Epiphone Bass guitars

This Bass was purchased in January "03 from Musician's Friend for $479.99. I purchased this bass for use in live situations. I primarily use Carvins and Fenders for recording. With this bass, I must admit that it was guitar lust at first sight. My long scale basses that I used to play live were playing havoc with the arthritis in my shoulder and fingers (wonder what caused that?)and an alternative was sought. The short scale (30 Inches) and smaller body were really great features which fit the bill. The wine red finish and gold hardware, combined with attractive white/black/white body binding give the bass an elegant flair. The two mini-humbucking pick-ups give it a rumbling midrange to low end sound, which fit the musical styles I play (traditional and contemporary Christian music). Although the pickups are situated at the mid and neck positions, they can still get some high end response, although don't expect it to sound super bright. The looks, ergonomics, and sound were all contributing factors in this purchase. The price wasn't bad either. I have no dislikes for this guitar. But please, Epiphone, please make a fretless version without those silly white lines and the rear pickup moved closer to the bridge, O.K. ? People who play slapping and popping styles probably would not like this guitar because of pickup placement and smaller traditional frets. Short scale bass strings may be hard to get in some places and might require special orders. But that is fine and doesn't present a problem to me. The bass features a semi-hollow mahogany body with sound cahmbers, which is similar to the "Cat" series of guitars Epiphone makes, minus the f-holes. The neck is maple, has a traditional 2 + 2 head stock, 22 frets, and a rosewood finger board. The tuning gears are Gotoh-style tuners. This leads to a more balanced guitar than the EBO or EB3 basses that have those over-sized headstocks and large tuning gears. The wine red finish is beautiful with no apparent flaws. All hardware is gold and it has traditional Gibson/Epiphone knobs (2-volume, 1 tone). The bass has passive electronics. No hiss or hum detected. Excellent sound, looks, and playing comfort. This bass is very similar in body and neck dimensions to a Hofner Club Bass, but is not a copy of it. I have not been a real fan of short-scale basses in the past. Most lack really good clear lows, but The Allan Woody Bass has a great low end. This is, without a doubt, the best short scale bass Epiphone has ever made. A lot of thought went in this bass to overcome short scale bass weaknesses. A great bass. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this bass from my local music store: soundcontrol in preston (official website www.soundcontrol.co.uk) for a amazing bargain price of £200 - the RRP is £389 and to be honest - it is worth every penny! For starters - it looks plain awesome. Many bass players use the Gibson version (which is seriously way out of my price range) - these include Shavo Odajian from SOAD, Mark Hamiltion from ASH, The guy from Placebo and Frankie Poullain from the Darkness. It suits me very well because it is a huge instrument and i am rather big myself. Not much really - i find that it does get fingerprint marks on it very easily because of its shiny finish. Also, the shape makes it slightly top heavy so when youre not holding it- the head goes down to the floor. Also, it isn't the easiest job in the world finding a stand to keep it upright, tho i managed to find one eventually - it also doesnt fit into youre standard bass case easily. Its a seriously solid unit and can take a beating. It has a bolt on neck and is made of two pieces of wood joined in the middle with a raised bit over the top. The pickups are twin humbuckers with a deep fat sound perfect for rock bassing. The controls allow for a good range of tone though they take a bit of getting used to. The tuners are excellent! It just never goes out of tune no matter what you do to it! It comes in a sunburst colour with a white scratchplate or a fairly rare black colour which will add about 30 quid onto the price I think. I have never actually seen one of these black ones in the flesh and only a few websites seem to sell them. This bass is excellent for anyone who has experience of playing. I wouldnt recomend it for a beginner or a small person at all simply because of its sheer size and awkward shape. It does however suit the big bulky rocker and it looks awesome on stage, I know that when i have the money - I shall be getting the gibson version. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I paid $250 for this guitar i bought it over the net I like the short scale but i am a big person and it gets hard to play after a long time. but is a great first guitar or something you would play sitting down. as i said it's short scale is harder for me. has ALOT of feedback and fret buzz. but most of the buzz can be minimized by messing around with the bridge i like the guiar alot i'ts kinda heavy very strong finish. i have droped it alot and still no scraches, dings, cracks. the guitar is good nice for sitting down or using with an acoustic peddal. