Epiphone Review: Allan Woody Signature Bass

History:

Purchase: This Bass was purchased in January "03 from Musician's Friend for $479.99. I purchased this bass for use in live situations. I primarily use Carvins and Fenders for recording.

What I Like About This Epiphone Allan Woody Signature Bass: With this bass, I must admit that it was guitar lust at first sight. My long scale basses that I used to play live were playing havoc with the arthritis in my shoulder and fingers (wonder what caused that?)and an alternative was sought. The short scale (30 Inches) and smaller body were really great features which fit the bill. The wine red finish and gold hardware, combined with attractive white/black/white body binding give the bass an elegant flair. The two mini-humbucking pick-ups give it a rumbling midrange to low end sound, which fit the musical styles I play (traditional and contemporary Christian music). Although the pickups are situated at the mid and neck positions, they can still get some high end response, although don't expect it to sound super bright. The looks, ergonomics, and sound were all contributing factors in this purchase. The price wasn't bad either.

What I Do NOT Like About The Epiphone Allan Woody Signature Bass: I have no dislikes for this guitar. But please, Epiphone, please make a fretless version without those silly white lines and the rear pickup moved closer to the bridge, O.K. ? People who play slapping and popping styles probably would not like this guitar because of pickup placement and smaller traditional frets. Short scale bass strings may be hard to get in some places and might require special orders. But that is fine and doesn't present a problem to me.

Epiphone Allan Woody Signature Bass Quality Rating: The bass features a semi-hollow mahogany body with sound cahmbers, which is similar to the "Cat" series of guitars Epiphone makes, minus the f-holes. The neck is maple, has a traditional 2 + 2 head stock, 22 frets, and a rosewood finger board. The tuning gears are Gotoh-style tuners. This leads to a more balanced guitar than the EBO or EB3 basses that have those over-sized headstocks and large tuning gears. The wine red finish is beautiful with no apparent flaws. All hardware is gold and it has traditional Gibson/Epiphone knobs (2-volume, 1 tone). The bass has passive electronics. No hiss or hum detected. Excellent sound, looks, and playing comfort. This bass is very similar in body and neck dimensions to a Hofner Club Bass, but is not a copy of it.

Review Summary: I have not been a real fan of short-scale basses in the past. Most lack really good clear lows, but The Allan Woody Bass has a great low end. This is, without a doubt, the best short scale bass Epiphone has ever made. A lot of thought went in this bass to overcome short scale bass weaknesses. A great bass.

Rating of this Epiphone product: 5

This Epiphone Allan Woody Signature Bass Bass Guitars Review Submitted By: D. R. Wyatt

Review Date: 2003-02-13