a SVT-15EN.

Noise: It's not particularly noisy guitar which is nice after playing an active bass. It seems like there's some deadspots at certain ranges and settings, I haven't quite figured out where they are.

Sound: Dark tones and low grows, unpronounced harmonics, weak mid-range.

Sound variety: The tone selector is somewhat limited, I really only use three settings. Someone below mention series to parallel settings (like the Stingray), not positive about that. I have found that the first, third, and last settings have the best sound -- at times I've had this bass growling like a champ, at other times it's been nothing but buzz and weak harmonics. Does inconsistency count as variety?

Stage/Studio: I bought it for the stage, I mean an SG -- but it with alot of work it sounded great for recording once I got it to sound good.

Likes: Looks hot, the low D sounds nice and mellow. My chief complaint with cheaper 5 strings is a rubberband sound on the fifth string; this sound has largerly been absent on this bass.

Dislikes: Intonations and set-up have caused me nothing but grief, the stock Gibson strings are crap and I'm not convinced I like the pickups. I love the look of the bridge and tailpiece but it makes setting the action and intonation (especially with a fifth string) exceedingly difficult. The guitar is top heavy, if you use a thin nylon strap that guitar is going to slip and bang the head against the floor. I use a wide leather strap, so this doesn't happen.

Factory set-up: When I first played the bass the set up was great, but the strings were dull and lacked response. After changing the strings several times, I finally settled on D'Addario XL Super Longs, (SITs were good, but they were too thin a guage -- the low B lacked definition). Once I put on the XLs, the B-string was an absolute pain to intonate. I eventually stripped the screw that adjusts the block where at the washer mark. To solve this problem, I took a thick rubber band and turned the block around (like the bridge on the high B-String on a classical guitar -- this gave me more room to intonate and the rubber band acted as a washer for the screw. I keep the action high to avoid lots of string buzz, that's more a question of what you can live with.

Pickups adjusted: They were adjusted fine, they could probably stand to be raised higher.

Flaws: There are no detectable flaws on the bass -- the B-string is simply poorly designed.

Durability: This bass is solid and heavy, I think it could last the tour.

Hardware: I did strip the screw intonating it (see above) whether or not this was more my fault or a cheap design remains to be interpretted by the reader.

Finish: The finish hasn't worn and seems fine, but I haven't been rubbing myself up against it violently -- I do try and not wears big belt buckles and stuff when using it.

Strap Buttons: Solid.

Dependability: I feel like I'm constantly adjusting this bass so, I would definately bring a backup (although I haven't actually brought one, yet).

Company: Gibson is notorious for its bad customer service. Pray you don't have to deal with them.

Repairs: I ordered some parts for the bass from the Guitar Center, Gibson has yet to deliver them even though they purportly have them in stock. (It's been over a month).

Warranty: 90 days? I can't remember.

Playing Time and Gear: I've been playing for about 10 years, my other bass (my first bass) is an Ibanez SG SR405(?) 5-String from '91 or '92.

Questions to ask in hindsight: I bought this bass online from samash.com, I bought my first bass there so I was comfortable dealing with them. I have sense bought items from them online and been pleased with their quality of service. Gibson, however, took forever to send the bass to them (is this a reoccuring theme with them?) I went to several local music stores before I bought the bass, searched all the reviews I could find online, and tried out the Les Paul 5 String and this bass, so I don't know what else I could have done -- I think I enjoyed playing the Les Paul more, but the hardware was cheaper on it. I have heard great things about vintage EB-0s and I would have loved to play one before I bought this to compare a vintage Gibson with an Epiphone.

If Stolen: I can't believe there aren't more cool looking basses out there for 5-string players. Especially in the affordable price range. I would do alot of research before buying anything and definately get a professional set-up with my favorite strings on it. If Danelectric made a longhorn 5-string, I would buy that.

Love/Hate: Simply put, I love it when its sounding good, I hate it when it the action or the intonation is off.

Improvements: A better bridge system that looked similar.

