neepheid

I hadn't thought of that before, certainly could have been. While I've got you here, I forgot to confirm that my Embassy is indeed a product of the Epiphone Qingdao plant, stamped in November 2020. I found a serial number from one from the previous "Pro" issue and it was July 2018, same factory code. So, confirmed my suspicion - no factory change between the flat laquered "Embassy Pro" ones and the metallic finish new "Embassy" ones.

That's the original 60s batwing, first used on the Embassy Deluxe (Epiphone's Thunderbird equivalent) and later applied to the Newport (Epiphone's EB-0/3 equivalent) - but the Newport started life with a 2+2 so that headstock has got a historical basis for being present on a solid Epiphone bass too.

I know I said I had been able to overlook the lack of batwing headstock, and I have come to peace with it but I thought I'd waste 5 mins with Google and the GIMP to produce this: versus Did Epiphone get it right or wrong? That batwing is pretty f'n long - appreciate that it's 5 minute mockup in GIMP and have no idea if the picture I found of the batwing is at the right angle. Maybe it is a little silly looking after all and Epiphone did us all a favour by creating a reimagining of a classic that stands a chance of being ergonomically sound (and not having its headstock knocked on every PA stack/ceiling/errant cymbal it goes near)?

They're not. They're lower output in the M basses.

Yes, Epiphone ProBucker 760

Well, that was excellent service from GAK - next day delivery for less than a fiver, and double boxed too. It's a £300 bass so it's not going to be getting a setup or anything by the retailer so spent the first hour tinkering. Was able to get a nice low action with no buzz and am happy to report that the bridge had enough adjustment space for proper intonation with the stock strings, although it was a pretty close thing with the E string. As you can see from the bridge closeup, there are still a few turns of the screw left. Neck relief was fine and pretty much to my liking so I didn't mess with that. The good - lovely looking bass, it's a hard colour/finish to capture with the mobile phone - it's a deep, rich gold with a fine metallic flake to it and a stupid name. Finish is excellent quality, didn't see any oopsies in the surfaces. Some slight going over the lines at the top of the headstock where the gold impinges slightly on the black front, but nothing to get too annoyed about. Sounds good to me, definitely got some of that T-bird growl about it, but was only listening through headphones/practice amp so will reserve judgement until I hear it through the amp but if it sounds good with a practice amp then it surely can't sound worse! Fretwork is decent, no protruding edges that I could feel. Weight is good, pretty light without feeling unsubstantial. Balance is good, no neck dive that I could feel - Neotech Mega Strap used which is nice and wide, a thinner/shinier strap might not fare so well but that's not my setup so therefore not my problem. Electronics fine, no crackles, no hum. The bad - the tuners are pretty poor, quite a lot of play in them and not super accurate - tend to move in chunks. Might be tempted to replace these. The tone knob was loose - nit picking here and easy enough to sort by widening the split shaft on the pot slightly. Tone knob doesn't do a hell of a lot (at least not through the practice amp) but I rarely use anything but wide open so not bothered. All in all, the 2+2 headstock that I've been beaching about ever since these got released is a non-issue when you're playing it. I still think the batwing would have been the cherry on top but at £300 I'm happy to ignore it and it looks better in person than in photos.

Why not? Just being nosey.

I know the fingerboards have changed from rosewood to Indian laurel. I have also heard rumblings of incorrectly located bridges on some of the first issue (the flat colours and "Pro" on the end of the name) which gave *some* people intonation issues, so perhaps it was a case of "stop what you're doing, let's take a look at this" before continuing. I doubt it would be a factory change - Gibson went to the bother of building their own dedicated Epiphone plant in Qingdao during the naughties so I can't imagine they'd outsource production now. Will do some serial number detective work when I receive my one. Plus there's maybe been pressure to rationalise product lines since Gibson got rescued from bankrupcy in 2008. Gibson USA has been doing next to f-all in basses since then as far as I can tell so maybe some of that filtered down. Currently on the Epiphone website there's no mention of EB-0, EB-3 or bolt on Thunderbird, for example. Also some name changes - the "Pro" moniker being dropped from the Embassy and "Vintage Pro" excised from the Thunderbird - it's now simply an "Epiphone Embassy Bass" or a "Thunderbird 60s Bass" Who knows? All I know for sure is that you can buy an Embassy today, and I say that's a good thing.