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got the Epiphone EB5 from Musician's Friend online. They called it the EB3 5-string, but the real name is the EB5. I got it for $249. I wanted to step up a notch in my bass playing area by buying a 5-string bass. I wanted to be able to play different styles such as metal. This bass sounds great. The neck isn't too wide and it has a very comfortable feel, just as the SG guitars. Everything is fine about the bass except the weight and placement of one of the strap pins. The bass is a little heavy, being that it is made of almost full mohagony. The strap pin on the back of the bass is inconvenient. Since it is there, the bass turns (neck going down to the ground) when you do not hold the neck. The bass is very strong. The quality is great. It has 2 dual rail pickups. Overall the bass is great. I love the bass and play it everyday. With a good amp (and pedals if you use them) this is one of the best sounding basses I have ever played. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I picked up this bass at The String Shoppe in Columbus ,Ohio. I paid $439 for it. I wasnt really even looking to buy anything, just checking out the finishes on the Epiphone Les Pauls with the wife in tow, and there it was, a Hofner style bass just pleading to be held. I like this bass because it makes me play stuff I would never play on a solid body. Its very,very lightweight, and the sound is excellent,espically for playing without a pick like I do. The neck seems very long,which I like. It sounds really good on CD recordings,which is what Im using it for. What I dont like about it is it doesnt have a pick guard. Also, the pots have very little response, although they may be more responsive through a bass amp turned up loud. The construction seems excellent, and the finish is excellent as well. The bottom line on this bass for me is that it put me more in debt! No,actually, since basses like this are harder to find, you would be pleased with it for the price. While defenitly not a HOFNER BEATLE BASS REPLICA, the sound quality is very good and consistant on all notes. The neck is INCREDIEBLE, and the flamed top makes it unique in its own special way, a personality of its own so to speak. Having always wanted a bass of this style, Im very glad I found it, and it seems to feel right at home in a stand along with all the "other babies" who have more strings!!!But sometimes they tease him like a kid with glasses and call him FOUR STRINGS! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The wife and I were shopping for used videos at a used video store in Green Bay WI, and in the corner sat this guitar case. I asked the clerk if I could take a look at it and he said "Go ahead." In the case was a "Limited Edition" Epiphone Les Paul Standard Bass, 4 string, with a set neck, carved flame maple top, dual coverd humbucker pickups, dual tone and volume, and the thing has no fret wear what so ever. Who ever bought it didn't play it very long, or hard. They have a shop sticker on it for $250.00 with the hard shell case. I called the wife over and told her it was a real deal. She asked if I was sure, and I told her I thought it listed at $400.00. We bought it, and when I got home I checked my pricing guides, and found that it listed for $699.00 without the case! I own a Fender Mexi Precision, and an American Standard Precision, and I've always wanted a set neck bass. The small Les Paul body is so unusuall after playing Fenders for so long. It reminds me of a Washburn Scavenger bass I had years ago. This thing has great sustain, and a very deep bright tone. I'd almost say it's piano like. It stays in tune, and the tuners seem to have little or no backlash. There are a couple of minor finish flaws on the neck down by the body joint, but all you have to do is look at the flamed heritage cherry sunburst on the top, and you can overlook the little flaws. The bridge is the cheaper Epiphone one piece unit. It adjusts for intonation and hight well enough, but string through body would have been incredible on this thing. Maple top, and mahogony body. Body is bound with single ply. Mahogony set neck with rosewood fingerboard and trapezoid inlays. I don't know if the inlays are real pearl, but the one on the headstock most certainly is. The rest ive already mentioned. Construction is very good. I own an Epiphone "DOT", and the construction on this instrument is by far better than on that one. Could be part of the "Limited Edition" status, though CMI (Epiphone/Gibson's parent company says that LE is only cosmetic considerations.) The bottom line is I got a very good bass at a very good price. Even if you had to put out $450-$500 for this piece I still think it would be worth it, but hey, . . . that's just my opinion. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com