Post Script: I tried to make this review as honest as possible. I don't need to give this bass a stellar rating to justify my purchase or my ego. If you love/hate my review and want to talk about it, please e-mail me. I'd appreciate the input.

Mine is a 2000 model, serial number U00020744 (I think all the EB3-5's were Korean) 22 frets, 34' scale, standard cherry/chrome finish over mahogony, rosewood fretboard, 2 twin-rail passive pickups.

Just a great-looking bass and amazingly well crafted for the selling price.

The bridge almost allows perfect set-up, but I would prefer adjustable individual string saddles instead of the bar-type Epi used on this. The harmonic adjustment needs to make the "G" a bit shorter than is possible and the low "B" a bit longer than is possible, but we were able to get it darn close.

Amazingly versitile. Running through the little Fender Bassman 25 or SVT/8x10's you can get springy-wire YES or big-bottom jazz fundimentals out of it. It's wonderful for pop-slap with a Ricky-like roundwound tone you can make clean or add grrrr. There is a nice Fender-like 'ping' available too, if you play it with your fingers and get close to the bridge.

I do wish it were a bit less susceptible to induced noise; the tone rolls off the treble somewhat when you take the volume pots down below '8', but knowing this, you can use it to create a bunch of tonal variations, and it actually adds to its versitility.

I didn't like the factory set-up, as the neck needed a bit more bow, the stings were set too low to allow buzz-free hard playing; the pickups were perfect and haven't been moved.
The finish is great except for some fretboard masking on the underside of the neck (on the "B"-string side) where the masking wasn't applied thick enough, but it's almost impossible to see.

The 5-position selector switch was not tightened enough at the factory; it was possible to mobe the entire pot assembly if you didn't know there were just 5 positions and tried for 6... Easily corrected with a socket wrench.

The candy-cherry finish is gorgeous; I've had a '60's Gibson EB-0 and EB-3 and neither one were as cool looking as this.

This bass is as solid as a baldwin piano. If you wear through the finish, you will have played a lot of hours!
I set up the truss rod once and it's been solid ever since. It stays in tune through hard playing; it's the only bass you need to bring to a gig unless your crew has a habit of running over the instruments with a forklift.

Nothing's come up I couldn't handle.

I've been a bassist since 1973, have owned six Fenders, one Rickenbacker, the EB-0, EB-3, a Dan Armstrong lucite, and of all of them, this inexpensive EB-3 5-string has far and away the best fret intonation, versitile tone, ease of play of any of them.
The neck shape is just right. High quality tuners and easy to use tone controls.
I wish it'd come with some documentation about the 5-position selector switch, and a different bridge; I'd replace it if it were wrecked or stolen with another one...

Because of the poor promotion Epiphone's given this bass, I have a feeling they may be out-of-production pretty soon... Musician's Friend has discontinued it, which is a pity, because it's the bargain of the decade for the price.

I bought a used Epiphone 5 string SG bass, i believe it was made in Korea... It has 22 frets, 5 strings, and a beautiful stained mahogany top. There are 2 volume knobs, one tone knob, and a five position sweeping tone knob... 2 thick, punchy, yet warm and deep Dual Rail humbuckers, right at the bridge, and right at the neck.... The two hums, in addition to the tone sweep, provides for a massive variety of tones available at your disposal... It has passive electronics.... Mahogany body, mahogany neck, beautiful heritage cherry stain... Tune-o-matic bridge, not very common on bass, usually found on gibson/epiphone guitars... the tuners are the only things i may replace.... very wide neck, rosewood fretboard, massive frets...however, i do not have the BEADG tuning standard to five strings, i modified my instrument so instead of a low B string, i have a high C, so my bass is tuned EADGC...thats the only difference between mine and the stock model...

