Epiphone EB0 & EB3

[catmanhog]

Hello all - anyone have an Epiphone EB0 or EB3? I played an EB3 and liked it but didnt play enough to satisfy my curiosity!
Anyone have any thoughts on them?

Thanks.

Edited May 13, 2011 by catmanhog

[kerley]

I had an EB0 and for the price is was nicely made and played well - I like short scales which helped. The pickup location is limiting to the sound though (unless you get the EB3) and impossible to get a 'bitey' sound so worth trying before buying.

A bit of neck dive even though short scale, not helped by the massive headstock and heavy big tuners no doubt.

The short body combined with bridge being a bit of a distance from the end of the body actually makes the first fret further away than some short scales if you get what I mean so doesn't feel as short as it is.

[Big_Stu]

I've got one; bought it because of my fond memories of my first bass - a '69 EB3. Though if you're being picky it was really an EB0 which a previous owner had converted by adding the bridge pup.
The Epi EB3 is like night & day to the old Gibson it emulates. The pickups look the same & that's about it; much less output, the neck pup hasn't got the Gibson boom & the bridge pup has no bite, no attack. If I can ever be arsed I'll get some originals from the USA & switch them in. The neck dive is bad too; caused IMHO by the extra length of the neck & the headstock being MUCH bigger than a Gibson original. But the neck is very friendly, slim shallow D. And of course the Epi doesn't have the 4th position fuzz-tone, but you can't get everything at that price.
Bas(s)ically it's an EB3 in name & first appearances only.
Oh yeah - and I'd have preferred the dots to the trapeze inlays.

[henry norton]

I bought one of the earlier Korean made Epi EB-0s, which is very nicely made and as the neck is mahogany it balances much better than the later, Chinese made EB-0s, which were maple, adding more or less a pound to the weight of the neck alone, obviously making neck dive much worse. It was pretty much a one sound bass so in the end I bought a second hand US Mudbucker, swapped it with the original, not so powerful, not so muddy Epi pickup, which I duly installed in the bridge position. It sounds really good now, you can play anything from dub to funly slap, depending on what type of strings are fitted. The bog standard, plain EB-0 is a good bass in itself so long as you like the one main sound it gives you, and because the pickup isn't so hot as an original Gibson, I'd say it's probably a bit more versatile than a single pickup Gibson EB.

[GarethFlatlands]

I layed an EB0 for a while in store. Very good for the price if you can get an earlier model but don't expect a wide range of sounds. Nice to play, being not a huge person with tiny, girly hands.

I've heard very good things about converting them to fretless and adding flatwounds if that's your thing.

[goingdownslow]

I have an Epiphone Elite EB3 which feels and plays like my old battered 64 EB3 except for having a more tunable bridge.
Although having "made in USA" pickups, the neck pickup is the same weak output as the standard Epi. I swapped it for an original.
They stopped making them when the Gibson SG re-issue bass came out. I prefer the Epi.
Originally called Elite, they had to change it to Elitist as someone else (Fender?) already had the name, mine bears the early Elite stamp on the back of the neck.

[url="http://www.epiphone.com/elitist/eb3.htm"]Epiphone Elitist EB3[/url]

They did a nice [url="http://www.epiphone.com/elitist/thunderbird.htm"]Thunderbird[/url] too

Edited May 13, 2011 by goingdownslow

[Machines]

I've got a bit of a soft spot for the EB-3 - would love one with some flats on it.

[KevG]

Had an EB0, not bad but a bit of a one trick pony soundwise. Nice short scale neck though. Also I recently bought a Bass Collection Blues bass which is a medium scale Chinese made EB3 which I really like. Slight neck dive but with a suede strap it's fine, better variety of sounds and nice neck feel. Also now for sale at £199 which I would say is a a bargain! It seems very well made and I've gigged with it a couple of times, cuts through nicely and suits our covers band stuff well. That's my twopennorth anyhow!!