Epiphone Goth X-Treme Bass

I saw this in a music shop and because of its look alone I had to play it and man what a good idea. With the body shaped like a bat and the lone inlay on the 12th fret, it definitely is an eyecatcher. Passive.

Body: Mahogany
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Ebonal
Inlay: 12th Fret (Bats)
Neck Join: Neck-Thru
Frets: 24
Scale: 34"
Pickups: 2x EMG 35HZ's Soapbars
Controls: 2x Vol, 1x Tone
Hardware: Black Chrome
Finish: Plain Black
Pickup Guard: Silver Diamond Plate

The EMG pickups and mahogany body and ebonal fretboard and neck-thru design are definite pluses in my book. It really feels like a very sold and durable machine.

Out of the box, the tone was right on and the neck felt nice and quick. I never played an "Ebonal" fingerboard before but didn't notice any difference really, although for the size of the frets it played pretty smoothe. The tone was deep with the mahogany body and the stock EMG pickups definitely gave it an edge. I play punk, and more importantly horror punk, and this is the bass I've been looking for. The look. The sound. The feel. It's all there.

I also play out with an established classic rock band from time to time and it suits that sound just swell. Even with my now-and-then dabbling in jazz, this really sounds great there, too!

Right now I play it though a small Peavey Minx 110 35w bass amp that I had used with my previous bass to record on but am currently searching for a new bass head as its replacement, as I am going to get back to playing out again. I had sold my other amp to fund a new guitar purchase.

It has a very warm sound and can get pretty bright with the knobs but I don't think it is designed to run the tonal spectrum.

The action was a little low out of the box and I still need to adjust it but intonation was dead on and it seems to stay in tune alright.

The pickups are comfortable to play with and are not getting in the way. It sems to be cosmetically sound and its a heavy bass and feels really solid when playing. The neck is pretty long and the body is bigger in person than in the original picture that I saw before I sought one out to play. Side-by-side, it is much bigger than this Ibanez SR400.

The Ebonal finish on the fingerboard gives off a nice gleeming muted reflection that adds to the aura of the bass. The flat black finish on the body will probably hold up and it doesn't show finger marks, which is a plus. It seems to like to keep itself clean, which is cool for the bass because I don't clean them much. Like I said, I play punk music...

I haven't played it out live yet, but this will be my stage bass. I will carry my old bass for a backup as a "just in case", like I do with my guitar. The hardware is standard and nothing special but it isn't weak by all means. The flat finish seems pretty capable of handling the test of time. The diamond plate pick guard is pretty thick and definitely sturdy. I don't see ever there being a problem with that either. This thing is just really sturdy. One of the most solid feeling I've ever had my hands on.

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I got one helluva deal on this thing. Other retailers were offering them between $539 and $619 and I just couldn't pass it up for the price I paid. $199 new was a steal!

I've been playing guitar for about 12 years and bass for around the past 4. I own a Fender Fat Strat and Fender Stage half-stack that I now split my time between with this recent bass acquisition.

If it was lost or stolen I'd probably look for another one but probably wouldn't get one for how much I paid for it, that's for sure.

My major dislike is the neck dive and weight but I'm getting used to it. I used to play an Ibanex Soundgear 400, which is quite light so it is a change but I'm into it. I compared this bass with everything under $250. I knew what I wanted and once I saw this I had to have it.

Check it out if you ever come across one anywhere. They're discontinued but I've seen a couple around and about in little music shops.