This bass is good for any style of music you may be playing... I play stuff consisting mostly of progressive rock/classic rock, but it sounds beautiful on anything at all... I play it through a crate 115... 100 watt combo... i play through a boss flanger, a big muff pi usa reissue, and a brownsville wah... it comes through quite nicely even after all the effects... it retains its full, rich, warm sound no matter what you do to it... this bass goes onstage without a backup... i also do all my recording with this bass... beautiful tone.... tone sweep allows for so much variety in my sound...

bass setup when i got it was not great.... action was too low, b string buzzed a lot, but it was used, so i cant really dock it for that... the pickups were fine, they sound excellent.... the B string buzzed a lot no matter what, actually, but i wasnt planning on keeping it around for very long, like i mentioned earlier.... once again, the only thing on the bass not up to par are the tuners..... the finish is one of the nicest ive ever seen....

This bass withstands all my stage stuff.... I slap the shit out of this thing on a daily basis, and its built to last... the thing is a fucking tank of a bass.... the hardwares gonna last, i guarantee that.... mine came used, so there were already straplocks installed, and it stays in tune very well.... i would gig without a backup, if only there werent the risk of breaking a string....

N/A

I really cant say enough about this bass.... It plays, sounds, and looks beautiful, it continues to impress me and others that see me play it... I love it...

This is a brand-spankin new bass! just got it recently.It's a 2000 model. 22 fret 34 inch 5-string. made in Korea.the body is a beautiful solid mahogany with a 3 piece maple neck. it has two volumes,one tone and a 5 position tone selector which acts as an overall tone sweep.There are two elongated "soap bar" type pickups controlled by volume pots.The body is a standard "SG" style,long scale,very wide neck that takes some getting used to. The flawless fretwork says much about the overall level of craftsmanship in this bass.There is a good attention to detail from the neck inlays to the shielding paint in the control cavity..Very nicely done!

The sound is remarkably versitle,helped in no small part by the tone sweep. Personally, I play punk/alternative/New Wave style music and I've found that this bass has the tonal Qualities to satisfy my need......so to speak.Being a veteran of the mid-eighties metal wars I can also say that a bass like this would have come in very handy in my nightly rendering of "Songs in the "E" note". There is everything from "Thuds" to "Twangs"in it's bag of tricks and much unexplored in between.I use a GK rig with two custom made 1x15 cabs which captures the low B just great!...this was hard on my little Peavy Minx practice amp though.It just wasnt made to handle that low of frequency even at moderate volumes.

Though this bass was made in Korea, it came with a sticker on back saying that it was set-up and inspected in the U.S. overall, I believe they did a very good job with this. the saddle height over the B and E strings was a bit high though...nothing that a turn of the screw couldnt handle.The finish on the other hand was almost flawless! beautiful cherry finish on neck and body with only slight rippling around the top of the neck joint area.Tuning pegs work very well and the nut was cut just right. the only thing I really dont care for are the style of the volume and tone knobs....they scream "Beginner Guitar" ,having the words volume and tone printed right on them and all. they will be replaced very soon.....ok their replaced......much better! Watch out...this also has a VERY heavy neck....be sure to buy a good strap.

I've only had this bass for a short time, but I can see no problems in the near furture. it looks solid and built to last. the strap buttons are being replaced with permanant strap locks before it goes on stage though.To be honest,with such a beautiful finish,I'm almost afraid to go near a gig with this. At this point,though,I can't give an accurate assesment of its reliability/durability. it's still too new to me at this point,and it would be unfair of me to speculate.

Not needed yet

I've been playing bass more that half as long as I've been alive.I have five othe basses and a 6-string,Mostly Fenders and Guilds.I have all the equipment that I need for most gigs.I have a short "Wish" list of things I'll be needing in the future, but then again ,dont we all. I bought this bass because I've always loved the "Sg" style. my first "good" bass was an Electra long scale EB-O copy and I've been smitten ever since. Also......this looked like fun! So far it has exceeded my expectations. This Baby not only has looks,but,sound to match.The only thing that could have made this better is if it had come with a case. I hate gig bags. Oh well, cant have everything. aftermarket,here I come!