I just got this turn of the century Gibson Epiphone EB-0 4-string thumper bass.

This one has been played and loved but not to death. Good looks, great tone and playability in a short scale sporting mahogany body and neck, rare rosewood board.

Neck is naturally shortish, straight, smooth and narrow a la Ibanez or Fender Jazz- my preference since that’s what I learned on first. Bit chunky top to bottom though.

The Gibson authorized lower end Epiphone clone came stock with only one pickup directly adjacent the neck.

A rude giant Sidewinder humbucker pushing out a big, warm but not much defined sound. They say. But this ax has been resto modded.

It is missing the cover plate and hums a bit as a consequence, maybe. Knobs beat up too, and the usual rash. Not too much fret wear. Great neck.

Knock out styled Cherry Red ‘Bully’ beast body with tone to match. Comically giant nicely painted headstock two-per-side. Light touch needed on tuning too.

I haven’t played it long enough to know if it’s going to damage me long term ergonomically or not. Not really easier or harder to play than a 34 inch, just different.

Heavy though, for a shorty. And of course a natural neck diver with the stylish but silly too-short Bully horns. The huge headstock looks sort of out of place on a shortscale. Tonal or design reasons perhaps?

Whoever modded this ax was either a genius or a crackpot. No soldering- glue or tape or something? Added centrally located split Duncan Producer pickup from Korea. 3-way PU toggle switch added too.

Stock neck Sidewinder mudbucker replaced by Dimarzio after market humbucker made for this use. I can’t argue with the tone. I love it, mostly on the blended position.

The D’Addario rounds are removals and just barely fit but are new and bright and nice. Took a power of intonating but the setup was low and perfect.

The strings feel sort of slack on the little bitty bass so I need to keep a light touch lest I clang out clams. Always a good idea with arthritis anyhow.

The thing is obviously well built and sounds very good indeed, though it’s very far from stock. In fact it has me reevaluating my better basses’s tones. It sounds that good.

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