NAMM update from Chris (Embassy and Tbird content)

[lowend1]

I hope that they addressed the T-Bird intonation problems, given the retro bridge choice. Also, it sez that it replaces the Classic IV Pro - are they using the modified cutaway or returning to the original?

[Aussie Mark]

I see an Embassy in my future.

[Highlander]

... like Julian Assange...?

[godofthunder]

   If these are anything like the classic pro they will be winner's!  The Tbird looks absolutely stunning. Not sure about the bonner Embassy.

[Bionic-Joe]

The thing I don't like about the Classic Pro is the modified cutaway.... I wonder if anyone from Epiphone saw Scott's Butcher Bird when they designed that bass? all 3 basses Look Like winners... About Damn time!!! I may just have to get one of those!!!

[godofthunder]

   The new Tbirds will intonate just fine, definitely more travel than a 60's bridge. Wonder where they got that idea?

[4stringer77]

The Krome Klux Klan here will be wetting their bedsheets!



But all three of them look cute.

Which one will be the master finish? The white just needs a couple blue racing stripes and a Star of David to make everything Kosher. The Scooby Doo sunburst is the mutt of the bunch, mocking the purity of the other finishes.
Slightly more concerning is the Embassy which faces us with it's alt right horn raised high in salute and clad in either nationalist red, Hugo boss black or Communist China yellow. How did Uwe miss it?

[dadagoboi]

Price seems high for an alternate hardware/pickup package that should AT MOST cost Epi/Gibson $100.

[lowend1]

Price seems high for an alternate hardware/pickup package that should AT MOST cost Epi/Gibson $100.

I could be wrong, but it looks like they also (finally!) went back to the big headstock, while still using the small shaft girlie tuners. At least they're cloverleafs.
I gotta sell a few things to make room for a sunburst...

[lowend1]

The lamination of the neck piece is more time consuming I guess.

The Classic IV Pro requires the same construction techniques, has a list price of $915, and typically sells here in the US for $499-$549. I'm willing to be that this one will end up going for around $600. Especially since they are apparently killing off the C-IV Pro.

[slinkp]

It will be interesting to hear what those "ProBucker 760" sound like!

[planetgaffnet]

It will be interesting to hear what those "ProBucker 760" sound like!

It's interesting...the only bass I've ever owned out of the box that sounded distinctly different to any of the others was a Rickenbacker 4003 and even after about fifteen minutes of dialling in my tone it sounded virtually the same as the rest of them.  That's the thing; I know what my tone should sound like and I've kind of known that for 25 years or more, so my expectation of that gritty Geddy Lee/Jean Jacques Burnel sound will always be there.  I have a £25 Aria Primary and a £3.2K Lull (and a few in between), they all sound fairly similar once I've had a noodle 'n tweak.

[gearHed289]

But are they Chinese? Will enough people pay $1000 for a Chinese bass, especially when the TBird Pro was half that price? And why is the TBird that much more expensive than the Embassy? IMHO a Korean-built bass would be much easier to sell at those prices.

In the discussion of the 2017 EB Bass, didn't Chris say that Gibson would have new bass models coming out for the 2018 model year? I hope these three aren't the only ones. Gibson needs at least one traditional USA bass.

I agree about the country of origin.

Maybe Epi is the new bass division of Gibson?

It's interesting...the only bass I've ever owned out of the box that sounded distinctly different to any of the others was a Rickenbacker 4003 and even after about fifteen minutes of dialling in my tone it sounded virtually the same as the rest of them.  That's the thing; I know what my tone should sound like and I've kind of known that for 25 years or more, so my expectation of that gritty Geddy Lee/Jean Jacques Burnel sound will always be there.  I have a £25 Aria Primary and a £3.2K Lull (and a few in between), they all sound fairly similar once I've had a noodle 'n tweak.

Buzz kill! 

[slinkp]

It's interesting...the only bass I've ever owned out of the box that sounded distinctly different to any of the others was a Rickenbacker 4003 and even after about fifteen minutes of dialling in my tone it sounded virtually the same as the rest of them.  That's the thing; I know what my tone should sound like and I've kind of known that for 25 years or more, so my expectation of that gritty Geddy Lee/Jean Jacques Burnel sound will always be there.  I have a £25 Aria Primary and a £3.2K Lull (and a few in between), they all sound fairly similar once I've had a noodle 'n tweak.

Heh. I kind of know what you mean - I sound like myself no matter what I play --  but on the other hand, of the four basses I currently have, the two that are closest together are the Gibson LPB-1 and the Greco Thunderbird, and to me even those are pretty different - the Greco has a lot more in the medium-low mids, the LPB has more articulate lows. The other two (Ibanez Blazer with Alembic P/J activators, Danelectro DC reissue) sound nothing like each other and nothing like the Gibson-ish instruments.  Sure, I sound like myself on any of them, and given enough EQ I can get something to work ... but I still care

I also had and sold an EB-0 and it sounded nothing whatsoever like any of the others :-p

[Dave W]

Price seems high for an alternate hardware/pickup package that should AT MOST cost Epi/Gibson $100.

At most. If it's all MIC, their cost is probably half that.

The Classic IV Pro requires the same construction techniques, has a list price of $915, and typically sells here in the US for $499-$549. I'm willing to be that this one will end up going for around $600. Especially since they are apparently killing off the C-IV Pro.

That would make more sense, assuming it's MIC. But the prices Rob quoted are supposedly what it will retail for. We'll see.