EB-1 Bass

SUNBEAM This Classic 4, in orange, had caught my eye long ago but I had not yielded. Later on, I ordered an EB 1 which unfortunately could not be delivered within a reasonable timeframe. When the Eastwood guys proposed me to swap, I remembered my crush with the orange beauty. It would come in addition to my gear, along with other solid body “modern” or JB type basses. It took a few days more (Brexit + Covid = delays) for her to come all the way from Liverpool to South France. But it was definitely worth waiting. The look is absolutely beautiful, I really love the color, the gloss and the finish. Look at the picture : sunlight entering my room in the afternoon makes it shine as from the inside. The instrument was accurately set for a first try. However, I soon mounted a set of “weathered” flatwound strings I had reserved, for a softer touch and mellow sound. After adjusting the action a little lower on the treble side, a little upper on the bass side, it’s a treat to play. And gliding along the neck is a pleasure. But it took me some time to realize, the controls are not arranged the way the demo video says : on the upper horn it’s general tone, on the lower end bridge and neck volume, and setting one volume control to zero does not kill the whole sound. Certainly a different wiring. Anyway, I have been playing for hours now, and I definitely love it. My favorite combination sofar is : tone 75 % dark, neck mike 75 %, bridge mike 100 %. Through my Rumble 100 it’s a delight to play in cool jazz spirit. But the bass is very versatile, when you change the settings you really get different colors, while maintaining deep, rich wooden tones. I will explore further on. A sunbeam in my gear !

Item purchased: EB-1 Bass $849.00 Buy Now

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This is a gorgeous bass. I love the look of the wood. It is light and comfortable, and the pickup sounds excellent. My only complaint is that the Eastwood website lists it at 32" scale length, but I found (after buying medium scale strings that were too long for the bass) that it is 30.5" scale! Eastwood should change the description so that it is accurate. The 30.5" scale is the same scale as the bass that inspired this, so it makes sense. Listings should be accurate, however! That's why I'm giving 4 stars rather than 5.

Item purchased: EB-1 Bass $849.00 Buy Now

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I'm not a Bass player, but have loved the look of these basses since I saw one in John Paul Jones' hand On the wheel of Led Zeppelin III and Felix Pappalardi Best of Mountain album cover. When the opportunity presented itself I jumped at the chance to get this Eastwood EB-1. The price to me was reasonable and Eastwood further enticed me to purchase one by offering a discount. Waiting for delivery was longer than I expected and that annoyed me, but when it arrived It was more than satisfied. The workmanship is spectacular, and the playability is great. The medium scale works great for me and it stays in tune rather well, although the tuners take a little finesse to get the instrument in tune. It also has some neck-dive but that I believe is to be expected for an instrument with a long neck and little body. I am enjoying this Bass so much I haven't touched any of my guitars in weeks. Thanks for making it possible to achieve a guitar that's been on my bucket list for years.

Item purchased: EB-1 Bass $849.00 Buy Now

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It is with total humility that I now, upon receiving the Eastwood EB1 bass, consider myself a genius. When I first saw the ad on the Eastwood website I thought it's a classic beauty. I made the decision to purchase. The purchase was easy and stressless. Well, when it arrived I have been unable to leave it alone. The playabilty, tone, looks, wood, perfect fret placing, solid neck, craftmanship gives me feeling that I stole it from Eastwood. It has become my favorite guitar. And the banjo tuners, WOW! Inotnation is perfect it doesn't lose tuning. I am in awe of it's classic beauty and for the price I am indebted. Thank you Eastwood.

Item purchased: EB-1 Bass $849.00 Buy Now

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My decision to purchase an Eastwood EB1 is honestly a stroke of genius on my part. I am more than completly satisfied , thrilled, happy and now more goal oriented to improve my bass playing with this wonderful bass. The sound, looks, feel, tone, ease of playing, the perfection of its construction is remakable. I love it more than my other guitars and the banjo tuners I feel I stole it from you. Thank you Eastwood , I am a happy musician.

Item purchased: EB-1 Bass $849.00 Buy Now

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The EB-1 was delivered today right on time. I just spent a good hour and a half playing it and I thought I would give you my first impressions. I have two minor complaints: First, the banjo tuning keys while historically accurate to the Gibson EB-1 are a little difficult, very minor adjustments cause the string to dive flat or pull sharp. Once in tune however, the Bass remained in tune, so I can't say the tuning keys are bad just that it may take some time for me to get to where I can quickly and intuitively adjust them. Second, the stock strings. I realize to keep the price point as low as you do you can't afford to put expensive strings on your instruments, and as far as they go the strings are not bad. In my opinion though, this is a Bass that is best served with really good flatwounds. I just ordered some La Bella Flats that I expect will do this instrument justice. But enough of the nitpicking... Oh my stars and garters! This is an absolutely beautiful work of art. When I unzipped the gig bag I actually forgot to breathe for a moment, the detail and craftsmanship is superb. It felt so comfortable in my hands, light weight but solid. A set neck has always been my preference, and at this price point it is a pleasant surprise. It has a gorgeous finish, I put it on the guitar stand and took pictures, then I just stared for a bit. I plugged it into a Zoom B3n multi-effects processor and used a pair of Shure 440 studio monitor headphones for the first run. I have several patches I have created for my other Basses, everything from clean and vintage tones to bold and overdriven ones. I started with the vintage patches, the Bass sounded just as it should have, nice and deep and round. Serious thump coming down from this Bass. When I changed over to some more overdriven patches I was really surprised, when I create my patches I try not to lose the character of the Bass so every Bass sounds slightly different with the patch. I really wasn't expecting the chambered body to inform the tone much but it does, and in a very good way. When you run this Bass through just a little overdrive or fuzz with a some reverb it goes all John Entwistle on Live at Leeds, I kid you not. On another patch it achieved Jack Casady on "White Rabbit". On my second run I plugged into my old Hartke 3500 hybrid head and Hartke VX 410 cabinet. I had it set on a mostly flat frown eq., boosting the mids slightly and cutting the lows and highs slightly so that I could hear what the Bass was really giving me with no smoke and mirrors. And there it was, a great vintage sounding Bass with the tone knob rolled back but a bright shimmer when the tone is rolled up. A surprising versatility of sound depending on where and how I play, and this is where it got really good, discovering how really responsive the Bass is to my hands and how that changes the character of the tone without touching a knob or a dial. I can't believe I got a Bass like this for $600. I have some gigs coming up and I will send you some photos then.

Item purchased: EB-1 Bass $849.00 Buy Now

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