marijan_barach's music gear

My Epiphone EB3 is my FuzzTone bass. Fuzz and SG bass go hand in hand since early 60s.

Mahogany body and set neck in heavy gloss Heritage Cherry finish. East Indian rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and lovely pearloid trapezoid fret markers. Usually strung with Elixir Nanoweb coated strings because this bass is very low mid heavy and it benefits from a brighter set of strings that last long in order to keep things a bit more defined(unless one prefers to use flats which then make the sound rounder but still fairly defined).

It has been modified significantly. The pickguard and the knobs have been replaced for 60s original EB-3 5 ply black pickguard with a tug bar and the 'witch hat' knobs, respectively. The rotary pickup selector was faulty and a standard 'SG guitar' toggle switch replaced it(much nicer visually and way more convenient to use, especially since it was never the true '4 position varitone' as found on 60s EB basses).

There is a range of great clean tones from this bass but I use it with an EHX Big Muff Pi the most. With sustain and tone all the way down, I get that classic rubbery 60s type of fuzz-bass sound famously utilised by the likes of Jack Bruce or Felix Pappalardi. Not unlike tuba or bass sax sounds in a way. With this particular bass I dont really hear the loss of low end with Muff engaged(if anything it seems to scoop the mids a hair and even add a bit more sub lows, so the overall dirty sound with Muff engaged is complementary to the clean sound of this bass). However if you crank the sustain up, it can get into a 'Doom Metal wall of fuzz' ala 'Al Cisneros' territory real quick.

The neck pickup, a Sidewinder humbucker(better known as the Mudbucker) alone dishes some serious lows. Very uprighty, it can almost sound a bit hollow bodied with tone all the way up. Excellent choice when you need the deepest warmest bass sounds(Tennessee Whiskey comes to mind or something like the bass solo in Jethro Tull-Bourree rendition as well as some Reggae sub lows with tone control down).

NYT Mini bridge humbucker on the other hand is the polar opposite. It gives a nice pokey, thin sound, excellent to sit on top of the mix. Not unlike Jazz bass bridge pickup really(think of the bass break just before guitar solo in Free-All Right Now).

Both humbuckers together, when balanced properly(I have adjusted the pickup heights a bit to get truly 'third' unique sound in the middle position of the toggle switch) get that classic, deep, low mid heavy, iron-like clang Gibson basses are known for. This middle position is what I use for fuzz sounds as well.

Controls wise obviously volume and tone per each pickup and a toggle selector switch.

All in all, one of my fav basses, or at least the most personal one, out of the 4 I own.