New Gibson EB bass mini review

godofthunder · January 07, 2013, 10:23:32 AM

Ok mainly to satisfy Dave I checked one of these out at the House of Guitars. Overall build quality is very good on par with my Worn SG bass. The bass is finished in a overall matte, I dig the mustard /ketchup bust on the two piece Ash body. My immediate impression was that of a Moserite with a fat long neck. The neck is one piece maple with a rosewood fingerboard. The pickups look like standard TB Plus housings but with eight large pole pieces each. The bass is tight and focused, none of the blur one associates with a Gibson. The bass suffers from EB4-itus. When you bend the strings past the pole pieces there is a noticeable drop in volume. This would be a deal breaker for me but if you don't bend notes you may never notice it. The bass is a bit neck heavy as the body is quite compact. Overall the bass is well built, has a lets say unique vibe and is priced reasonably. Not my cup of tea but it may be yours.

ilan · January 07, 2013, 11:50:04 AM

Quote from: godofthunder on January 07, 2013, 10:23:32 AM
The bass suffers from EB4-itus. When you bend the strings past the pole pieces there is a noticeable drop in volume.

Button-top Ric neck pickups do that too. You can use this unfortunate feature for a "tremolo" effect.

uwe · January 07, 2013, 02:36:40 PM

Ouch, the older I get, the more I bend. I used to laugh about Billy Sheehan's constant vibrato on every note he plays, now I tend to do it myself ... $:-\$

Hörnisse · January 07, 2013, 08:18:24 PM

Quote from: uwe on January 07, 2013, 02:36:40 PM
Ouch, the older I get, the more I bend. I used to laugh about Billy Sheehan's constant vibrato on every note he plays, now I tend to do it myself ... $:-\$

I'm doing it more as well. I think it is due to the round core and light gauge Hi Beams that I use. It took me a while to get used to the floppiness but I cannot go back to hex core strings. Even the lightest gauges feel too tight.

uwe · January 08, 2013, 09:47:19 AM

Over the decades, my left hand touch has become stronger, my right hand one lighter!

TBird1958 · January 08, 2013, 12:59:18 PM

My left hand technique is rather clumsy................

Highlander · January 08, 2013, 04:05:23 PM

Never had a string bending problem with any of my fretless's...

Dave W · January 08, 2013, 08:46:25 PM

I had a chance to sneak downstairs and play for a while. First impressions: on a 2" cotton strap, there's a slight tilt. I wouldn't call it neck diving. I'm sure it's because the upper horn isn't as long as on a typical Fender-inspired design. The tip of the upper strap button is opposite the 14th fret; by comparison, on my MM SUB it falls about halfway between the 11th and 12th frets.

Unlike Scott, I did not hear any significant dropoff in volume when bending, even doing half-step bends with my left hand and really trying to pull the string off the poles with my right. Then again, I'm not a string bender, maybe it's just a matter of different technique.

The neck profile is comfortable and not too thick front to back. The sound, well, it's definitely not a T-bird but it's certainly no MM either, despite the MM look of the pickups. Not muddy at all, even with the neck pickup soloed. IMHO clearer and not as midrangy as a modern or Bicentennial 'bird, more fundamental, nice highs but not as crystal clear as one would expect of a Fender or MM. All in all a nice tone. I haven't pushed it hard so don't know how aggressive it can be.

Using the highly scientific method of weighing myself with and without the bass, it's about 8 1/2 lbs., compared with 10 lbs. for my poplar SUB, which is a slab body. As you can see, it really isn't compact, not much difference in the body sizes except for the upper horn. I'll take better pics with some daylight coming into the basement later

uwe · January 09, 2013, 02:48:03 AM

Sounds like they retained a Gibsonish tone, just a bit more modern. Which I guess makes sense, if you want an EBMM or Fender sound, buy one!

It does look more petite on pics than it can be judging by size comparison to the Sub.

Dave W · January 09, 2013, 10:38:07 AM

The shorter horn makes it look more compact. Other than that, it's actually larger than the SUB, which is a slab bodied Stingray. It's about an inch longer from the end of the fretboard to the butt end and about an inch wider measured at the lower bout and across at the treble side horn. Doesn't feel big, though.

wagdog · January 11, 2013, 05:36:10 PM

Has anybody played with the coil taps yet? I'd like to know how much of a difference they make switching from humbuckers to singles.

Dave W · January 11, 2013, 10:16:48 PM

Quote from: wagdog on January 11, 2013, 05:36:10 PM
Has anybody played with the coil taps yet? I'd like to know how much of a difference they make switching from humbuckers to singles.

Yes, I had a chance to play with it a lot longer today. I expected more of a single coil sound without any radical differences, and it was as I expected. Nothing out of the ordinary but it does give you quite a bit of tonal versatility, especially for a passive bass.

So far, my favorite combo is the neck pickup on coil tap with the bridge pickup in HB mode. The neck alone in SC mode is quite nice too, and low noise for a SC.

uwe · January 12, 2013, 08:34:24 AM

A Gibson bass with variety?

Is nothing sacred?!

patman · January 12, 2013, 08:54:06 AM

That sounds like a pretty darn good bass.

Dave W · January 12, 2013, 09:39:50 AM

It is.

BTW, the coil tap positions are also rw/rp so they're fully hum-cancelling when they're both turned up. But even singly the noise is much lower than, say, a Tele. Must be well shielded.