is it my imagination?

[sniper]

two years ago (well almost) i bought an EPI EBO. what i got was a dismal made in Malaysia thingy that the mechanics were terrible on, the finish was equaly terrible, the routing was all screwed up on and just generally looked cheap. i parted it out, sent some parts to make a bass for Matt (discussed elsewere), sold other parts and went about getting parts to make a bass and generally washed my hands of the whole deal.

well.................

i come to a situation that i needed a working bass before the others will get back from the builders so i bit my lip and got another EPI off the bay.

this one was made in China. it has a nice finish even thought i know it is poly, the fit of the parts is much better, it sounds better, the pup is not falling into the body as the last one was, the neck plate is a nice cast one with a pad and the case is really decent. not a flight case but not bad for what it is. i even got it with a Ken Mahlke bridge cover on it (courtesy of the original owner), not a mark on it and an extra set of strings for 200$.

are the newer China EPI repops that much better than the Malaysian repops and the quality of cheap EPI basses coming up or did i happen to just get one that has had a bit of owner revamps with the cover and possibly a rebuild to get rid of the horrors of being an import?

[Dave W]

I don't think it's your imagination. The Malaysian ones I saw didn't look very good to me. The bodies didn't even seem to be a mahogany substitute.

I doubt if the pickup has changed. If it sounds better to you, it could be for other reasons (different body wood?).

[sniper]

i was thinking of putting that extra Gibby pup in it and still may. but i was wondering if i was having a serious flashback on the quality assessment of this one vs the Malaysian one.

lol

PS: it seems to weigh more vs the Malaysian one but that is just an impression.

[eb2]

I can't say too much on the quality of the Malaysian one, but I can offer my two cents on Chinese made instruments: They can be of excellent quality.  I think the parameters of the Epi are geared to a mass-produced cheap bass, but it is like anything, in that it can be pretty good if you get the fit and finish aspects down.  Think Danelectro 50 years ago.  With modern factories you can load a program from Gibson USA into a factory in China, and the end result will be equal or better, depending on the guys working there and how much they are getting paid.  When the right palms get greased and the right funds are deposited, they are great.  If they are working cheap you get crummy guitars and baby formula with petroleum byproducts.

I also suspect the Gibson knock-offs that are popping up are the overnight shift picking up a few extra yen for stuff that goes out the back door.  Some of that is pretty good too.

[Freuds_Cat]

I wasn't aware that some were made in Malaysia. The only ones I've seen here in Oz are the Korean and Chinese ones. And I think Jap? a while back.

I have just had my luthier put a minibucker in a Black (Ebony )  Chinese EB-0. He did a great job and the bass is a lovely piece of work. (*edit. removed incorrect info)  Mudbucker sounds different to the old Gibby ones I've tried but still big and fat.

Great neck on it.

I will try and get some pics tonight and post tomorrow

[sniper]

Malaysia or Indonesia? I dunno which but I like this one a lot better anyway. Already got the Grovers on
lol, and the pup looks like it will fit too!

[Dave W]

The Malaysian Epis were from around 2000-2002. I remember seeing Malaysian EB-0s at MARS Music, and they went belly up in the fall of 2002. The EB-3s were still Korean. I remember how noticeable the difference was, side by side. Especially since the Malaysian EB-0 bodies had the same see-though cherry finish but the wood was obviously not the same as the mahogany-type EB-3 bodies.

[Freuds_Cat]

OK I hate to be wrong but I hate even more to spread incorrect info. 

Here are some pics of the Chinese (Sae Jung Plant, March 2007) Epi EB-0 after modification to EB-3.

Check out the close ups of the wood in the wiring cavity......Plywood

[sniper]

nice pup job though.

what is the measurement from the 12th fret to the center of the bridge pup?

now i gotta go rip the covers off mine and look!  i am expecting plywood anyways.

brb smoke time!

[uwe]

I think that is just carvings from the routing machine. Plywood  is - contrary to popular belief - not a cheap material to make (there is Italian designer furniture out there made of - visibly so - plywood and it is very expensive), it wouldn't make commercial sense for Epi to use it as long as there are cheaper solid woods around (there are) and the bass would weigh a ton and have a very dense sound if they did.

Kubicki necks were/are made of plywood. So were the necks of the old Framus basses and guitars. You might not like the dense sound characteristic of plywood, but it's not cheapo material. Hey, even TBird necks are nine-ply!

[sniper]

Couldn't tell = it is too smooth inside the control cavity. Wish I hadn't left my camera with daughter when I moved!!!

Neck plate looks nothing like the Malaysian/Indonesian (?) plates though. looks like the Korean plates (black with raised chromed letters) except it says "China".

Serial starts with "UC601..."

Prolly stands for "Uwe's Chinese 601" 12 cylinder and Jet Daimler/Benz guitar, war aircraft engine and plywood plant from which he licsensed the Tego film bonding technique developed in WW2 to glue jets together (although we bombed the plant) which is why the WW2 German wood jets fell apart in the sky but he got a lot of money for the licensing when Gibby decided to hide pywood guitar bodies and make them look like Maho later in the manufacture of Epi guitars which is why he went to law school to write the contract to Gibby and the German developement of WW2 stealth fighters went askew! Aha!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_162   

Second and third paragraphs of design!! Laid that conspiracy open huh? AND thats the reason I can't tell if its pywood and the guitar is heavier is because of the German/Chinese collaboration of the glue!!!

Whew!!! I must be in a creative mood this morning or I have to start hitting the decaf and maybe talk to Dr. Jolly about my Prozac!

[uwe]

OMG, no bass, I repeat no bass deserves a comparison to the dreaded Heinkel 162! 

[Dave W]

I think that is just carvings from the routing machine. Plywood  is - contrary to popular belief - not a cheap material to make (there is Italian designer furniture out there made of - visibly so - plywood and it is very expensive), it wouldn't make commercial sense for Epi to use it as long as there are cheaper solid woods around (there are) and the bass would weigh a ton and have a very dense sound if they did.

Kubicki necks were/are made of plywood. So were the necks of the old Framus basses and guitars. You might not like the dense sound characteristic of plywood, but it's not cheapo material. Hey, even TBird necks are nine-ply!

There's cheap plywood, there's high quality aircraft-grade plywood and a lot in between.

The Kubicki necks are made of a bunch of thin layers, but that doesn't make them plywood. Is the grain of each layer at a right angle to the adjacent layers? Are the layers bonded in the type of heat/high pressure process used in plywood making? I don't think so.

OTOH that Epi control cavity pic looks like plywood, not cutting tool marks.

[ilan]

What's wrong with plywood?

Expensive does not always imply better. Alder as a tone wood isn't inferior to the more attractive ash. Danelectro's were constructed from two masonite boards on a cheap plywood frame, and they sounded good. At least good enough for Jimmy Page. And IMHO better than some fancy figured top Alembics that I have tried.

Some of the best jazz boxes have laminated tops and backs. It sounds brighter and more defined compared to carved tops. Again, cheap isn't always worse.

[Dave W]

What's wrong with plywood?

Expensive does not always imply better. Alder as a tone wood isn't inferior to the more attractive ash. Danelectro's were constructed from two masonite boards on a cheap plywood frame, and they sounded good. At least good enough for Jimmy Page. And IMHO better than some fancy figured top Alembics that I have tried.

Some of the best jazz boxes have laminated tops and backs. It sounds brighter and more defined compared to carved tops. Again, cheap isn't always worse.

Nothing's necessarily wrong with plywood, it's just been long associated with some cheap guitars and basses where it was used to cut costs.

If it sounds good, that's fine.