If it is legit, you'll know as soon as your teeth touch that headstock - it'll fall right off and melt in your mouth.

I'd be willing to stick my neck out and say that's not a genuine Gibson product.

Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh has a green one. That's probably nowhere near you but you said "anywhere"...

GAK have a nice discount on the Smoked Almond finish Embassy - down to £299... https://www.gak.co.uk/en/epiphone-embassy-bass-smoked-almond-metallic/943613 Why am I telling you this? Because at £299, I can overlook the lack of batwing headstock, and I have done so

My point is that options such as "fancy paint" add to the cost of a new car in a broadly similar way - and I'm not saying I like that it happens, merely acknowledging that it happens. Don't forget that retailers will jack up the price of new and exciting products because the demand will be there. I don't like that this phenomonon happens either. Economies of scale swirled in with supply and demand. I've never bought a new car either, FWIW.

Have you ever bought a (new) car?

Years ago I fit full size tuners to a Bronco (17mm holes if memory serves). Pretty sure I reamed the holes out centrally. You'll have no bother fitting ones with a 14mm bore then I used a drill press though - much easier if you can get access to one. The only one with an awkward string pull was the E. I didn't suffer any ill effects as a result. I did the bridge mod as well, but the bridge I got was designed for string through body - I had to drill holes in the back edge of the bridge plate to accept the strings top loaded. Eventually I did the through body stringing as well, but I just wanted to get it going. So watch out for that. I replaced the pickup with a lipstick Strat pickup (hottest/bridge one) so there was no modification, and it's a rail inside so no worries on pole pieces. Some people like to use a Hot Rails or Cool Rails Strat pickup.

You got a P bass instead? You give up easy

Also, Slack Casady could refer to my inability to keep a hold of a Jack Casady bass - I am on my third one after all STOP SELLING THEM, MAYBE?

Oh no, I hope none of my bandmates see this - Slack Casady will become my new nickname for sure

Gibson have cured it years ago and know full well how to reinforce a neck having used a variety of volutes and scarf jointed headstocks over the years on many of their basses. Not currently, of course - what a contrary bunch they are - I would say right now they are in another of their fallow seasons when it comes to bass; a paltry, half-assed offering which does little more than acknowledge that basses exist and "maybe we should make a few". My relationship with Gibson I liken to the one I have with my provincial football team - a lot of crushing lows with occasional soaring highs

Appreciated - hence the winky smiley at the end of my comment The JC is a bit of a 'mare to find a gigbag for - I think it's a bit of a cheek for Epiphone/Gibson to not include one given that it's 1) a hollow body and 2) not an inexpensive bass. My 20th Anniversary JC came with a gigbag so it clearly can be done when they can be bothered. Warwick do a couple also which fit (which I have bought in the past), but I do wonder about getting the hard case - it would be nice to treat my JC right but I'm not in a rush - I don't expect I'll be gigging much this year. I highly doubt that you'll be able to pull the posts out through playing, regardless of your style/enthusiasm levels as long as the bridge is set up well. As I said, the only time it happened to me when I was stretching new strings and I guess I overdid it.

It's brand new. It should be complete and functional when supplied and it's the vendor's problem to sort out. It's not about being precious - one simply shouldn't be expected to fix this sort of thing on a new bass and if you get it wrong, the shop will drop you like a hot tattie. If it was a used instrument it'd be a different story.

More worrying - is that an "inspection card" it came with?

Even if we were allowed to gig tomorrow I wouldn't - I haven't played with either of my bands since March 2020. We'd need to be allowed to get together in sufficient numbers/households to get some ruddy practice in first - I'm not sure I even remember which way round I hold the bass never mind remembering how to play all the blooming songs!

Another JC fan here. Haven't had the privilege of playing a Hofner anything but I can say that the JC is one of my favourite basses of all time. I've bought three of them!

"standard Gibson headstock break" - it's never happened to me and I've had more Gibson basses than most! All of them carted to and fro gigs in gigbags for years with not a problem. They don't just fall off if you sneeze near them, you know Bridge inserts pulling out? It happened to me once when I was stretching some new strings - I was probably being a bit aggressive. Apart from that, nada. It's up to you if you want to glue them, but I would say that your best defence against it happening is keeping the three point bridge level, front to back. I believe it's more likely to happen if the back of the bridge (the furthest end from the nut) is higher than the front. Or change the bridge for a Hipshot Supertone or a Babicz.